Capturing history in miniature

I sent a letter to an old friend the other day (yes, a real letter, through the U.S. Postal System!), and to mail it I added a stamp. It was a beautiful stamp, depicting the first lunar landing.

U.S. Postal Service image

It was issued by the Postal Service in 2019 on the 50th anniversary of NASA’s Apollo 11 mission to the moon. The stamp was part of a sheet issued to commemorate the historic space achievement.

The sheet features two stamps: one has a photograph taken by astronaut Neil Armstrong of his fellow Apollo 11 astronaut Buzz Aldrin in his spacesuit on the surface of the moon.

The second stamp is a photo of the moon taken by Gregory Revera in 2010 from his home in Madison, AL, that shows the landing site of the lunar module on the moon’s Sea of Tranquility.

The Apollo 11 lunar landing is not the only space achievement commemorated with a postage stamp.

Astrophilately is a branch of philately that deals with the collection of stamps or postmarked envelopes related to spaceflight.

A replica of U.S.S.R.'s Sputnik 1

On October 4, 1957, the Soviet Union stunned the world with the successful launch of the first Earth-orbiting satellite.

Sputnik 1 ushered in the space race between the Soviets and America.

But the launch of the U.S.S.R.’s Satellite-One or “fellow traveler” also got astrophilately off the ground.

The United States certainly has no monopoly on space-themed stamps. There are beautiful examples from countries around the world, and they spotlight the varied space achievements of their nations.

Canada Post image

The stamps are small works of art.

They also help to tell the story of humanity’s efforts to move beyond the confines of our planet – whether it’s the Soviet’s success with Sputnik, NASA’s space shuttle, the European Space Agency’s Rosetta Mission or China’s Shenzhou space station.

The diversity of space-themed stamps is surprising, wonderful and on-going.

U.S. Postal Service image

In September 2023, the U.S. Postal Service will add to its space-themed collection with a stamp that commemorates NASA’s OSIRIS-REx spacecraft and its delivery of samples of the asteroid Bennu to Earth.

I’ve never been one to collect stamps, but I do admire the artistry of so many of them, especially if they have an astronomy or science theme.

In a time of texting, social media, email, online bill paying and other forms of digital communication, stamps seem a throwback to a long-ago era.

The world will hopefully see many more achievements in space by many countries. And hopefully there will still be those small works of art to celebrate them.

That’s something to write home about!