With extra nations working spacecraft on and round Mars than ever earlier than, the United Nations is celebrating human achievement on the Pink Planet with its newest launch of postage stamps.
The United Nations Postal Administration (UNPA) has issued six commemorative stamps and three memento sheets themed to the Mars missions launched by the United Arab Emirates (UAE), United States and China.
“Mars has been a supply of curiosity for hundreds of years. In a historic yr for exploration, three missions reached their locations on, and round, the ‘Pink Planet’ in 2021. This stamp collection marks these pioneering achievements,” UNPA officers wrote in a press launch saying the brand new “Planet Mars” stamps.
Mars missions: A short historical past
Two of the brand new UNPA stamps and one of many memento sheets (a sheet with a single stamp surrounded by a margin that’s printed with a picture complementing or finishing the design of the stamp) have a good time the Emirates Mars Mission, the UAE’s first interplanetary mission, which arrived in Mars’ orbit on Feb. 9, 2021. The stamps depict the mission’s “Hope” (“Al-Amal” in Arabic) probe and a photograph of Mars that was returned by the spacecraft.
Two different stamps and a memento sheet acknowledge the accomplishments of two NASA missions: Mars 2020, which landed at Gale Crater on Feb. 18, 2021, and the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, which has been in orbit since 2006. The stamps function photographs of the Perseverance rover and the dunes in Proctor crater, with the memento sheet devoted to the history-making Ingenuity Mars Helicopter.
The remaining two stamps and memento sheet deal with China’s Tianwen 1 mission, which entered orbit on Feb. 10, 2021 and touched down three months afterward Might 14. Depicted are the Zhurong rover, its touchdown platform and the pre-selected space the place each landed on the Martian floor.
In keeping with different UNPA releases, the Planet Mars commemoratives have been issued in three denominations: Swiss francs for the UAE-themed stamps, U.S. {dollars} for the NASA releases and European Euros for the Chinese language topics.
Designed by UNPA artwork director Sergio Barada, the stamp photographs have been equipped by the Emirate Mars Mission group, the China Nationwide House Administration (CNSA) and NASA, with help from the UN Workplace for Outer House Affairs (UNOOSA).
The Planet Mars commemoratives have been first launched on April 24. They are often ordered from the UNPA web site and bought from the outlets at UN Headquarters in New York, Geneva and Vienna the place the stamps can be utilized for sending mail. Collectible envelopes postmarked for the primary day of situation (often known as “first day covers”) are additionally on sale.
UNPA stamp topics replicate the work of the world group and function a reminder of the UN’s dedication to its targets. Earlier UNPA area exploration points embrace a 2018 set commemorating the fiftieth anniversary of the primary UN convention on the exploration and peaceable makes use of of outer area; a 2013 pair of nebula-theme stamps for World House Week; a 2011 launch for the fiftieth anniversary of human spaceflight; and a 2007 assortment of eight stamps marking 50 years because the begin of the House Age.
“As humankind races towards Mars, it can be crucial that nations work collectively to advertise worldwide cooperation and peaceable use and exploration of area, and within the utilization of area science and know-how for sustainable financial and social improvement. Since 1958, the United Nations Workplace for Outer House Affairs (UNOOSA) works to advertise these aims,” UNPA officers acknowledged.
Comply with collectSPACE.com on Fb and on Twitter at @collectSPACE. Copyright 2022 collectSPACE.com. All rights reserved.
