A worldwide audience watched and listened when Armstrong stepped onto the Moon’s surface and famously said, “That’s one small step for (a) man, one giant leap for mankind.” On July 20, 1969, Apollo 11 astronauts Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin achieved something that had long been confined to the realm of science fiction when they landed a spidery spacecraft named Eagle on the Moon. On the 50th anniversary of this first Moon landing, two stamp designs commemorate that historic milestone.
One stamp features Armstrong’s iconic photograph of Aldrin in his spacesuit on the surface of the Moon. To mark the 40th anniversary of the 10-cent First Man on the Moon airmail stamp, collectSPACE spoke with Calle and his son Chris, who designed the 1989 2.40 Apollo 11 20th Anniversary Priority Mail stamp and jointly with his father, the 9.95 and 29 cent Express Mail stamps for the 1994 25th anniversary of the mission. The other stamp, a photograph of the moon taken in 2010 by Gregory H. The 1969: First Moon Landing stamps are being issued as Forever stamps. Revera from his home in Madison, AL, shows the landing site of the lunar module, Eagle, in the Sea of Tranquility.
Forever stamps will always be equal in value to the current First-Class Mail 1-ounce price. The site is indicated on the stamp by a dot.
#First man on the moon stamp first day of issue free#
#First man on the moon stamp worth free.In 2021, he was honored by the American Astronautical Society with the Ordway Award for Sustained Excellence in Spaceflight History. Space Camp Hall of Fame in Huntsville, Alabama. He previously developed online content for the National Space Society and Apollo 11 moonwalker Buzz Aldrin, helped establish the space tourism company Space Adventures and currently serves on the History Committee of the American Astronautical Society, the advisory committee for The Mars Generation and leadership board of For All Moonkind. Pearlman is also a contributing writer for and co-author of "Space Stations: The Art, Science, and Reality of Working in Space” published by Smithsonian Books in 2018. Robert Pearlman is a space historian, journalist and the founder and editor of, an online publication and community devoted to space history with a particular focus on how and where space exploration intersects with pop culture. All rights reserved.Ĭ Editor, Contributor 'Moon Mail' and Space Stamps Now on Display in World's Largest Postal Galleryįollow on Facebook and on Twitter at collectSPACE.Search Continues for Secret Stamp Honoring John Glenn's Historic Spaceflight.US Postal Service Offers Passport to Travel Through Space History in Stamps.The same photo of Aldrin on the moon used for one of the new stamps was The "1969 First Moon Landing" 2019 stamps share a common design theme with the Apollo 11 50th anniversary commemorative coins introduced by the U.S Mint in January. It was released with other stamps celebrating the 1960s on Sept. The 33-cent stamp, titled "Man Walks On The Moon," featured an image of an astronaut's boot print in the lunar soil. Most recently, the USPS recognized the 30th anniversary of the Apollo 11 mission with a stamp issued as part of its "Celebrate The Century" program. The 29-cent and $9.95 commemoratives, each showing astronauts saluting the American flag, were released on July 20, 1994. Paul and Chris Calle were then commissioned to jointly create a pair of postage stamps for the 25th anniversary. Issued on July 20, 1989, the stamp was designed by Chris Calle, Paul Calle's son. Two decades later, the USPS commemorated the 20th anniversary of the first moon landing with a $2.40 stamp depicting Armstrong and Aldrin planting the U.S. The master die for the stamp was flown to the moon and back on board the Apollo 11 spacecraft. 9, 1969, less than two months after the triumphant return of Armstrong, Aldrin and Collins to Earth. issue celebrating the Apollo 11 mission, a 10-cent "First Man on the Moon" airmail stamp designed by artist Paul Calle, was released on Sept. Post Office Department) has a history of honoring the first moon landing dating back 50 years. The postal service (and its predecessor, the U.S. USPS art director Antonio Alcalá designed the stamp art. Tranquility Base, the landing site of the Apollo 11 lunar module "Eagle" in the Sea of Tranquility, is denoted on the stamp by a bold yellow dot.īoth stamps include the inscription "1969 First Moon Landing." An image of the lunar module will be included on the selvage, or border, of the pair. The other stamp in the pair uses an image of the moon captured by amateur astronomer Gregory Revera of Huntsville, Alabama. Armstrong, as the photographer, can be seen in the reflection of Aldrin's helmet visor. One of the two new stamps features an iconic Apollo 11 photo of Aldrin standing on the surface of the moon.