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© Copyright 2012 The Astro Space Stamp Society. No article contained herein may be reproduced without prior

permission of the Author and the Society.

From the Chairman

Copy Deadline for the Jan 2013 issue is Dec 14th by which time all material intended for publication should be with the Editor. ANNUAL SUBSCRIPTION RATES

Members in UK—£15

in Europe (EU and non-EU) - €30

Elsewhere - $45 equivalent Juniors (under 18) £6.50

www.astrospacestampsociety.com/

ISSN 0953 1599 THE JOURNAL OF THE ASTRO SPACE

STAMP SOCIETY Issue No 95 October 2012

Patron:

Cosmonaut Georgi Grechko, Hero of the Soviet Union

COMMITTEE

Chairman Ian Ridpath, 48 Otho Court, Brentford, Middlesex, TW8 8PY

(E-mail : ian@ianridpath.com)

Chairman Emeritus : Margaret Morris, 55 Canniesburn Drive, Bearsden, Glasgow, Scotland

G61 1RX (E-mail: mmorris671@aol.com)

Hon. Secretary: Brian J.Lockyer, 21, Exford Close,Weston-Super-Mare,

Somerset BS23 4RE (E-mail : b.lockyer365@btinternet.com)

Hon .Treasurer: Eve Archer, Glebe Cottage, Speymouth, Mosstodloch, Moray.

Scotland IV32 7LE (E-mail: evearcher9@aol.com)

Orbit : Editor Jeff Dugdale, Glebe Cottage, Speymouth, Mosstodloch, Moray.

Scotland IV32 7LE (E-mail: jefforbited@aol.com)

Webmaster Derek Clarke, 36 Cherryfield Road, Walkington,

Dublin 12 (E-mail: dclarke36@gmail.com)

Postal Auction Organiser: David Saunders, 42 Burnet Road, Bradwell, Great Yarmouth. NR31 8SL.

(E-mail davidsaunders1@hotmail.co.uk)

Overseas Representatives:

Australia: Charles Bromser, 37 Bridport Street, Melbourne 3205. Belgium : Jűrgen P. Esders, Rue Paul Devigne 21-27, Boite 6, 1030 Bruxelles

Eire:Derek Clarke, 36 Cherryfield Rd, Walkinstown. Dublin 12. France: Jean-Louis Lafon, 23 Rue de Mercantour, 78310 Maurepas

Russia: Mikhail Vorobyov, 31-12 Krupskaya Str, Kostroma United States: Dr Ben Ramkissoon, Linda Valley Villa #236

11075 Benton Street Loma Linda CA 92354-3182

Life Members: UK - George Spiteri, Ian Ridpath, Margaret Morris, Michael Packham,

Dr W.R. Withey, Jillian Wood. Derek Clarke (Eire,) Charles Bromser (Australia.) Tom Baughn (U.S.A.,) Ross Smith

(Australia,) Vincent Leung Wing Sing (Hong Kong.)

I am honoured to have been appointed chairman of the ASSS. In June this year I took over from Margaret Morris, who has served us admirably for 11 years, since Summer 2001. I am delighted to say that Margaret has accepted the post of Chairman Emeritus to the society, so we will retain the benefit of her extensive knowledge and experience. June 2012 was an auspicious month to take up my appointment, as it saw one of the stand-out astronomical events of the year – the last transit of Venus visible for over a century, when the tiny black dot of Venus crawled across the face of the Sun. Unfortunately the UK was mostly clouded out, as I found to my disappointment when I rose at dawn in the hope of seeing the closing stages of the crossing. Fortunately, I had seen the previous transit in 2004 in its entirety so did not feel too cheated. As far as I can find at the time of writing (September), only three countries issued stamps to commemorate this rare celestial event. Oddly, perhaps, they included two countries from which the event could not be seen, namely South Africa and Portugal.

South Africa For me, the pick of the trio from the design point of view was South Africa’s mini sheet, issued on June 5, the day of the event itself. On the stamp, the orange disk of the Sun is crossed by the tracks of the transits of 2012 and 2004, while the surrounding sheet contains sketches made by the German astronomer Daniel Fischer at the 2004 transit. The designer, a South African art student called Wessel Booysen, explained that he wanted to give the sketches the appearance of having been made with a quill pen in an old notebook, while adding a modern touch by use of “various stained and grunge paper textures and vector imagery“. You can read more at http://transitofvenus.nl/wp/2012/04/01/new-stamp-for-2012-trasit/

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Our New Chairman We are delighted to announce that the celebrated

astronomical and astrophilatelic writer Ian Ridpath, a life member of our Society, has agreed to take over the reins

from Margaret Morris. Ian has been a full-time writer and broadcaster on astronomy and space since 1972 and is editor of the Oxford Dictionary of

Astronomy.

He has to his credit over 40 book titles as author or editor including the Collins Guide to Stars and Planets, a standard

field guide for amateur astronomers; The Monthly Sky Guide, a month-by-month introduction to the stars; and Gem Stars,

a pocket guide to the constellations.

This year he received the Klumpke-Roberts Award of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific for “outstanding

contributions to the public understanding and appreciation of astronomy”.

For more about Ian see his website at http://www.ianridpath.com/.

His pages about astro stamps start here: http://www.ianridpath.com/stamps/stampindex.htm.

Portugal Portugal’s transit of Venus commemoratives consisted of a stamp and a mini sheet, both issued on June 27. The individual stamp featured Teodoro de Almeida (1722–1804) who successfully observed the transit of 1761 from Porto while others sent to more farflung places were clouded out or even failed to reach the intended sites. His results, giving the timings of the end of the transit and his estimate of the apparent diameter of Venus, were published as a single-page paper by the French Academy of Sciences (see http://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k3482c/f406.image

The stamp portrays Almeida at his desk, with a ghostly image of his scientific paper behind him; alas, this is so faint as to be almost invisible. An accompanying mini sheet contains a diagram of the geometry of an eclipse, on which the inclination of the orbit of Venus relative to that of

the Earth is greatly exaggerated. Beneath this diagram is an antique engraving of astronomers, although who or where they are is not explained.

Curaçao The third country to commemorate the 2012 transit philatelically was the Caribbean island of Curaçao. On their mini-sheet, issued on May 21, a huge Sun looms over what is presumably a local landscape. Near the top of the sheet, a circle of perforations contains a black dot, representing the Sun with Venus in transit. Within the perforations is the wording “Celestial Event Curaçao Venus Transit 2012 June 6th”. (Part of sheet shown)

Past transits of Venus Historically, transits of Venus have been of great significance. In 1769 Captain James Cook was famously sent to Tahiti to observe a transit of Venus with the intention of accurately measuring the scale of the Solar System. New Zealand, Norfolk Island and Tuvalu have all issued stamps to commemorate that transit, as I explain on my web page at http://www.ianridpath.com/stamps/cook.htm. The Tuvalu stamp contains an imaginative depiction of Cook, the astronomer Charles Green and the naturalist Daniel Solander observing the transit. My original scan was reused on NASA’s Sun-Earth Day page and has been widely reproduced elsewhere (credited to NASA!) but I have now replaced it with a better one. Following the release of this year’s issues I have added an entirely new page about transits on stamps, which you will find at http:// www.ianridpath.com/stamps/transits.htm.

Orbit online Returning to Society news, we are now offering members the option of receiving our journal Orbit via an electronic download. This will save printing and postage costs and eliminates postage delays and potential losses. In addition it allows us to use more colour, while links to web pages are automatically embedded in the text.

However, for those who prefer to receive a printed copy we will still be happy to post them out for as long as you want. In addition, we are making back issues of Orbit available online. Our editor Jeff Dugdale and webmaster Derek Clarke have been working hard to scan and upload these printed issues, creating a valuable archive of articles on astrophilately extending back to the first issue of Orbit in 1988. How things have changed in the past two dozen years! If you have any suggestions on how to improve the ASSS, please email me on ian@ianridpath.com. And do join the society’s Facebook page

http://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Astro-Space-Stamp-Society/125401870287

Ian Ridpath

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Our New “Chairman Emeritus”

Thank You Margaret !! Margaret Morris (shown right with some philatelic friends) has relinquished her post as our Chairman which she has held since the Summer of 2001 and she has told your committee that she is both honoured and “tickled pink” to be our Chairman Emeritus which says sounds “so grand”. Margaret attained the age of 80 last year but that milestone meant little to her in terms of slowing down in her crowded philatelic life. However following many demands made of her during our past difficult months she felt the time was right to allow a younger member to take over as our figurehead and leader and she was delighted when Ian Ridpath agreed to do just that. Margaret is a founding member of the Society with the esteemed membership number of 88002 as the second person to join when we formed in 1988. However, astrophilately is by far not her only collecting interest and as many of you will know she is not only the doyenne of Scottish philatelists but a thematic exhibitor and competitor of international repute and a Fellow of the Royal Philatelic Society (London). Margaret’s prize winning exhibits have covered such topics as Astronomy, Man and the Whale and Pre-Columbian Art. She has also formed a traditional collection of Greenland. Margaret was the first person outside North America to be nominated Distinguished Topical Philatelist by the American Topical Association and received this honour at PACIFIC 97 held in San Francisco in June 1997. She started collecting whilst at school, taking up the hobby whilst recuperating from periods of ill-health, only just surviving peritonitis. At the beginning of the reign of Queen Elizabeth she decided to collect stamps portraying the new Queen. She became and still is very much involved in local societies in the West of Scotland, but has also belonged to the NPS, ATA, BTA, the Captain Cook Study Unit, the Paisley Rocketeers and she was a member of the now disbanded Philatelic Music Circle. She has exhibited very successfully at National and International levels, has been a National Accredited Judge, has written about the various stages of forming a stamp collection, on astronomy and philately and a book entitled Thematic Stamp Collecting, for Stanley Gibbons, given the accolade as “arguably the best of thematic collecting” by the late Scottish philatelist and polymath James Mackay. However it was her grandfather’s interest in astronomy that kindled her own in an area which was eventually to become

her career and she also began to collect stamps about astronomy. At university she took a degree in Astronomy and was employed as a Research Assistant at Glasgow University Observatory, a post from which she retired in 2000. She joined a series of philatelic societies in the 1950’s including her home ones—the Ayrshire P.S. and the Caledonian P.S. of Glasgow both of which she has served as President. She began an interest in the stamps of Greenland and promoted several local groups of “Vikings” - collectors of Scandinavian philately—but her catholic taste in stamp led her to join some 16 specialist societies. In 1959 her display of Astronomy won her first prize in the thematic class at STAMPEX and in the years that followed she won prizes literally all over the world. She has remained active in a number of the societies she belongs to having contributed regular articles to Orbit, to Topical Time (The ATA journal) and she was the founding editor of Themescene, the journal of the British Thematic Association. It has been a privilege for our Society to have such a distinguished philatelist amongst our number and not just a name at the top of a panel on page 2, as Margaret has very actively promoted the Society and has met many of our worldwide membership. We look forward to her continued membership and words of wisdom in the coming years.

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New Ways of Paying Your Sub Requests for renewal of your subscription for 2013 were delayed from the usual time of June on account of Harvey’s death and the appointments of a new Treasurer and Chairman. You will find with this edition a request to renew and although our bank balance is healthy we would appreciate a quick response. For your information, thanks to Royal Mail’s major increase in postage the bill for posting our went from around £150 in March to £230 in June !! For the meantime subscription rates are unchanged. Our new Treasurer—Eve Archer—Jeff’s wife and designer of many Orbit covers has produced a new subscription renewal form on which you will note new ways of paying including Paypal and bank transfer, in addition to the traditional methods. In returning this can you please ensure we have an up to date note of your email address for acknowledgment of your payments. Many thanks

National Library Of Scotland Says Thanks

A large archive of material related to the Paisley Rocketeers Society (P.R.S.) and the correspondence of founder John D. Stewart featured in our last edition and passed to your editor by Chairman Margaret Morris in order to prepare the article has been donated to the N.L.S. and gratefully acknowledged by Chief Executive John Birch

Paisley Rocketeers Materials for Sale As indicated by email to members shortly after our June edition was posted out a large amount of John Stewart’s P.R.S. materials are for sale by his descendants via The Paisley Rocketeers Society website. Two auctions have already featured some of John’s personal collection from around the world dating from the 1930’s to 2005.

www.corbitts.com – September Auction www.stamp-shop.com – End August Auction

For more info – Carolyn Stewart at

hopecottage4@yahoo.co.uk

Ambitious Plans Being Realised To Digitise all Past Issues of Orbit

On the initiative of our new Chairman, Ian Ridpath, webmaster Derek Clarke and editor Jeff Dugdale we are well on the way to having all past issues of our award winning journal put on the world wide web for free public access, so providing a legacy of some 3,500 pages of astrophilatelic articles with (latterly) all illustrations in full colour. However at any future point the most recent 12 issues will be accessible in full colour only to members, who can see them by contacting Derek to request a website address for the issue(s) they want to see. As we go to print, issues #1-7 (1988-90) and #72-94 (Jan 2007 to present) are available on the website and each month further issues will be added as time permits. We intend to have this completed well in time for our 100th edition. Progress updates will emailed to you. This has been made possible because of the bequest to the Society by our late Treasurer Harvey Duncan of a complete run of Orbit from #1 onwards. Previously your editor possessed only a few issues before he took over with #25. The paper copies of this bequest will eventually be donated to the National Library of Scotland in Edinburgh. The process of preparing each edition (of around 40 pages) is time-consuming and slow, requiring every page to be scanned and in many cases to be reconstructed with stamps taken from your editor’s many albums. In the past pages were often made camera-ready for printing with the actual media themselves attached and then detached and returned to albums. Groups of these PDF files are then posted on disc to Derek in Ireland for placing on the website.

Available on CDRom Because the files are very large and take time to download you may prefer to have them on a disc for easier access and this service is available for a small charge (mainly postage) by contacting Jeff directly saying which editions you want.

New Index Harvey had created an Index (Excel spreadsheet) covering issues #1-75 which was sent to you if your email address was in our files. Jeff has now extensively redesigned this index and added the content of issues #76-94 new copies of which will be sent to you electronically with each new issue of Orbit. The index is also accessible from the website. The new index is dedicated to Harvey’s memory.

Major additions to our Website : astrospacestampsociety.com

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Commander - Eugene Andrew Cernan (born March 14, 1934)

A native of Chicago, Illinois, son of a Slovak father and a Czech mother, Cernan received his father's name, originally spelled Ondrej Cernan. He grew up in the towns of Bellwood and Maywood. He graduated from Proviso East High School in Maywood, Illinois. He attended Purdue University, where he became a member of Phi Gamma Delta, and graduated with a B.S. in electrical engineering in 1956. He was commissioned into the U.S. Navy through the Naval Reserve Officers Training Corps at Purdue, and became a Naval Aviator flying jets. He also received an M.S. in aeronautical engineering from the Naval Postgraduate School in 1963. Cernan was selected among the third group of NASA astronauts in October 1963 by NASA to participate in projects Gemini and Apollo. He was originally selected as back-up pilot for Gemini 9 with Thomas Stafford, but when the prime crew was killed in a plane crash, they then became the prime crew. Gemini 9-A encountered a number of problems; the original target vehicle exploded and the planned dock-ing was made impossible by a protective shroud failing to separate on their substi-tute target vehicle. Cernan performed the second American EVA (only the third ever) but his space suit overheated resulting in a very high heart rate. The crew performed a demonstration of an early rendezvous that would be used in Apollo 10: the first optical rendezvous; and a lunar orbit abort rendezvous. Cernan is one of only three humans to voyage to the Moon on two different occa-sions (the others being Jim Lovell and John Young), one of only twelve people to walk on the moon and the only person to have descended toward the Moon in the lunar lander twice (the first was Apollo 10's non-landing mission). Apollo 10 holds the world record for the highest speed attained by any manned vehicle at 39,897 km/h (11.08 km/s or 24,791 mph) during its return from the Moon on May 26, 1969. In 1976, he retired both from the Navy (as a Captain) and from NASA, and went into private business. In 1999, he co-authored The Last Man on the Moon with Don Davis. The book contains his memoirs of his career both with NASA and be-fore. He has also been featured in space exploration documentaries, such as In the Shadow of the Moon, in which he stated: "Truth needs no defense" and "Nobody can take those footsteps I made on the surface of the moon away from me." Cernan also contributed to the book of the same name. Cernan also at one time was a contributor to ABC News and its Good Morning America morning show. On May 13, 2010, Cernan and Neil Armstrong testified before Congress in opposition to President Barack Obama's cancellation of the Constellation program, initiated during the Bush administration as part of the Vision for Space Exploration to return humans to the Moon and later to Mars, but later deemed underfunded and unsustainable by the Augustine Commission in 2009. In the Modern Family episode, The Last Walt, Phil mentions Eugene Cernan as "the best dad in the world," for leaving his daughter's initials on the lunar sur-face.

Command Module Pilot - Ronald Ellwin Evans, Jr. (November 10, 1933 – April 7, 1990) Evans was born on November 10, 1933 in St. Francis, Kansas. He was active in the Boy Scouts of America where he achieved its second highest rank, Life Scout. He graduated from Highland Park High School in Topeka, Kansas, received a bachelor of science degree in electrical engineering from the University of Kansas in 1956 and a master of science degree in aeronautical engineering from the U.S. Naval Postgraduate School in 1964. He was a member of Tau Beta Pi, Society of Sigma Xi, and Sigma Nu In June 1957, he completed flight training after receiving his commission as an Ensign through the Navy ROTC Program at the University of Kansas. When notified of his selection to the astronaut program, Evans was on sea duty in the Pacific, assigned to VF-51 and flying F-8 Crusader aircraft from the carrier USS Ticonderoga during a period of seven months in Vietnam War combat operations. The total flight time accrued during his career was 5,100 hours, including 4,600 hours in jet aircraft. Evans was one of the 19 astronauts selected by NASA in April 1966. He served as a member of the astronaut support crews for the Apollo 7 and Apollo 11 flights, and

as backup command module pilot for Apollo 14. He was later backup command module pilot for the Apollo-Soyuz Test Project (ASTP) mission. Evans retired from the US Navy on April 30, 1976, with 21 years of service, and remained active as a NASA astronaut involved in the development of

NASA's Space Shuttle Program. He served as a member of the operations and training group, within the astronaut office, responsible for launch and ascent phases of the Shuttle flight program. He retired from NASA in 1977 to pursue a career in the coal industry. He died of a heart attack in Scottsdale, Arizona on April 7, 1990 and was survived by his widow Jan and two children.

Lunar Module Pilot - Harrison Hagan "Jack" Schmitt (born July 3, 1935) Born in Santa Rita, New Mexico, Schmitt grew up in nearby Silver City. He re-ceived a B.S. degree in geology from the California Institute of Technology in 1957 and then spent a year for graduate studying geology at the University of Oslo in Norway. He received a Ph.D. in geology from Harvard University in 1964, based on his geological field studies in Norway. Before joining NASA as a member of the first group of scientist-astronauts in June 1965, he worked at the U.S. Geological Survey's Astrogeology Center at Flagstaff, Arizona, developing geological field techniques that would be used by the Apollo crews. Following his selection, Schmitt spent his first year at Air Force UPT learning to become a jet pilot. Upon his return to the astronaut corps in Houston, he played a key role in training Apollo crews to be geologic observers when they were in lunar orbit and competent geologic field workers when they were on the lunar surface. After each of the landing missions, he participated in the examination and evaluation of the returned lunar samples and helped the crews with the scientific aspects of their mission reports. In March 1970 he became the first of the scientist-astronauts to be assigned to space flight, joining Richard F. Gordon, Jr. (Commander) and Vance Brand (Command Module Pilot) on the Apollo 15 backup crew. The flight rotation put these three in line to fly as prime crew on the third following mission, Apollo 18. Apollo flights 18 and 19 were canceled in September 1970, but Schmitt was assigned in August 1971 to fly on the last lunar mission, Apollo 17, replacing Joe Engle as Lunar Module Pilot. Schmitt claims to have taken the photograph of the Earth known as The Blue Marble, one of the most widely distributed photographic images in existence. (NASA officially credits the image to the entire Apollo 17 crew.) While on the Moon's surface, Schmitt, the only geologist in the astronaut corps, l collected the rock sample designated Troctolite 76535, which has been called "without doubt the most interesting sample returned from the Moon." Among other distinctions, it is the central piece of evidence suggesting that the Moon once possessed an active magnetic field. After the completion of Apollo 17, Schmitt played an active role in documenting the Apollo geologic results and also took on the task of organizing NASA's Energy Program Office. In August 1975, Schmitt resigned from NASA to seek election as a Republican to the United States Senate representing New Mexico. Schmitt faced two-term Democratic incumbent, Joseph Montoya, whom he defeated 57% to 42%. He served one term and, notably, was the ranking Republican member of the Science, Technology, and Space Subcommittee. He sought a second term in 1982, but due to a deep recession and concerns that he wasn't paying attention to local matters, he was defeated in a re-election bid by the state Attorney General Jeff Bingaman. Schmitt is an adjunct professor of engineering physics at the University of Wisconsin–Madison, and has long been a proponent of lunar resource utiliza-tion. In 1997 he proposed the Interlune InterMars Initiative, listing among its goals the advancement of private sector acquisition and use of lunar resources, particularly lunar helium-3 as a fuel for notional nuclear fusion reactors. In January 2011, he was appointed as Secretary of the New Mexico Energy, Minerals and Natural Resources Department in the cabinet of Governor Susana Martinez, but was forced to give up the appointment the following month after refusing to submit to a required background investigation. Schmitt wrote a book entitled "Return to the Moon: Exploration, Enterprise, and Energy in the Human Settlement of Space" in 2006. He lives in Silver City, New Mexico, and spends some of his summer at his northern Minnesota lake cabin.

Gene Cernan, Jan Evans (widow of Ron

Evans), and Harrison Schmitt at the

National Air and Space Museum in 2003

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From our Japan based member Haruki Ikuro:

issued July 6, 2012

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The Naming of the Jovian Moons

Jupiter has over sixty known moons which are classified in three groups—the four inner moons, the four large “Galilean” moons and the rest—the small outer moons. Diagram, table and text below taken from Philip’s Atlas of the Universe 1999

Jupiter is the Roman equivalent of Zeus the supreme god of the Greek pantheon’s second generation. Therefore many of the moons are named after characters who appear in the Zeus mythology. More often than not these were his sexual conquests as he was notorious for his straying eye and fathered many of the most important characters in legend including Heracles. The best celebrated philatelically of Zeus’s conquests is Europa—see opposite—Jupiter’s fourth largest satellite which is a little smaller than Earth’s moon but, as an ice-covered ball of rock, much brighter.

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Europa (aka Jupiter II) was named after the daughter of Agenor who fascinated Zeus. He took the form of a beautiful white bull to approach Europa when she was recreating herself at the edge of the sea. The bull feigned tameness and servility so seducing the beautiful girl to climb upon its back whereupon it swam off with her towards Crete. There Europa was lavished with gifts by Zeus and gave birth to three of his sons, before eventually marrying Asterius the king of the island. The abduction of Europa is the subject of a number of classical paintings and other artefacts and has been represented on several stamps, as opposite, from top Greece 1991, France 1999, Bosnia &

H. 1997, Poland 1979, GB 1984, Spain 1966, Switzerland 1995, Lebanon/UNESCO 1948. Zeus as the bull itself is of course also represented in any number of stamps showing signs of the zodiac e.g. Greece 2007

Ganymede Only one other satellite named after a conquest by Zeus gets this treatment, namely Ganymede, (Jupiter III) the largest satellite in the solar system, 2% bigger than Saturn’s Titan and 8% larger than Mercury but with less than half of the planet’s mass. Ganymede was a young beautiful boy whom Zeus sought as his

catamite. There are several account of the god’s first laying eyes (and hands) on, possibly seeing him as a shepherd on Mt Ida, whereupon Zeus descended this time using his shape-shifting powers to adopt the guise of an eagle (Greece 1935 and Paraguay 1978 using the Rubens painting) and carry off the youth to Mt Olympus to make him the cupbearer of the gods. In that role appears

on many zodiacal stamps as Aquarius: shown here Greece 2007 and Czech Republic 1998. On learning that Zeus had taken Ganymede to his bosom, the king-god’s wife Hera became very very angry so leading Zeus to hide his lover boy in the heavens as a constellation.

Continued on page 20

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Leda (aka Jupiter XIII and one of the Himalia group of five moons orbiting between 11 and 13 Gm from the planet at an inclination of about 27.5°) is an irregular satellite, discovered by Charles Kowal at Mount Palomar Observatory in September 1974. The related myth has some parallels with the story of

Ganymede. Leda (Cyprus 1989) who was the daughter of Thestius king of Aetolia and married to King Tyndareus of Sparta, fascinated Zeus who wooed her in the form of a swan and fell into her arms seeking protection from an harassing eagle. She made love with her husband

on the same night as she slept with Zeus and falling pregnant produced two eggs from which hatched two pairs of twins : Helen of Troy and Clytemnestra, and Castor and Pollux. Leda adopted Helen as her daughter and Zeus commemorated her birth by creating the constellation Cygnus (The Swan as on Japan 2011).

Amalthea and Adrastea Amalthea, (aka Jupiter V) is the third closest moon to Jupiter discovered in 1892 by the American Edward Barnard, who named the satellite after the Greek nymph who fostered Zeus, as shown on Paraguay 1978 by feeding him goat’s milk which was responsible for his future obsession with sex and so his infidelity. Amalthea suckled the infant god in the form of a goat on Mt

Aigaion (aka Goat Mountain) with the help of the semi-clothed nymph Adrastea, milking the goat for the baby, who is off left in the complete painting by Jacob Jordaens (The Infant Jupiter Fed by the goat Amalthea of 1630, partly used in the stamp. Adrastea (aka Jupiter XV) is the second closest satellite to Jupiter and the smallest of the four inner moons.

In a variant of the myth Amalthea also gave the adolescent goat her skin or all-protecting aegis, as occasionally shown on the god’s shoulders in representations and so has become one of the objects or “attributes” we associate with him, as on Greece 1974 where Zeus is seen on the right, holding an eagle sceptre.

Others For the other named after characters related to Zeus/Jupiter your editor can find no stamps within his collection of classical mythology, but for your interest... Callisto (Jupiter IV) is the third largest moon in the solar system, being almost the size of Mercury but far less massive. Callisto was also a nymph seduced by Zeus disguised as his daughter Artemis, the goddess of the hunt, who is her mentor ! A boy called Arcas was born from this union and Jupiter’s ever-jealous wife Hera turned Callisto into a bear as revenge. When Arcas was fully grown his mother (still a bear) was prevented from killing him by Zeus who placed them both in the heavens—Callisto as Ursa Major and close by Arcas as Acturus within Boötes. (But there are differing versions of this myth, one which has Arcas prevented from killing the bear and placed in the heavens as Ursa Minor). Io is the innermost of the four Galilean moons named after a nymph seduced by Zeus who transformed her into a heifer in order to conceal her from his wife. Metis (Jupiter XVI) and the closest satellite to the planet was an Oceanid (water nymph) and Zeus’ first wife Thebe (Jupiter XIV) fourth closest was named after a nymph, one of Jupiter’s daughters Himalia, the largest of the planet irregular satellites is named after a nymph who bore three sons by Zeus. Lysithea (Jupiter X and once called Demeter) belongs to the Himalia group and is named after another of Zeus’ lovers Elara (Jupiter VII, formerly called Hera) is another of the Himalias, also named after a lover of Zeus Ananke (Jupiter XII, retrograde* formerly Adrastea) is named after the personification of Necessity and mother of the Moirai (or The Fates) sired by Zeus. Carme (Jupiter XI, retrograde and formerly Pan) was the mother of Britomartis a Cretan goddess, fathered by Zeus. Pasiphaë (Jupiter VIII, retrograde, known for a time as Poseidon) was the mother of the Minotaur. Sinope (Jupiter IX and once called Hades) also a retrograde was regarded as the outermost moon until 2000, since when other satellites have been detected. When captured by Zeus she pleaded to have her dearest wish respected—to remain a virgin. This wish was granted and remarkably Sinope did not become one of Zeus’s conquests. * possibly parts of a captured and shattered meteorite.

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Ancient & Modern

How mythological allusion has inspired naming conventions within our fields of interest:

7: Space Probes, Projects and Programmes continued

V-Z

Venera was a Russian series of spacecraft that explored the planet Venus. Venera spacecraft made the first soft landings on the surface of Venus and returned the first images from the surface. Dates of some missions within this series are given on the stamps USSR 1961, Bulgaria 1967, Mongolia 1982, USSR 1975. The series was named after the subject of study, in turn named after the Roman goddess of Love: Greece 1937 depicts the famous Venus di Milo one of the most famous works of ancient Greek sculpture.

Vesta was a French sounding rocket. In the late 1950's LRBA studied several possible configurations for a 'Super Veronique' sounding rocket, with engines of 80 to 250 kN to carry a payload of 100 kg up to 600 km altitude. In 1962 CNES ordered the Vesta configuration. Static tests in 1964 led to a modest series of launches in 1965-1969.

In Roman mythology Vesta was the virgin goddess of the hearth, home, and family in Roman religion, with a priesthood—the Vestal Virgins—devoted to her. Her closest Greek equivalent is Hestia as on Greece 1986.

Viking was the name given to an American sounding rocket in the late 1940s and to the American Mars probes which made soft landings on the planet in 1974 and the following year: CAF 1980 Whilst of course the Vikings were not literally legendary beings there is much mythology connected to them: IoM 1973 and Sweden 2004 showing a Viking Warrior being received into their after-world Valhalla by a Valkyrie maiden. Since one of the meanings of the word “Viking” is long distance traveller, it is a very appropriate choice for a space probe.

Vulkan was a super heavy-lift version of Energia with six strap-on boosters, and in-line upper stages and payloads. The concept was put on the back burner when Energia / Buran development begun.

Vulcan was the Roman god of fire, especially when related to the blacksmith’s furnace. His Greek equivalent was Hephaestus shown on Greece 1969 in his forge with his assistants the Cyclops.

The Naming of Asteroids (Orbit for June 2012)

Omitted from the page 8 reference to the asteroid Hebe, the sixth be discovered by Hencke and named after the Greek goddess of Youth and daughter of Zeus, this 1948 French stamp shows the supreme good in the form of an eagle rescuing his daughter:

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Five different cancelling devices were used in Baikonur between 1975 and 1996. Although at first sight their shape may recall the traditional cancelling devices, they were not true date stamps. Originally the idea was to use them only for special events which, in the cosmodrome, were mainly spacecraft launches. It was the pressure from both collectors and stamp dealers, together with the requirements of the State propaganda that brought about daily use of the date stamp. One must bear in mind that at that time there wasn’t in the Baikonur Cosmodrome a building with the label “Baikonur Post Office” or similar. All the Baikonur post offices were named “Leninsk” ¹ Interest in the Baikonur covers not only prompted the duplication of date stamps in order to cope with the commercial requests coming from abroad (and, as today, Russian Authorities never clarified how many cancelling devices were actually in use) but also to the production of several forged cancels. In fact, since Russians officially admit the existence of one single duplicate, made available to satisfy requests from abroad,– to the detriment of the collectors – I must pragmatically consider as forged all the other existing cancelling devices. First of all, two different versions are known of the first postmark „KOSMODROM BAIKONUR“ (KOCMOДРОМ БАЙКОНУР) which has a diameter of 25 mm and was used from 1975 to 1980. The size of the postmark is slightly different in the two types and, with the help of a magnifier, few peculiarities may be valued.

Type I above with Type II below

The two postmarks mainly differ from each other in respect of the wording „CCCP“ and „KOSMOДРОМ БАЙКОНУР“. “CCCP“ Type I (above left) : the second character "C" is approx 2.7

mm wide and 1,5 mm high. Type II: the second character "C" is approx 3.0 mm wide and

1,2 mm high “KOSMOДРОМ БАЙКОНУР“, The two types mainly differ re the shape of the letter „K“ and

of the second letter „O“ in the word „KOSMOДРОМ“ and

then for the shape of the letter „Б“ and „У“ in the word „БАЙКОНУР“. The letter "O" in type I has a distinct conical shape getting thinner toward the middle of the stamp Type I cancels have been identified only on postal documents coming directly from Baikonur. The first known use of the Baikonur postmark Type I bears the date 27.4.1975

According to the available data, we know that this postmark was used for the first time at the temporary post office, in service at the Hotel "Kosmonaut" in Leninsk, where it was used to cancel registered mail. On April 27 and 28,1975 this postmark was mainly used to cancel mail directed to foreign countries. And this confirms the assumption that the main reason for this operation was on one hand the State propaganda for the ASTP mission and, on the other hand, the intention to draw the attention of the American partners, who would participate in the joint flight, towards cancelling postal documents at the launch location.

Cover with postmark 28.4.1975, addressed to USA

Very likely we can state that some twenty covers have been mailed altogether. According to the available data, this date stamp was officially used for the first time to postmark the Soviet cacheted covers Nr. 2127 (Space Conquerors), Nr. 8249 (15th Cosmonautics Day), Nr. 8642 (Nikolaus Kopernik),

This article first appeared in the June 2012 edition (#13) of Ad Astra the online journal of AS.IT.AF and is produced with permissions

The First Official Baikonur Postmark by Julius Cacka

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Nr. 9414 (Intercosmos), Nr. 10208 (Cosmonaut Monument in Moscow) and Nr. 10280 (Statue of Gagarin). As stated above the date stamp was officially used for the first time on April 27, 1975. However cancels of April 15, 1975 are also found (and perhaps others, as well). According to our present knowledge it is not possible for us to determine whether those would be “test cancellations” or deliberately backdated postmarks, since no methodology could help us in doing so.

Type II postmarks are only found on postal documents issued for sale to foreign countries and for commercial purposes. It is practically impossible that such postmarks have been used for a true postal service. Yours truly has in his hands a cover bearing a Type II postmark dated 27/5/1980, i.e., more than one month after the Baikonur Cosmodrome had adopted a brand new, completely different cancel.

This means that the Type II cancel only was used to produce late documents and the subsequent production of receipts.

Cover bearing a Type II postmark dated 27/5/1980.

Since April 1980 in the Baikonur Post Office a new completely different cancelling device was put in service..

Unfortunately, the Baikonur postmark has been successfully counterfeited. Below is shown the forged cancel F2 which is mainly found on items produced for commemorating ASTP. Such faked cancelling devices probably appeared after July

1975. The basic characteristic feature of this forgery is the bent-vertical of the letter "K" in the word “БАЙКОНУР". Also, the letters used and the diameter of the stamp are smaller than the original.

The fake FI mainly appears on items commemorating the ASTP mission

The Fake F2 only appeared in the philatelic market after 2000 and has not been described up to now, according to knowledge of the author. Characteristic of this fake are the following: The digits of the date sectors are larger than in the original

(i.e., in Type I). Also, the shape of the digits is different from the genuine cancel.

The items with above-mentioned postmark are presented as "really run", and usually are cancelled in a light red colour. The use of such colour in real post traffic from Baikonur is more than unlikely. Some Russian experts consider even the use of such colour in the real service from Baikonur as absolutely impossible

The whole row of items offered with this postmark bears the address of the well-known Russian collector Nikolayewa, either as receiver or sender. Unfortunately she died some years ago and so she cannot comment on such items. These documents surfaced only after her death.

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All conclusions and assumptions written above are not unchallengeable. This work reflects only the evidence and facts that I have in my hands to date. ¹The author explains this complex matter in his book Julius Cacka,

“Kosmodrom Bajkonur – poznámky k poštovní historii (Cosmodrom Bajkonur” – Remarks on the postal history), Prague 2006, 104 pp. ²Different conflicting versions exist on how the date April 27, 1975 was set on the date bridge of the cancelling device. According to a publication by Gurewich and Schcerbakow “Kosmická Filatelie”, (Moscow 1979) issued by VOF (Society of Russian Philatelic Experts), one can gather that the date stamp was set as “27-47515”. Some Soviet journalists indicate however that the date bridge was initially set as “27047515” and that the items bearing in the month the hyphen instead if a “0” were produced

later by backdating the device. I believe that this question only could be clarified by the Russian experts who have access to the archives of Ministries and Organizations of the former USSR. On the basis of the postal documents which I directly received from the collector Nikolayewa and of the documents sent to the States on April 27, 1975 I’m inclined to believe that originally the device was set as 27047515, i.e. with no hyphen (but errare humanum est).

Our Prague based member Julius Cacka is the President of the Czech Astrophilately Society and author of “Typy a Padĕlky Ruskỳch Razítek Tématu Kosmos” (“Russian space postmarks and fakes” – in Czech, Prague 1996), from which comes this article, based on the second updated edition (Prague 2006, 115 pp).

John Beenen concludes his survey of the various spin-offs, some of vital importance to modern living and some less so, begun in our last edition. And our knowledge from the cosmos has improved a lot. I wrote before that we still know only a very little of our cosmos, but because of space search we already know much more. And with regard to our home planet radar satellites have mapped Earth much more precisely than was ever possible before.

(Inmarsat, GB, 1985, WB 7) At sea it has become a lot safer thanks to maritime satellites. And what to think of the in 2000 developed GPS system, by which every location on earth even in far remote areas can be reached.

From this our sat-nav systems for cars has been developed. As already established in space weight and dimensions play an important role. To decrease them important progress had to be made regarding these items. Digitalization became the

magic word. Hence, today all sorts of apparatus such as hearing aids, personal computers and gadgets like mobile phones have become much smaller . (Barcode, USA, 2001, Sc #3449) Did you know that even our bar codes originally are a spin-off from a space invention? At first they were developed to distinguish between the millions of spare parts and other accessories used in spacecraft. And of course finally the joystick, originally designed to run the lunar rover on a distance on the Moon. If you are not convinced by all advantages space technology has brought to common life with exception perhaps of the prestige of some countries and scientists then I advise you to search the internet for: ‘space-related inventions’, ‘space benefits;’ or visit: ‘www.sti.nasa.gov/tto/’’. You will find an excellent PowerPoint presentation at ‘http:// vmsstreamer1.final.gov/’ I wager that after considering all data mentioned in this feature you will look differently at your hand vacuum cleaner, your cordless screwdriver, the navigation system in your car or your sneakers. You even may consider your golf clubs now old-fashioned !!

Swim suits, golf clubs and cordless tools

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These are unfortunately the most “popular” among the Soviet fakes, so widely spread that it is hard to find an astrophilately collector who sooner or later doesn’t realize he holds as well at least one of them in his collection. Nobody knows about the origin of those fakes that, in their own way, “commemorate” the Soviet space events between 1957 and the mid Seventies. The 1983 CIFAR catalogue (well known to the Italian Space collectors of that time) listed over 160 such items, from page 16 to page 20. The number of those “vintage” Baikonur-Karaganda fakes continued to grow year after year. The 1985 Lollini catalogue ”C.O.S.M.O.S. Catalogue des Oblitèrations Spèciale set des Marques Officielles Spatiales” (6th Edition) listed 300 of them, that became 397 in the 7th Edition (1994). The 8th Edition (1998) reserved to the “old cancel covers” (as it named them) 18 full-colour pages (from page 299 to page 316) where it offered to unaware collectors 400 quite expensive “junks”. At that time the “commemorative” Sputnik 1 and Sputnik 2 covers were already sold out and the oldest items were the covers “commemorating” Sputnik-3, priced at 833 US$ each. For virtually every Soviet space event you may find the “proper” commemorative cover cancelled in Baikonur-Karaganda, exactly on the day of the event. Usually the covers carry a serial number and “Tirage” (printing) which is normally “150” for each cachet (sometimes “only” 100” or “50”, as long it was a credible figure). It’s easy to calculate that the family of the Baikonur-Karaganda fakes should be globally quite large and encompass not less than 58.000 items. There is not, however, a complete list and we may fear that the total number of such forgeries is actually considerably greater. How unlikely could be a "commemorative" cover issued for the launch of Sputnik 1, like the one shown here, is immediately clear as one realizes that the early Soviet space programme, especially during the first decade, was developed under top secrecy. No collector could know in advance about the launches, nor could be able to prepare in time commemorative covers. But, mostly, nobody could have their covers cancelled at the location of the launch which – for many years – was treated as a State secret (even if the American U-2 had already pinpointed the R-7 launch pad in June 1957).

This is why the early phases of the Soviet space programme are usually documented through belated items celebrating subsequent recurrencies such as anniversaries or special satellite orbit (like 1000th or 3000th or 10000th orbit, for example).

Such items were often cancelled in Moscow (from where KNIGA was officially selling abroad Soviet philatelic material) or in other towns where philatelic clubs were active. For almost two decades there is no commemorative cover cancelled at the secret missile test range, located near the Tyuratam village (a remote place sheltering a few dozen

people, in the barren Kazakh steppe where no post office

existed, but only a water-pump station on the railroad linking Moscow with Tashkent), or in the unknown remote Kzyl Orda village which actually was the postal district to which belonged the secret Tyuratam facility, whose address – we know nowadays – was designated with the code-name “Kzyl-Orda-50” ¹. There was no need to mention the secret test range until 1961, when – in order to register Gagarin’s flight as a world record with the International Aviation Federation – it was required to specify the launch site, flight details and landing location. Kremlin leaders wanted however to maintain maximum secrecy around the launch site and fictitiously claimed that Vostok was launched from the "Cosmodrome" located “near” Baikonur, a village known for its copper and coal mines, located 300 km northeast from Tyuratam. No “Baikonur-Karaganda” post office existed there, though. The secrecy of the space programme and the total unavailability of information allowed unscrupulous individuals to invent, years later, nice and attractive covers that finally documented the early phases of the space race, viewed from the Soviet side. Uncommon covers suddenly appeared on the market, made out of an unusual semiglossy paper, in an unconventional format, smaller than the typical Soviet covers at the time (mm 165 x 91, which in the Lollini catalogue was named “international format” ² , in which everything – and mainly the postmark – was forged. Due to the total lack of data, nobody would have been able at that time to challenge the authenticity

The Baikonur-Karaganda Fakes by Umberto Cavallaro

A faked cover from “Baikonur-Karaganda” dated 4th October 1957 purporting to celebrate the launch of Sputnik on launch day.

This article first appeared in the June 2012 edition (#13) of Ad Astra the online journal of AS.IT.AF and is produced with

permissions

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of those suspected forgeries which, instead, sold successfully for years. Paul Bulver refers in his book ³ that he had sought clarification in 1972, and the French dealer replied that he was “absolutely sure that the black cancel with date, has been fixed by the local post-office of the town Baikonur” and he added “I wrote, already several years ago, to the Central Post-Office of Moscow, and they gave me confirmation of this fact". When asked to show copy of such letter, he reported that he had lost it 4. Only later, during the USSR-USA cooperation for the ASTP project, did verifiable data start to surface and, in particular, it was possible to ascertain that no Baikonur-Karaganda post office ever existed. Ray Cartier refers to an occasional meeting which happened at Pacific 97 between the American Collector Les Winick and Prof. Oleg Vaisberg – from Russian Science Academy – who revealed that those fakes had been produced in Moscow by Boris Korichev (who passed away at the beginning of the 80s) “who had then sold them to a Frenchman” 5. I discussed this topic with a renowned expert on Russian fakes and he told me that he could hardly believe this story. Philately was used in USSR as a strategic propaganda factor – he explained me – and it is unlikely that a “business” of this size, if originated in USSR, could escape the attentions of the KGB which had a special “Philatelic Commission” and, as everyone knows, had a very strict control over territory. Two different versions of this fake do exist. The main peculiarity of the Type “A”, the most popular one, is the “α” below the date, between the date bridge and the external crown. In Type “B” the letter is replaced by “b” in the same position. An “annotation” box on page 316 (reproduced right) of the abovementioned 1998 edition of the Lollini catalogue informed us that the “old cancel” was in use until mid June 1975. As of June 15, 1975 a “new cancel” had replaced it. As shown in the article by Julius Cacka in this edition those dates sound at least approximate.

Baikonur-Karaganda covers for the flight of Gagarin, (April 12,1961 – asserted printing 150) And for his death (March 27, 1968 – asserted printing 50).

Left Fake Type B and above A

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Baikonur-Karaganda fakes continued to be produced even far after that date. The cover shown right “commemorates” the launch of the Space Station Salyut-5 on June 22, 1976, when the Cosmodrome Baikonur cancel had already been in service since for more than a year. Undoubtedly the forged postmarks at that time were used with some impertinence. Both the covers shown below – which would commemorate the death of Gagarin – are postmarked on March 27, 1968.

The first cover is cancelled with the fancy postmark Baikonur-Karaganda, whilst the other bears an even fancier “advanced use” of the Cosmodrome Baikonur postmark which would start the service seven years later! One may spot, in the word “БАЙКОНУР" of the second cover, the irregular letters ЙК typical of the fake F1, as described in his article by Julius Cacka. The amazing similarity of the cachet of the two covers, their unusual format, characterizing the Baikonur-Karaganda fakes, the atypical semiglossy paper, the “usual “FIRST DAY” logo strongly suggest some liaison between the producer of the two well-known families of forged items. The same similarities are found, as a further example, in the two covers shown opposite. Once again they have the same physical characteristics and the same cachet to “commemorate” respectively the tragic flight of Soyuz-11 in 1971 (postmarked at Baikonur-Karaganda) and the flight of Soyuz-35 in 1980 (postmarked at the Baikonur Cosmodrome). The same cachet is used in several covers of both “families” of fakes. A peculiarity of this very Baikonur-Karaganda cover is the unusual – and unlikely – red postmark.

There is still something here worth investigation !! Acknowledgements Thanks to Amore Rufini, Enrico Grassani and Renzo Monateri for contributing with items, documents and personal testimony. 1 In the best tradition of secrecy, all mail was addressed to Kzyl-Orda-50, and later to Tashkent-90. The secret location of the missile test range itself carried numerous official and unofficial names including Leninsk, Baikonur, Leninskiy, Zarya, Zvezdograd. In 1995 – four years after the break-up of the Soviet Union – in force of a Boris Yeltsin's decree, the location was officially named Baikonur, so solidifying the decades-long confusion. 2 See Lollini ”C.O.S.M.O.S. Catalogne des Oblitèrations Spèciale set des Marques Officielles Spatiales”, 1998, p. 316 3 Paul Bulver, Les Winick and Dr. Reuben Ramkissoon, “Study of Suspect Space Covers”, Space Unit, 2001 (2nd Ed.) 4 Paul Bulver, et alii, ibid., CD version, Page 8.1 5 Ray E. Cartier, "Fake Baikonur Cancel Story Uncovered", Astrophile, Jul. 1997; Vol. 42; No. 4: page 8-9.

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Bert van Eijck describes his visit earlier this year to a favourite destination... After a gap of eight years I paid a return visit to the Space Museum in Hong Kong on March 31, 2012. The history of this exciting museum and what you can experience there, already has been described in Orbit No. 61, March 2004. The nicest place to be there still is the Hall of Space Science. You can learn about the Roman Aulus Gelius who in 360 B.C. described how a hollow model of a pigeon suspended by a string over a flame was made to move by steam issuing from small exhaust ports. Or about Roger Bacon, an English Franciscan monk who in 1242 A.D. produced a secret formula from gunpowder which burned at a much faster rate. He then claimed, “…so thou wilt call up thunder and desstruction, if you know the art.”

Five centuries later a British colonel put this into practice. His name ? William Congreve who in the early 1800’s designed rockets with increased range and accuracy. Later, during the Napoleonic wars Congreve-type rockets (as illustrated) were fired from boats. But enough theory, it’s time to be interactive. And you can do a lot yourself here: climbing into a space shuttle, look around in a realistic space station or doing the moonwalk hip-hopping over a lookalike lunar surface. Also you can do the ultimate astronaut test, in a chair that goes up and down, right and left and other ghastly swings at full speed. I already was strapped in the chair, but just before the bell

rang, I got out frightened. Wimp or what ? In the Space Theatre you can see the new sky show “Hayabusa: Back to Earth.” In 43 minutes the story is told in magnificent pictures of the unmanned Japanese probe

Hello Again Hong Kong !

Hayabusa (meaning Peregrine Falcon), sent to explore the asteroid Itokawa, 200 million kilometres away from Earth. The mission began May 2003 and it took two years to travel in space to the asteroid. There were a lot of difficulties to overcome but a robot managed to land on the surface of the asteroid, collecting rock fragments and brought them back to our planet. Scientists believe that these fragments might contain features of the early solar system which could help us learn more about its creation. (The size of Itokawa is 535 metres slighty taller than the tallest building in Hong Kong, the International Commerce centre, 484 metres high). Hayabusa collected rock samples from the surface of Itokawa, sealed them inside a golden return capsule and sent them back to Earth. Not everything went well, but finally the capsule with the planetoid’s dust landed via a parachute in a desert in Australia. It was December 2010 when the scientists finally got their alien material.

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This ends our second tour at the Hong Kong Space Museum. If there in the future will be a third opportunity, most likely we will see details of space trip of Liu Yang (34), the first Chinese woman in space, launched on June 16, 2012 via Shenzhou-9, accompanied by Jing Haipeng and Liu Wang. In the photo left the three Chinese astronauts salute before preparing to take off.

From A Tropical Xmas To A Space Sheet by Bert van Eijck

What an extraordinary experience: a hot Christmas. It is about 30°C, but there are Xmas trees in green gardens everywhere and mistletoe in shops. No white Christmas here as Europeans are used to, but sweating in your shirt and your pants. This is the tropics in a nation named Namibia, in southern Africa, December 2011. Maybe it is ‘siesta’ for there are not many people on the streets in Swakopmund, a city of modest size still with a strong German influence, because it once this country was a colony of Germany as some names remind of this period like “Die alte Kaserne”, “Kaiser Wilhelm Allee” or “Ba”ckerei.” Strolling the streets in the city centrte I suddenly see a stamp shop with the name Namib Stamps on the window. It is closed but after I knock on the door the owner comes from upstairs. He speaks English, Afrikaans and Dutch, so from the start there is an animated conversation about stamps in general, moving on to space stamps of which he happens to have a lot in stock. There is one item I have special interest in. It is a stamp sheet of HESS telescopes in Namibia, issued July 7th, 2000. HESS means High Energy Stereoscopic System. Four telescopes are on the sheet (pictured here), with a mountain on the background and part of the Universe in the sky. HESS investigates cosmic gamma rays. The name is also intended to pay homage to Victor Hess, who received the Nobel Prize in 1936 for his discovering of cosmic radiation. The telescopes are located near the Gamberg mountain, an area well known for its excellent optical quality and about 100 kilometres south-west of Windhoek, Namibia’s capital. The first of the four telescopes went into operation in Summer 2002 with all four operational by December 2003. The official inauguration was in September 2004. The steel structure of each telescope weighs 60 tons, was designed in Germany and fabricated in Namibia. The diameter of the dish is more than 12 metres and the mirror area 107 m². The

mirror is composed of 380 round mirror tiles of 60 cms diameter. The production took three years in Czech Republic and Armenia. The HESS telescopes are built and operated by an international collaboration of a hundred scientists from eight different countries. The participating institutes are in Germany, France, Namibia, South Africa, Czech Republic, Armenia, United Kingdom (Durham University) and Ireland (Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies). If you want the HESS stamp sheet or other space stamps, you may contact Namib Stamps: http://www.namibstamps.com or e-mail: namstamps@iafrica.com.na or: P.O. Box 1367, Swakopmund, Namibia. Happy Hunting on this safari !

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MA8—Mercury 8 3 October 1962

Above checklist extracted from Harvey Duncan’s US Manned Spaceflight check-

lists issued with Orbit #43 (October 1999)

Left extract from The Observer’s Space-

flight Directory by Reg Turnill (Warne 1978)

Memorial Cover designed by Ken Woods

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The Passing of Legends Neil Armstrong (1930-2012)

Forty-three years after he stood on the Moon’s surface, legendary NASA civilian astronaut Neil Armstrong has died, following complications after heart by-pass surgery. Armstrong (closely followed by his Apollo XI pilot Edwin “Buzz” Aldrin) has appeared on more stamps than any other figure in history, excepting Jesus Christ. A checklist of Armstrong stamps, including Apollo Xi anniversary issues, would list several hundred ! How many do you have ?

Ironically the most famous Apollo XI stamp (the Scott C76 designed by Paul Calle) does not show Armstrong (as such) but is simply a representation “the first American to step on to the Moon”.

Readers of this journal need no potted history of Armstrong’s life which would scarcely do justice to his achievements, but they will know that his first spaceflight in Gemini 8 in mid-March, 1966 nearly saw the first in-space fatalities. Then Armstrong’s coolness and skills in coping with a tumbling capsule spinning out of control, no doubt played a large part in his being selected for the Apollo XI mission, on which he also used them to land Eagle with literally seconds of fuel left, as his observations of the Moon’s surface told him that the planned landing site would not do. Aldrin spoke the first words on the Moon’s surface, simply saying “Contact” but Armstrong then radioed back to Earth “the Eagle has landed”. However a few hours later it was Armstrong’s fluffed lines on stepping onto the Moon which everyone remembered. He was possibly just a little nervous, do you think ?..... “That’s one small step for (a) man, one giant leap for mankind”. The plaque left behind by the crew also ranks as one of the most famous historical documents in history, ending as it does with the laconic “We came in peace for all mankind” .

Neil Armstrong : August 5, 1930 – August 25, 2012.

Sally Ride (1951-2012)

If there are 500+ stamps for Neil Armstrong there are barely a handful* for America’s first woman in space, who died from pancreatic cancer on July 23rd. Astrophysicist Sally Ride was (and remains) the youngest American astronaut to take a first flight, which came as a Mission Specialist on the seventh shuttle flight (STS-7 / Challenger) in June 1983, so becoming the third woman to fly in space (after Tereshkova and Savitskaya). Her second flight on the same shuttle on mission STS-41G came in October of the following year when she was one of two female MSs (along with Kathy Sullivan). Ride was in training for a third mission when the Challenger disaster threw flight schedules and slatings into confusion. She then served on the Challenger investigation and helped to plan NASA’s future directions. Uniquely she also served on the Columbia disaster enquiry in 2003. On leaving NASA in the late 1980’s she secured a number of posts in academia, becoming a professor of physics at Stanford, California. Together with her partner of some 27 years Tam Elizabeth O'Shaughnessy she wrote a number of science books for young people. * Guyana 1989, Guinea 1999, Palau 2000, Malawi 2010, showing the STS-7 and the STS-41G crews .

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Space Shuttle-related Satellites By Don Hillger and Garry Toth

This article features Space Shuttle-related satellites (un-manned satellites related to the Shuttle). Many of these satellites are found on postal items by themselves, but this article includes only those postal items that show both the Shuttle and an un-manned satellite. The idea is to explore the Shuttle/un-manned satellite relationship in philately. Other Shuttle missions, including those for building or servicing the International Space Station, are not included. There are three categories of Space Shuttle-related satellites: 1) those launched from the Shuttle; 2) those retrieved and repaired and re-deployed by the Shuttle; and 3) those recovered by the Shuttle. The Space Shuttle fleet is also known as the Space Transportation System (STS). It consisted of five reusable vehicles which flew 135 missions from 1981. Shuttles Challenger and Columbia were destroyed in major accidents in 1985 and 2003, respectively. The first was STS-51L* (lost on takeoff), and the second was STS-107 (lost on re-entry). The three remaining Shuttles have now been retired and relocated in various museums. The Shuttle by itself has been featured on numerous postal items, but again this article treats only those postal items in which both the Shuttle and un-manned satellites are pictured on the same stamp (or on a souvenir sheet that contains only one stamp; sheets with multiple stamps are excluded from the discussion). Only non-launch-cover postal items are included in this article. A follow-on article may feature launch covers for these same Shuttle missions.

Postal Items Issued Prior to the First STS Mission Many postal items were issued before the first Shuttle mission (in 1981) to show the Space Shuttle and its satellite-launching capabilities. On nearly all of these early postal items the Shuttle-related satellites were of speculative or fantasy design, since their final designs were often not known at the time of issue.

The earliest postal items known to show the Space Shuttle and a satellite were issued by Ras al Khaima (Michel 757) in 1972, nine years before the first

Shuttle mission. Both the stamp and a deluxe sheet (as well as imperforate and foil versions, not shown) have an image of the Shuttle and a satellite that was largely re-used by Lesotho in 1981 (as noted later in this article). Togo Scott C326 and C327 were issued in 1977, four years before the first Shuttle mission. The first stamp shows a satellite apparently being retrieved into the Shuttle cargo bay by a remote manipulator arm. This arm presages the Shuttle Remote Manipulator System (SRMS), or Canadarm, that was first installed on STS-2. Likewise, many of the pre-first-Shuttle postal items show an early version of the Canadarm. The satellite on the first stamp has some similarities to the Hubble Space Telescope (HST), which was launched from the Space Shuttle in 1990 (13 years later). However, the solar panels are shorter and wider than those of the HST and consist of three parts rather than the two parts of the HST solar panels. The second stamp shows a satellite being released into orbit, possibly after being repaired. It is attached to a booster which would be used to place the satellite into an orbit higher than the Shuttle’s nominal 300 km altitude. Launching un-manned satellites was a regular Shuttle-related activity in the early years of the programme. Two more examples of proposed Shuttle missions are found on two stamps issued by Grenada (Scott 846 and 1074) in 1978 and 1981, respectively. Both

* The numbering of Space Transportation System (STS) flights has evolved over time. An excellent explanation can be found at http://enterfiringroom.ksc.nasa.gov/funFactsSTSNumbers.htm

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have speculative elements including fantasy satellites rather than recognizable ones. Similarly, Mauritania issued two stamps (Scott C203 and C204 above) in 1981 showing the Space Shuttle and speculative satellites or payloads. Lesotho Scott 319d and Niger Scott C308 (above right) were

both issued in 1981, the same year as the first Shuttle mission, STS-1. However, the first Shuttle-related satellite wasn’t launched until 1982 (by STS-5). Other early examples of the Shuttle with satellites are found on two stamps (Scott 587 and 588) from Ivory Coast. They were also issued in 1981, the same year as the launch of STS-1. They again show what looks

like a Hubble/HST-design satellite. In the first stamp the satellite appears to be standing in the Shuttle cargo bay, while in the second stamp the satellite is being held by the remote manipulator arm in an image nearly identical to the one in Togo Scott C326 (already mentioned).

Saudi Arabia Scott 936, issued in 1985, shows a small satellite like the Hubble/HST-like design already seen. Also, the United States issued a stamp (Scott 1914) showing both the Space Shuttle and a fantasy satellite attached to the remote manipulator arm. This stamp was

part of a sheet of 8 space stamps from 1981 honoring both manned and unmanned space exploration and their benefits to mankind.

Two more early examples of Shuttle-related satellites are found on stamps issued by Chad (Scott 435) in 1983 and by Congo People’s Republic (Scott 582) in 1981. Both appear to show astronomical telescopes with their aperture lids in the open position. These satellites have some similarities to the Hubble Space Telescope (HST), but these stamps were issued long before the 1990 HST launch. Also, on both stamps the satellites have solar panels with their long dimension pointing away from the telescope body. When HST was built, the long dimension of the solar panels was next to the telescope body. All but two of the items already mentioned were issued in 1981 or earlier, before the first Shuttle-related satellite was launched in 1982. The designs of the satellites on all of those items are speculative rather than accurate. Do postal items exist that show the Shuttle and recognizable satellites? Certainly! They are found mostly in postal items issued after 1981. Some of these Shuttle and satellite items will be examined next.

The Hubble Space Telescope (HST) Among the satellites launched and repaired by the Space Shuttle are several astronomical satellites, the most famous of which is the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) launched from STS-31R in 1990. Hubble/HST was later repaired on five separate Shuttle missions (STS-61 in 1993, STS-82 in 1997, STS-103 in 1999, STS-109 in 2002, and STS-125 in 2009), each of which was a major endeavor, including capture, repair, and re-deployment. Of all the Shuttle-related satellites, the Hubble/HST is the one seen most often on postal items either by itself or together with the Shuttle. Most of the latter items include nice HST depictions, while the Shuttle may be detailed, or rather small, or even partially shown. The following images show these variations; some show the Canadarm as well, or astronauts making repairs. Such postal items come from a wide variety of countries, most of which had nothing to do

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with the Space Shuttle programme (other than featuring it on their postage stamps!)

Congo Democratic Republic (Scott unlisted, 2006)

Djibouti (Scott C149, 1981); Guinea-Bissau (Scott 413Cd, 1981)

Micronesia (Scott 346, 1999); Niger (Scott 962, 1997)

Hubble/HST and the Shuttle from Belize (Scott 813b,

1986); Bulgaria (Scott 3624, 1991); Comoro Islands (Scott

737, 1990)

Ireland (Scott 833, 1991); Malagasy Republic (Scott

1045, 1992); Marshall Islands (Scott 864b, 2005)

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Other Space Shuttle-related Satellites Numerous other satellites were launched from the Shuttle, including several astronomical satellites in addition to the HST. Major Shuttle-launched astronomical satellites include the Compton Gamma Ray Observatory (CGRO), launched from STS-37 in 1991, and the Chandra X-ray Observatory (CXO), launched from STS-93 in 1999. Both are found by themselves on postal items, but to the authors’ knowledge neither is found together with the Space Shuttle. Several smaller astronomical satellites were launched and later recovered by various Shuttle missions. For example, several SPARTAN (Shuttle Pointed Autonomous Research Tool for Astronomy) satellites were launched, including one (aboard the ill-fate Shuttle Challenger in 1986) intended for monitoring Comet 1P/Halley. No images of SPARTAN have been found on postal items, either with or without the Shuttle. Similarly, several Shuttle PAllet Satellites (SPAS) provided by Germany were both launched and retrieved one the same Shuttle missions. Two postal items show them. Guinea Republic (Scott 930a right) issued in 1985 shows Challenger and SPAS and astronaut Sally Ride; St. Vincent (Scott 1165 far right) issued in 1989 shows a Shuttle and SPAS. A total of

seven SPAS were launched and retrieved between 1983 and 1997. Magellan (from STS-30R) and Galileo (from STS-34) were two major planetary exploration satellites launched from the Shuttle, both in 1989. The Shuttle and Galileo are found together on stamps issued by Bulgaria (Scott 3627) in 1991 and Nevis (Scott 1542b) in 2008. In each, Galileo is shown with an attached booster

that was used to send it to Jupiter and its moons. Magellan is found with the Shuttle on Bulgaria (Scott 3625) from 1991.

Palau (Scott 453b+e, 453f, 456, 1998) Sierra Leone (Scott 1974i, 1996); St. Vincent

Grenadines (Scott 804, 1991)

Uganda (Scott 341, 1982); Vietnam (Scott 2361, 1992)

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A solar-observing satellite, Ulysses, was launched from STS-41 in 1990. No postal items have been found showing both Ulysses and the Shuttle. Numerous items show Ulysses alone. Other Shuttle-launched satellites included several Tracking and Data Relay Satellites (TDRS), which formed a network of satellites used by NASA for space communications. The TDRS constellation replaced an older network of ground stations set up during early manned spaceflights. Six TDRS were successfully launched on STS-6 (in 1983), STS-26R (in 1988), STS-29R (in 1989), STS-43 (in 1991), STS-54 (in 1993), and STS-70 (in 1995). A seventh TDRS, aboard STS-51L Challenger, was the only one lost. No images of TDRS and the Space Shuttle together have been found on postal items, other than on launch covers. Communications satellites launched from the Shuttle, most under contract to NASA, included two Telstar-3 series satellites, five Syncom/Leasat satellites, four Anik/Telesat satellites, Westar-6, two Palapa-B satellites, two Aussat/Optus satellites, two Morelos satellites, Arabsat-1B, ASC-1, two Satellite Business Systems (SBS) satellites, three U.S. Air Force (USAF) Satellite Data System (SDS) satellites, two Satcom-Ku satellites, a pair of USAF Defense Satellite Communications System (DSCS) satellites, and an Advanced Communications Test Satellite (ACTS). In spite of the large number of these satellites, very few of them are pictured along with the Space Shuttle on postal items. However, a relatively uncommon example of these types of missions is found on Angola (Scott 1115) from 1999, showing the Shuttle and SBS-4. Among the first satellites launched from the Shuttle was Insat-1B, a weather and communications satellite owned by India. Insat-1B was launched on STS-8 in 1983. No known postal items show Insat-1B and the Shuttle, but other items showing Insat alone can be found.

Two other weather or environmental-related satellites were launched from the Shuttle. The Earth Radiation Budget Satellite (ERBS) was launched from STS-41G in 1984 and the Upper Atmosphere Research Satellite (UARS) was launched from STS-48 in 1991. Both can be found on postal items by themselves. UARS is found along with the Space Shuttle on a souvenir sheet (of 1) issued by Central Africa (Scott 663) in 1984, long before its actual release from Shuttle. Also in the sheet margin is the Hubble/HST, at the upper right, just below the Shuttle. All the satellites in the margins of the Central African stamp just noted appear to be related to the Space Shuttle. Even the version of the COsmic Background Explorer (COBE), or Explorer-66, (in the lower-right) was initially intended to fit into the Shuttle cargo bay. However, before COBE could be launched, Challenger was lost. Subsequent Shuttle launches were delayed or cancelled. As a result, COBE was redesigned to be small enough to be launched on a Delta-1 rocket. After an extensive and lengthy effort, COBE was rocket launched in late 1989, the same year it would have been launched from the Shuttle. An image of the

UARS (at lower-left) and the Shuttle (upper-right) from Central Africa (Scott 663, 1984); Explorer-66/COBE (at upper-left) from

Comoro Islands (Scott 737a, 1990).

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redesigned COBE is found in the upper-left margin of a souvenir sheet (of one stamp) issued by Comoro Islands (Scott 737a) in 1990. Several Shuttle missions were devoted to military reconnaissance satellites, with names such as Magnum, Lacrosse, and Misty. In 1991, STS-44 was used to launch one of the DSP (Defense Support Program) satellites, likely used for missile defence warnings. No images of any of these satellites and the Space Shuttle have been found on postal items. The Tethered Satellite System (TSS) was a unique Shuttle-launched experiment. The plan was that the Shuttle would tow a satellite on a tether deployed to a distance of 20 km from a reel in the orbiter payload bay. Two TSS launches were attempted, one from STS-46 in 1992 and the other from STS-75 in 1996. During the first mission, the tether jammed and could be extended only a short distance. In the second mission, the tether was extended to nearly full length, but the tether then snapped near the top of the deployment boom. This unintended release placed the satellite into orbit where it produced some scientific data until its battery died three days later. An Italian aerogramme from 1992 is the only item known to show the TSS and the Shuttle (on its printed stamp).

Satellites retrieved, repaired, and re-deployed by the Space Shuttle The Hubble/HST was not the only satellite to be repaired during a Shuttle mission. In fact, the Solar Maximum Mission (SMM) was the first satellite to be repaired in space. SMM was launched using a conventional rocket in 1980. It was retrieved by STS-13 in 1984. Some instruments and the

altitude control system were repaired while the satellite was in the payload bay, after which it was re-deployed. Several postal items show various aspects of this mission. Particularly good examples include this stamp issued by Central Africa (Scott 659) in 1984, the margin of a souvenir sheet (of one stamp, Scott 761a) from 1985 (also from Central

Africa), another souvenir sheet (of one stamp) issued by Guyana (Scott 3506) in 2000, and a Fort Meyers Florida local post stamp from 1986. Another conventionally-launched satellite, Intelsat-6-F3, was retrieved and repaired and re-deployed by STS-49 in 1992. The satellite had been stuck in an unusable orbit in 1990 due to the failure of one of the stages of its rocket launch sequence. Intelsat-6 and the Shuttle are found on a souvenir sheet (of one stamp) issued by Central Africa (Scott 663) in 1984 (already shown). This item was issued long before the actual launch of Intelsat-6! Another example is Isle of Man Scott 471, issued in 1991. It shows both Intelsat-6 and the Shuttle, but not the repair. A third item, a stamp issued by Guinea Republic (Scott 1212) in 1992 shows the actual repair of Intelsat-6.

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Satellites recovered by the Space Shuttle The first satellites to be recovered and brought back to Earth by the Space Shuttle were Palapa-B2 and Westar-6 in 1984. Both had been launched by STS-41B earlier that year, but both suffered failures of the launch mechanisms or payload assist modules. Both were recovered by STS-51A and returned to Earth where they were refurbished and later re-launched using conventional rockets. Palapa-B2 was re-launched 6 years later at Cape Kennedy, while Westar-6

ended up as AsiaSat-1, launched by China in 1990. Images of the recovery of Palapa-B2 are found on a stamp issued by Central Africa Republic (Scott 761) in 1985, as well as a souvenir sheet

(of one stamp) issued by Guinea Republic (Scott 931) also in 1985. No images of both Westar-6 and the Space Shuttle have been found on postal items.

The Shuttle both launched and recovered the Long Duration Exposure Facility (LDEF). LDEF was launched from STS-41C in 1984 and was to be recovered in 1985,

but its stay in space was extended because of the tragic loss of Challenger, which delayed all Shuttle missions for over two years. LDEF was not returned to Earth until 1990, by STS-32R. LDEF is shown on two

stamps along with the Space Shuttle: a 1982 issue from Surinam (Scott 589) and a 1991 issue from Marshall Islands (Scott 392). They depict the LDEF launch and recovery, respectively. In addition, several much smaller payloads have been recovered by the Space Shuttle, many of which were also launched from the Shuttle. EURECA (EUropean REtrievable CArrier) was carried aloft by STS-46 in 1992 and recovered by STS-57 in 1993. The Space Flyer Unit (SFU), an infrared telescope, launched by a Japanese rocket in 1985, was recovered by STS-72 in 1986. The SFU recovery is shown in a stamp from the Maldive Islands (Scott 1580) issued in 1991. Three Wake Shield Facility (WSF) missions were also planned, but only the third one was successful. During the STS-60 mission (in 1994) the WSF could not be deployed; the STS-69 mission (in 1995) had to be cut short; but the STS-80 mission (in 1996) was finally successful. All three were attempts to create a nearly perfect vacuum behind the 4 m WSF disk, for the growth of ever-slimmer thin-film semiconductors. No postal items are known to show the WSF, either with or without the Shuttle.

The Space Shuttle and Non-related or Unknown Satellites There exist some postal items that contain both the Space Shuttle and an un-manned satellite, with an implied relationship between the two, but in which the satellite is in reality not related to the Shuttle. There are also postal items, in addition to the pre-Shuttle items discussed in the beginning of this article, that show Shuttle payloads that have not been identified or may not be real. For example, a stamp issued by Chad (Scott 437) in 1983 shows the Shuttle Columbia and what looks like the French Symphonie communications satellite on the end of the Canadarm. The problem is that Symphonie was not launched by the Space Shuttle. However, since the solar panels on the satellite are not identical to those on Symphonie, this satellite is really an unknown. Drawings such as this probably include a certain amount of “artistic license”, as is not uncommon on postage stamps. Many other much smaller satellites were launched from the Space Shuttle. They are too numerous to mention here. Please see the authors’ website, noted below, for a list of these satellites and the postal items showing them. In

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ASTEROIDS Some Bits and Pieces

addition, the Shuttle carried many payloads that were never set free. Since these payloads were not free-flying satellites, they are not covered by this article. Most satellite launches from the Shuttle ended in 1988 when a U.S. presidential Executive Order was issued that banned further commercial launches. That ruling was a result of the 1986 Challenger accident. Up to that point, Shuttles had launched many satellites specifically designed to fit into the cargo bay. While most of those launches were successful, some of the Shuttle-launched satellites encountered problems that required subsequent retrieval, repair, and re-deployment, or recovery to Earth (as covered in this article).

Some Statistics on Space Shuttle-related Satellites In total, there are 102 Shuttle-related satellites (those that were launched, repaired, or retrieved by the STS missions). These un-manned satellite events took place during 73 of the 135 shuttle launches mostly during the earlier Shuttle missions. More recent Shuttle missions have been primarily related to the construction and maintenance of the International Space Station. The authors welcome any feedback, such as corrections or additions to the information provided in this article or in the accompanying checklist on the web. In particular, any information that could be used to explain any “unknowns” would be helpful. A checklist of postal items to accompany this article is available online at http://rammb.cira.colostate.edu/dev/hillger/shuttle+satellite.htm. It is only a small part of the online information provided by the authors at http://rammb.cira.colostate.edu/dev/hillger/satellites.htm. E-mail correspondence is welcome. Don Hillger can be reached at hillger@cira.colostate.edu and Garry Toth at garry_toth@hotmail.com.

Forward Planning for STAMPEX 2015 and 2016 As reported in STAMP Magazine for July 2012, Specialist Societies have an opportunity to become a headline act at Stampex over the next few years. "The organisers are inviting societies to be the keynote exhibitors for the Autumn events in 2015 and 2016. Exhibitors could either be judged in competitive classes or simply mount a non-competitive display”. Please consider what you can contribute to our plans to be part of the above.

Signature Spotting Our Manchester based member Andy Swanston asks for help in deciphering the cosmonaut’s signature (arrowed) beneath that of astronaut Edgar Mitchell on the specimen reproduced as best we can below left. If you have any ideas please let your Editor know and will pass on info to Andy.

Astrophilatelist Website See information about the latest activities of our Russian member and well known European astrophilatelist Igor Rodin at the websites given below: http://astrophilatelist.com/index/srbijafila_xv/0-1037 http://astrophilatelist.com/index/seminar_on_astrophilately_in_bremen_germany/0-1038

GB Science Stamps to be issued this month The issue celebrates probes in which the UK has had input: five ESA probes and one NASA/ESA probe

Astrophilately Displays Your editor showed a small part of his collection of Manned Spaceflight to members of Edinburgh P.S. on Tuesday 18th September and will reprise the display for Inverness P.S. on 8th November.

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Further Apollo 17 items

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