US #5069
2016 Mercury – Views of Our Planets
- Pictures Mercury, the first planet from the Sun
- One of 8 stamps issued alongside the 2016 Pluto Explored stamps to commemorate space exploration in our Solar System and New Horizon spacecraft’s flyby of Pluton in 2015
Stamp Category: Commemorative
Set: Views of Our Plane... more
US #5069
2016 Mercury – Views of Our Planets
- Pictures Mercury, the first planet from the Sun
- One of 8 stamps issued alongside the 2016 Pluto Explored stamps to commemorate space exploration in our Solar System and New Horizon spacecraft’s flyby of Pluton in 2015
Stamp Category: Commemorative
Set: Views of Our Planets
Value: 47¢ First Class Mail Rate (Forever)
First Day of Issue: May 31, 2016
First Day City: New York, New York
Quantity Issued: 40,000,000
Printed by: Ashton Potter (USA) Ltd.
Printing Method: Offset
Format: Panes of 16
Tagging: Nonphosphored type III, spot tag
Why the stamp was issued: To showcase Mercury, the first planet from the Sun, and the NASA efforts that have allowed us to see this planet up-close. To honor NASA’s space exploration efforts within our Solar System that have given us up-close images of every plant and – as of 2015 – dwarf planet Pluto.
About the stamp designs: Pictures an enhanced image of Mercury from the MESSENGER (MErcury Surface, Space ENvironment, GEochemistry and Ranging spacecraft) mission team at the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory.
First Day City: The First Day of Issue Ceremony was held at the Javits Center in New York City during the World Stamp Show 2016.
About the Views of Our Planets set: Eight stamps issued to honor NASA’s space exploration efforts within our Solar System that have given us up-close images of every planet and – as of 2015 – dwarf planet Pluto. Each stamp pictures one planet in our Solar System. According to the USPS, “Some show the planet’s ‘true’ color – what we might see with our own eyes if traveling through space. Others use colors to represent and visualize certain features of a planet based on imaging data. Still others use the near-infrared spectrum to show things that cannot be seen by the human eye in visible light.”
History the stamp represents: The closest planet to the Sun, Mercury’s orbit is the shortest at just 88 days. Ancient Romans observed its quick movement across the sky and named the planet after their messenger god.
Mercury has the solar system’s most eccentric orbit, ranging between 29 and 43 million miles from the Sun. This distance is still quite close – the Sun would appear more than three times larger than it does on Earth. Due to its close proximity, Mercury can reach temperatures up to 800 degrees Fahrenheit. But since the planet has almost no atmosphere to retain that heat, temperatures plunge to -290 degrees at night.
The surface of Mercury closely resembles Earth’s moon, covered by impact craters from meteoroids and comets. There are also large smooth areas and massive cliffs that formed when the planet’s interior cooled billions of years ago.
Mercury was first explored in 1974 by the Mariner 10 probe, which photographed about 45 percent of the planet’s surface. Then, between 2011 and 2015, the MESSENGER probe orbited the planet. A wealth of information was revealed, most notably, the possible presence of water ice on the north and south poles. Though the mission is complete, scientists continue to examine its data, unlocking new discoveries about our solar system’s smallest planet.
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