Orbit issue 99 (October 2013) by kiwi36

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Editorial

ISSN 0953 1599 THE JOURNAL OF THE ASTRO SPACE STAMP SOCIETY Issue No 99 October 2013

In this the last edition of the year and the one before the big century we once again publish a series of articles from contributors from all over the globe.

Patron: Cosmonaut Georgi Grechko, Hero of the Soviet Union

COMMITTEE

Our cover and major feature is about the old shuttle workhorse Discovery in what I hope will the first of a retrospectives from American member Bruce Cranford. The Italian editor of AdAstra our online sister paper Umberto Cavallaro goes into considerable detail in providing the back story to the much revised before being finally delivered Columbus laboratory-module. This backbone to our edition is supported by a fulsome article on the Syncom satellite series from our guest American Canadian team of Don Hillger and Gary Toth.

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:

Thanks to covers sent by Chinese member Ling Fugen we bring you up to date with the Chinese manned flight programme, whilst Dutch member Bert van Eijck contributes a couple of small articles and a big one on the Astronomer Eise Eisinga.

Eve Archer, Glebe Cottage, Speymouth, Fochabers, Moray. Scotland IV32 7LE (E-mail: orbitmag@aol.com)

Orbit : Editor Jeff Dugdale, Glebe Cottage, Speymouth, Fochabers, Moray. Scotland IV32 7LE (E-mail: jefforbited@aol.com)

Webmaster Derek Clarke, 36 Cherryfield Road, Walkinstown, 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)

Your editor himself contributes more about Classical Constellations and begins a review of Poland’s very substantial and sometimes prolific contributions to astrophilately and Japanese member Haruki Ikuro shows us the latest in the beautiful series of constellation stamps from his own country—a must for any astronomy collector.

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

The edition is complemented with a series of short sometimes quirky articles. Hope you enjoy it and if you want to say anything about the forthcoming 100th edition do please let me have it good time for that celebratory issue.

Life Members: UK - George Spiteri, Ian Ridpath, Margaret Morris, Michael Packham, Jillian Wood. Derek Clarke (Eire,) Charles Bromser (Australia.) Tom Baughn (U.S.A.,) Ross Smith

My best wishes to you.

www.astrospacestampsociety.com/

Copy Deadline for the January 2014 issue is December 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

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Chairman to Speak Later This Month in Scotland UFOs: Fact or Fantasy? Ian Ridpath Tues 29th October 7 p.m. Airdrie Library Entrance free. According to one estimate, around 100 UFOs are sighted world-wide every 24 hours - that's one every fifteen minutes. What is causing all of these reports? Are they, as believers claim, evidence of life on other planets? Or is there a more prosaic explanation? Join astronomer and writer Ian Ridpath as he traces the growth of the flying saucer myth since the first 'confirmed' sighting in 1947, and demonstrates some of the more common astronomical causes of UFO reports throughout recent history. Ian will also discuss the implication of formerly top-secret government documents recently released to the public, and will bring crucial first-hand evidence to bear on one of the most famous UFO cases of all time. A must for all space and astronomy enthusiasts!

In recent years Ian who has written on astronomy all his working life has established a reputation as a first class speaker, presenting a number of talks on cruise ships . He is a prominent sceptic on the subject of UFOs, as this talk will demonstrate.

Here are a few stamps to illustrate the “more prosaic explanations” for UFOs (such as Venus, the ISS, atmospheric phenomena and secret spacecraft) and others for some of the more lurid ones, which you’ll be relieved to know Ian does not support !!!

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Headline News and (sadly) News To Come from Bert van Eijck On 23rd July 2013 Australia Post issued a set of four self-adhesive stamps featuring key events that made headlines in Australia. One of these features the Apollo XI Moon landing with the headline “A Small Step—a Giant Leap” with a photo of Buzz Aldrin on the moon’s surface. (No such photo of Armstrong exists) The other three “headline stamps” depicted the end of the Second World War, The Devastating Hurricane Tracy in 1974 and the Winning of the America’s Cup Yacht Race in 1983, but if you want the Moon landing one unless you have friends in the Antipodes will have to buy the strip as below, costing around £4 inc postage from Australia Post or via a Delcampe.net dealer. Below two sides of the stamp booklet. (The Isle of Man had issued a similar set on 4th July 2013, including an Apollo XI stamp as below left).

Wubbo Ockels Announces His Terminal Illness. The first ever Dutch astronaut Wubbo Ockels is seriously ill and has predicted his death within two years, doing so both on radio and via Twitter in May. He has an aggressive form of kidney cancer with a metastasis in his lungs. The retired Professor in Space Technics at Delft University became the first astronaut of the Netherlands in October 1985, flying on Space Shuttle Challenger on mission STS 61-A a few months before the shuttle was lost in a launch catastrophe. Tall and moustachio’d, Ockels appears in the above crew photo back right and centre front in the photo used as indicia on the cover left. Below a photo of Ockels in 2007.

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FOUR ISLAMIC CONSTELLATIONS ON STAMPS Ian Ridpath Constellations are big; stamps are small. Shrinking a convincing diagram of a constellation to postage-stamp size is difficult. Over the years, several nations have tried, with greater or lesser degrees of success. One of my favourites is a set of four from Botswana released in 1972, depicting Orion, Scorpius, Centaurus and Crux. These were true miniature star charts, managing to compress scientific accuracy into the confines of a stamp. Another successful set from Mauritius in 2002 drew constellation outlines over real photographs of Sagittarius, Scorpius, Crux and Orion. I also like the ongoing series of constellation mini-sheets from Japan, with gold stars and holographic figures. It looks as though the Japanese sheets will cover all constellations in due course. But what I want to concentrate on in this article is an unusual set of four constellation stamps issued by Somalia in 1985. These stamps are difficult to find and it took me some years of searching before I was able to track them down from an online dealer. Four different constellations are depicted, although their identities may not be immediately recognizable. They are in fact Aquila, Taurus, Aries and Orion. The illustrations look unfamiliar because they come not from a regular star atlas but from a manuscript written over a thousand years ago titled The Book of the Fixed Stars. Its author was a Persian astronomer called Abd al-Rahman al-Sufi, usually known simply as al-Sufi, or sometimes by the Latinized form of his name, Azophi. There are some other quirks to the illustrations that I will come to later. First, some brief background about al-Sufi may be in order. He was the Arabic equivalent of the ancient Greek astronomer Ptolemy. In fact, al-Sufi’s book was a revision and updating of Ptolemy’s great treatise the Almagest, in which Ptolemy presented a catalogue of over a thousand stars divided into 48 constellations. Al-Sufi adopted Ptolemy’s 48 constellations, and he added an illustration of each, something that the Almagest notably lacked. These illustrations in alSufi’s book were, naturally enough, drawn in Arabic style. Al-Sufi’s book (actually a hand-written manuscript, as this was still long before the days of printing) appeared around AD 964. The original is long lost, but we have numerous copies of it. The oldest of these is reputed to have been made by his son only a couple of decades after al-Sufi’s death. It is held in the Bodleian Library, Oxford, where it is catalogued as manuscript Marsh 144. The illustrations on this set of Somali stamps are clearly copied from that manuscript. Most of the constellations in al-Sufi’s book were depicted twice, once as they appear in the sky and secondly as seen on a celestial globe. In the latter case they are seen in reverse, because on a celestial globe one is looking at the sky as though from a God-like

position beyond the stars. The four Somali stamps incorporate a mixture of views. Aquila and Orion are the right way round, as seen in the sky, although Aquila has south at the top. Taurus is shown back-to-front, as on a celestial globe. Both versions of Aries are shown, with the globe view at top. Some of the star images are in red, and some in black. This is as they appear on the original. Why two colours? On al-Sufi’s charts, the stars listed by Ptolemy in a given constellation are drawn as red dots with black labelling. Ptolemy also listed some additional stars as lying outside some of the main constellation figures – he called these ‘unformed’ stars. On the al-Sufi charts, these unformed stars are in black with red numbers. In addition, al-Sufi added some stars from his own observations, and these were shown in black without accompanying numbers. Examples of all three types of star symbol can be seen on the Taurus stamp. Al-Sufi’s Book of the Fixed Stars was a landmark in astronomy. It became the standard constellation handbook for many centuries, inspiring the development of Arabic astronomy and eventually aiding the transmission of Greek astronomy back into the West. These stamps offer a way of owning a facsimile of a small part of this history. I have written more about al-Sufi and his book on my web page here: http://www.ianridpath.com/startales/alsufi.htm Ian Ridpath, Chairman, Astro Space Stamp Society

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Columbus

SPACELAB experience. But things were going slowly and Italy – or rather Aeritalia – led the field and launched a twofold strategy, based on two very ambitious developments for the Station: on one hand the European Laboratory Columbus, attached to the Station, to be implemented under the ESA umbrella and on the other hand, the MPLM, to be implemented on the NASA-ASI (Italian Space Agency) bilateral basis.

by Umberto Cavallaro

The European Laboratory-Module Columbus, that represented a crucial focal point in defining the European space strategy, progressively took shape, along a complex and troubled path that crossed more than a quarter of a century, passing through much rethinking which led to the initial conception of Alpha, the design of the Freedom Space Station and finally to the implementation of the ISS of which Columbus became an integral part. On its development have even impacted the two Shuttle tragedies and historical international events such as the fall of the Berlin Wall.

We will deal with this second programme in a future article. First let’s focus on Columbus. As Prof. Ernesto Vallerani recalls, ”German Companies involved in Spacelab were still too busy with the final phases of the programme and ESA, though showing interest in the proposals, gave the impression of being more worried about its own position in the medium-term missions than committed in the long-term plans. “It was evident that without a strong German presence it was not possible to promote a European post-Spacelab plan. I started to envisage an Italian-German Laboratory, derived from the pressurised Spacelab module. We had to form an Aeritalia-Erno alliance, involve the relevant Italian and German Ministries for Research, work out a proposal and then bring a preliminary project to ESA like the French did with Ariane programme, conceived by CNES. With this in mind, in mid 1982, I contacted Manfred Fuchs, then responsible for future activities in Erno, who liked the idea”.

Actions to address the “post-Spacelab” era and to define future developments started six years before the launch of Spacelab-1. The meeting called by ESA in Paris in October 1977, on the topic “Hints for a Development from Spacelab to Space Station” fired the enthusiasm of the main European companies involved in the Spacelab deal. Even more interested were American Companies, mainly the ones that had lost the Spacelab competition. In this atmosphere preliminary contacts between ESA and NASA to prepare the European participation to the programme of the American Space Station Freedom began. The space station, whatever would be its configuration and operational goal, would need a “logistics” system to transfer from Earth the required supplies for its upkeep in orbit and for its maintenance, including fuel, spare parts and experiments.

The original idea was a European laboratory able to grow in dimension and to gain some autonomy from the Space Station and become itself a sort of self-standing European mini-space-station. Actually the system – essentially conceived of as two modules: the pressurized module built under Italian responsibility, and the resource module, built under German responsibility – could be detached from the station and become a “Man Tended Free Flyer” (MTFF), i.e. a free-flying independent module, orbiting together with, and in the proximity of the station itself that could be visited by the crew at given intervals, offering high levels of microgravity, thanks to its separation from the large American Freedom Station exposed to disturbances caused by the presence of humans. According to this project, astronauts would access the laboratory only for maintenance and to recover the products and the results of the experiments. Once consolidated the preliminary design and once defined costs and timeline, Italian and German delegations jointly proposed to ESA the “Europeanization” of the project and transferred to ESA the responsibility of completing both design and implementation. Germany and Italy would commit to support the programme respectively with the share of 35% and 25%, and keep the project leadership.

Spacelab became the Basic Building Block or B3 of the Space Station. “The pressurized modules derived from Spacelab” – recalls Prof. Vallerani – “looked like being the ideal vehicles, the natural candidate on which to base future projects, particularly when Shuttle was involved. This transition phase was experienced in Aeritalia as a stimulating opportunity: Aeritalia was in fact seeking a position in the international scenario that better reflected its current experience and allowed to fully capitalize efforts and investments lavished in the development of Spacelab”. During the preliminary contacts, NASA tabled the opportunity for Europe to deal with the logistic system for supporting the Station: transferring, storing, etc. European interests centred however on the “laboratory module” connected to the Station as a natural extension of the A version of this article first appeared in the December 2012 issue of AdAstra and is reproduced by kind permission of the author.

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The success of the first flight of Spacelab, in November 1983 increased the enthusiasm and the commitment to go on with the project. In his speech to the Nation, on January 24th, 1984 President Reagan announced the decision to start the implementation of the Freedom Space Station and opened to international cooperation. Deliberately echoing Kennedy’s commitment over twenty years before, President Reagan announced that he was directing NASA “to develop a permanently manned space station and to do it within a decade”. Rivalry with the Soviet Union was as evident in 1984 as it was in 1961. The project was a “demonstration of free world leadership”, Indeed the Space Station was eventually named Freedom. This speech had the effect of speeding up the process of europeanization of Columbus, as ESA had no real alternative vs. the Italian-German proposal that, moreover, was funding 60% of the deal. Estimated cost: 2600 MAU (approx 2,6 billion Euro). France and UK took a share in the deal, with the commitment of 15% each.

The project presented in ESA in 1985 integrated 3 components: (1) a pressurized laboratory-module (Attached Pressurized Module - APM) that, associated to the Resource module, would at least temporarily form a first component of the European space station; (2) One or more automatic Mantended Free-Flyer (MTFF) platforms isolated and independent from the space station; (3) A service vehicle periodically flying to the station for maintenance and reconfiguration purposes (Hermes). France, through CNES, took over the management of the Hermes project and of data processing system, to be provided by Matra (Astrium-F). The operation was initially planned to start-up in 1992, on the 500th anniversary of the Discovery of America and the programme was dubbed Columbus, after Christopher Columbus, thus highlighting that 500 years after the discovery of 7

Cover designed by the American artist Jim Roth (Mission Fiftyseven – USA), whom we thank for the authorization to reproduce the item.

the New World, the Nations of Europe were embarking on a new discovery mission in space. The mission emblem recalls the connection of the space shuttle mission that carries on into space with the exploration started by the Columbus’ Caravels. Allegedly the name of Columbus was suggested by the name of the Columbus Hotel that, in the heart of Bremen, had become a sort of headquarters for Italian employees of Aeritalia who – while working on Spacelab – sojourned there during the long integration phase of the modules produced in Turin (Italy) and integrated in Bremen. The Challenger tragedy – which at the beginning of 1986 required a sharp break on all space activities – caught Columbus in the very critical phase of programme definition. Discussions on the value of the European participation to the American project were reopened again. Under French pressure the idea of European autonomy was reinvigorated and, at the Hague Conference (October 1987) resulted in the proposal of developing the MTFF module (under German responsibility) seen as a component tied to the Ariane launcher, in the development phase at that time, ready to become man-rated. France insisted in considering the three components as parts of a threefold project consisting of Laboratory module, Ariane launcher and Hermes mini-shuttle. Even in Italy Columbus was tied with Hermes, as shown in a rare Italian space-themed stamp – actually a “Europa 1991” issue – that features Columbus and Hermes flying in space. The ESA/NASA negotiation for the European participation highlighted a basic disagreement: according to the American vision Columbus was seen as an “integrated module” of the Space Station, while the Europeans tended

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The Hermes minishuttle, is an essential component integrated – in the French view – with Ariane and Columbus Above: two French commemorative covers from the collection of Luc Delmon (France). On the left, the special postmark used in Paris in 1990.

Germany, APM serviced by Italy and Hermes managed by France. One of the three had to be sacrificed. After recurring budget reductions, finally the Hermes project was cut and MTFF was delayed to 1999. What remained out of the threefold Columbus programme was the APM project, under Italian responsibility, first named "Columbus Orbital Facility" (COF), and then renamed just Columbus.

to see it as an “Attached Module” which could then be detached and gain the autonomy all along pursued by Europe. In the Memorandum of Understanding between NASA, ESA, Canada and Japan for the development and use of the Freedom Space Station – finally signed in Washington on September 29th 1988 – the Columbus laboratory is mentioned as a major issue of the agreement.

In order to maintain its leadership, Germany demanded that each partner reduce accordingly their contribution and invented the concept of PICA or Pre-Integrated Columbus APM that – on one hand – left to Alenia the overall responsibility of the global configuration of Columbus and of the implementation of the engineering and mechanical systems, including the survival systems and – on the other hand – reopened the plays for EADS Astrium Space Transportation, as programme manager and overall coordinator, directly responsible for avionics systems and data management.

Soon the UK reported serious problems in maintaining its commitment and was forced to resign from the Columbus programme. The last years of the 80s were definitely hard ones. Even international events and major historical challenges like the Fall of the Berlin Wall had an impact on the Columbus programme. Western Germany faced with the unexpected opportunity of reunifying the two Germanies – and their markets – decided like a shot to pour out its financial resources in the operation of recovering the Eastern economy, so reducing investment in other areas. Space programmes paid the price, and, in particular, Columbus. Germany announced for the decade 1990- 2000 a budget reduction by 15-20%. It was immediately clear that it would not be possible anymore to maintain the three projects: MTFF leaded by

Events in those years were leading to opening the frontiers to the former Soviet countries. The USSR had a renowned experience in space with 8000 days logged in the Space Station, compared with 2400 of Americans and a few dozen days by European astronauts. In 1993 even Russia entered in the consortium of the Space Station. 8

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Design and cost constraints resulted, towards the end of 1994, in adopting for Columbus the structure of the MiniPressurised Logistics Module (MPLM) implemented in Italy by ASI/Alenia, with the related subsystems. Such approach allowed a reduction in the size of the module so that it could be launched aboard the Space Shuttle, thus definitely giving up with Ariane and the free-flyer configuration.

Learned from the experience of the Spacelab programme – when the Europeans, after designing and implementing the module, had been in fact excluded from every support to the missions and from the deal of the maintenance that, in due course, would represent an amount of work far more significant, compared with designing and implementing the modules themselves – this time ESA had prepared in time an articulated earth infrastructure system able to properly support Columbus missions.

In order to further reduce costs (and make room for new Members) at the beginning of 1995 the decision was taken of reuse the Russian Data Management System planned for the Service Module. As a compensation for the launch costs of Columbus aboard Shuttle, ESA committed itself to build and provide Node-2 and Node-3, on the basis of the MPLM modules implemented in Italy, and other structures for the global value of 250 million Euros. Russian delays in delivering their components led in early 1997 to the decision of delaying the launch of COF to 2002. Several reasons (including the reduction of the flights of Shuttle from 9 to 7 per year) forced to further shift the Columbus launch to 2003 and then to 2004.

Since 1985 Italy, responsible a for designing and implementing the Columbus APM – the only one which survived, as seen before, to the budget cuts of the early „90s – presented itself as candidate for establishing in Turin the APM Centre, able to support the operational life of the European Laboratory, then envisaged for thirty years, and provide all the collateral required activities, such as the payloads‟ preparation and the astronauts‟ training. Considering the major contribution of Italy to the project, the proposal was agreed and approved by ESA and activities started for preparing the CCC in Turin – in connection with

In September 2001 the pre-integrated PICA module was loaded on an Airbus Beluga carrier and delivered from Alenia (Turin) to EADS (Bremen) for the integration with the avionic components and the electrical wiring and for the final tests. Unfortunately the Columbia STS-107 tragedy – that in early 2003 again stopped every space activity for more than 18 months – delayed once more the launch date.

Houston – and collecting relevant data and info, studying Missions’ requirements and procedures. A new structure, later named ALTEC (Advanced Logistics Technology Engineering Center) was set-up in cooperation with ASI (Italian Space Agency) and actually started operations in mid-90s, on the occasion of the historical docking of Shuttle Atlantis STS-71 with MIR.

The long and tormented vicissitudes of Columbus had come to a head the issue of the Columbus Control Centre (CCC).

As, with the cancellation of MTFF, German partners were deprived of the possibility to set-up in Bremen a similar

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MTFF support centre, the internal allocation of tasks within the consortium was again called into question. The new enforced break, after the Columbia tragedy, provided the room for reopening the argument on the CCC which resulted in the agreement, signed on March 31st 2003, by which ESA – with a contract of 37,7 million Euros – established the CCC (Columbus Control Center) at the DLR (Deutsches Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt) in Oberpfaffenhofen (near Munich, Germany). On May 28th 2006 Columbus module was loaded aboard an Airbus A300-600 “Beluga‟ at Bremen aiport, (see photo and cover right) and delivered to the Kennedy Space Center. After several further delays, the launch of Columbus aboard Shuttle Atlantis (mission STS-122) was defined for early December 2007 and, after a few shifts for technical reasons, happily concluded its long high hurdles and lifted-off on February 7th 2008. On February 11th the shuttle docked with the ISS, then under the command of Peggy Whitson, the first female commander in the history of the ISS. Connected with Node -2 Harmony, produced in Italy, Columbus is now integrated in the ISS and offers also to Europe the opportunity of “working in the stars” as Americans, Russians and Japanese do. Acknowledgments Many thanks for witnesses and provision of documents and materials to Prof. Ernesto Vallerani, Ing. Dino Brondolo (Thales Alenia Space), Danilo Bogoni (USFI), Luc Delmon (F), Jim Roth (USA).

Finally also Europeans have on ISS their own space multifunctional laboratory for scientific research and the performance of long-term experiments in microgravity condition, in various disciplines, from biology to physics, to material sciences.

A Doubly Dispiriting Experience During a visit to Brighton in July your editor chanced upon the premises of GUstamps, where the wind was taken out of his sails by the proprietor, who told him (a complete stranger) that what he was collecting was wrong and he should be investing what money he had in a number of GB

presentation packs which he named. Your ed. thanked the gent for his advice, bought some covers and left. Later on examining the GUstamps ad in STAMP for August 2013 your ed also noted how little thematic material is valued by this firm, in particular the astro-space material below, but also the music item in the left hand column. Rather sad— isn’t it ? On the other hand a really good one-off bargain !

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Discovery OV-103 A short history

by Bruce Cranford

The accomplishments of Space Shuttle Discovery (OV103), are commemorated in many different ways. This article focuses on the philatelic community and how they commemorate Discovery’s Achievements using space covers. The cancellation date on figure 1 is August 30, 1984, which is the date of the first STS Discovery Launch. The location is the Kennedy Space Center United States post office located at KSC where STS Discovery was launched. Also on the cover are, the mission insignia of the first STS Discovery mission STS-41-D and a brief description of the mission. Figure 1 STS 41-D, Discovery OV 103, first launch Figure 2 Discovery OV-103, last flight landing at KSC—STS-133

The last Discovery space flight ended on March 9, 2011 at KSC as shown in figure 2. For each of the 39 Discovery mission, numerous space covers were made that commemorate the event including the date and Earth location. Examples include Discovery launching and placing in orbit the Hubble Space Telescope, as with figure 3 below.

Figure 4.The space cover below has a dual cancellation : February 20, 1962 for John Glenn’s first space flight in Mercury 7, and his second flight this time on board STS-95 Discovery

Another event in which Discovery was involved was thereturn to space of Astronaut/Senator John Glenn, on STS-95 October 29, 1998 : figure 4 opposite. John Glenn was the first American to orbit the earth in space on February 20, 1962 in the Mercury 7 capsule. The Apollo programme played an important role in Space Shuttle space covers. During it, some envelopes were carried by the Apollo crews and cancelled on the Moon or were carried into space and cancelled back on earth. Some of these items are displayed at the National Postal Museum. This caused great concern especially within NASA when these space covers were made public and sold for tens of thousands of dollars by the astronauts, their representatives or re-sellers. As a result, NASA now prohibits the carrying of philatelic material into space on

U.S. Spacecraft, with one exception. On STS-8, the USPS sent 260,000 space covers into space and later sold them to the public. The stories behind this are long and convoluted, filled with intrigue, lost reputations and will not be covered here. 11

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Now, lets move to another country, Russia and learn how they commemorated Discovery ! Yes, the Russians do commemorate American as well as Russian accomplishments in space using space covers. The Russians actually fly a few of their covers into space and cancel them on the International Space Station (ISS). I have chosen one such cover, shown in figure 5, (right) which was cancelled on the ISS at the same time STS-133 Discovery (on its last mission) was docked to the ISS, between February 26, 2011 and March 7, 2011. The STS-133 crew consisted of Alvin Drew, Nicole Stott, Eric Boe, Steven Lindsey, Michael Barratt and Steve Bowen. Salient features of the space cover are discussed in Appendix 1 figure 7. Notice the cancellation dates. Russia uses the DD/Month/YY/Time cancellation format. The Russian space cover may have been transported to the ISS on Soyuz TMA-01M. The blue circle cancellation with a graphic of the ISS and dated 07 MAP 2011 (March 07, 2011) is the Russian ISS cancellation. The actual cancellation die was produced by RKK Energia, the manufacturer of EnergiaBuran Space Transportation System, the Russian counterpart to the U.S.shuttle.

Figure 5 With Discovery docked to the International Space Station, Russia produced a special space cover cancelled on board the ISS and autographed by the ISS Expedition 25-26 Crew. Shown is the insignia for Expedition 26. For a detailed identification of the important parts of the space cover see Figure 5 Appendix 1

National Air and Space Museum (NASM). However, NASM already had the space shuttle Enterprise and was required to relinquish ownership to another museum of NASA’s choosing—the Intrepid Museum in New York, NY.

Discovery was destined to be placed on display at the Smithsonian’s NASM, Stephen F. Udvar-Hazy Center, located on the ground of Dulles International Airport, Chantilly Va, about 30 miles west of Washington, D.C. Discovery was flown from KSC on the specially modified 747 on April 17, 2012. (This configuration is shown on a 1998 US stamp). Before landing at Dulles International Airport, A word of explanation about the difference between the the shuttle was flown around STS crews and the expedition crews. The STS crews were Washington, D.C. creating many flown the STS from the Kennedy Space Center to the ISS and wonderful photo opportunities. return. Missions lasted up to 16 days. The ISS crews were flown to the ISS on either the STS or Soyuz and may stay on After landing, Discovery was lifted off the 747 with two large the station for up to 6 months. The Russian space cover was industrial cranes and placed on the ground. On April 19, returned to earth on Soyuz TMA-01M, on March 16, 2011 2012, the craft was towed across Dulles Airport, creating along with the Expedition 25 Crew of Scott Kelly, NASA, (STS quite a sight, delivered to the Udvar-Hazy Center and placed 103 Discovery), Aleksandr Kaleri, RSA, and Oleg Skripochka, on display that day. Enterprise was towed out to make room RSA. for Discovery, which is now displayed for visitors from around the world who wish to see the oldest and most The U.S. Space covers shown in figures 1 through 4 were traveled space shuttle in the world. acquired from vendors in the U.S. The Russian space cover shown in figure 5 was acquired from a vendor in Austria The history of Discovery is summarized in Appendix 2. The who purchased it from a vendor in Moscow who purchased cover, figure 6, (top of next page) commemorates the it from Cosmonaut Oleg Skripochka, RSA. delivery of Discovery to the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum Stephen F. Udvar-Hazy Center. A detailed Currently, Russia is the only country sending mail in the explanation of the space cover is given in appendix 3 figure form of envelopes to the ISS. Many of these space covers 8. are sold on the international markets. This may change as other countries fly to the ISS. Enterprise was towed across Dulles Airport and placed on the special 747 and flown to Kennedy International Airport in New York for delivery to the Intrepid Museum. A New Home The space cover appendix 1 figure 7, was autographed by the ISS Expedition 25 crew: Aleksandr Kaleri, RSA, Oleg Skripochka, RSA, and Scott J. Kelly, NASA, and Expedition 26 crew Dmitri Kondratyev, RSA, Catherine Coleman, NASA, Paolo Nespoli, ESA, Italy. Yes, that is Scott Kelly is the twin brother of Mark Kelly (STS-121 Discovery) the husband of Congresswoman Gabrielle "Gabby" Giffords.

After intense competition between many museums, NASA decided to give Discovery OV-103 to the Smithsonian 12

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Figure 6 Space Cover commemorating the arrival and delivery of Space Shuttle Discovery to the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum.

Present Location of all the Space Shuttles: - Atlantis, Kennedy Space Center, Space Commerce Way, Merritt Island, FL 32953 - Challenger, Cape Canaveral, FL (interred)

- Columbia, Kennedy Space Center, FL (interred) - Discovery, National Air and Space Museum Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center, 14390 Air and Space Museum Parkway, Chantilly, VA 20151 - Endeavour, California Science Center, 700 Exposition Park Drive, Los Angeles, CA 90037 - Enterprise, Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum, W 46th St & 12th Ave, New York, NY 10036

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Appendix 2, Space Shuttle Discovery space flight History, Satellite delivery and retrieval, Department of Defense, scientific, Hubble Space Telescope, Mir, and space station assembly, crew exchange, and resupply missions Three Hubble Space Telescope missions: deployment (1990) servicing (1997, 1999) Highest crew count: 246 First non-astronaut to fly on space shuttle, Charles Walker (1984) Flown aboard Discovery: Sen. Jake Garn (1985) and Sen. John Glenn (1998) Served as Return-to-Flight vehicle after Challenger and Columbia tragedies (1988, 2005) Flown by first African American commander, Frederick Gregory (1989) Piloted by first female spacecraft pilot, Eileen Collins (1995), and by Pamela Melroy on her first flight as pilot (2000) Flew 100th shuttle mission (2000) Flown by both women commanders, Eileen Collins (2005) and Pamela Melroy (2006) Made first visit to Mir, rendezvous without docking (1995) Made final docking visit to Mir space station (1998) Made first docking with International Space Station (1999) Delivered trusses, Harmony node, Kibo laboratory module,

Robonaut2, Leonardo module, and tons of supplies to International Space Station (1999-2011) 8 communications satellite delivery flights (1984-1989, 1995) 4 Department of Defense flights (1985-1992) 9 flights with science labs, instruments, probes as primary payloads (1990-1998) 3 Hubble Space Telescope flights (1990 deployment and 2 servicing visits, 1997, 1999) 2 flights to Russian space station Mir (1995, 1998) 13 flights to the International Space Station (1999-2011) By its last mission, Discovery had flown 149 million miles (238 million km) in 39 missions, completed 5,830 orbits, and spent 365 days in orbit in over 27 years. Discovery is the Orbiter Fleet leader, having flown more flights than any other Orbiter Shuttle in the fleet, including four in 1985 alone. Discovery flew all three "return to flight" missions after the Challenger and Columbia disasters: STS -26 in 1988, STS-114 in 2005, and STS-121 in 2006. Discovery flew the third to last mission of the Space Shuttle programme, STS-133, having launched on (NET) February 24, 2011. Endeavour flew aboard STS-134 and Atlantis performed STS135, NASA's last Space Shuttle mission. On February 24, 2011, Space Shuttle Discovery launched from Kennedy Space Center's Launch Complex 39-A to begin its final orbital flight. [NASM 1]

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Below launch covers for the first and last mission of shuttle Discovery

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A handful of the astronauts who flew on shuttle Discovery

From top to bottom Patrick Baudry (41G 1983, Roberta Bondar and Ulf Merbold (-42 1992), Mary Weber (-70 1995) and John Glenn (-95 1998)

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The Syncom Publicity Image and the Early Syncom Satellites By Don Hillger and Garry Toth The Syncom (SYNchronous COMmunications) satellites were among the first geostationary satellites and were the forerunners of the Early Bird/Intelsat system that continues to this day. The Syncom spacecraft were built by the Hughes Space and Communications Company and launched by NASA. They provided the first communications via satellite between the USA and Africa.

NASA's Syncom photo (below) was created by Bob Special, a NASA technician at Cape Kennedy. The mockup was expertly put together from everyday materials to look like Syncom, and as already mentioned was photographed for publicity purposes. The first figure compares the publicity image (on the left) with a Syncom reference image (on the right). One striking difference is the actual cone-shaped nozzle extending outward from the apogee motor, which is larger than the one in the publicity photo. Postal items with the publicity image always show the “bottom” of the satellite and so reproduce many of the details found there, whereas in the other group the Syncom satellites are generally viewed from the side.

Syncom-1, 2, and 3 were launched between 1963 and 1964. Syncom-2 was the world's first geosynchronous communications satellite: it had an orbital period of 24 hours, the same as the rotation period of the Earth. Syncom-3 was the world's first geostationary satellite. To be geostationary, a satellite must The publicity photo shows a be geosynchronous and orbit flame coming out of above the equator, so that it NASA publicity image for the first Syncom Syncom's apogee motor. has no apparent motion with launch (at left); reference image of Syncom, This was probably to make respect to the Earth. This with a noticeably larger apogee motor nozzle the image more dramatic. allows ground-based antennas (at right). To enhance the publicity image with the apogee to remain stationary as they motor flame, a double exposure was used, adding a flame point to the satellite. from an acetylene torch to the area beneath the spacecraft. (The later Syncom-4 series, also known as Leasat (LEAsed Most philatelic items with the publicity photo contain this SATellite), were launched via the Space Shuttle in the 1980s. flame, though a few have eliminated it, as will be noted Those Shuttle-deployed satellites are not covered in this below. article, however). Finally, a third exposure was used to add stars to the While collecting Syncom postal items, the authors noted that background of the publicity image. The light spots were there seemed to be two different types of depictions. One holes in a piece of cardboard painted appropriately dark. group matched closely the available reference images of the The stars simulate a view of the satellite in space, something Syncom satellites, while a second group showed some not captured in real photographs of satellites, which are identifiable differences from the first group. Those taken on Earth before their launch. differences were not great but were consistent enough that it seemed possible that in fact two different satellites were Examples of more-realistic images of being depicted. This was a mystery until it was discovered Syncom on postal items that the second group had an unexpected common source: a Syncom mockup that was the source of photographs used In this section are presented a few of the more realistic nonfor publicity purposes. publicity representations of Syncom, for comparison with the examples of postal items with the publicity image that The Syncom publicity image will follow. The publicity image of Syncom was produced to accompany the first Syncom launch on 14 February 1963. Many renditions of this image are found on postal items not only for Syncom, but also for the similar Early Bird (also known as Intelsat-1) which was the first of the follow-on Intelsat series.

A good non-publicity image is shown on a stamp from Guinea Republic (Scott 604, Michel 622) issued in 1972 for World Telecom’s Day (WTD). Note the lower profile (thinner cylinder) and the much larger apogee motor nozzle than in the publicity image. Also, the bottom of the 18

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For many other examples of non-publicity images of Syncom and Early Bird on postal items, see the authors’ website (URL at the end of this article). It highlights the postal items that reproduce the Syncom publicity photo. All other items contain the more realistic, non-publicity images of Syncom.

The Syncom publicity image on postage stamp and sheets

spacecraft is “cleaner”, with fewer small attachments. Another example is an imperforate souvenir sheet issued by Jordan in 1965 (Scott 521E, Michel B27, above). In this image, the motor flame is present, unlike most non-publicity versions of Syncom. Also, the top of the satellite can be seen, something not shown in the publicity image. Finally, the radial antennas on the bottom of the spacecraft appear to be more perpendicular to the spacecraft spin axis, as opposed to more in line with the satellite axis on the publicity and Syncom reference images. Philatelic reproductions of artificial satellites are sometimes done with a certain degree of artistic license. As already mentioned, the Syncom publicity image was at times used to represent the Early Bird satellite as well. Two examples of more-realistic depictions of Early Bird follow. A nice drawing of Early Bird is seen on stamp from Guinea Republic (Scott 606, Michel 624) issued as part of the same 1972 WTD set as the Guinea Republic stamp showing Syncom presented above. Early Bird was taller (0.6 m) than Syncom (0.4 m), but had a diameter (0.7 m) similar to Syncom. The smaller aspect ratio (width to height) of the Syncom can often be used to distinguish Early Bird from Syncom. Early Bird is also seen on a stamp from Panama (Scott C366, Michel 1143) issued in 1969. Both items appear to have a smaller apogee motor nozzle than Syncom, at least with respect to the overall satellite size.

Some postal items with the most detailed images of the Syncom publicity image will be shown next. For other items containing smaller versions of the Syncom publicity image, see the authors’ website.

Two reproductions of the Syncom publicity image are found on similar items from Ajman (Michel 257) and Manama (Michel 87), both from 1968. Text on the stamps indicates that these were supposed to represent Early Bird, but the image is clearly a reproduction of the Syncom publicity image complete with the flame from the apogee motor. A centenary of the International Telecommunications Union (ITU) stamp from Cameroun (Scott C54, Michel 427), issued in 1965, has a Syncom publicity image, but without all the detail on the bottom of the spacecraft. Nor does it have the flame from the apogee motor. However, several souvenir sheets issued by Comoro Islands in 1976 for the centenary of the telephone have the Syncom publicity image complete with flame bottom details in their upper margins. Only one of those sheets (Scott 200a, Michel BL42) is shown, as all the others have identical margin images.

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Common design stamps: Comoro Islands (Scott C14, Michel 67); French Polynesia (Scott C33, Michel 44); French Southern and Antarctic Territories (Scott C8, Michel 32); New Caledonia (Scott C40, Michel 412); New Hebrides (French) (Scott 124-125, Michel 210-211); St. Pierre and Miquelon (Scott C29, Michel 412); Somali Coast (Scott C36, Michel 365); Wallis and Futuna Islands (Scott C20, Michel 207), all from 1965

Next, an entire set of common design stamps from 1965 is shown, all with the Syncom publicity image. These stamps were issued by 8 countries for the ITU centenary; the two from New Hebrides (French) (Scott 124-125, Michel 210211) have a slightly elevated image of the satellite to incorporate additional text at the bottom of the stamps. All 8 of these items incorporate the Syncom publicity image, using a variety of colours not only for the satellite, but also for the starry background. None of the images have a flame from the apogee motor. A stamp issued by Equatorial Guinea (Michel 835) in 1976 for the telephone centenary has the Syncom publicity image with a flame. A block of 4 of this item is shown.

Malagasy Republic issued a stamp (Scott 1539b, Michel 2492) with the Syncom publicity image in 2000, many years after most of the other stamps in this article. A stamp issued by Mauritania (Scott C35, Michel 230) in 1964 does not have an explicit flame, but rather a long curved trail leading away from the satellite. A similar trail will be found on another postal item to follow. The Syncom publicity image on a 1965 stamp from Niger (Scott 214, Michel 380) has no flame, but a 1967 stamp from Paraguay (Scott 1046, Michel 1762) has the flame.

In 1966, Kathiri State of Seiyun issued two stamps (Michel 85 and 88) from a set of stamps showing several early communications satellites. The image of Syncom is the publicity version with the usual apogee motor flame. The satellite base is â&#x20AC;&#x153;cleanâ&#x20AC;?.

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In 1966 Paraguay issued two stamps (Scott 997-998, Michel 1653-1654) with similar design, supposedly showing not only Syncom-1, 2, and 3, but also Early Bird. All satellites are represented by the same Syncom publicity image (though the Early Bird is drawn with a higher aspect ratio than the three Syncoms), and all with the same orientation, with the bottom slightly tilted up, unlike most uses of the publicity image. No flames were used in these reproductions. A stamp from St. Thomas and Prince Islands (Scott 511, Michel 577) issued in 1979 for WTD has the Syncom publicity image with the bottom tilted up and a flame from the apogee motor. Senegal’s contribution (Scott C39, Michel 290) from 1964 has a vertical format that is similar to the large group of common design stamps already mentioned. And like those stamps, the Syncom publicity image on the Senegal stamp has no flame. A set of 5 stamps from Togo (Scott 516520, Michel 457-461) issued in 1965 for the ITU centenary has a smaller rendition of the full-featured Syncom publicity image, in various colours.

Finally, a 1979 stamp from Wallis and Futuna Islands (Scott C90, Michel 342) has a large multi-color version of the Syncom publicity image with a flame. However, “Eole” (like Aiolos, the Greek god of the winds) is in the text of the stamp. In addition to referring to wind, Eole is the name of a different satellite from the early 1970s, as well as the name for a system of high-altitude balloons from that same time period, so the reason for the use of the word “Eole” on this item is not clear. Possibly the designers simply misidentified the satellite in the stamp as the satellite from the early 1970s.

Syncom publicity image on other postal items A couple First Day Covers (FDCs) also show the Syncom publicity image, even though their stamps do not show Syncom. The first item is a cachet on an ITU centenary FDC from Gabon (Scott 180, Michel 221) from 1965. For this image the flame is replaced with a long curved trail, similar to one that was observed on the stamp from Mauritania already mentioned.

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A second item is a cachet (possibly by Sarzin) on another ITU centenary FDC, this time from New Zealand (Scott 370, Michel 439) from 1965. The image is the Syncom publicity image complete with the apogee motor flame.

All other known launch covers that show Syncom or Intelsat have cachets with images other than the publicity image.

Additional online information A checklist of postal items showing Syncom is available at http://rammb.cira.colostate.edu/dev/hillger/Syncom.htm. The authors would like to hear from anyone who knows of additional postal items that may have been missed. The online information will be updated whenever new details are provided. E-mail correspondence with the authors is welcomed. Biographical notes

Syncom publicity image on launch covers Two launch covers have been found that show the Syncom publicity image. The first one has a Sarzin metallic cachet and was issued for the launch of Syncom-2. The cachet design is very similar to that on the last FDC that was mentioned.

The authors have researched and written extensively on the subjects of weather, climate, and un-manned satellites on stamps and covers. See http://rammb.cira.colostate.edu/dev/hillger/ stamp-articles.htm Don Hillger, PhD, is a research meteorologist with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and holds a cooperative position at Colorado State University. Send correspondence to don.hillger@colostate.edu Garry Toth, MSc, now retired, worked many years at the Meteorological Service of Canada. Send correspondence to gmt.varia@gmail.com

ASTEROIDS Some Bits and Pieces

This beautiful card of Griffith Observatory in USA was sent to me by Eleanor Coker from Kent, England who used to translate in the past my stories for Orbit, earlier published in Dutch magazines, and since that time we have become pen friends, writes Bert van Eijck.

Another satellite launch cover, this time for Lani Bird (or Intelsat 2-2), has a full-featured Syncom publicity image in the cachet. Lani Bird was the third satellite in the Intelsat series that grew out of the early Syncom series.

Griffith Observatory has been a major Los Angeles landmark since 1935. Visited by nearly two million people each year it ranks as one of the top tourist attractions of Southern California, tells us the reverse of the card. It sits on the southern slope of Mount Hollywood where it commands a stunning view of the Los Angeles basin below. The Griffith Observatory provides information on astronomy and related sciences to the public. The name of the observatory comes from Colonel Griffith J. Griffith who donated 3015 acres of land to the City of Los Angeles in 1896 to build on it an observatory and planetarium for the public.

The Ties that Bind me to my Hobby !! from Bert van Eijck Most of us – as ASSS members – are collecting in philately. We are specializing in stamps (all kinds), covers (launch or flown), cancellations (ordinary or special), postal stationery (with imprinted stamp) or perhaps maximum cards. All with the themes Astronomy and/or Space Travel, because that is what our society is all about But you can collect astro in many other ways too e.g. cigarette cards, postcards, matchboxes etc. So that’s why I am showing here in pictures something completely different . These astro collectables are….ties. Ordinary ties, most made of silk or polyester with imprinted space objects. Companies are mostly the principals, but also societies with astro as their main business. Here are pictured together six astro ties: *Space Shuttles in silver+stars, dark blue, created for Smithsonian Institution, Washington D.C., USA. *Halley’s Comet 1933-1993 in silver, created by Bromfield, Halliford & Summer, Shoreham-by Sea, Sussex, England. *Spacelab ERNO (Space Contractor in Bremen, Germany), silver on dark blue, created by Alberta Company. *Spacephil’85, rocket+ESA logo as a stamp, light blue on dark blue, created for astro-exhibition, organized by RFC Nederland= Dutch sister society of ASSS. *IRAS in red on dark blue+model satellite IRAS= Infra Red Astronomical Satellite of The Netherlands, created by Cravat Club, The Hague. *Early rocket+three stars, yellow on dark blue, created for British Interplanetary Society (BIS) as logo, by Twinzine, Macclesfield, Cheshire, England. The second photo shows three ties. Whilst only one relates to philately, the other two are interesting as well. In the middle we see all kind of colorful stamps on light blue silk. These are from Sweden, issued by and created for the Swedish Post Office. One of the stamps is for the famous astronomer Tycho Brahe. Left: A tie of the National Maritime Museum in Greenwich, England with anchors in yellow on dark blue. Right: A tie from The Scotch Whisky Heritage Centre in Edinburgh, Scotland with its logo on dark blue polyester. Finally a photo of the author himself with in his right arm a copy of our magazine ORBIT and – peculiarly - not with an ordinary tie, but with a bow-tie….

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Shenzhou 8—Tiangong 1– Shenzhou 9 Covers In November 2011, the unmanned SZ8 rendezvoused and docked with the Tiangong space station.

Below 2011 postal stationery with imprinted stamp and montage of elements related to the Shen Zhou ferry

Left New Year’s Day 2012 cover anticipating SZ 9 and SZ10 events slated for that year, though SZ10 did not finally launch until mid June 2013.

Below, cover marking safe return of unmanned SZ8 capsule in a dress rehearsal for SZ9.

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Launch cover for SZ9 on June 16th 2012 for Jiuquan Launch Centre, carrying Jing Haipeng, Liu Wang and Liu Yang (first female astronaut from China) on mission to rendezvous with Taingong space station.

Below, SZ9 crew with facsimile signatures From left Liu Wang, Jing Haipeng, (who had flown on SZ7 and Liu Yang

Cover marking SZ9 docking with space station.

Cover marking safe return of crew, landing on target at a site in Inner Mongolia

Shenzhou 10 was launched on June 11, 2013 as China's fifth manned space mission, carrying a crew of three astronauts: Nie Haisheng, who is mission commander and previously flew on SZ6, Zhang Xiaoguang, a former PLAAF squadron commander who will conduct the rendezvous and docking, and Wang Yaping, the second Chinese female astronaut. 25

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A World Wonder In a Small Dutch Town By Bert van Eijck For over two centuries the small town of Franeker in the Dutch province of Friesland has housed a unique and world famous scientific wonder. Many tourists and scholars from all over the world travel to these northern parts of The Netherlands to see and admire this miracle by themselves.

the ceiling in his living room to prove that there was no reason for panic. He expected to finish it within six months and eventually finished it in 1781, seven years later. During the same year Uranus was discovered, but there was no room for this planet on the ceiling.

It is the Royal Eise Eisinga Planetarium, built in its creator’s own living room from 1774 to 1781, and therefore the oldest, handmade, still working planetarium in the world. This orrery will be on the Unesco World Heritage Sites List in 2016 in the company of other world wonders like Grand Canyon (USA), The Wall (China) and Taj Mahal (India).

An orrery is a planetarium, a working model of the solar system. The ‘face’ of the model looks down from the ceiling of what used to be his living room, with most of the mechanical works in the space above the ceiling. It is driven by a pendulum clock, which has nine weights or ponds. For over 230 years the planets have moved around the model in real time automatically. This means: Mercury has an orbit of 88 days around the sun; Venus 224 days; Earth one year; Mars 1,88 year, Jupiter nearly 12 years and finally Saturn more than 29 years.

Eise Eisinga (1744-1828) was a wool carder like his father, but also a fanatically keen amateur astronomer. When he was only 17 years old he published a book about the principles of astronomy. Through self-education Eise Eisinga mastered mathematics and astronomy, which he also studied at the Franeker Academy, at that time a university.

Portrait of Eise Eisinga, painted by W.B. v.d. Kooi in the year before his death in 1827 and his Signature Below : Solar system in ceiling of living room, still working after two centuries.

On 8 May 1774 a conjunction of the moon and the planets Mercury, Venus, Mars and Jupiter was predicted. Reverend Eelco Alta from Friesland published an article in which he interpreted this as a return to the state of the planets at the day of creation and a likely occasion of Armageddon. Alta predicted that the planets and the moon would collide, with the result that the earth would be pushed out of its orbit and burned by the sun. Due to this prediction there was a lot of panic in Friesland.

To create the gears for the model, 10.000 handmade nails were used. In addition to the basic orrery, there are displays of the phase of the moon and other astronomical phenomena. A slight ‘re-setting’ by hand must be done every four years to compensate for February 29th in a leap year. The planetarium includes a display for the current time and date. The plank that has the year numbers written on it has to be replaced every decade. On 30 June 1818 King William I of The Netherlands and Prince Frederik visited Eisinga’s Planetarium. They were so impressed that the King bought the orrery for the Dutch State. In 1859 the planetarium was donated by the State to the city of Franeker. Eisinga was rewarded by becoming an honorary citizen of Franeker. The street of his planetarium was renamed “Eise Eisingastraat”. Meanwhile Eise Eisinga became a professor at the Franeker Academy, until 1811 when Napoleon Bonaparte ordered it to be closed. Eisinga died on 27 August 1828, at the age of 84. The year 1994 became a special memorial Eisinga-year as it was his 250th birthday. All the events that were organized took place in the planetarium itself (small ones) or in a theatre nearby (big ones). First in March there was a lecture by the famous Russian cosmonaut Dr. Georgi Grechko, Hero of the Soviet Union, who happens to be the Patron of our Society. He told about his life and work on board of the Soyuz 17, 26, T14 as well as in Salyut 4, 6, 7. He remained in space for nearly 135 days and showed pictures and videos of it.

The biggest event was held on May 5 when in Franeker two national stamps were presented in a First Day Ceremony. The However, Eisinga was not 80cent stamp was issued for Eise Eisinga, afraid and knew better. He showing part of the planetarium in the decided to build an orrery in ceiling, his birthday 21.2.1744 in golden 26

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Special postal cancel in red 250 years Eise Eisinga 1774-1994. Conjunction of the planets in May and June 1774, which brought panic in Friesland and was the reason for constructing Eisinga’s Planetarium.

letters, his official name plus inscription. The 90cent stamp was commemorating 25 years First Moon Landing. Pictured on the stamp are the first step of Neil Armstrong on the moon and his first foot print. Both stamps were presented (as shown above) by the Netherlands’ first astronaut Wubbo Ockels, at that time a professor at Technical University Delft. Other events included films about space and astronomy, book presentations, symposia and exhibitions. (It was for the first time I showed here my thematic space collection “Planets Survey”).

Copy of a page from two manuscripts by Eise Eisinga giving instructions about the planetarium to his two sons.

In 2006 the planetarium was given permission to use the title “Royal”. Also in 2006 Eise Eisinga was included in the Canon of Dutch History which is taught in school in the Netherlands. Nowadays Eise Eisinga Planetarium in Franeker is more than a planetarium. It is a complete museum with a great collection of historic astronomical instruments, a souvenir shop and even a café for coffee, tea or lunch in the Tuinkamer (Gardenroom), a house next door, now for five years part of the planetarium. Below left :the Central part of the wheels of Eisinga’s planetarium. It consists of 80 oak sheaves in a hoop with within 10.000 handmade nails. The drive gears are eight lead weights and power-steered by a pendulum clock. Below right : Old astronomical books and instruments like v.d. Bildt telescope, sextant and globe.

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Classical Constellations Exploiting his interest in stamps about space and those depicting classical mythology your editor continues a series referencing all the stamps we believe to exist in relation to the best known constellations and the classical legends related to themâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;using extracts and illustrations from the DK publication Universe (2005), the text of which was written by our Chairman.

Monaco 1986 shows Heracles killing Ladon before taking the apples.

Harvey Duncanâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s 2000 checklist mentions only 3 stamps showing Draco: Finland and Mauretania 1963 and Italy 1965. See also Marshall Islands 2009 near top of page and Japan 2010 above.

GB 2007 (Sky at Night TV programme anniversary)

A big thank you to Margaret Morris for help with obtaining some of the stamp images

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SN 1572 (Tycho's Supernova, Tycho's Nova), "B Cassiopeiae" (B Cas), or 3C 10 was one of about eight supernovae visible to the naked eye in historical records. It burst forth in early November 1572 and was independently discovered by many individuals.

Queen Cassiopeia is shown left on a 1989 Cyprus issue which depicts part of a mosaic. The outline of the queen â&#x20AC;&#x153;fussing with her hairâ&#x20AC;? is suggested on issues from Congo Brazzaville, Kiribati, Mali (1975) and Japan (2012) on this page.

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1988

1953 2009

Note that most stamps show only part of the Constellation—the Plough or Big Dipper

“The flag of the state of Alaska consists of eight gold stars, forming the Big Dipper and the North Star, on a dark blue field. The Big Dipper is an asterism in the constellation Ursa Major which symbolizes a bear, an animal indigenous to Alaska. As depicted on the flag, its stars can be used as a guide by the novice to locate Polaris and determine true north, which varies considerably from a magnetic north. “The design was created by Benny Benson of Seward and selected from among roughly 700 entries in a 1927 contest”. (ex Wikipedia) German and Finnish meter marks featuring Uma from Andree Scheer via Margaret Morris

IoM 1999 stamp

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Constellations Mini-sheet #3 issued by Japan from Haruki Ikuro Complementing similar and equally lovely self-adhesive mini-sheets from Japan in July of 2011 and 2012, comes the third in the series, issued on July 5th of this year, news of which comes to us from our member Haruki Ikuro who lives in Yatu, Narashino. As you can see from the notes below the sheet contains some old favourites and some constellations not often included in such issues. Below the fdoi cancel and bottom the illustration on the presentation sheet

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Poland’s Contributions to Astrophilately Poland has been an enthusiastic issuer of space stamps for ninety or more years with many celebrations of their national hero, the astronomer Nicolaus Copernicus punctuating a lengthy series of sets marking, initially Soviet issues for manned spaceflight when Poland was under the Communist aegis. Unusually the 48th birthday of Copernicus is celebrated two years later with two imaginative designs showing the astronomer in his study and with a chart depicting his controversial concept of the solar system: SG 812-3. The first such issue comes in 1923 with two stamps to mark the 450th anniversary of Copernicus’s birth: SG 199/200. Within the design is the later much used portrait of Copernicus in a cartouche surrounded with laurel leaves and pillars above the Polish eagle. The next relevant issue, 22 years later also references the astronomer showing his statue in the courtyard of the Jagellonian University Museum in Krakow, in a set to mark the Liberation of the city from the Germans in 1945: SG 524 within a set showing various city statues.

A short 1955 set showing Warsaw monuments includes one of Copernicus, of course: SG 912, but in 1958 his domination is broken with the issue for International Geophysical Year, SG 1062 showing a representation of Sputnik. The Polish celebration of spaceflight really gets into its stride late in 1959 after which there are issues (often more than once) a year for an extended period……

A set of three issued on 7.11. 59 (SG 1121-3) depicts some of the early Soviet satellites and probes, viz., Sputnik 3, Lunik 1 captioned The following year a similar view is used “Mieczta” (Polish for “Dream”) in an issue to raise funds for Polish and Lunik 2. There can also be education through a surcharge: the found imperforate as illustrated. statue appears this time on the 6z = 24z stamps (SG 571b) and also within a minisheet showing the two other stamps in the set :MS 571d, now scarce and expensive (at around £150 mint and much more used) to purchase. Copernicus also features within the 1951 issue marking the First Scientific Congress The following month Copernicus appears of Warsaw: SG 709. in a set for famous scientists which also honours Einstein and Newton: SG 1128, 30, 31 and in November 1960 within an issue for old Polish Towns one stamp illustrates Copernicus’s Observatory at Frombork: SG 1188.

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Two weeks after Gagarin’s flight Poland is amongst the first of the nations under Soviet aegis to celebrate his flight with two stamps issued on 27th April 1961 : SG 1221-2, one of which has a portrait of the cosmonaut within its design.

Then the second twin flight a year later is treated with three stamps issued on 26th August 1963 showing fantasy Vostok craft and this set is also known with an overprint marking the visit to Warsaw by cosmonauts Tereshkova and Bykovsky: SG 1402-4 and 1420-22 (23rd October 1963):

The following month, on 25.11.63 there is a long set entitled “The Conquest of Space” : SG 1423-32 the lowest value of which shows Tsiolkovsky’s rocket and escape velocity formula, and including American achievements for the first time, such as Explorer, Mercury Friendship 7 and Mariner 2, shown here reduced in size, complemented by two mini-sheets not shown.

And after a further celebration of Copernicus on 15.6.61 within a set for Famous Poles: SG 1228 the second manned space flight is given much the same treatment as the first with SG 1249-50 issued on 24.8.61….

The first astrophilatelic issue of 1962 is once again for Copernicus SG 1112-13, showing Frombork Cathedral and (according to WEEBAU) the astronomer’s laboratory in Kortowo.

The first joint flight of Vostoks 3 and 4 merit two stamps and a minisheet : SG 1338-9 and MS 1389a (right), issued on 6th October 1962.

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Two issues in 1964 celebrate Copernicus (marking the 600th anniversary of the founding of Jagellonian University : SG 1482 (5.5.64) and the 15th Astronautical Congress, held in Warsaw, SG 1516 (7.9.64). These are followed on 20th November with a minisheet celebrating the flight of Voskhod in which the crew portraits are complemented by symbols suggesting their roles in the flight: SG MS 1527a.

In December 1966 a “Space Research” set similar in design to the 1964 set includes a number of craft from different nations, including French, Canadian and Italian probes: SG 1709-16 issued 20th December. Following this there is one relevant 1967 issue (depicting Luna 10) in a trio marking the 50th Anniversary of the Russian Revolution (SG 1776: 9.10.67).

The last issue of the year is another bumper one, comprising eight very colourful issues covering spaceflights from Laika to Gagarin (highest value) and some future craft: SG 1540-47 of 30.12.64.

And in 1969 three stamps marking the 500th anniversary of Copernicus’ birth: SG 1905-7 : 26.6.69.

The first Polish issue to include astronomical topics comes on 9th August 1965 with six stamps for International Quiet Sun Year : SG 1584-9 shown opposite. On 15th September 1966 a further astronomical issue feature the Planetarium at Katowice, Silesia : SG 1691 within an issue for Tourism.

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On the very day of the American Moon landing Poland issue a handsome stamp and mini-sheet showing the landing craft complemented by labels showing the orbiting spaceship and the lunar take-off of Eagle : SG 1920, pairs from which are shown below.

The flight of Luna 16 is treated much in the way of the Apollo 11 issue (left) with a mini-sheet issued containing eight of the stamps with launch and landing labels available as setenant companions: SG 2021 of 20.11.70.

Twenty five years of UNICEF is marked with a eight childdesigned stamps the highest value of which is called “Strange planet” SG 2067 (29.5.71) and later in the same year is a Issues on 22.4.70 (SG 1977) and 10.10.70 for the 100th further Copernicus issue showing various building associated anniversary of Lenin’s birth and a Philatelic exhibition in with his life: SG 2069-72… Cracow both use and image of the Moon probe Luna 13 in the design, the later incorporating four of the former within a mini-sheet.

The final 1971 issues marked the flights of Apollo 15 and Lunakhod 1, both issued on 17th November and treated in the same way as those of Apollo 11 and Luna 16 on this page with a mini-sheet which included labels: SG MS2105 and MS In between these two issues on 26.6.70 is a further issue for 2107… the 500th birth anniversary of Copernicus: SG 1995-7 using three different portraits of the scientist beside images of major cities he worked in.

To be continued

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Tereshkova not as hot at 50 as she was at 40 !!

Russia went to hardly any trouble at all to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the flight of the first woman in space with a stamp-on-stamp issue, referencing the original 1963 Soviet issue. Thanks to Russian member the celebrated astrophilatelist Igor Rodin for the cover illustrated above. Right the beautiful mini-sheet issued in 2003

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Jersey Goes Large on issues for new Superman film Ex STAMP Magazine for August 2013

DC Comics Sci-Fi hero is given superb treatment in the new issue from Jersey for reasons as described in the feature above. Superman, aka Kal-El from the planet Krypton, created by Jerry Siegel in the early 1930â&#x20AC;&#x2122;s has previously been celebrated by stamps From USA in 1998 (Celebrate the Century) and 2006 (DC Comics Super Heroes) 38

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Blake and Mortimer

Items just acquired by your Editor for his sci-fi albums featured these Belgian heroes, created by writer and artist Edgar Jacobs, (right) one of the first series to appear in the Belgian comic Tintin in 1946. Philip Morimter is a British scientist who works with Captain Francis Blake of MI5 fighting against nemesis Col Olrik and some stories involved time travel and sci-fi encounters as the Belgian Minisheet left suggests. The heroes were given a TV treatment in 1997.

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T r u s t y D i s c o v e r y OV-103

Above : Discovery entrusted with first Return to Flight mission after the Challenger disaster

Right: Discovery entrusted with launch of Hubble Space Telescope

Above : Discovery entrusted with the second Return to Flight mission after the Columbia disaster. Discovery had also been flown in the first Return to Flight mission STS-114

Right: In its longest ever mission Discovery is entrusted to resupply the ISS via the Leonardo MPLM