The Postal Service issued stamps May 31 that commemorate the recent completion of NASA’s 9-year, 3-billion-mile mission to explore Pluto.
The Pluto — Explored! stamp sheet shows New Horizons, the spacecraft that flew by the dwarf planet last year, as well as an image taken during the probe’s approach.
The stamps highlight the Postal Service’s role in Pluto’s exploration.
A 1991 Pluto stamp was affixed to New Horizons when it made its historic flyby. Since Pluto was unchartered territory in 1991, the stamp bears the words “Not Yet Explored,” which became a rallying cry for NASA.
“I’m thrilled that 25 years later, these new stamps recognize that Pluto has indeed been explored … and revealed to be a complex and fascinating world,” said Alan Stern, principal investigator for the New Horizons mission.
Chief Operating Officer David Williams dedicated Pluto Explored! at the World Stamp Show, along with Views of Our Planets, a second set of stamps that depict other planets.
Williams told attendees at the New York City show that the stamps “will begin their own journeys today — on letters and packages to millions of homes and businesses throughout America.”
The May 31 news release has more information.
