It was 50 years ago today that an American first walked in space – astronaut Ed White’s spacewalk on June 3, 1965 during the flight of Gemini 4. Imagine writing home about that!
The two stamps together are also known as 5¢ 1967 “Space Twins” stamps celebrating space achievements. It is a paired stamp (USA 1967 Scott 1331 5-cent Space-walking Astronaut & 1332 5-cent Gemini 4 Capsule).
Edward H. White II became the first American to perform an Extra Vehicular Activity (EVA) or “spacewalk” from the Gemini IV spacecraft on June 3, 1965. When he opened the hatch of the Gemini 4 and stepped out of the capsule, he became the first astronaut to walk in space and remained outside the capsule for just over 20 minutes. Gemini laid the groundwork for the more dramatic Apollo lunar missions, which began in 1968, involving multiple crews and their extended duration of the missions provided valuable information.
There is an excellent article by Eric Berger with the Houston Chronicle about the historical event, including a 9 minute NASA YouTube! Thank you to Eric for his article. (On Twitter @chronsciguy). Spoiler: It was very sad to read after all of this success, that a year and a half later White would be one of three astronauts to perish in a fire with two others during a launch rehearsal for the first Apollo mission, he along with Gus Grissom and Roger Chaffee.
Space On Stamps publication
There is a 26 page publication, Space on Stamps (pdf) downloadable by the American Philatelic Society (On Twitter: @AmericanPhilate) from 2010. It contains a wealth of information for the stamp enthusiast interested in Space on Stamps as the theme. Thank you to American Philatelic Society for having it available free of charge.
About the stamp
At the US Postal Museum (On Twitter: @PostalMuseum) There is this nicely written article about the stamp: Lithography and Engraving: The “Space Twins” Stamps. Thank you to the US Postal Museum.
Photo shown (Top Upper Left and here): “Accomplishments in Space Commemorative Issue of 1967”. File:US Space Walk 1967 Issue-5c.jpg. Attribution: By Bureau of Engraving and Printing [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons.
Star Gazing with the Big Dipper
With Summer here we can take advantage of the weather and why not one evening, spread a blanket on the hood of your car and do some stargazing! Can you hear the crickets chirping in the background? Here’s an article with star gazing tips for seeing the Big Dipper “See the Big Dipper in the Summer Night Sky” at space.com. Thank you to Space.com. (On Twitter: @SPACEdotcom). It should make for a wonderful letter recalling the experience – were you able to see the big dipper? I encourage you to make the time this month in June and try this one evening and don’t forget to write a letter about it! You could make it one of your Super Seven letters – personal goal to hand write seven letters this month!
Anchors Aweigh,
Helen
