| Name | Value |
|---|---|
| Date of Issue | May 31, 2016 |
| Year | 2016 |
| Quantity | 5,000,000 |
| Denomination |
First-Class Mail Forever
|
| Denomination Value | $0.47 |
| Perforation or Dimension | 1.225 x 1.225 in.⁄31.12 x 31.12 mm |
| Series | Views of Our Planets |
| Series Time Span | 2016 |
| Issue Location | New York, NY 10199 |
| Postal Administration | United States |
On May 31, 2016, in New York, NY, the U.S. Postal Service® will issue the Views of Our Planets stamps (Forever® priced at 47 cents) in eight designs, in a pressure-sensitive adhesive (PSA) pane of 16 stamps. The stamps will go on sale nationwide May 31, 2016.
During the modern era of space exploration, the planets of our solar system have been viewed with increasing clarity, thanks to the distant voyages of unmanned spacecraft and the development of ever-more powerful telescopes. With this pane of 16 stamps, the U.S. Postal Service® showcases some of the more visually compelling full-disk images of the planets obtained during this era.
Eight new colorful Forever® stamps, each shown twice, feature Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune. 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. Verso text explains what these images reveal and identifies the spacecrafts and powerful telescopes that helped obtain them.
Art director Antonio Alcalá designed the stamps.
Views of Our Planets is being issued as a Forever® stamp. This Forever stamp will always be equal to the current First-Class Mail® one-ounce price.
Image Credits
Earth – NASA
Jupiter – NASA, ESA, and E. Karkoschka (Arizona Board of Regents, University of Arizona)
Mars – NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS
Mercury – NASA/The Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory/Carnegie Institution of Washington
Neptune – NASA/JPL-Caltech
Saturn – NASA and The Hubble Heritage Team (STScI/AURA)
Uranus – NASA, ESA, and E. Karkoschka (Arizona Board of Regents, University of Arizona)
Venus – NASA/JPL-Caltech