The historic moments were captured on television cameras installed on the Eagle and turned on by Armstrong.Īrmstrong spent his first few minutes on the Moon taking photographs and soil samples in case the mission had to be aborted suddenly. He described the surface as being like powdered charcoal and the landing craft left a crater about a foot deep. The Eagle has landed."Īs he put his left foot down first Armstrong declared: "That's one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind."
The astronaut stepped onto the Moon's surface, in the Sea of Tranquility, at 0256 GMT, nearly 20 minutes after first opening the hatch on the Eagle landing craft.Īrmstrong had earlier reported the lunar module's safe landing at 2017 GMT with the words: "Houston, Tranquility Base here. The first-day processing crew had to be increased from 40 to 100 people, and it took five months to cancel all of those covers.Ĭlick here to read more about the Moon landing.Ĭlick here to see what else happened on This Day in History.American Neil Armstrong has become the first man to walk on the Moon. By comparison, they only produced 4.4 million covers for the 1993 Elvis Presley stamp, one of the most popular in US history. The Post Office produced over 8.7 million First Day Covers for this issue. US #C76 – Stamped Portrait with First Day Cancel It included both the First Day of Issue cancel as well as a replica of the Moon Landing cancel. The First Day Cover for this stamp was one of the most popular in US history. The stamp was America’s largest postage stamp up to that time measuring 1.953 inches by 1.234 inches, about 50 percent larger than most US commemoratives. Armstrong, Aldrin, and Michael Collins were all present for the ceremony. The stamp was finally issued on Septemat the National Postal Forum’s third annual meeting in Washington, DC. The “Moon letter” and the printing die were later sent on a traveling exhibit across the country and to foreign nations. Instead, they did it on the return journey. Unfortunately, Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin were too busy with science experiments to postmark the letter while they were on the moon’s surface. However, the Post Office insisted it was simply a “spaceman.” US #C76 – Classic First Day Cover with Both Cancels Many collectors at the time quickly stated that the stamp would violate the federal law that forbids picturing a living person on a stamp. He also got to watch Neil Armstrong practice his exit of the lunar module so he could accurately portray how he placed his foot on the ground. To help him create an accurate image, NASA gave him photos of the equipment and invited him to come and view some of it in person.
Calle’s greatest obstacle was that he had to illustrate the moon-landing scene a month before it would happen. A member of NASA’s Fine Art Program, Calle had documented several NASA missions and provided the artwork for the 1967 Accomplishments in Space stamps.
1969 first man on the moon full#
US #C76 – Full Mint SheetĪmong the few people who knew about the stamp was artist Paul Calle. While on the moon, the astronauts would personally postmark the letter. The engraved die for the stamp would be taken to the moon, as well as a special “Moon letter” with a die proof of the stamp. This dramatic statement aroused great public interest in the stamp. As the postmaster general announced that day, “Apollo 11 will mark America’s first mail run to the Moon.” The stamp wasn’t even announced to the public until July 9, 1969, a week before the launch of Apollo 11. Few people were involved in the process and there was virtually no paperwork. Plans for a commemorative stamp honoring the 1969 moon landing were extremely secretive. On September 9, 1969, the US Post Office issued its first ever jumbo-sized commemorative stamp. First Man on the Moon Stamp US #C76 was issued on this day in 1969.
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