![]() ![]() “Pluto: Not Yet Explored” was part of a set of solar system stamps that were issued back in 1991, after the Voyager spacecraft had made their way past the orbit of Neptune. By 2019, when New Horizons is due to fly past another icy world on the solar system’s edge, known as 2014 MU69, the odometer should be spinning past 4 billion miles. ![]() The Guinness gang lists the stamp’s record distance as 3,262,723,132 miles, but each day adds to that figure. “It’s an honor to be a part of this historic moment and welcome the United States Postal Service to the Guinness World Records family.” As stamps are synonymous with travel, it is fitting that one would travel within the solar system,” Coggins said in a news release. “The farthest distance traveled by a postage stamp is a quite an impressive achievement, as it spans many planets and billions of miles. Coggins presented a certificate recognizing the record to the Postal Service’s Jim Cochrane, NASA’s Jim Green and the Southwest Research Institute’s Alan Stern, who is the principal investigator for the New Horizons mission. To celebrate the record – and the New Horizons achievement that rendered the stamp obsolete – the USPS played host to the New Horizons team and Guinness World Records adjudicator Jimmy Coggins today at its Washington headquarters. The message on the stamp, “Pluto: Not Yet Explored,” was basically canceled a year ago when New Horizons flew past the dwarf planet, taking pictures as it zoomed by at 36,000 mph. ![]() Postal Service and Guinness World Records have officially put it in the record books. We’ve known for years that a 1991 Pluto stamp included on NASA’s New Horizons spacecraft is the farthest-out piece of postage, but now the U.S. The 1991 stamp that served as the rallying cry for the New Horizons Mission to Pluto is “updated” by members of the New Horizons science team on July 14, 2015, the day the spacecraft reached Pluto. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |