USPS Rolls Out Four-Stamp Issue to Celebrate 50th Anniversary of Star Trek

The U.S. Postal Service definitely had its head above the clouds when it released this year’s roster of stamp designs, with several nods to galaxies both near and far.

In recognition of the 50th anniversary of the sci-fi TV classic Star Trek, the USPS rolled out a four-stamp issue that pays homage to the show, which really didn’t catch fire until syndication. The stamps depict Mr. Spock’s “live long and prosper” salute, the Star Fleet insignia, a transporting crew member and the star ship Enterprise.

The Enterprise last graced a USPS release in 1999. These new, imaginative releases definitely capture the heart of the show.

Also on tap for this year is a set of eight stamps depicting the planets. These stamps, set against a black, starless backdrop, simply explode with color. They will undoubtedly prove to be extremely popular when debuted at the World Stamp Show—NY 2016, to be held May 28 to June 4.

The Milky Way’s red-headed stepchild, Pluto, will celebrate its own “Pluto-Explored!” release during the World Stamp Show. It is a follow-up to the 29-cent stamp released in 1991 (“Pluto: Not Yet Explored”). That stamp was actually sent into space in 2006 with the New Horizons spacecraft, which reached the dwarf planet in 2015.

The souvenir sheet contains two new stamps appearing twice, one with an artist’s rendering of the spacecraft, and the other depicting an image of Pluto taken near its closest approach. The Pluto stamp actually consists of four images taken by the New Horizons’ Long Range Reconnaissance Imager (LORRI) and is color enhanced.

Lastly, we couldn’t leave the moon out of the action, could we? It gets its own $1.20 denominated Global Forever treatment and can be used to mail one-ounce letters to any country that has First-Class Mail International service. The image was taken as the full moon rises.