orbit issue 89 (march 2011)

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ISSN 0953 1599 THE JOURNAL OF THE ASTRO SPACE

STAMP SOCIETY Issue No 89 March 2011

Patron:

Cosmonaut Georgi Grechko, Hero of the Soviet Union

COMMITTEE Chair :

Margaret Morris, 55 Canniesburn Drive, Bearsden, Glasgow GS1 1RX (E-mail: [email protected])

Hon. Secretary: Brian J.Lockyer, 21, Exford Close,Weston-Super-Mare,

Somerset BS23 4RE (E-mail : [email protected])

Compiler of Checklist / Hon Treasurer / Postal Packet Organiser

Harvey Duncan,16, Begg Avenue, Falkirk, Scotland FK1 5DL (E-mail: [email protected])

Orbit : Editor Jeff Dugdale, Glebe Cottage, Speymouth, Mosstodloch, Moray.

Scotland IV32 7LE (E-mail: [email protected])

Webmaster Derek Clarke, 36 Cherryfield Road, Walkington, Dublin 12 (E-mail: [email protected])

Postal Auction Organiser: David Saunders, 42 Burnet Road, Bradwell,

Great Yarmouth. NR31 8SL.

Overseas Representatives:

Australia: Charles Bromser, 37 Bridport Street, Melbourne 3205. Germany:Jűrgen P. Esders, An der Apostelkirche 10, 10783 Berlin

Eire:Derek Clarke, 36 Cherryfield Rd, Walkinstown. Dublin 12. France: Jean-Louis Lafon, 23 Rue de Mercantour, 78310 Maurepas

Netherlands: Bart Beimers, NJ Haismasrt 7, 9061 BV Gierkerk Russia: Mikhail Vorobyov, 31-12 Krupskaya Str, Kostroma United States: Dr Ben Ramkissoon, Linda Valley Villa #236

11075 Benton Street Loma Linda CA 92354-3182 USA

Life Members: UK - Harvey Duncan, George Spiteri, Ian Ridpath, Margaret Morris, Michael Packham, Dr W.R. Withey, Paul Uppington, Jillian Wood.

Derek Clarke (Eire,) Charles Bromser (Australia.) Tom Baughn (U.S.A.,) Ross Smith (Australia,)

Vincent Leung Wing Sing (Hong Kong.) Mohammed K.Safdar (Saudi Arabia)

Here’s to the Immortal Memory of Yuri Gagarin !

I heard in quiz programme on TV recently that there are apparently only two Immortal Memory speeches which are given annually across the globe : one for Robert Burns, of course, and the second for The Duke of Wellington, hero of Waterloo. If this is true, there ought to be a third—for Yuri Gagarin. It’s unlikely most of us alive today will ever know the complete truth about the early stages of the Soviet manned spaceflight programme, though in the fullness of time it will be revealed and there may be a surprise or two. That really is immaterial to our admiration for Gagarin, for if he was the first cosmonaut in space he must have shown outstanding bravery. If he wasn’t he must have shown even more, knowing others had perished before him ! Beyond being a star pilot he was undoubtedly chosen for his good looks and charisma which were much on display across the world in the months after his success. He might have gone on to greater things had his mentors not initially wanted to protect their prize. Later on perhaps they wearied of him and either got careless or worried and he was killed before further greatness could be thrust upon him. Raise a glass to one of history’s greatest pioneers. Slainte and na zda ro vye !

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Part Four Part Three covered activity

on the ISS from October 2005 till late in 2008 when

STS 126 departed.

STS-126 Endeavour had brought to the space station in addition to regular supplies in MPLM Leonardo, equipment to service the Solar Alpha Rotary Joints a new EO-18 resident member Sandra Magnus who was to replace Gregory Chamitoff. The shuttle returned to Earth after the best part of twelve days in space and landed at Edwards AFB because of poor weather at KSC.

STS-119 (launched 15.3.09)

The “A” team—so called because four the crew bore surnames beginning with that letter, carried a surprise for Michael Fincke in the shape of chocolate cake to mark his 42nd birthday which occurred just as they were readying their own launch. In fact, the next two visiting spacecraft came hard fast upon each other with Discovery delivering the fourth starboard S6 Truss segment in the middle of March, on assembly mission 15A and resident crew member Koichi Wakata of Japan, who would also be a member of the new EO-19 crew. The others

were to arrive in Soyuz TMA-14 a few days later. The crew docked with ISS on March 17th and Wakata soon officially took over from Magnus. The completion of the fourth large solar array doubled the amount of power available to the station to 30kw and meant that a permanent crew of six could now be sustained. The mass of the ISS was by then over 300 tonnes and the station over 80% complete. Just before the arrival of the shuttle the resident crew had been advised to take refuge in TMA 13 after a piece of debris—a small ball and chain—from a PAM upper stage launched in 1993 was predicted to pass close to the ISS,

but it did so without incident.

Soyuz TMA 14 (launched 27.3.09) EO-19

The latest Russian ferry carried two members of the new EO 19 resident crew—Gennady Padalka and Michael Barratt—and the space participant Charles Simonyi, who was paying for a second trip to the ISS, having previously flown via TMA 10 in April 2007. Padalka became the first person to

command two separate ISS expeditions. Before launch he had appeared to complain about petty bureaucracy between partner nations in the ISS project affecting astronauts’ morale, by for example denying use of equipment, toilets and food in parts of the ISS under the aegis of other nations. Simonyi conducted a series of experiments on behalf of ESA for example on the early detection of osteoporosis and of back pain in space. He also conducted daily communication sessions with the ground, took photos and held ham radio sessions with schools.

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The return to earth of Fincke, Lonchakov and Simonyi was delayed because the prime recovery landing site in Kazakhstan was deemed to be too wet for support helicopters to land and it was relocated to the South a day later so they landed 8th April. Fincke and Lonchakov had been in space for 178 days and Simonyi for almost 131 on this occasion. The new EO-19 crew had arrived on 12th May and prepared to receive Progress M-02M by jettisoning Progress M-66. The impending arrival of the EO-20 of Romanenko, De Winne and Thirsk would see the first six person complement and would also mean that all five ISS partner groups were simultaneously represented by at least one crew member on board for the first time. EO-19 and EO-20 were due to conduct just under 100 experiments (including 39 new ones) in human research, technology, earth observation and biological and physical sciences. Thanks to the installation of the new vacuum distillation assembly by the previous shuttle crew water recycled from urine and condensate was being used for personal hygiene and on May 20th the crew drank reclaimed water for the first time after extensive ground analysis of returned samples —in a major milestone in space flight history !! Wakata worked in Kibo on locomotion in microgravity, Padalk in Zvezda upgrading central computers and Barrratt in Columbus on various experiments.


One of the first irregular maintenance tasks for the first six man crew was to work on broken parts of the TVIS treadmill much used for exercise. On-going science programmes saw an emphasis on fundamental life sciences, plant biology, fluid physics and materials processing.

EVAs were conduced to prepare Zvezda for the arrival of the Mini-Research-Module 2 (similar to Pirs) which would provide extra docking capacity for Soyuz ferries, so allowing Pirs to be used exclusively by Progress cargo vehicles. In the first of the EVA for this purpose, Barratt donned the new Orlan MK suit for the first time, for his first EVA. STS-127 delivering the final part of the Japanese Kibo module was delayed from June 13th for a over a month because of a leak in the gaseous hydrogen venting system outside the External Tank, so giving Wakata a further month in space. In mid-June the Japanese astronaut began to replace faulty equipment in the Oxygen Generation Assembly to bring airflow back to normal whilst in the Russian segment Padalka repaired a a failed cooler fan in TMA-14 and Romanenko replaced a smoke detector in Zarya. De Winne, pictured in this 2010 Zazzle stamp, conducted experiments in the Microgravity Glovebox in Columbus on the ability of fire to spread in such conditions and on fluids changing properties in response to magnetic fields. Along with Thirsk, the Dutchman took part in an investigation into the atrophy of the heart during long term spaceflight. On June 30th Progress m-02M was undocked but kept in orbit (unusually) for a later experiment thus freeing the rear of Zvezda for the arrival of M-678 in late July. TMA 14 was flown to one of the new Pirs docking ports. Padalka activated the German-Russian experiment Kristall 3+ which had been studying dust plasma for over 11 years, beginning on Mir. In due course this may lead to a “vacuum cleaner” capable of deactivating radioactive atmospheric contaminents caused by nuclear accidents or to the development of powerful small nuclear power supplies in spacecraft and as such was considered Nobel-Prize winning by Roskosmos. Progress M-02M re-rendezvoused on 12 July in order to verify the new passive KURS-P system antennae and the TORU target installation accuracy, after which the craft was sent into a destructive re-entry with its remaining parts falling into the Pacific, 3000km East of New Zealand.

STS-127 (launched 15.6.09) Between 15th and 31st July NASA this shuttle mission ISS 2J/A. With a complex series of robotics operations involving all three ISS and shuttle manipulator arms and five EVA the seven person crew of Endeavour and the resident six man crew completed the assembly of the Japanese Kibo laboratory, attached spare components for the ISS to an external platform and performed the replacement of six massive batteries in the truss segment.

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The shuttle also carried a new member of the resident crew in Tim Kopra, who was to replace the Japanese astronaut Koichi Wakata. In addition the ISS crew battled a faulty toilet and air purifier in the Destiny module which required use of other toilets until the shuttle could do a water dump as it departed at the end of its mission. As one of his final pieces of maintenance handy-man Wakata repaired the ISS’s ARED exercise machine by replacing a “dashpot” shock absorber which prevented the resistance of the machine from interfering with sensitive equipment on board. On departure Wakata had spent 133 days on the ISS and he revealed that he had been wearing the same high-tech odour-free underwear for a month as part of an experiment ! STS-127 mission ended on the afternoon of 29th July having lasted nearly 16 days. Two days before Progress M-67 docked at the aft-port of Zvezda and after it had been de-cargoed, its engines were used to raise the mean orbit of the ISS by 2.1km to 348.82km, putting the station in correct orbit for the planned arrival of Soyuz TMA-16. August was spent on maintenance, experimentation and robotics work for the six man crew, who throughout continued their daily programme of life sciences and other experiments located within the various modules and prepared for arrival of STS 128

STS-128 (launched 28.8.09)

Between 29th August and 12th September ISS Mission 17A occurred. Discovery was launched on the first mission which was not to do with ISS assembly but was using it for continuous scientific support. On board was Nicole Stott who was to replace Tim Kopra for a three month stay at the complex and ESA astronaut Christer Fuglesang of Sweden, as seen in these 2010 Zazzle issues. STS 128 carried more than seven tons of supplies, science racks and equipment in the Leonardo MPLM as well as additional environmental hardware to sustain the six resident crew members. Included was a treadmill named after US comedian Steve Colbert, whose name had originally been chosen via an online poll for the station’s node 3 though (sadly !) NASA decided it should be called Tranquility !! The 13 person team then began a week’s work together which included 3 EVA performed by visiting crew members. Nicole Stott for example transferred a large automated Mice Drawer System to part of Kibo, in order to study bone loss in the rodents. Other crew members transferred three major science racks—key research facilities which were to play a role in future discoveries as the “bustling ISS matured into a fully outfitted orbiting laboratory”. On the second EVA Fuglesang set a record when he moved an 800kg replacement ammonia tank—the heaviest object ever moved by hand by a spacewalker. Discovery undocked on 8th September but landing was delayed until the 12th because of bad weather at KSC and the touch down was eventually made at Edwards AFB. An extra member of the down crew was the famous Disney spaceranger Buzz Lightyear who had spent 15 months on board the ISS and his safe return was later celebrated at a ticker tape parade at Disney World in Florida, which included the 128 crew and Buzz Aldrin. Buzz is shown below having egressed from the shuttle.

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A major space event occurred on 10th September when the Japanese H-IIB Transfer Vehicle 1—the HTV is an unmanned cargo carrier with pressurised and unpressurised compartments— was launched from Tanegashima launch site towards the ISS for the first time. (Pic ex Spaceflight mag.) The HTV does not carry an automated rendezvous system unlike Progress or the ESA ATV (which first arrived in April 2008) and has to be grappled by Canadarm 2 as it arrives at the station, which it did successfully for the first time on September 17th, bringing 860kg of food, 567kg of pressurised payloads and 520kg of JAXA equipment. Space history was made again when Progress M-67 was discarded at the end of September as it was the last in a series of the Russian cargo supply vehicles to use an analogue control system: the new series of Progress uses digital control systems.


This ferry carried new members for the permanent crew in Maxim Surayev and Jeffrey Williams with the space participant Guy Laliberté, the billionaire founder of Cirque de Soleil, the seventh paying “tourist” and the last tourist for quite some time

because of the decision to cease crew rotations of the American astronauts on the shuttle before the system is retired, meaning that Soyuz seats were to be required for professional astronauts and cosmonauts. (Nevertheless space participant Barbara Barrett had paid to be trained as a backup to the French-Canadian entrepreneur). For the first time two Canadians were on the station together. During his stay on the station, Laliberté, who had promised to entertain the crew And play some practical jokes (!) also took part in some experiments for the Russians including crystal growth, Earth photography and medical tests. When the Soyuz ferry docked three separate such ferries were docked simultaneously to the ISS for the first time, and within hours crew had swelled to nine. On 9th October the highlight of the flight took place—a two-hour long TV session linking performers celebrities and politicians over several continents in a special event to highlight shortages of clean water around the globe, as part of Laliberté’s campaign for water conservation represented by his non-profit ONE DROP Foundation. One the same day Frank de Winne became the first European astronaut to head a space station expedition. Padalka, Barratt and Laliberté departed the next day, the former two’s flight having lasted almost 200 days and the Canadian’s almost eleven. The first task of the new EO-21 crew was to prepare for the arrival of Progress M-03M which was launched on 15th October with 2417kg of supplies for the station.

STS 129 arrives at the ISS on 18.11.09

(Pic ex Spaceflight magazine)

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A cartoon dog from 60’s which became a NASA mascot. You don’t believe it ? It’s true, so true that the US Space Agency even once put its name on a moonlanding vehicle. The golden, 50-year jubilee inspired the Dutch Postal Administration to issue a special stamp for this dog. His name: Snoopy! Now I am sure the name will ring a bell. Snoopy is a beagle dog from the world-famous comic strip Peanuts. His ‘boss’ and loyal companion is Charlie Brown. Both were created on paper in 1950 by Charles M. Schulz, spiritual father of Peanuts. Every day from that year on the comic appeared in many US newspapers. It did not take long before Charlie and Snoopy were adopted in the press worldwide. In the most successful years the comic was read by 355 million people. The last daily episode about Snoopy appeared in the papers on January 3rd, 2000. In the Sunday papers the comic went on for some weeks, further, till February 13th, 2000, in fact. This was a real tribute to Charles Schulz, because he passed away one day earlier. In the sixties Charlie & Snoopy were so popular that the friendly dog became an official mascot of NASA. This was during the glory years of the Apollo programme. Both comic figures wrote history, because four months before the first men landed on the Moon in 1969, Charlie & Snoopy beat them to it. How, will you ask? Please, try your memory! The capsule (CSM-106) of the Apollo 10 mission in May 1969 was named Charlie Brown. The lunar module (LM-4) took the name Snoopy, both named after the popular comic. The crew of Apollo 10 – Commander Thomas P. Stafford and the Astronauts John W. Young and Eugene A. Cernan – made 31 orbits around the Moon and the LM-4, or Snoopy, descended to 15 kilometres above the moon’s surface—all to prepare for the historic and heroic landing on the Moon, July 1969. The Dutch stamp with Snoopy was issued on November 23, 2010 in a sheet of ten, an official First Day Cover and a booklet with four Snoopy stamps. The stamp not only recalled the 50 year jubilee of NASA, but first of all commemorates 60 years of Snoopy. So says the text above the sheet “60 jaar Snoopy.” Why is Snoopy skating on the stamp. Is it because Winter is coming soon in Europe? No, it is not. Charles Schulz lived and worked in California, to be precise in Santa Rosa. Family Schulz donated a skating-rink for the community of Santa Rosa. It’s called “Snoopy’s Home Ice.” Joh. Enschede Security Print in Haarlem, Netherlands printed 150.000 sheets in offset.

US members (and others) maybe interested to know there is a Charles M. Schulz Museum, fifty minutes by car north of San Francisco on Highway 101. The museum is located at 2301 Hardies Lane, Santa Rosa. See also this 2001 US issue showing Snoopy as an aviator.

Snoopy—NASA mascot from Bert van Eijck

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In our next edition John Beenen reviews this 2009 American DVD which ‘proves’ that Vladimir Illyushin was first cosmonaut ! You might like to watch it yourself before that.

Flown and yet to fly taikonauts also appear in this new (2008) issue from Guinea… In margin design top left Zhai Zigang And in bottom row from left Liu Boming, Wu Jie and Fei Junlong A second sheet features Yang Liwei in the margin

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We noted in our article on the

Third Quadrant that there

appeared to be no stamp for

astronomer Francesco Grimaldi,

but of course there was, issued in

2009 in fact, by Monaco as one of

their contributions to IYA.

4: The Moon : Fourth Quadrant (South East)

Ex Atlas of the Universe (Phillip’s 1999) Selected Craters Illustrated…. Airy (Diam 35 km Lat 18 °S Long 6 °E) has a worn, and somewhat polygonal rim that is broken at the northern and southern ends. It has an irregular floor and a central peak. Named after English astronomer George Biddell Airy (1801-92) (Tonga 1984)

Colombo (Diam 76 km Lat 15 °S Long 46 °E) has a circular rim, although slightly indented along the northwest where Colombo A intrudes slightly into the interior. Named after Italian navigator Christopher Columbus (c1450—1506) (USA

1992) Cook (Diam 47 km Lat 18 °S Long 48 °E) The interior of this crater has been flooded with lava, leaving only a low hexagonal rim projecting above the surface.

The Naming of Craters Named in honour of British explorer Capt James Cook (1728-79) (Australia 1970) Faraday (Diam 89 km Lat 43 °S Long 42 °E) lies across the southeast rim of the larger crater Stöfler, and its northwest

rim forms a wide rampart across the otherwise flat floor of Stöfler, Named after English scientist Michael Faraday (1791-1867) (GB 1991)

Gutenberg (Diam 72 km Lat 8 °S Long 41 °E) lies along the west edge of Mare Fecunditatis, in the eastern part of the visible Moon. Its rim is worn and eroded, most notably in the east where it is broken by the overlapping crater Gutenberg E.

Named after the Johannes Gutenberg (c.1398-1468) credited with the invention of mechanical movable type printing. (E. Germany 1970)

Halley (Diam 35 km Lat 8 °S Long 6 °E)

The rim of Halley is somewhat worn, and a scar in the lunar surface passes through the western rim, forming a valley that runs to the south-southeast, near the rim of Albategnius. Named after English Astronomer Royal Edmond Halley (1656-1742) (Nicargaua 1985)

Helmholtz (Diam 97 km Lat 72 °S Long 78 °E) The outer rim of Helmholtz is worn and rounded, although not significantly disrupted. Named for German physicist Hermann von Helmholtz (1821-94) (Berlin 1971)

Hipparchus (Diam 145 km Lat 6 °S Long 5 °E) A very large enclosure not far from Ptolemaeus. Very broken but under low light is still impressive. Named after Greek astrologer and mathematician Hipparchos (c 190 BC—c120 BC) (Greece 1965)

Humboldt (Diam 193 km Lat 27 °S Long 81 °E) A huge formation, too foreshortened to be well seen though orbiting craft have sent back images showing considerable floor detail. Named for German

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lava

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St%C3%B6fler_(crater)

http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/rampart

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mare_Fecunditatis

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mare_Fecunditatis

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moon

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statesman and philologist Wilhelm von Humboldt (1767—1835) (Berlin 1952)

Kant (Diam 30 km Lat 11 °S Long 20 °E) has a well-defined and somewhat uneven rim that is roughly circular in shape. The inner walls have a higher albedo than the surrounding surface, giving them a lighter appearance Named after German philosopher Emmanuel Kant (1724-1804) (W. Germany 1974)

Watt (Diam 72 km Lat 50 °S Long 51 °E) The northwestern third of the crater rim has been completely overlain by the same-sized Steinheil, leaving much of the interior floor covered with the outer rampart of ejecta from the latter formation. Named after Scottish inventor James Watt (1736—1819). (Mali 1986)

As with other quarters several of the craters have been named after people for whom no stamp has been issued, e.g. Demonax (diameter 121km), Furnerius (129) Hekataeus (180), Albateginus (129), Hommel (121), Janssen (170), Langrenus (137) Legentil (140) , Petavius (170), Phillips, (120) Stöfler (145), Theophilus (101) and Vendelinus (165)—unless you know better of course ! Next Time—The Far Side !

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Albedo

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steinheil_(crater)

http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/rampart

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While living in Florida in the mid-1950s ASSS member and Orbit contributor Jim Reichman became interested in spaceflight. This interest was certainly inspired by rocket launches at nearby Cape Canaveral but also included the space exploits of the Soviet Union half a world away. Commissioned an Air Force officer and assigned to the Space Defense Center, Colorado Springs, Colorado in April 1967 Jim trained and served in positions requiring skills in orbital analysis, space surveillance, space object identification (using radar), and on-orbit satellite control. He spent 20 years in the USAF on operational crews in Colorado Springs, Alaska, and Australia and staff positions at the Space Defense Center, Headquarters Air Force Space Command, and at the satellite development facilities in Los Angeles run by Space Division. Key staff positions he held included Chief of Satellite Classification and Mission Identification Branch, Chief of the Space Requirements and Test Branch, and Deputy Director of Space Division’s Intelligence Directorate. After retiring from the USAF in 1987, Jim went to work as a Senior Systems Analyst for the Science Applications and International Corporation (SAIC). This second spaceflight career with SAIC included contractor positions supporting Air Force Space Command by analysing and advising the Air Force on space requirements related to the Consolidated Space Operations Center, the Space Defense Operations

Philatelic Study Report Series Available on Web Center, and the Automated Remote Tracking System. Jim started writing and publishing articles about Soviet spaceflight collecting interests in 1975 and has published articles in US and worldwide journals including The Astrophile (journal of the Space Unit), Linn’s Stamp News, Rossica Journal (journal of the Rossica Society), Orbit (journal of the Astro Space Stamp Society), Topical Time (journal of the American Topical Association), Nieuwsbrief (Journal of the Ruimtevaart Filatelie Club in the Netherlands), and Ad Astra (journal of the Italian Astrophilately Society). After spending 35 years working spaceflight-related positions, Jim fully retired in 2002. He lives with his wife in Mesa, Arizona and enjoys working on genealogy and cosmic-philately hobbies. See Jim’s new website with details of his Philatelic Study Report Series and how to purchase them….

www.americanastrophilately.com/Reichman.html

Here if viewers click on a thumbnail of any book cover

shown there a close-up of it will pop-up, e.g. Space-Related

Official First Day Envelopes Produced by the Ministry of

Communications of the USSR, 1968 to 1991

These pop-ups also alert the viewer that a CD is enclosed with book. These contain the whole book in colour and three other shorter philatelic articles (previously published in stamp journals) referenced in the book. These provide useful background information to the main texts.

Death of Paul Calle Philatelists all over the world were saddened to hear of the death of this great American stamp designer, who passed on December 30th—he would have been 83 in March 2011.

As can be seen from the illustration opposite, taken from The Astrophile for May-Aug 2009 (published August 2010) which devoted 40 pages to the Paul and Chris Calle (father and son) contribution to space stamp design, Calle Snr produced a wide range of (over 40) stamps for the USPS and for other agencies. His most famous stamp is the legendary Scott C76 shown bottom left commemorating Neil Armstrong’s first steps on the Moon. His first space stamp, showing Ed White walking in space is also shown top left. We extend our condolences to the family Calle.

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John Beenen recounts the background to the sensational and controversial flight of Yuri Gagarin in April 1961…. Yuri Alexejevitch Gagarin was born on March 9th 1934 in the small village of Klushino close to the village of Ghzjatsk in the Oblast Smolensk. Both his parents worked at a collective farm. He was the third of four children and was mainly raised by his elder sister. In WWII his elder brothers were forced to do slave labour in Germany and returned home only after the war. After his schooldays Gagarin worked as an apprentice in metalworks as a foundryman. Still at school he was chosen for further education at the town of Saratov. Here he joined the local flying club and took his license for small airplanes. After completing his technical school he entered military flight training at Orenburg were he met his wife, Valentina Goryatcheva, whom he married in 1957 and with whom he had two daughters, Yelena and Galya. After getting his pilot’s wings for a MIG-15 he was transferred to the Norwegian border in the neighbourhood of Murmansk. Gagarin was not very tall, only 1,57 cm, and his modest height would prove to be an advantage later on in the confines of the narrow Vostok capsule. In those days cosmonauts were selected on their height, their weight (less than 75 kg) and their age (less than 30). On November 5th 1957 he became a lieutenant of the Soviet Air force and two years later a Senior Lieutenant. Out of 3000 applicants he was selected to join the first cosmonaut training group, which first was reduced to 102

and then to 20 as the Soviet chief of the space programme, Sergei Korolev (1907-1966), wanted to have the group three times larger than of the Americans. (Soviet Union, Gagarin and Korolev, Y 4794, 1981) As this article is mainly about Gagarin and his

achievements in space, let’s pause briefly to take a look at this training group. Along with Gagarin were selected : Ivan Anikeyev (1933-†1992), Pavel Belyayev (1925-†1970), Valentin Bondarenko (1937-†1961), Valeri Bykovsky (1934), Valentin Filatyev (1930-†1990), Viktor Gorbatko (1934), Anatoli Kartashov (1932-†2005), Yevgeni Khrunov (1933-†2000), Vladimir Komarov (1927-†1967), Alexei Leonov (1934), Grigory Nelyubov (1934-†1966), Andriyan Nikolayev (1929-†2004), Pavel Popovitch (1930-†2009), Mars Rafikov (1933-†2000), Georgi Shonin (1935-†1997), Gherman Titov

(1935-2000), Valentin Varlamov (1934-†1980), Boris Volynov (1934) and Dmitri Zaikin (1932). Of those twenty only twelve would fly in space: Bondarenko died in a pressure chamber accident, Anikeyev, Nelyubov, Filatyev and Rafikov were dismissed for disciplinary reasons (misuse of alcohol) and others were disqualified on medical grounds: Varlamov (swimming injury) and Zaikin (Ulcer) and Kartashov (centrifuge problem),although he was considered to be the best of the training group. The main group destined for the first flight in space comprised only six : Gagarin, Titov, Nelyubov, Bykovsky, Nikolayev and Popovitch. Previously Kartashov and Varlamov were chosen but both were injured and replaced by Bykovsky and Nelyubov From those six finally Gagarin, Titov and Nelyubov remained as candidates and Nelyubov lost his position through his behaviour and alcohol misuse, though he still stayed as a member of the team, finally left the group as late as November 18th, 1966. The Head of the programme was General Nicolai Kamanin (1908-†1982) and the cosmonauts were located at Tyuratam base. After passing several exams the cosmonauts prepared themselves intensively in all aspects of their mission. In that period landing on water was extensively discussed but

Gagarin - the Back Story

Soviet Union Y 2401, 1961; Y2506, 1962

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dismissed as neither the ejection seat nor the spherical re-entry capsule were designed to float. In the presence of the three selected cosmonauts on March 25th 1961 Sputnik 5 was launched, weighing 6000 kg with on

board the dog Zwezdochka and a dummy Ivan Ivanovitch. The dummy was successfully recovered and landed by parachute. The dog landed with the capsule (Soviet Union, Zwozdotchka, Y2426, 1961)

On April 3rd the Central Committee of the Soviets led by Nikita Khrushchev approved the first ever manned spaceflight and final preparations were made. Still the prime cosmonaut for the first flight has not been chosen. In the meantime the cosmonauts were screened for unforeseen events such as a landing on foreign territory. Although automatic flying and landing was planned the cosmonauts were also prepared for manual procedures. However, to override the automatic system they only could do after they had opened a sealed envelope. One source mentions that before the flight of Vostok 1 the code was already known to Gagarin as 325. It was also decided that during the first 40 seconds only Korolev or Kamanin could abort the flight for manual ejection.

(Soviet Union, Titov, Y2452/53, 1961) As Titov seemed to be the stronger character and better suitable for the planned longer second flight, at last Gagarin was chosen for the first. Another unverified argument for choosing Gagarin might have been the fact that Titov’s first name was ‘Gherman’, which sounded too much like “Germany”. 30 years later Titov recalled that he was not pleased with the decision

although he understood that his chances were minimal as Gagarin was the son of a labourer, much more worthy in a “worker’s paradise”, and he the son of a teacher. In the meantime Nelyubov made himself unavailable by a common Russian habit of drinking too much alcohol which only added to his other problems. Gagarin learned of his selection for this task only three days before the mission. At 5:30 a.m. on the 12th of April Gagarin and Titov (his back-up) were wakened and prepared in their space suits then bussed the short distance to the launch pad. On leaving the bus Gagarin needed to relieve himself and did so against one of the tyres of the bus, so establishing a

tradition followed by all male cosmonauts ever since. (Togo, Vostok 1, Y 1048, 1981) After a small delay caused by a hatch which would not close correctly, at 9:07 Moscow time, Vostok 1 (meaning “East” with call sign Kedr, i.e. cedar) with Gagarin aloft, was launched for one orbit of the earth. ‘Here we go’ (Pojechali) yelled Gagarin. The Vostok weighed 4725 kg and had an orbit of between 327 and 180 km. Ten minutes after burn out and 25 minutes after launch it was known that a stable orbit had been reached. At a speed of 27.400 km/h he orbited earth in 89 minutes and 34 sec. During the flight he said: ‘I can see the clouds, I can see everything, it is beautiful’. He also described the effect of zero gravity and his feelings about it. Gagarin orbited earth once only and landed safely after 108 minutes. After that experience it was claimed that Gagarin may have said : ‘I don’t see God up here’, but this is a false claim. The phrase actually came from a speech of Nikita Khrushchev before the plenum of the Central Committee. In a certain context he said: ‘Gagarin flew into space, but didn’t see any God there’ After re-entry Gagarin was ejected at a height of about 7 km and landed by parachute. This event was kept secret as according the rules the flight for a world record could be ratified only when the pilot stayed in the vehicle. The capsule landed at 10:05 Russian Time south west of Engels Smelovka, Saratov. The first persons Gagarin met were an old woman (Anna Tachtarova) with her grand-daughter (Rita) and a dog. An interesting video of his flight is available on You Tube. A very obstinate rumour persisting on the Internet concerns the suggestion that Gagarin may not have been the first. In one of my previous articles I wrote about ‘Phantom Cosmonauts’ and in my opinion probably Ledovsky in 1957, Shiborin in 1958 and Mitkov in 1959 all died in earlier flights. In the former communist states a story was made up that the space trip of Gagarin had been faked. Many Western governments were supposed to know of this story but would not reveal the truth as, for investment reasons, it would have shown that the Soviet state was not so advanced as they would have us believe. An interesting book is ‘Gagarin, a space lie’ (Budapest 1990) written by the Hungarian journalist Istvin Nemere. Arguments are: Until 1961 the USA has launched 42 satellites, the Soviets only 12. Also the USA was very quick with information about the space trip of Alan Shepard with Freedom on May 5th, 1961.

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To save face the Soviet Union was forced to do something and on April 7th Soviet cosmonaut Vladimir Ilyushin was sent into space. The Americans were supposed to have intercepted several radio communications between him and the Space Centre in the Soviet Union. But Ilyushin’s landing failed, he landed in China and he became seriously wounded and could not be shown to the world. It was announced that he had been in a car accident and sent to China to receive better treatment. Actually, he may have crashed in China and been kept in detention for one year after been released. A Russian TV-documentary ‘Cosmonaut cover-up’ also claims a spaceflight of Ilyushin where he got into trouble during the first orbit and crashed in China on the third. Afterwards he might have been killed in a faked car accident, but that is not true as later on he was shown to be still alive, though suffering from severe wounds. It was claimed that at that time the Soviets did not possess a spare rocket for launching and therefore it was decided to try a gigantic piece of poker, a cosmic lie. On April 11th 1961, the British newspaper Daily Worker (typically sympathetic to the Communists) printed a front page article about this flight with Ilyushin. Up to today, Dennis Ogden, the journalist, claims he was right and the Ilyushin flight actually took place.

There are still some weak points in the story. Nowhere in the stories known today is Ilyushin mentioned as part of the cosmonaut team and some preparations for such a flight are certainly necessary, although it must me admitted, the Soviets are very good in “disappearing” someone. Another weak point is the fact that no spare missile would have been available. Due to poor Soviet organization at that time it could have been possible, but did they make such mistakes? Then they were really desperate. A third argument: why he was sent to China? Is there not enough medical treatment in Russia? In any case, one ref (2) cites a long letter of someone who did long time research to the story and he claims vigorously that the story of Ilyushin is true.

However, I still think that the long enumeration in ‘Astronautix’ shows the right sequence and the flight of Gagarin did take place, but that Ilyushin might have preceded him. After the flight Gagarin was transported to Moscow where he met Korolev. Some days later he gave a carefully orchestrated television interview. After that he underwent several medical and physical tests for 6 days. On May 1st he was the focus of the annual parade. Inevitably, as number 11.175, he became ‘Hero of the Soviet Union’. After that he was used for Soviet publicity and had to visit a large amount of states such as: Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia, Finland, England, Iceland, Cuba, Brazil, Canada and Hungary. Already in October Gagarin like Titov showed extreme masculine behaviour in drinking too much and insulting people. At a meeting in the Crimea Gagarin jumped from a balcony of the hotel and was seriously wounded as he was trying to make love to a 27 year old nurse. Such behaviour was not unknown by later cosmonauts and reading the book ‘The right Stuff’ even Americans played their glamorous role of popstar. With regard to Popovitch in particular some bad behaviour is known (Soviet Union, Popovitch, Y 2551, 1962) Gagarin needed ten days of healing and sustained a permanent scar on his face. For the benefit of outsiders it was suggested that he was suffering from exhaustion. Both cosmonauts were severely reprimanded about their way of living and promised to behave better. They were needed for further publicity. After that, the travelling abroad started again with an Asian tour and after that an African one. For his service Gagarin earned 639 roubles a year, Titov 579 and his boss Kamanin even less. (During this time Rafikov and Anikeyev were dismissed for escapades for which in the cases of Gagarin and Titov were tolerated. On June 12th Gagarin became a lieutenant-Colonel (Podpolkovnik) of the Soviet air force and on November 6th a full Colonel (Polkovnik). In the meantime several Vostoks and Voskhods were launched. Gagarin was involved in all preparations for these flights. Valentina Tereshkova, the first woman in space, revealed in Cuba that Gagarin became the head of the lunar cosmonaut team in Star City near Zvyozdny Godorok. After an assignment for the 5th and 6th Soyuz flight, he was slated to be the first stand-in for Vladimir Komarov in the first Soyuz flight. After the disaster in which Komarov died, Gagarin and Leonov wanted Mishin to be the main guilty party.

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At that time, after the death of Korolev, Mishin was in charge of the space programme and as such he could be held responsible for all errors and mistakes of the Soyuz 1. As the Soviet leadership thought Gagarin was too important for their publicity they removed him from the list of cosmonauts and was allowed to fly aircraft only. On March 27th 1968, although he was a very skilled pilot, Gagarin together with his instructor pilot Seryogin was killed on a flight with a MIG-15. On the internet this crash is surrounded by many urban myths, but the main reason for this crash was a sudden pressure drop in the cabin which caused a free fall or turbulence caused by another aircraft passing too close. Both were buried in the walls of the Kremlin in Red Square.

(Soviet Union, Gagarin statues, Y 4795, 1981) Gagarin is honoured with a monument at Cosmonauts Alley in Moscow, a 40 m tall monument in titanium erected in 1980 and a number of commemorative coins. Another stands not far from Korolev Avenue.

And there are several others such as a plane taking off in Snizhne, his bust in Erfurt (Thüringen), a memorial in Aue-Zelle (Sachsen), a sculpture in the metro of Moscow Zvezdnaya, a large flying rocket column in Saratov, his head in Irkutsk, in Star City to name but a few. There is also a wide, shallow circular and heavily eroded crater on the far side of the Moon named for him. April 12th 1961 in the Soviet Union and thereafter became known as Cosmonautics Day, for philatelists an interesting day as every year since some interesting stamps have been issued. Literature 50 Years of spacecraft, In the trail of Sputnik, Piet Smolders, 2007 (Dutch) www.myhero.com/ Vladimir Ilyushin Feedback . www.astronautix.com/ Vladimir Ilyushin, Gagarin http://en.wikipedia.org different stories www.spacepage.be The mysteries from the Soviet manned space programme (Dutch) www.jamesoberg.com Uncovering Soviet disasters

www.enchantedlearning.com Gagarin

www.nasa.gov Yuri Gagarin

www.ffagency.com Gagarin - statues

A photo showing most of the first group of twenty cosmonauts

http://www.myhero.com/

http://www.astronautix.com/

http://www.spacepage.be/

http://www.jamesoberg.com/

http://www.enchantedlearning.com/

http://www.nasa.gov/

http://www.ffagency.com/

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Ancient & Modern

How mythological allusion has inspired naming conventions within our fields of interest:

2: Minor Solar System Objects If Major Solar System objects were largely named after Roman deities, their minor partners are a mixture of names from a handful of different mythologies.

The moon goddess in Greek mythology was Selene, a young woman with a very pale complexion who rides a silver chariot drawn by two horses across the night sky. (Her brother was Helios the Sun god and her sister Eos, goddess of the Dawn). In

H.G.Wells’ 1901 novel The First Men in the Moon the insect like inhabitants found there are called Selenites, in tribute. (Grenada 1973) The two asymmetrical satellites of the planet Mars - probably captured asteroids — were discovered in 1877 by Asaph Hall, who named them. Phobos and the smaller Deimos in Greek mythology were the twin sons of the god of war Ares (Mars to the Romans). Their names translate as Fear and Terror. (USSR 1988) Some of the main belt asteroids are named after Greek goddesses, for example Ceres (diameter 940 km), Pallas (580), Juno (288), Vesta (576), Hygeia (430) and Psyche (248).

Ceres was known to the Greeks as Demeter, the goddess of the harvest and of society. (Greece 1986 left) Pallas aka Pallas Athena or Athene and to the Romans Minerva was the goddess of

wisdom, war, justice and skill. (Greece 1969 right) Juno was the Roman name for the goddess Hera, the wife-sister of Jupiter (Zeus). (Greece 1986) Vesta (Hestia to the Greeks) was the goddess of the hearth fire and therefore of domestic life. (Greece 1986) Hygieia was the

daughter of Asclepios, the giver of health and is sometimes known as The Health (Greece 1935) but Psyche was a mortal hated by jealous Aphrodite who demanded her son Eros kill her. Alas he fell in love with her instead as seen in the Canova statue Cupid and Psyche (Italy 2007). The large Galilean satellites of Jupiter—Io, Europa, Ganymede and Callisto are all named after characters in Greek mythology as is Amalthea the fifth largest moon. The Phoenician princess Europa and the handsome youth Ganymede were both preyed on and abducted by Zeus (Jupiter) disguised as a bull (Bosnia 1997) and as an eagle respectively (Greece 1935). Io, the daughter of King Argos was transformed into a white heifer by Zeus to conceal her from his wife Hera. The nymph Callisto was changed into a she-bear for much the same reason, but vengeful Hera caused Artemis to kill her during a hunt. Amalthea was the name of the sacred goat that raised Zeus who was secreted away as a baby by his mother when his father Cronus wanted to eat him. Amalthea gave Zeus her skin, her “aegis”, as eternal protection, shown on his shoulder in this 1974 Greek stamp. Other Jovian moons named after more obscure mythological characters include Adrastea (known to the Romans as Nemesis), Thebe (one of the Amazons), Himalia (a nymph who had three sons with Zeus), Lysithea, Carme, Sinope and Elara (other paramours of Zeus) Ananke (mother of The Fates), Metis (first wife of Zeus), Leda (mother of Castor and Polydeuces, seduced by Zeus disguised as a swan) and Pasiphaë (mother of the Minotaur).

Correction: in the first article in this series the name of the goddess of the Dawn was given as Iris This should have read Eos : Iris is the goddess of the Rainbow. Apologies and well spotted if you did ! Ed.

Hera , Vesta and Hygieia

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Many of the moons of Saturn—see table on the right, listing the largest—are also named after Greek mythological characters, some well known others not. Titan is by far the planet’s largest satellite. No character is actually called by that name but several of the other moons are named after The Titans or other Giants such as Mimas, Hyperion, Iapetus, Enceladus, the old gods deposed by Zeus and the first of them was slain by Hercules. Tethys, Dione, Rhea and Phoebe were female Titans. (Greece 1972 shows Zeus battling with the Titans)

Prometheus like Atlas was a son of Iapetus and he stole sacred fire from Zeus and the new gods. Zeus punished him by chaining him to a rock and having an eagle eat his liver daily and he also titillated him by showing him Pandora then giving her to his brother Epimetheus. Pan was the Greek god of shepherds and flocks.

Calypso and Telesto were nymphs, daughters of Atlas and of Tethys respectively. Phoebe was a daughter of Uranus and Gaia. Helene was an Amazon killed by Achilles in one-to-one combat.

Top : Prometheus stealing fire Greece 1997 and above Atlas helping Heracles to the golden apples of the Hesperides: Greece 1906

Pan : Greece 1958

Janus however was the Roman god of gateways, doors and beginnings and endings whose name is preserved in the first month of the year and many of the smallest moons and those most newly discovered are from a different mythology altogether—Inuit.

Note on the list of the major moons the name Siarnaq. It was discovered only ten years or so ago and is named after giant also known as Sedna. In fact around Saturn there is a group of irregular satellites, all with a diameter of less than 20km named after Inuit deities, such as Kiviuq and Ijiraq. Additionally Paaliaq was named after a fictional shaman in The Curse of the Shaman by Michael Kusugak who had

suggested many of the authentic names to the group of astronomers who had

discovered the tiny moons. A further group of Saturnian moons is named after Norse mythological characters, such as Ymir, Thrymr and Suttungr (frost giants), Skathi (a female giant) and Mundilfari (father of the goddess Sol). Two other tiny moons Tarvos and Erriapo are named for characters in Gaulish mythology.

The moons of Uranus are all named after Shakespearean women, for example, Cordelia, Ophelia and Desdemona, but classical allusion is returned to for the names of the satellites of Neptune, all thirteen of which are named after minor Greek water deities. The largest moon is called Triton, who was the son of Poseidon with a human torso and a fish tail, shown in Greece 2009 struggling with the great hero Heracles.

Ymir the giant and the cow Audhumla part of the Norse

creation myth on Faroes 2003

Thrmyr the giant stole Thor’s hammer Mjollnr in order to

force the gods to let him marry Freyja

Inuit shaman : Canada 2000

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As with the moons of Jupiter which are mostly related to legends about Zeus, so all the moons of Neptune have sea-related mythical names. Naiad, one of the smaller moons is named not after one character but a type of water-nymph, who presided over fountains and streams of fresh water etc.

Arethusa (Greece 1959) and Salamcis (Monaco 1948) are good examples of water nymphs. Galatea was also a sea-nymph or Nereid who loved the spirit Acis, bludgeoned to death by the jealous cyclops Polyphemus. The nymph then turned his blood into the River Acis. A statue of Galatea is shown in this 1995 issue from Austria celebrating the 1863 operetta by Franz von Suppé Die Schöne Galathee which is connected to the original story but is mainly about the sculptor Pygmalion who falls in love with his representation of the nymph, who comes to life . Thalassa (aka Tethys) is the mother of Aphrodite in a union with Zeus, and the personification of the sea. Despina is the daughter of Demeter and Poseidon and Larissa a daughter of Pelasgus. Proteus (aka The Old Man of the Sea) is a son of Poseidon and looks after his father’s seals on the island of Pharos. Halimede, Sao, Neso, Psamathe and Laomedeia are members of the group of Nereids.

The dwarf planet Pluto is known to have three moons—Charon, Hydra and Nix, though Charon and Pluto may be regarded as binary planetoids. More will be known when the New Horizons probe arrives in the vicinity of Pluto in mid-2015.

In mythology Charon was the ferryman of the River Styx in Hades and Hydra the many headed monster which was killed by Heracles. Nyx is the goddess and embodiment of the night and the mother of Charon. Beyond Pluto, or perhaps starting with it are a growing number of identified KBO’s (Kuiper Belt Objects) and TNOs (trans-Neptunian Objects), the first discovered of which were named after mythological characters from various cultures —Haumea, Makemake, Sedna and Quaoar. The IAU decided that all newly discovered dwarf planets should be named after mythological creatures associated with creation. Haumea is the matron goddess of the island of Hawaiʻi, where is located the Mauna Kea Observatory where its discovery was made. Makemake comes from the Rapa Nui mythology of Easter Island. Sedna is the Inuit goddess of the sea, who lives at the bottom of the Arctic Ocean. Quaoar is the creator god of the Tongva people who were the native people of the area which we now know as Los Angeles, where the discovery was made from. Other KBOs include Eris (“the tenth planet”) and Ixion (both named from Greek mythology) and Varuna (the name of a Hindu sea deity).

In classical art nereids are typically depicted riding sea

creatures or monsters.

Cyprus 1997: Charon takes away another soul and Monaco 1981 shows Heracles fighting the Nemean Hydra

Sedna, the Mother of the Sea in Inuit mythology appears on Greenland 1957 and 2007

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hawaii_(island)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mauna_Kea_Observatory

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Nereid.jpg

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Space Tourism and Entrepreneurial Projects This 2010 issue from Guinea shows Richard Garriott, the space participant on Soyuz TMA-13 in October 2008 and behind him within the stamp captioned as “Galactic Suite” presumably a projected private space station and shuttle The companion souvenir sheet below contains six stamps three of which are devoted to Virgin Galactic: top left Will Whitehorn, President of the firm, regarded as the right hand man of entrepreneur Sir Richard Branson who is shown as a space tourist in the top right stamp. Bottom right is an illustration of the

suborbital SpaceShipTwo which is intended to carry space tourists on a ballistic flight to provide a few minutes of weightlessness, probably by the middle of this decade for a cost of not less than £100K per person. In the foreground of the upper sheet and in the bottom left stamp is illustrated the Astrium spaceplane. The EADS Astrium Space Tourism Project was officially unveiled in Paris by EADS Astrium, the space subsidiary of the European consortium EADS, (European Aerospace Defence and Space Company) on June 13, 2007. The project is the first space tourism entry by a major aerospace contractor The centre top stamp depicts the Dragon spaceplane developed by SpaceX a space transportation company in Hawthorne, California. In December 2010, it became the first spacecraft ever placed in orbit and

recovered by a private company. The first operational Dragon missions would be flown for NASA to deliver cargo to the ISS. Dragon was designed so that it could eventually carry up to seven people, or a mixture of personnel and cargo, to and from low Earth orbit. The final stamp—a filler ?? - references the actor Arnold Schwarzenneger in a sci-fi role A Falcon SpaceX launch (from July 2009) is shown on this 2010 Zazzle stamp.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/EADS_Astrium

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/EADS

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hawthorne,_California

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NASA

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Low_Earth_orbit

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Low_Earth_orbit

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All Shuttle Astronauts to be Portrayed on Stamps

Got that sinking feeling in your heart (or wallet ?) In what looks like initiative from IGPC, often accused of inappropriate issues, the African territory of Malawi has issued an extended series of stamps in minisheets whose target is to portray crew portraits for all shuttle flights. Although within a very colourful series each stamp design is of little artistic merit simply bringing together a NASA crew

portrait, a mission patch over a swash to suggest flight, a photo of a celestial object and a name and dates caption. Malawi has no great history of issuing stamps with space themes, with very occasional sets e.g. for Halley’s Comet and the surprise is that this set has not come from Sierra Leone. All the sheets can been seen on the Lollini website, searching within their Space Revue pages from October 2010 onwards.

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SF Rockets Featured in GB Thunderbirds issue In recent years Royal Mail has tried to kick start each new year with a populist and sometime gimmicky first issue in January: for example in 2007 The Beatles stamps, in 2008 James Bond novels, in 2009 British design classics and in 2010 Classic (popular music) Album covers. This trend continued with the first issue of 2011 marking 50 years of “The Genius of Gerry Anderson”, whose “Supermarionation process turned puppets into action heroes with high production values, state-of-the-art special effects, ultra cool futuristic vehicles and sci-fi story lines” according to the presentation pack. Anderson’s biggest hit, celebrated in a minisheet using microlenticular stamps

which give the impression of movement is devoted to Thunderbirds. The four stamps above simulate the opening sequence of Thunderbirds 1 to 4 taking off with a fifth one already shown in orbit. The other stamps celebrate five other series with Fireball XL5 being of possible interest given its sci-fi theme.

ASTEROIDS Some Bits and Pieces

BTA Membership The ASSS is now a member of the British Thematic Association and as such we have access to their library of articles, gleaned from various philatelic magazines. Within it there are listed thirty-six articles regarding space, some of which have originated in Orbit. If anyone is interested in seeing the list please let Harvey Duncan know (see contact details in panel on page 2) and he will email it to you. If you are then interested in any article on the list inform him and he will email or post a copy of the article to you, at no charge to you. If you are interested in articles on any other themes let Harvey know what your interest is and he will inform you of any articles available on that topic.

Women in Space Our American member Marcy Frumker is working on a new exhibit about women astronauts and the end of the space shuttle for the International Women’s Air and Space Museum (IWASM). She has also been able to do some crew interviews of recently returned female space station astronauts live on NASA TV and there are links to these interviews on the Facebook page for the IWASM. Check out www.iwasm.org for an easy link to these.

Secretary’s New Email Address Please note that Brian Lockyer has changed his email address, leaving Tesco as his I.S.P for B.T.. His new address is : -

[email protected]

We wish Brian a speedy recovery after a period in hospital.

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A Doyenne of Astrophilately—an interview with Beatrice Bachmann

In an article first published in the October-December 2010 edition of the on-line journal Ad Astra, our Italian sister publication, Umberto Cavallaro interviews Beatrice Bachmann shown in this photo taken by German ASSS member Jűrgen Esders and also featuring Spanish ASSS member Antoni Rigo. Umberto and Beatrice are both former members of the ASSS. The article was sub-edited by Jeff Dugdale The meeting is over. It has started very early in the morning – at 8:30 – and lasted until noon. This year there was no “technical” subject to discuss, except a minor upgrade to the SREV, quickly unanimously approved by the Delegates. This meeting has especially commemorated the Event: 25 years ago, Astrophilately was born in Rome, as an FIP Section. Beatrice Bachmann, the founder and first “Leader” of the Section had been invited to summarise the main milestones in the journey of this first quarter century. A long interesting path, with much learning involved. All the Delegates meet for the working lunch in the snack bar of the Congress Centre and we deal again on the same subject with funny stories and anecdotes. I make an appointment in the afternoon with Beatrice for a short interview.

“How did your interest in astrophilately start?” “It started in 1961 in Germany where I used to perform as an actress in theatre. I was fascinated about Gagarin’s space flight and it happened that a friend of mine made me aware of the possibility of recording this event with philatelic material. That’s how everything began. From this time onwards I was attracted by philatelic material about space. When I came to the Theatre of Zurich in 1965 as an actress my interest in space philately was still going on. Almost by chance in a street hobbies market in Zurich I met Teddy Dahinden who introduced me to other collectors of Welltall-philatelie (the term used in Swiss- German for “space philately”).“Weltallsammlern”, or “space collectors” at that time were interested in all philatelic material related to space research and exploration by unmanned and manned space flights. "Astrophilately” was not yet born. As the group grew, we started to regularly meet in a restaurant in Zurich every first Friday of the month. At the beginning of 1969 we decided to set-up in Zurich

the Gesellschaft der Weltall- Philatelisten (Society of Space Philatelists) and Dr. Dahinden was elected President. It was a success.

The following year we organized in Zurich the first WERABA (Weltraum-Briefmarkenausstellung or Exhibition of Space Covers) with 28 exhibitors coming from 5 Countries to participate with their own collections. Dahinden presented a memorable conference under the title “what is astrophilately?” where he defined the boundaries of the new discipline: a sort of “symbiosis of Philately and Techniques”. Three years later, 61 exhibitors and 28 youth participated in WERABA 2 (1973). The number of exhibitors kept on growing, and at WERABA 3 (1976) there were 83 exhibitors and 18 youth contributors”.

Beatrice speaking with Antoni and Umberto (right) at the FIP congress in Portugal in October 2010: see Orbit for January 2011

pages 16 and 17

Continued on page 28

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Yuri Gagarin—A “Forever” Hero Bert van Eijck proposes the toast To the Immortal Memory of Yuri Gagarin. Raise your glasses ! “Oh boy, this is it!” With trembling hands I took hold of the massive steel structure and stroked it, as if it were a woman. A dream came true. I stood at the same spot where the first human being to go into space, Yuri Gagarin, was preparing for his flight.

This I wrote in Orbit, issue No. 24 of April 1995, and I still total agree with every word. Here history was written on April 12, 1961 at Baikonur, then an isolated, desert-like part of the Soviet Union, now part of the Republic of Kazakhstan.

I happened to be one of the first Western journalists in 1993 to visit this secret Soviet launch base for rockets, satellites and spacecraft. Therefore I am very proud of this photo which was taken showing me at the launch pad where Yuri Gagarin became an immortal hero. Not only did I visit Baikonur, but also went to cosmonauts’ town Star City, Cosmos Flight Centre Kaliningrad (now named after Sergei Korolev), Rocket Builder Energiya and more.

Details of these visits were all featured in a series in Orbit in 1995. It is good to remember this heroic event of fifty years ago. The Russian Postal Authorities of will undoubtedly honour this golden jubilee with an issue of stamps, special cancellations, postal stationery and maybe other memorabilia. But the true philatelic piece of value is the first day cover of the launch date, April 12, 1961 with the special stamp, special cancel in red of Moscow Post Office and the Registed Mail strip, seen (right) on an envelope sent to an address in the Russian capital. Because the destination was inside the country the Cyrillic letter”3” for Zakaknoe (Registered) was used instead of the

international “R” for Recommande’ or Registered. Both written in the left upper corner of the cover as well as in strip numbered (No.342) postal strip of Moscow Post Office. Of course there were numerous stamps and cancels to honour Gagarin, not only from the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe countries, but elsewhere in the world as well. And he deserved it, of course. The first postal stationary (envelope or card with imprinted stamp, often with illustration) for Gagarin was issued within five weeks of his safe return to Earth, The exact date: May 16, 1961 with the portrait of our hero.

Again it was a great thrill to visit the Energiya factory, the Soviet builder of rockets, satellites and space probes to Venus and Mars. The goose-pimples came in the Space Museum there : a large hall was packed with space material, all unique, for there were no duplicates. So there was the actual Vostok space ship piloted by Gagarin, partly burned and covered with scarring, caused by entering Earth’s atmosphere. (See photo top of next page) I could not resist myself, so I put my hand on the Vostok (or “East”) space ship as if I now was part of the historic flight. There was a lot more to see in this museum, for instance the original Sputnik-2 with the first space dog Laika, mummified of course but looking very much alive.

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Another Gagarin-highlight we are presented with comes in the form of Zvyozdny Gorodok, in English, “Star City”. It is a small town near Moscow where international cosmonauts live, learn to speak Russian and are trained for space flight. The Yuri Gagarin Space Training Centre is the official name for the main building in Star City. Gagarin still had his room at the centre. It was fully intact, complete with a detailed map of the world on the wall beside his bureau chair. This unique bureau was shut off with several ropes to keep strangers away. But I felt such a space fan I climbed the ropes and sat in Gagarin’s chair at his bureau. This was good stuff for a photo. The photographer was ASSS-member Bart Beimers, a fellow Dutchman who was on this space trip too. So he can confirm this photo is authentic.

The cosmonauts-to be endured a harsh training programme in the Gagarin Centre. They would undergo more G’s (gravitation) than normally is possible on Earth but is common in space travel. They were to be working under water in a cosmonaut’s full outfit and had to blindly find their way in the mock-up of sunken space ships or -stations, built as exactly duplicates as the real ones for training purpose. On the 20th anniversary of Gagarin Training Centre the Soviet Post issued a series of three stamps in 1980. Pictured are different training modules in the centre. There was also illustrated postal stationery. Seen here is such an illustrated envelope with an extra training centre space

stamp of 6 kopeks, enough for the registered mail sending.

At the end of this piece in honour of Yuri Gagarin I present a philatelic item which not all ASSS-members will know about. It honours Gagarin three times. First of all the pictorial envelope with the satellite tracking ship (see the four dishes directed towards space) with its name “Kosmonaut Yuri Gagarin”. Second the special stamp with portrait and ship. And at last the postal cancel with the ship again and the First Day Cancel 25-12-1979 (Christmas Day).

For those who are interested: on the same day two other “star ships” stamps with cosmonaut names were issued. These are: “Kosmonaut Vladislav Volkov” and “Kosmonaut Vladimir Komarov.” Below the 1979 stamp as on cover and a 1981 stamp showing a tourist ship named after Gagarin.

The real space ship Vostok at Energyia Moscow

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25 years on The Challenger Disaster

2011 Cover prepared by Bristol-based member Ken Woods Below, arguably the most elegant ever tribute to the crew

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“So in mid 70s astrophilately had reached a critical mass. How did you arrive at setting-up a specific class?” “It was quite a winding path, not lacking in obstacles. Dr. Dahinden used to be in contact with Roland Kohl, president of FISA (Fédération Internationale des Sociétes Aerophilatéliques), that in 1980 had established its internalAstrophilately Commission, with its own regulation.

At the same time Dr. Dahinden, who in 1976 had been appointed President of the Swiss Philatelic Federation, became a Member of the FIP Board. As FISA was more open towards the new discipline, he fostered an agreement between FIP and FISA. The immediate visible result was the first FIP-FISA astrophilately exhibition LURABA held in Luzern in 1981, putting together the 20 years of successful unmanned and manned space flights of the USSR and USA. It was the first time that FIP had sponsored an Astrophilately Exhibition. Most of the philatelic materials on space didn’t fit in with the regulations of

the existing classes. The Federation was however resisting as they couldn’t see the need for a separate class. They felt that Thematic Philately was already able to satisfy the instances of space collecting. It took years before FIP recognised the necessity of founding an independent Astrophilately Section with Special Regulations and Guidelines. At the FIP Congress in Rome in November 1985, in the context of the ITALIA’85 International Philatelic Exhibition, a motion of the FIP Board to create a Section for Astrophilately within the Commission for Aerophilately was approved. FIP Board member Dr. Teddy Dahinden, Aerophilately Juror and Coordinator of the Commission for Aerophilately became also Coordinator of the Section for Astrophilately. Iwas appointed by the FIP Board as Leader of the Section. It was not a “Commission” and I was not a “President” and instead of a Commission Board, I had a “Working Committee” of four Members. I had to submit to the President of the Aerophilately Commission all official paper and information of the Section before forwarding them to delegates. But, …at least, Astrophilately had started on its own way…” Beatrice (now aged 80) used to be – and still is – an actress. Our interesting and pleasant conversation goes on for a couple of hours. The development of what happened from there onwards is well summarized in the website of FIP-Astrophilately, prepared by the President Igor Rodin, (also an ASSS member) in its page: “The 25th Anniversary of the FIP Section for Astrophilately” …..

see (http://astrophilatelist.com/index/history_of_the_section/0-950)

Continued from page 23

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An Icelandic Vanishing Trick by Bert van Eijck On September 29th, 1981 the Postal Authorities of Iceland issued a nice stamp of 500 Island Kronen (ISK) for its first satellite dish on earth station Skyggnir, a suburb of the capital of Reykjavik. Nearly thirty years later I happened to visit Iceland and sought out this dish. It had vanished. How and why ? Here is the story…. It was Monday morning September 27th, 2010. The cruise ship Norwegian Sun had just arrived in the harbour of Reykjavik after cruising the Norwegian Sea from Thorshavn, capital of Faroe Islands. My wife Jet and I set foot on Icelandic soil, at a isolated place at the end of the harbour complex. The weather: light rain, temperature 10 degrees, a cold wind blowing. Many of the 2000 passengers on the ship were going on excursion with local guides. We were exploring Reykjavik on our own. I approached a charming lady guide in uniform and showed her an enlarged copy of the Iceland stamp with the satellite dish. I asked where I could find it on the large island. Is it perhaps in the neighbourhood? She thought about it and after a while she said: “Try Radio House. Every taxi driver can take you there”.

At first the cab driver did not understand, but he did know Broadcasting House at Efstaleiti Street in South-East Reykjavik. Above the entrance door it says “Utvarpshusd.” So this is it. After introducing ourselfs as ORBIT reporters, we made acquaintance with Mr. Eyjolfur Valdimarsson, Head of Engineering of Broadcasting House. He knew all about what we want to know. And later on again he provided more info by e-mail. Here are the facts. On the Icelandic stamp you can see at the

right “Simasamband vhd utlond 1906-1981”. This means “Telecommunications oversea 1906-1981.” The stamp was issued to mark the opening of the earth station located at Skyggnir in 1980. Skyggnir is a site outside Reykjavik, far away from the city. Its earth station was built in the seventies to cope with increasing telecommunication traffic to and from Iceland to the mainland Europe and America. The first sea cable that linked Iceland with Europe was opened in 1906 for telegraphy. That explains the ‘1906’ on the stamp. The dish on the stamp was 36 metres in diameter. “Was” is indeed the right word, for the satellite dish was dismantled. It just vanished. Its use for telecommunications, telephony, television signals for contributions etc. was no longer necessary. After 25 years it came to an end in 2005. It became redundant after Iceland was connected via fibreoptic sea cables with much bigger bandwidths. But, there are two smaller satellite dishes at Skyggnir – nowadays inside the growing city - used for different telecommunications applications. These are built behind the Broadcasting House and serve the needs of the Icelandic National Broadcasting Service, called the RUV, for reception of television and radio programmes. The bigger antennae of 13 metres is used for EBU-network (European Broadcasting Union). The smaller one of 8 metres is used for occasional reception of tv-programmes from different sources. Broadcasting House is the headquarters for RUV. About 300 people work here. They run one tv channel and two radio channels. Mystery solved !

Orbit reporter Bert Van Eijck at the 13 m satellite dish in Reykjavik Taken on 27.9.10

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In an article first published in the October- December 2010 edition of our Italian sister journal the on-line AdAstra, its editor Umberto Cavallaro reviews Italy’s contribution to Space Exploration. A major contribution has been made by Italy in discovering and exploring space. Few now recall that in 1964 Italy was the third nation in the world, after the superpowers USSR and USA, to design, implement and launch an artificial satellite into Earth orbit: San Marco. Little known are also the successes of the Italian Space Industry which, e.g., has contributed, through Thales Alenia Space, more than 50% to the ISS's pressurized, thus habitable, volume. For the first time ever (in 1956 in fact) an artificial satellite appeared on a stamp – and it was an Italian one ! - dedicated to the 7th(International Astronautical Congress) held in Rome. The first IAC was held in Paris in 1950 and concluded with setting up the non-governmental organization IAF (International Astronautical Federation). During the Congress in Rome, the American Delegate illustrated the US plan finalized to put in Earth orbit a satellite during the International Geophysical Year. However the following year, just few days before the official opening of the 8th IAC in Barcelona, the Russians surprised the world and dealt American prestige a harsh blow by putting in orbit the first artificial satellite, Sputnik, which inaugurated the Astronautic Era (or Cosmonautic, as Soviets called it) and started the USA-USSR space race, one of the most spectacular and fascinating aspects of the Cold War. The interest of Italy in space had started as early as 1959, less than a couple of years after the launch of Sputnik, when Gen. Prof. Luigi Broglio set up the Aerospace Research Centre of the University of Rome. In 1961 Telespazio SpA (the first space systems Services Company in the world) was founded. In 1963 started its operation the Fucino Space Centre “Piero Fanti” near L’Aquila: the first and most important space centre in the world for civilian use, where, in cooperation with NASA, the Telstar and Relay satellites were tested

from 1963 onwards to broadcast international TV signals. The first Italian stamp related to Fucino came late in 1968. It features the Fucino basin, surrounded by the 2000-metre high mountains which naturally protect the facility from anthropogenic interference.

For this reason the Centre quickly grew into the principal satellite tracking station in Italy and today, with its 80 antennae is one of the largest space centres. The success of the San Marco project was commemorated in 1975, after 11 years, by an Italian stamp featuring the San Marco satellite flying over the space platform bearing the same name. Indeed the stamp celebrated ten years of Italian successes in space which already had included, at that time,

the San Marco satellite designed and implemented by the Broglio’s Aerospace Research Centre and the offshore launch site near Malindi, Kenya, known as the San Marco platform, with its secondary control platform. Poste Italiane in 1977 welcomed the launch of Sirio with postal stationery featuring the antenna of Fucino tracking the orbiting Sirio the first geo-stationary satellite for Telecommunication, entirely designed, built and managed by Italy, involving CNR, CIA, the University of Rome, Politecnico di Milano and Telespazio. Initially planned for August 18th, the launch was postponed by a week. The Polygraphic Institute (which prints stamps and official postal items in Italy) had to destroy the 60.000 “wrong” postal stationeries produced meanwhile. Although the development had passed through countless problems and difficulties, the satellite proved to be a great success: designed for an operational life of two years, it was actually in use for eight years, until 1985, used by researchers in Italy, UK, France, Germany, North-Europe, USA and China. The Sirio satellite was also represented in the drawing which Emilio Greco prepared for commemorating the third World Telecommunications Exhibition, featuring a women calling through an old-fashioned phone device, with Sirio flying in the background. Two Italian communication satellites – indeed San Marco II and L-Sat – appear on labels in the centre of the block of stamps issued in 1983 to celebrate the most important achievements of Italian Aircraft. San Marco II (or San Marco B) the satellite for Earth upper atmosphere study, designed by the Italian Air Force,

The Italian contribution to space discovery and exploration

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with the support of the Italian space industries, was successfully launched on April 26, 1967, from the San Marco platform near Malindi, Kenya. This was the first satellite ever launched from an offshore platform. L-Sat (Large Satellite), later called Olympus, went on with the Telecomm experiments started with Sirio. At the time of launch (12th July 1989), it was the largest civilian telecoms satellite ever built – which is where its alternative name L-Sat (LargeSat) came from. It was the first European satellite to offer capacity in the Ka band -- (20 / 30 GHz) – a band which became increasingly important, in the following years, for internet communications by satellite (videoconference, remote teaching, etc). It was the first satellite destroyed in the impact with a meteor.

Italian technology progressively imposed itself in telecomm satellites and Italy started to play a makor role as ESA Partner. Two Europe Cept stamps in 1991 celebrate the Italian cooperation in the implementation of DRS (Data Relay Satellite), a key component in the ESA space telecommunication infrastructure to support platforms operating between 400 and 800 km altitude such as Columbus and Hermes. Today we take for granted that satellites and receiver dishes are involved when we deal with telecomms and internet.

Not only Italian telecomms satellites, but also Italian scientific experiments in space gained in esteem. In 1992 Franco Malerba, first Italian Astronaut, flew onboard Space Shuttle Atlantis in the STS-46 mission as payload specialist to deploy the “Tethered” satellite experiment, a quite complex project conceived by the scientist Giuseppe Colombo – in a complex cooperation of Alenia, Martin Marietta, ASI and NASA, aiming at demonstrating the feasibility of producing energy in space. The event was celebrated through a postal stationary featuring Giuseppe Colombo. 1n 1996 the experiment was repeated with the support of the Italian Astronaut Umberto Guidoni and the Tether Satellite System circled the Earth at an altitude of 296 kilometres,

placing the tether system within the rarefied electrically charged layer of the atmosphere known as the ionosphere. Again Poste Italiane celebrated the event with a postal stationary, shown above. During the International Year of Astronomy (IYA2009), marking the four hundredth anniversary of the first astronomical observation through a telescope by Galileo Galilei, the new TNG telescope, named after him, has discovered and immortalized the farthest object ever observed by human beings. That primordial star exploded and generated an extremely energetic burst of gamma-rays— among the brightest explosions in the universe. In a few seconds such explosion released more energy, than the Sun may release during its whole existence. Such an observation was important not only because of the tremendous amount of Energy, but mainly because of the age of that celestial body which, being 13 billion of light-years far, is considered the oldest star we know in the Universe and, therefore, the nearest to Big-Bang. To TNG, the Italian National Galileo Telescope located on the island of San Miguel de La Palma (or, more simply, La Palma), in the Canary Islands, Poste Italiane has dedicated one of the two IYA stamps issued in May 2009: the 60¢ stamp features the TNG telescope, with the universe observed by telescope, represented

in the background. The 65¢ stamp in the same set refers to another important Italian space achievement: Agile the small X-ray and Gamma-ray astronomical satellite of the Italian Space Agency (ASI). In the

background the Earth is represented. Several Italian industries are involved in many ESA and NASA projects, for which they provide specialized instrumentation: several devices designed and implemented in our country are presently operating inside many communication satellites, in the International Space Station, and in many scientific satellites which are exploring the different planets of the Solar System.

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Also Italian are two out six instruments onboard the space probe Mars Express, launched by ESA in June 2003 and orbiting Mars since December of that year: indeed the PFS or Planetary Fourier Spectrometer aimed at observations of atmospheric temperature and pressure and the MARSIS or Sub-Surface Sounding Radar Altimeter, a radar used to assess composition of sub-surface aimed at search for frozen water. Made in Italy is also the innovative SHARAD (Mars SHAllow RADar sounder) installed aboard the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO), launched by NASA in August 2005 with the aims of daily monitoring meteorological conditions and identifying new landing sites, thu paving the way for the future Mars missions Sharad has been designed, developed and built under the responsibility of ASI (Italian Space Agency) by the Italian industry Thales Alenia Space and by the University of Rome La Sapienza, its main goal being to investigate and map the first kilometre below the Martian surface, with the intent of locating water/ice deposits and other materials which could be useful in future missions.

To the “Exploration of Mars” one innovative stamp was dedicated in March 2005, printed in full colour on self-adhesive paper, with a silvered warm-applied hologram and letters printed with gold-transparent interferential ink. The drawing features the radar in Mars orbit. At bottom-left you can see the logo of ASI,

which is coordinating the Italian participants in the project. On the hologram, symbolizing the electromagnetic waves issued by the radar, innumerable small “ASI” acronyms are reproduced. Directly space-oriented were Italy’s Millennium stamps, as above and

very peculiar is the drawing which won the International Award in the school competition “How do you see the Future?”. The stamp features a small boy who is starting to climb on the ladder joining together Earth and Moon. A very important stamp is expected shortly for the fun of space enthusiasts: as an exception to its unwritten rule of commemorating only Italian Personalities, as

well as events in which Italy has been directly involved, the Italian Postal Authority will issue on 12 April 2011 a stamp commemorating an event which marked the beginning of the new Era: the 50th anniversary of the First Manned Space Flight.

As noted in Topical Time for Nov-Dec 2010—presented by Felix Perez.

+ one more on page 39

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From Magnet to Multi-Media John Beenen continues telling the history of telecommunications……. Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790) In 1751 Benjamin Franklin demonstrated that by the rubbing no electrical energy was generated, but that, on the contrary, energy was introduced. A body becomes electrically loaded when there exists a surplus or a shortage in electrical substance. Rubbed material he called ‘positively’ charged because it should possess a surplus, amber became ‘negative’. Objects with equal charge repel each other, whilst those with opposite charges will attract. Hence, Dufay was right, which caused Nollet to violent discussions also with Franklin, but finally had to admit that he lost. Benjamin Franklin was the 15th child of a family of 17 children. He was one of those universal minds still possible in the 18th century. He was a printer, writer, philanthropist, inventor, statesman, diplomat and scientist. He was a member of the Congress, the ‘Continental Congress’ which laid the basis for the American independency (from England and France). From 1736 until 1751 he was a clerk of the Pennsylvanian legislature and from 1737 to 1753 Deputy Postmaster General of Philadelphia in charge of mail in all northern colonies. In 1748 he organized a militia to protect the English colony against a possible invasion of the French and the Spanish. Scientifically he was non-educated, but interested in electricity and in 1749 he constructed a kind of archetype of a dry battery. He investigated the nature of lightning by – not without danger - flying kites during thunderstorms (see, Sierra Leone 2002 above). In doing so, around 1752 he invented the lightning rod. He was one of the first to consider lightning as a natural form of electricity. When a body with an excess approached one with a lack, a discharge equalized the electrical fire in the two. A surplus he called a ‘positive charge’, a shortage a ‘negative charge’; an unfortunate choice of nomenclature as today we know that electrons behave in an opposite way. He was the first to use electrical terms nowadays so common such as: battery, conductor, discharge, electrical shock, electrician, non-

conductor, minus and plus etc. Franklin was unequalled in America as an inventor until Thomas Edison. He made several other inventions such as: the catheter, bifocal eyeglasses and a wood stove still functioning in places in America. He refused to profit from his inventions, preferring to have them used freely for the comport and convenience of everyone. He studied the Gulf Stream and made a map of it. He made good friends in England and negotiated with them about the introduction of taxes and the status of the colony. But not everybody liked him. D.H.Lawrence, the English novelist, regarded him as the embodiment of the worst traits of the American character. Nothing new under the sun I would say ! In his long career as a politician he became the chief spokesman for the British colonies in their dispute with the king’s ministers about self-government and had a hand in the writing of the Declaration of Independence. As a delegate of the ‘Second Continental Congress’ in 1776 he travelled to France to negotiate about support for independence. In that position he also gained much respect from the French. But, mainly because of obstruction by the Spanish, the result was still negative. The final positive result was reached by John Adams and John Jay who, in September 3rd 1783, made a fundamental agreement with England. Franklin helped establish institutions people take now for granted: a fire company, a library, an insurance company, an academy and a hospital. In some cases these foundations were the first of their kind in North America. In spite of suffering serious pain from gall stones on February 12th 1790 as a President of the ‘Pennsylvanian Abolition Society’ he signed a petition to abolish slavery. Two months later he died at April 17th in the age of 84. As could be expected Franklin’s face appears on numerous mostly somewhat older stamps from the USA: 1960 and 1976 shown below. During a recent election of the ‘Greatest American’ he came fifth amongst others after Abraham Lincoln (2nd) and George Washington (4th), but first place, unbelievably reserved for Ronald Reagan, would not have been grudged.

Sierra Leone 2002

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Aepinus (1724-1802) The man who finally realized that electricity was not comprised of particles but that it was about ‘action over a distance’ was Franz Hoch, also called ‘Aepinus’. Aepinus was born in Rostock, Germany, where his father was a professor in theology at the local university. He himself studied medicine and mathematics at Jena and Rostock. His dissertation dealt with the mechanics of falling bodies. In 1755 he became Director of the Observatory of Berlin, a rather strange appointment with respect to his education in mathematics. It was no surprise that during his two year sojourn in Berlin he lived with the famous mathematician Euler. One of his former pupils, J.C.Wilcke, who followed him to Berlin, became interested in electricity. On his suggestion he studied the piezoelectric of tourmaline. The piezoelectric effect is the effect that the material studied can generate an electrical charge when mechanical stress is applied and can change shape when voltage is applied to it. Such properties made him think of magnetism and that’s why he started to think that magnetism and electricity were analogous. In 1759 he put his ideas in his book ‘An Attempt at a Theory of Electricity and Magnetism’ . Aepinus further studied pyro-electricity, the phenomenon of electrical polarisation induced in some crystals by a temperature change. In October 1756 Aepinus accepted a chair at the Academy at St.Petersburg where he stayed until he retired in 1798. Building on the one-fluid theory of electricity proposed by Benjamin Franklin, Aepinus performed many studies on the nature and relationship of conductive and non-conductive materials. His mathematical examination of electricity described the phenomenon almost entirely in terms of attraction, repulsion and current flow in conductors. Together with Wilck he invented the parallel plate air capacitor, a device which stores electrical energy in an electric field. The idea later was claimed by the Italian inventor, Allesandro Volta. Aepinus also stood under protection of the Russian Empress Catharine II who appointed him tutor to her son Paul. Aepinus died in 1802. The Frenchman Charles Augustin Coulomb (1736-1806) (France, 1961, M1351) finally proved that the electrical force could be captured within the same laws as gravity. He developed a theory of attraction and repulsion between bodies of the same and opposite electrical charge. He demonstrated an inverse square law for such forces and went on to examine perfect conductors and dielectrics.

These fundamental papers put forward the case for action at a distance between electrical charges in a similar way as Newton’s theory of gravitation was based on action at a distance between masses But it was only in 1897 that Englishman Joseph John Thomson (1856-1940) (Sweden 1966) discovered that it really did consist of particles when he discovered the ‘electron’. At that moment it was clear that Franklin had made the wrong choice; a positively charged object actually has a shortage of electrons not a surplus. 7. Electrostatics

With the discovery of the so-called ‘animal electricity’ a new road was turned into by the Italian Luigi Galvani (1737-1798) (Italy, 1991, M2191) . He undertook carefully planned and executed experiments on the effects of static electricity on nerves and

muscles. Using prepared frogs, Galvani observed continual muscle contractions when the spinal cords were connected by brass hooks to an iron railing. His discovery created a stir but afterwards his explanation for the phenomenon appeared to be completely wrong. All things concidered, his importance for the development of the knowledge of the nature of electricity is largely exaggerated. Allesandro Volta (1745-1827) That honour rather goes to the Italian count Alessandro Volta (Italy, 1992, M2205), although, as we have seen, his most important ‘invention’ earlier had been created by Aepinus. Nevertheless, he proved that the so-called ‘animal electricity’ was non-existent but was a result of several metals in moist contact, which brought him into violent discussion with Galvani but also with the great German physicist, Alexander von Humboldt. The inventor of the electrical battery delivering a continuous flow of electricity, was born in a noble family in Como, Northern Italy. Aged 14 he was already interested in electricity and wrote letters to the most important minds of his time. In 1775 he invented the electrophorus, a device that, once electrically charged by having been rubbed, could transfer charge to other objects. He called it ‘perpetual electrophorus’ very soon appreciated and used all over Europe.

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Between 1776 and 1778 Volta discovered and isolated methane gas, ‘inflammable air from the marshlands’ and constructed a primitive predecessor of the internal combustion engine, ‘Volta’s pistol’. He had an early idea of a kind of telegraph, a long metal wire isolated from the ground by wooden boards, and constructed a lamp burning on gas. With his ‘pistol’ he could measure the force of an explosion of inflammable airs and in doing so, he could measure the quantity of oxygen present in the air with the remarkable precision of 20%. On March 4th 1782 in an academic discourse he explained the principle of his electrophoresis apparatus with the formula:

Q (Quantity of Charge) = C (Capacity, Power) * T (Tension, Voltage).

In 1800 he announced a new electric device, the ‘Voltaic Pile’ made of alternating disks of zinc and copper with each pair separated by brine soaked cloth. Attaching a wire to either end produces a continuous current of low intensity. Corresponding to the spirit of the age he described his battery as an electric organ and likened it to the electric organ of the torpedo fish, which had equal columnar stacks of cells (shown here on Italy 1999).

In 1801 he demonstrated the battery in Paris in the presence of Napoleon, who granted him an annual pension and appointed him Cavalier of the Legion of Honour. With the use of this primitive battery the English physicians William Nicholson and Sir Anthony Carlisle were still in 1800 able to decompose water into hydrogen and oxygen which, in 1807, also caused the discovery of potassium and sodium and in 1808 of calcium, strontium, barium and magnesium by Sir Humphry Davy. Davy also discovered the element chlorine. Because of polarization the force of the Voltaic Piles decreased rapidly and from 1830 on successful improvements on the principle were made by Daniëll (1836), Grove (1839), Bunsen (1841) en Leclanché (1867). Until his death on March 5th 1727 Volta remained the Rector of the Faculty of Philosophy at the University of Pavia. His name lives on in the unit ‘Volt’ for the electromotive force – the driving force that moves the electric current - and the ‘electronvolt’, the energy of moving particles produced in a modern nuclear generator. Literature (a.o.) Phoenix Pockets 55 (1961), ‘Overwinning door gehoorzaamheid’, geschiedenis van natuurwetenschap en techniek (Dutch) (‘Victory by Obedience’, History of Natural Science and Technique). http://en.wikipedia.com/ Different biographies http://chem.ch.huji.ac.il/ Volta, van Musschenbroek, von Guericke, von Kleist http://www.geocities.com/bioelectrochemistry/ Aepinus, Franklin http://www-history.mcs.st-andrews.ac.uk/history/Mathematicians/ Coulomb http://www.acmi.net.au/AIC/ Galvani, Hauksbee

Still attached to a wire

8. Electromagnets In the 18th century and even in the 19th century electricity was not seen as a phenomenon with many practical implications but more as a ‘toy’. Rich citizens played with it as a hobby – the necessary equipment was expensive. The watershed occasion came in 1820 when the Danish physicist Hans Christian Ørsted showed that a compass needle deflects from the magnetic north when an electric current is switched on or off in a nearby wire. That experiment demonstrated the relationship between magnetism and electricity and was the start of the theory of electromagnetism which later created technologies such as radio, television and, space communication. This fact is so important that actually this moment can be considered as the start of telecommunication as we know it today. Hans Christian Ørsted (1777-1851) (Denmark, 1987, M894) The Danish physicist Hans Christian Ørsted was one of the leading scientists of the first half of the 19th century. He was raised in Rüdkoping on the island of Langeland and through self-study he and his brother reached a level from which they could continue their studies at the University of Copenhagen. Once there Hans chose to study pharmacy as the university did not offer physics and chemistry, and Anders studied law. Two years later he was awarded a doctorate for a dissertation on Kant’s philosophy which brought him at the side of the ‘Enlightenment’. After 1800 he studied the recently discovered galvanism and shortly after he went on a three year journey around the scientific centres of Germany and France during which, amongst others, he met the German scientist, Johann Wilhelm Ritter (1776-1810), the discoverer of amongst others silver-plating and a dry cell battery (1802). Returning home in 1806 he became a professor at the University of Copenhagen where his first physical researches dealt with electric currents and acoustics. In 1812-13 he went to Germany, Belgium and France for a second time. During an evening lecture in April 1820 he discovered experimental evidence of the relationship

between electricity and magnetism. While he was preparing an experiment for one of his classes, he discovered something that surprised him.

(Denmark, 1970, M498)

http://en.wikipedia.com/

http://chem.ch.huji.ac.il/

http://www.geocities.com/bioelectrochemistry/

http://www-history.mcs.st-andrews.ac.uk/history/Mathematicians/

http://www.acmi.net.au/AIC/

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In his time, scientists had tried to find some link between electricity and magnetism, though it was believed that they were not related. As he was setting up his materials, he brought a compass close to a live electrical wire and the needle on the compass jumped and pointed to the wire. He repeated the experiment several times. The phenomenon had first been discovered by an Italian jurist Gian Domenico Romagnosi in 1802 already, but his announcement was ignored. Ørsted also noticed that the needle of a compass in the neighbourhood of a Voltaic Pile was drawn towards the pile. This led him to the conclusion that an electrical current creates a magnetic field and electromagnetism was born. He continued his experiments for three months and made them public. He left further work to others. In France André-Marie Ampère repeated his experiment and formulated it mathematically. Later Ørsted also discovered that not only is a magnetic needle deflected by the electric current, but that the live electric wire is also deflected in a magnetic field, thus laying the foundation for the construction of the electric motor. In addition to electromagnetism Ørsted worked on the compressibility of gases and liquids. Also in 1820 he discovered an organic composition, piperidine, one of the pungent components of pepper. An important contribution to chemistry also was his preparation of metallic aluminium in 1825. In 1822-23 once again he moved abroad in order to buy instruments. In 1829 he founded the Polytechnic Institute of Copenhagen, the precursor of the Technical University of Copenhagen. In private Ørsted was an important figure especially for the spread of Danish culture : he also wrote poetry and prose. He was one of the first to appreciate the talent of the young writer Hans Christian Andersen. And he contributed to the Danish language the words: ‘brint’ (hydrogen) and ‘ilt’ (oxygen). Ørsted passed away on March 9th, 1851 at Copenhagen leaving behind five daughters and three sons. His name continues in the unit ‘Oersted (Oe) which is the CGS unit of magnetic field strength, before 1930 this unit was called the gauss.

In 1821 the French mathematician André-Marie Ampère (France, 1936, M313) investigated how the forces from electrical currents acted on each other and the magnetic properties of a coil through which an electrical current was running. He called this coil a ‘solenoid’. Herewith he started electrodynamics and the possibility of constructing strong electromagnets.

By wrapping an electric wire several times around a movable magnetic needle the German physicist Johann Salomo Sweigger amplified the action and constructed the galvanometer which was improved during the following years by several investigators.

The Englishman William Sturgeon (1783-1850) wrapped several turns of wire around an iron core producing magnetism when an electrical current was passed through the wire. He next varnished the iron to insulate it from the wound wires, and then hit on the idea of the horseshoe shape. He observed that each coil reinforced the next coil because they formed parallel wires with the current moving in the same direction. In 1825 he constructed the first electromagnet powerful enough to attract 20 times its own weight. In 1832 he built an electro motor and invented the commutator, an integral part of most modern electric motors. He further improved the Voltaic Pile in terms of service life and worked on the theory of thermo-electricity. From 1836-1843 he issued a magazine called ‘Annals of Electricity’ and founded the Electrical Society of London. He was honoured for this but it brought him little money. He died at December 4th 1850 in Prestwick, Manchester after a long illness and depression, penniless and better known in Europe than in his native England. The ‘electrician’ is buried under a simple stone in the churchyard of the Parish Church of Saint Mary’s. No stamps celebrate this important person in the development of electricity and the inventor of the electro motor. In the cause of these articles we will meet more scientists who are deprived of the honour they deserve. I should like to point national Post Offices to this fact which is also a part of their national culture. It is obvious that persons who did a great deal to their personal credits (Volta, Marconi, Edison), draw (too) much more attention as scientists working in a more modest position. 9. The electrical telegraph Samuel Finley Breeze Morse (1791-1872) (Centrafricaine, 2000) Samuel Morse himself actually was not a very important figure in terms of great inventions in the field of telecommunication. He was, however, very important for the development of communication by cable, the telegraph. In the first place he was an art painter and a photographer but coming back from Europe to the United States with the steamer ‘Sully’ he became interested in electricity. With the help of the industrial Albert Vale and the physicist Joseph

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Henry, who we will meet again, in 1835 he developed an instrument by which he was able to communicate in a circuit of about one kilometre. This ‘telegraph’ worked with a coded system, later well-known in its improved form as the ‘Morse code’ of dots and dashes. The improvements were made by Vale who adjusted the system in such a way that the most common digits got the shortest code.

(Sweden 2000) Starting from this, in 1836 Morse developed the telegraph and enhanced the weak signal by setting up amplifiers down the line so it could work over any distance. The result of the system could be noted

on a continuous strip of paper. Initially the great financers of that time and the American Congress saw no future in sparks. Morse went on alone and in 1843 he won support for a small line of about 60 km between Washington and Baltimore. The wires were fitted to poles alongside a railway and isolated by means of glass isolators. With the help of a patent in 1837 and a subvention of $30.000 of the American Congress and some external help he constructed the experimental connection which was baptized at May 24th, 1844 with the historical phrase from the Holy Bible: “What hath God Wrought” (Num 23:23).

The first message sent by this line was the nomination for presidency of James K.Polk (USA, 1938, Y381) and soon followed by numerous demonstrations. For the first time in history a man in Washington argued directly with a group 60 km away as if they were in the same room. 20 years later Ezra Cornell founded

the Western Union. And in 1857-58 this success made the construction of the first transatlantic cable possible (USA, 1958, Y648) through the foundation of the American Telegraph Company by Cyrus W.Field

and Peter Cooper. Eventually, Morse became a rich man and received many decorations and awards. In 1872 he died as an honoured man. The first two practical telegraph systems appeared on the market nearly at the same time. In 1837 the English inventors Sir William Fothergill Cooke (1806-1879) and Sir Charles Wheatstone (1802-1875) got a patent on a telegraph system with six wires and five needles connected to five galvanoscopes at the receiving side.

With such a system they were able to form 20 characters with exception of the C, J, Q, U, X and Z, but for these other characters could be used. If the current transferred the right combination the magnetic needles showed the correct characters and figures. In fact the Wheatstone telegraph is the practical consequence of an invention made by Ampère in 1820. The electricity was supplied by a voltaic pile. Their first circuit in England ran between Euston Terminus and Camden Town Station of the London North West Railway, a distance of one and half miles, on July 25th, 1837, by which they were significantly earlier than Morse. After that it was extended on a regular basis out to Slough. Although the entrance fee was one shilling the success was not that great until in 1845 the murderer of Mrs.Sarah Hill from Slough was apprehended as a result of a quick message to Paddington Station. In 1841 the gentlemen Wheatstone and Cooke got into a misunderstanding about the rights but a judge decided that the invention came from Wheatstone but the introduction on the market was down to Cooke so that both gentlemen held the rights. Although Wheatstone often used ideas from others to develop further, he was a great inventor and he produced not only the telegraph but also a musical instrument, a kind of concertina, the stereoscope and a very well working cryptograph. But the most well-known he is still by his ‘Wheatstone Bridge’ for the measurement of electrical resistance of a conductor based upon Ohm’s Law. This instrument had already been invented by a certain S.W.Christie but, as it often is the case with inventions coming too early, was sunk into oblivion. In 1855 Edward Hughes (1831-1900) developed a telegraph by which characters could be printed. This success has not to be underestimated as it finally lead to the modern printers, telex and computer printers. The printer was taken into production by the American Telegraph Company and steadily improved especially by George Phelps who adjusted the synchronization and the speed of printing. In 1869 the first six Hughes-Phelps telegraphs (Centrafricaine) were installed in Switzerland. After that time they were mainly set up in the larger telegraph offices all over Europe until they were replaced by more modern systems about 1939. Hughes also was busy with other electrical subjects and in 1879 developed a kind of archetype of the mobile telephone based upon radio waves.

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In 1880 he demonstrated his invention to The Royal Society in England but the at that time the most important scientist of the Society, Professor Stokes, did not believe that the instrument was working by radio waves, but thought that it was by induction. Therefore the invention never was made public and Hughes never received the credit as one of the inventors of radio and inventor of the mobile telephone. But he did invent the loose-contact carbon microphone, vital to telephony and later to broadcasting and sound recording. Sir Charles Wheatstone was the first to use the word ‘microphone’’ in 1827. The multiple printer was designed Henry Augustus Rowland (1848-1901) and was used from 1904 on the line Rome-Naples.

In 1875 the French engineer Jean Emile Baudot (1845-1903) marketed a strong improvement of the Hughes telegraph. (Chad, 1965) And finally the Italian Abbé

Giovanni Caselli (1815-1891) started his Pantelegraph in 1855. Helped by a stipend by Napoleon III he was able to mount it for a connection between Paris and Lyon and later also between London and Liverpool and in Russia between Moscow and Petersburg. Literature

http://atlantic-cable.com/stamps/ , telephone cables http://www.cif.rochester.edu/ , The story of the telegraph www.shipsonstamps.org/ , Maritime topics on stamps, wireless telegraphy on sea http://www-history.mcs.st-andrews.ac.uk/history/Mathematicians/ Ampère http://acmi.net.au/AIC/ Caselli, Morse http://chem.ch.huji.ac.il/~eugeniik/history/ Sturgeon, Wheatstone, Hughes, Oersted

10. Electromagnetic induction One of the most important investigators in the field of electromagnetic induction and in fact the wireless communication was Englishman Michael Faraday (1791-1867) (Cuba, 1994).

As with many experimenters before and after him he came not from a wealthy family, his father being a blacksmith from Yorkshire. Faraday attended a day school in London and when he was thirteen years old he had to find work to help the family finances and he was employed running errands for a bookselling business and a year later as an apprentice bookbinder.

Not only did he bind books but he also read them which made it possible to attend lectures at John Tatum’s House especially on electricity, galvanism and mechanics. In 1812 he changed to the lectures of Humphry Davy (1788-1829) (Surinam 2008) at the Royal Institution, who discovered some new elements such as potassium and sodium by electrolytic methods. Davy also discovered the action of laughing-gas and a safe mine-lamp, the ‘Davy’ lamp. After a short period as a bookbinder he could start as a scientific assistant to Davy. In October 1813 Davy set out on a trip through Europe and took Faraday with him, who was then able to take notice of all developments in the scientific

centres of Europe. As such he met Volta and Ampère (France, 1949, M853). On his return he was mainly involved with chemical experiments in the laboratory. In 1820 Davy gave Faraday the opportunity to work on the relation between electricity and magnetism. He published his results in 1821. This publication is the first essay about the

transition of electricity in magnetic energy and contains the first indication of ‘lines of force’. In the ten years from 1821 to 1831 Faraday did further research in chemistry. His two most important pieces of work during that period were in liquefying chlorine in 1823 and isolating benzene in 1825. Faraday introduced a series of six Christmas lectures for children at the Royal Institution in 1826, some of which became classics. Such lectures are still given today still and with the help of television reach a much larger audience. In 1831 Faraday returned to electricity and made his most important discovery, the electro-magnetic induction, which, would change the world. (Malagasy, 1990) On the 29th of August 1831 he wrapped around one weak iron core two coils of wire which were not connected. The primary coil contained a galvanic element and the secondary coil a galvanometer. When he passed a current through the first coil nothing happened, but when he interrupted the current he noticed a small deviation of the galvanometer. It is to his enormous credit that he did not abandon this observation, but that he concluded that it is not the current which causes the deviation, but the interruption which causes the secondary current. He also concluded that an induction current was created when the secondary coil was moved along the primary coil of the magnet: the electro-magnetic induction.

http://atlantic-cable.com/stamps/

http://www.cif.rochester.edu/

http://www.shipsonstamps.org/

http://www-history.mcs.st-andrews.ac.uk/history/Mathematicians/

http://acmi.net.au/AIC/

http://chem.ch.huji.ac.il/~eugeniik/history/

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Completely independent of his findings and at nearly the same time the American Joseph Henry (1797-1878) made the same discovery in the United States, but that we shall discuss later. Faraday realized rather well the importance of his discovery but he could not foresee what finally grew out of it. On a question by a pupil at a demonstration of the effect about the benefit of the invention he might have answered: ‘What is the use of a newborn child?”. To imagine what happened at electro-magnetic induction he used the image of magnetic lines of force, already known for a long time from the behaviour of iron filings in a magnetic field. He supposed that the coil cut through the lines of force coming from the magnet and that induction was proportional to the amount of lines of force which were crossed. In the experiments of Faraday and Henry already a kind of transformer was being used. Later in the 19th century this became a very important instrument to generate large discharges.

In that framework we also have to drop the name of the German, Heinrich Daniel Ruhmkorff (1803-1877) a name for always connected to the transformer he constructed, ‘Ruhmkorff coil’. In 1851 he

developed the first practical transformer. After the discovery of the electrical induction many scientists in Europe threw themselves to this subject. One of the first was Franz Ernst Neumann (1798-1895) who in Kaliningrad in 1845 and 1847 produced the first mathematical theory for the phenomenon. Neumann also was the discoverer of the so-called

‘Neumann lines’, which appear when some iron meteorites are cut apart and the surface is polished.

In his footsteps followed his pupil Gustav Robert Kirchhoff (1824-1887) (GDR, 1974, Y1621) who, also in Kaliningrad developed his famous laws, afterwards named after him, by which strength of the current, voltage and resistance in multiple electrical circuits could be calculated.

Wilhelm Weber (1804-1891) and Rudolf Kohlrausch (1809-1858) also worked on the same subjects and discovered that the speed of an electrical current was independent of the nature of the wire and about equal to the speed of light. Both Kirchhoff and Weber missed this coincidence and left the conclusion of light as an electro-magnetic phenomenon to the Scotsman, James Clerk Maxwell (1831-1879).

But first we should go back to Faraday. Since his presentation of the electro-magnetic induction at November 24th 1831 to the Royal Society he was an honoured man. Unfortunately already the next year his health deteriorated and from 1839-1845 he was obliged to withdraw completely from scientific labour. After that his investigations mainly were bound to the application of electricity in chemistry. It is because of this that he introduced several new scientific ideas which have since become quite common such as: electrode to distinguish in cathode and anode, electrolyte to divide into kations and anions. He further formulated a quantitative law on electrolysis, which bears his name. He discovered the bi-electrical constant of a bi-electric and found its influence on the capacity of a condenser. Finally he carried out experiments on the relation of magnetism and light and its polarization. But one thing he could not do, was to formulate a mathematical foundation under his discoveries as his knowledge of mathematics was too weak. He left also than to the former already mentioned Scottish mathematician James Clerk Maxwell. Faraday’s magnetic laboratory, where many of his most important discoveries were made, was restored in 1972 to the form it was known to have in 1854. It is located in 21 Albemarle Street, London W1S 4BS and reopened in the course of 2007. Faraday died on August 25th 1867 in Hampton Court, Middlesex. We begin the next part of the story with the towering genius of James Clerk Maxwell, revered by Einstein amongst others…..

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