James Webb Space Telescope stamp release date revealed

By Trevor Mogg July 27, 2022

The James Webb Space Telescope Forever stamp. — USPS

The excitement surrounding the James Webb Space Telescope ramped up a notch earlier this month when NASA shared the first incredible images from the next-generation observatory.

Now the United States Postal Service (USPS) is getting in on the action with the imminent launch of a specially designed stamp to celebrate what is the most powerful space telescope ever built.

After announcing the stamp earlier this year, the USPS this week revealed the pre-order date for the new James Webb Space Telescope Forever stamp: August 8. Fans of stamps or space (or both!) simply need to visit the USPS’s online store to place their order.

A month later, on September 8, the stamp will go on general sale.

The image on the stamp features an artist’s digitally created depiction of the telescope set against what the USPS described as “a dazzling starscape.”

It was designed by art director Derry Noyes using existing art created by James Vaughan and an image from NASA and the Space Telescope Science Institute. The design shows the telescope’s 18 gold-coated segments, which together create the observatory’s stunning 21-foot mirror lens.

The image of a star (below) displayed at the top of a sheet of the stamps was captured by the Webb telescope during a test phase early on in the mission.

Stamps showing the James Webb Space Telescope. — USPS

After launching from U.S. soil in December 2021, the James Webb Space Telescope is now in a solar orbit about a million miles from Earth.

The cutting-edge technology aboard the telescope enables it to peer deeper into space than any telescope that has gone before, with the gathered data expected to help scientists learn more about the origins of the universe, while also pinpointing planets similar to Earth that could harbor life.

Editors' Recommendations

Topics

Tech News

Contributing Editor

Not so many moons ago, Trevor moved from one tea-loving island nation that drives on the left (Britain) to another (Japan)…

Space

James Webb captures stunning image of supernova remnant Cassiopeia A

Cassiopeia A (Cas A) is a supernova remnant located about 11,000 light-years from Earth in the constellation Cassiopeia. It spans approximately 10 light-years. This new image uses data from Webb’s Mid-Infrared Instrument (MIRI) to reveal Cas A in a new light.

A stunning new image from the James Webb Space Telescope shows a famous supernova remnant called Cassiopeia A, or Cas A. When a massive star comes to the end of its life and explodes in a huge outpouring of light and energy called a supernova, it leaves behind a dense core that can become a black hole or a neutron star. But that's not all that remains after a supernova: the explosion can leave its mark on nearby clouds of dust and gas that are formed into intricate structures.

The image of Cas A was taken using Webb's MIRI instrument, which looks in the mid-infrared range. Located 11,000 light-years away, Cassiopeia A is one of the brightest objects in the sky in the radio wavelength, and is also visible in the optical, infrared, and X-ray wavelengths. To see the different features picked up in different wavelengths, you can look at the slider comparison of the Webb infrared image alongside a Hubble visible light image of the same object.

Space

James Webb captures the rarely-seen rings around Uranus

This zoomed-in image of Uranus, captured by Webb’s Near-Infrared Camera (NIRCam) on 6 February 2023, reveals stunning views of the planet’s rings. The planet displays a blue hue in this representative-colour image, made by combining data from two filters (F140M, F300M) at 1.4 and 3.0 microns, shown here as blue and orange, respectively.

The James Webb Space Telescope spends much of its time peering out into distant regions of space searching for some of the earliest galaxies to exist, but it also occasionally turns its sights onto targets a little closer to home. Following up on its image of Neptune released last year, astronomers using Webb have just released a brand-new image of Uranus as you've never seen it before.

As Webb looks in the infrared wavelength, unlike telescopes like Hubble which look in the visible light spectrum, its image of Uranus picks out some features of the planet which are hard to see otherwise like its dusty rings. Uranus' rings are almost invisible in the optical wavelength, but in this new image, they stand out proudly.

Space

NASA and Boeing reveal new date for first crewed Starliner flight

A graphic rendering of the Boeing Starliner orbiting Earth.

NASA and Boeing had been hoping to perform the first crewed flight of the Starliner spacecraft next month, but on Wednesday they announced the mission will now take place no earlier than Friday, July 21.

“While the Starliner spacecraft build is complete, additional time is needed to close out verification and validation work prior to the system’s first flight with crew on board,” Boeing said in a statement posted on its website.