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Stamp Profile Space Science United Kingdom Date issue 16/10/2012 The Space Science stamps will mark 50th anniversary of Ariel 1, the first British satellite. Featuring images from the Sun and Saturn, the set of six stamps is designed to celebrate Britain’s role in space exploration Royal Mail blasts into outer space to bring us six fascinating images from within our solar system, celebrating Britain’s role in the exploration of space. Space Science marks the 50th anniversary of Ariel 1, the first British satellite, by taking a journey around our solar system revealing the beauty and mystery of the other worlds that also orbit the Sun. Fittingly, the issue starts with the Sun, our nearest star, which also shares the 1st class value with Venus, as seen from the Venus Express probe. The two 77p stamps feature a shot of ice within an impact crater on the surface of Mars and the diamond-shaped asteroid Lutetia, captured by the Rosetta probe. Perhaps one of the most exciting developments was the historic landing of the Huygens probe upon Saturn’s largest moon Titan, featured on one of the £1.28p stamps, revealing a landscape remarkably similar to that of Earth. The other £1.28p stamp features the beautiful icy rings of Saturn, lit up by the Sun behind, which were photographed by the Cassini probe. All the extraordinary images captured for the Space Science issue were taken by the European Space Agency’s (ESA) satellites and probes.  As a member of the ESA, Britain’s scientists, universities and companies have made significant contributions to its missions, such as Mars Express and the Cassini-Huygens probe to Saturn. In the Space Science Presentation Pack that accompanies this issue, astronomy journalist Dr Stuart Clark takes a look at our solar system and the recent European probes that have explored it. 1st Class – Sun The image, gathered from European Space Agency’s (ESA) Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO) midway between the Earth and the Sun, shows particles being ejected from the solar surface. The UK has played a major part in the design, construction, operation and science of the mission. It led the design of the Coronal Diagnostic Spectrometer instrument. SOHO itself was assembled in Portsmouth and then shipped to America for launch. 1st Class – Venus Shot from ESA’s Venus Express probe, the image shows clouds in the southern hemisphere of the second planet out from Sun. The Venus Express mission was proposed by scientists from Oxford University to study why the planet is so different from our own. After the mission was adopted by the European Space Agency, the UK became involved in five out of the seven instruments on board and continues to help with operating the spacecraft. 77p – Mars Ice within a 35 km wide impact crater on the red planet was photographed by ESA’s Mars Express probe. Mars Express was Europe’s first mission to the red planet, and the UK is involved in three of its six instruments, including the camera, which is revealing breathtaking vistas. The mission also carried the British-built Beagle 2 lander; unfortunately, it did not survive its passage through the Martian atmosphere. 77p – Lutetia On route to a meeting with the comet Churyumov-Gerasimenko the ESA probe Rosetta had a close encounter with the Lutetia asteroid, located within the asteroid belt between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter. Rosetta came within 500 miles (800km) of the small, diamond-shaped asteroid. £1.28 – Saturn Lit up by the Sun behind, the beautiful icy rings of Saturn were photographed by the Cassini probe. Cassini-Huygens has transformed our understanding of them, discovering new rings and moons. UK universities and industry have contributed to many of the instruments on both parts of the mission (see below). £1.28 – Titan In 2005 ESA’s Huygens probe parachuted through the atmosphere of Saturn’s largest moon to land on Titan’s surface. The Open University led the Huygens Surface Science Package, which included a British-built sensor that became the first part of Huygens to touch the surface of Titan. The image captured on the stamp was taken on the way to this historic encounter. 450th Anniversary of the birth of Galileo Galilei San Marino Date of issue 19/11/2014 On the occasion of the 450th anniversary of the birth of Galileo Galilei (1564-1642), the Ufficio Filatelico Numismatico of the Republic of San Marino dedicates to the revolutionary scientist 2 stamps  of € 0.70 in order to honour his memory, the deeds and the extraordinary self-denial by which he immolated himself as master of reason and prepared the ground to the modern science.