Washington, Sept. 26 (ANI): The first and only envelope to get postmarked on the moon's surface has now gone on display as part of the world's largest postage stamp gallery.
The Smithsonian opened its new William H. Gross Stamp Gallery at the National Postal Museum on Sunday.
The 'Moon Mail' dates back to Aug. 2, 1971 and is from the fourth mission that landed men on the moon.
Apollo 15 commander David Scott had been driving around the moon's Hadley Rille on his third and last outing when he pulled out a pouch from under his seat. And from inside the bag he took out an envelope that had been affixed with the die proofs for two new space-themed postage stamps, Fox News reported.
Using a rubber stamp, he postmarked the stamp, which depicted two astronauts on a lunar rover - similar to him and his Apollo 15 crewmate Jim Irwin - and commemorated the "US in Space ... A Decade of Achievement."
Scott postmarked the envelope two times, as on his first attempt the mark was faint. Other smudges on the envelope are made my moon dust, which was left by Scott's gloved hand.
The Postal service had originally intended for astronauts Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin to postmark the stamps as a part of the first moon landing, but they forgot about the envelope until they were already on their way back to Earth. (ANI)