Usage Conditions May Apply Usage Conditions Apply There are restrictions for re-using this media. For more information, visit the Smithsonian's Terms of Use page. IIIF provides researchers rich metadata and image viewing options for comparison of works across cultural heritage collections. More - https://iiif.si.edu View Manifest View in Mirador Viewer Usage Conditions May Apply Usage Conditions Apply There are restrictions for re-using this media. For more information, visit the Smithsonian's Terms of Use page. IIIF provides researchers rich metadata and image viewing options for comparison of works across cultural heritage collections. More - https://iiif.si.edu View Manifest View in Mirador Viewer Usage Conditions May Apply Usage Conditions Apply There are restrictions for re-using this media. For more information, visit the Smithsonian's Terms of Use page. IIIF provides researchers rich metadata and image viewing options for comparison of works across cultural heritage collections. More - https://iiif.si.edu View Manifest View in Mirador Viewer

To celebrate the turn of the millennium, the Isle of Man Post Office issued a commemorative first day cover featuring three postage stamps inspired by astronomy. The stamps depict the night sky over the Isle of Man, as well as a clock and a time-date label. In sequence, they represent a minute before midnight December 31, 1999; midnight; and a minute after midnight on January 1, 2000. Each stamp is cancelled at the matching time, making the third one the first postage stamp issued in the world at the turn of the millennium. The third stamp in the set also shows the orbital track of the International Space Station over the island. The Isle of Man Post Office consulted with NASA in developing the stamp design and arranging for one of the first day covers to be flown on Space Shuttle mission STS-105 to the International Space Station in 2001.

After the mission, the Isle of Man Post Office donated the flown-in-space Millennium Midnight cover to the National Air and Space Museum.

 Display Status

This object is not on display at the National Air and Space Museum. It is either on loan or in storage.
Object Details
Country of Origin Isle of Man Type LITERATURE AND RESEARCH-Philately Dimensions 2-D - Unframed (H x W): 18.9 × 16cm (7 7/16 × 6 5/16 in.)
Storage: 24.1 × 21 × 0.3cm (9 1/2 × 8 1/4 × 1/8 in.)
 Materials Paper
Ink
Plastic
Adhesive
 Inventory Number A20020096000 Credit Line Gift of Isle of Man Post Office Official First Day Cover, Millennium Midnight. Data Source National Air and Space Museum Restrictions & Rights Usage conditions apply
For more information, visit the Smithsonians Terms of Use.