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#3262
1998 $11.75 Piggyback Space Shuttle, Express Mail
$44.95
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U.S. #3262
1998 $11.75 Piggyback Space Shuttle
Express Mail
Issue Date: November 19, 1998
City: New York, NY
Quantity: 21,225,000
Printed By: Banknote Corporation of America
Printing Method: Lithographed
Perforations: 11.5
Color: Multicolored
The $11.75 shuttle piggyback stamp was issued to pay the new half-pound rate for express mail delivery.
Why Did the Space Shuttle Fly on a 747?
The Space Shuttle piggyback flights were a practical solution to a unique transportation challenge. The Space Shuttle orbiter was designed as a glider with no engines for atmospheric flight, meaning it could only launch attached to its external fuel tank and solid rocket boosters. Once it landed, the orbiter had to be transported back to Kennedy Space Center in Florida for its next mission. When bad weather or other factors forced landings at alternate sites like Edwards Air Force Base in California, NASA needed a reliable way to move the 150,000-pound spacecraft across the country.
NASA's solution was the Shuttle Carrier Aircraft (SCA), a specially modified Boeing 747 jumbo jet. Engineers added mounting struts and reinforced the fuselage structure to support the orbiter's weight on top of the aircraft. The 747's powerful engines could handle the additional load and drag, though the piggyback configuration reduced speed and fuel efficiency. NASA maintained multiple SCAs throughout the shuttle program's 30-year history, flying dozens of ferry missions between 1977 and 2012.
This 1998 $11.75 Priority Mail stamp captures one of the Space Shuttle program's most recognizable images. The SCA also performed ceremonial flights when the shuttle program ended in 2011, delivering the retired orbiters to museums around the country. These final piggyback flights gave millions of Americans a last opportunity to see the shuttles airborne, making the sight both a technical achievement and a cultural icon of the space age.
U.S. #3262
1998 $11.75 Piggyback Space Shuttle
Express Mail
Issue Date: November 19, 1998
City: New York, NY
Quantity: 21,225,000
Printed By: Banknote Corporation of America
Printing Method: Lithographed
Perforations: 11.5
Color: Multicolored
The $11.75 shuttle piggyback stamp was issued to pay the new half-pound rate for express mail delivery.
Why Did the Space Shuttle Fly on a 747?
The Space Shuttle piggyback flights were a practical solution to a unique transportation challenge. The Space Shuttle orbiter was designed as a glider with no engines for atmospheric flight, meaning it could only launch attached to its external fuel tank and solid rocket boosters. Once it landed, the orbiter had to be transported back to Kennedy Space Center in Florida for its next mission. When bad weather or other factors forced landings at alternate sites like Edwards Air Force Base in California, NASA needed a reliable way to move the 150,000-pound spacecraft across the country.
NASA's solution was the Shuttle Carrier Aircraft (SCA), a specially modified Boeing 747 jumbo jet. Engineers added mounting struts and reinforced the fuselage structure to support the orbiter's weight on top of the aircraft. The 747's powerful engines could handle the additional load and drag, though the piggyback configuration reduced speed and fuel efficiency. NASA maintained multiple SCAs throughout the shuttle program's 30-year history, flying dozens of ferry missions between 1977 and 2012.
This 1998 $11.75 Priority Mail stamp captures one of the Space Shuttle program's most recognizable images. The SCA also performed ceremonial flights when the shuttle program ended in 2011, delivering the retired orbiters to museums around the country. These final piggyback flights gave millions of Americans a last opportunity to see the shuttles airborne, making the sight both a technical achievement and a cultural icon of the space age.
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