Cuba 1978
Luna 24, Lunokhod 2
Two stamps from a set of six issued in 1978 on Cosmonautics Day (April 12), the
anniversary of Yuri Gagarin’s first manned flight into orbit, which perennially inspires space stamp issues
from Russia and its allies.
The one at left (horizontal) shows Luna 24, the final lunar sample-return
mission, with its drill arm in the foreground extracting a core of soil. The
comet in the background is probably only symbolic, as there was no bright comet
in the sky at the time of Luna 24’s mission in August 1976.
At right is Russia’s second lunar rover, Lunokhod 2, delivered to the surface by Luna 21 in January
1973. This stamp was the highest-value member of the set and was of slightly
larger size than the others.
The other stamps in this set showed two Earth satellites and two Venus probes.
Stanley Gibbons catalogue numbers:
2c – 2444
30c – 2448