Apollo 15 postage stamp incident
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Apollo 15 postage stamp incident
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Re: Apollo 15 postage stamp incident
#2Fascinating. I'd never heard this.
Also of interest are the "insurance covers" signed by Apollo 11 astronauts as a form of life insurance and mentioned in a linked Wikipedia article.
Re: Apollo 15 postage stamp incident
#3TIL what a "postal cover" was, and how "cancelled envelopes" work.
Which made me realize how little I've ever used the postal services for actual letters in my life. My generation (late 80s / early 90s) must be one of the last to interact with the postal system when personally sending letters to people, rather than just parcels.
Re: Apollo 15 postage stamp incident
#4why has the title been changed from "covers" (which is what they were) to "stamp" which is a less specific form of what they were? Why are we not just using the article title?
Re: Apollo 15 postage stamp incident
#5why has the title been changed from "covers" (which is what they were) to "stamp" which is a less specific form of what they were? Why are we not just using the article title?
I think most people would not understand the technical term “cover” while “stamp” clues them in that is is likely somehow postal related.
Re: Apollo 15 postage stamp incident
#6> some said astronauts should not be allowed to reap personal profits from NASA missions.
That's an interesting ethical question. At what point is it ok for someone who got paid by the government to do a job ok to make extra money because of that fact.
These days most Presidents get to write books about their time in the White House and make money. Buzz Aldrin still goes to cons and signs autographs for money.
So where does the line belong?
Re: Apollo 15 postage stamp incident
#7why has the title been changed from "covers" (which is what they were) to "stamp" which is a less specific form of what they were? Why are we not just using the article title?
Because most people have no idea what covers are, and unless you collect postage stamps the difference means nothing to you. If you'd asked me before I met a friend who collects, I would have assumed that using a stamp would render it worthless.
The article's talk page actually has a similar discussion over whether to call them stamps or covers in the title, so although they come down on your side its hardly a given.
Re: Apollo 15 postage stamp incident
#8> some said astronauts should not be allowed to reap personal profits from NASA missions. That's an interesting ethical question. At what point is it ok for someone who got paid by the government to do a job ok to make extra money because of that fact. These days most Presidents get to write books about their time in the White House and make money. Buzz Aldrin still goes to cons and signs autographs for money. So whe…
It doesn't feel like the same situation. A better analogy would be running personal projects from your corporate servers, as you are using your professionally acquired access to resources you do not own for personal gain. There is little grey area there - unless you own the company, it isn't appropriate.
Re: Apollo 15 postage stamp incident
#9why has the title been changed from "covers" (which is what they were) to "stamp" which is a less specific form of what they were? Why are we not just using the article title?
I agree. This is a technical discussion forum and we should use the correct terms.
Re: Apollo 15 postage stamp incident
#10> some said astronauts should not be allowed to reap personal profits from NASA missions. That's an interesting ethical question. At what point is it ok for someone who got paid by the government to do a job ok to make extra money because of that fact. These days most Presidents get to write books about their time in the White House and make money. Buzz Aldrin still goes to cons and signs autographs for money. So whe…
This would be more like the President renting out a room in the White House. I think the line is actually pretty clear; if you're using state resources to produce something of value to sell for private profit, you're on the wrong side of it.
While 400 stamps don't weigh a lot, they'd still cost more than $1 each to launch by my back of the envelope calculations. You're effectively footing NASA with a $500 bill to pocket $21k.