Posts: 8
From: Moscow, Russia
Registered: Jun 2015

Posts: 2610
From: Brussels, Belgium
Registered: Dec 2000

posted 03-31-2016 02:51 PM               

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Actually, only the stamp refers to the Soyuz-Apollo-Project.

The pictorial postmarker commemorates the 1981 Cosmonautics Day (20th Anniversary of Gagarin's flight).

The stationery envelope refers to the LURABA International Stamp Exhibition at Lucerne in Switzerland.

Posts: 8
From: Moscow, Russia
Registered: Jun 2015

posted 03-31-2016 11:01 PM            

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In the Soviet Union it was forbidden to represent on stamps and envelopes of US space programs. The situation changed only after perestroika since 1985.

This envelope is shown for the first time an American spacecraft, and more — the space shuttle. The shuttle was considered at the time as a real alternative to the Soviet vehicle Soyuz. The first launch of the shuttle made just 20 years after the start of Gagarin April 20, 1981.