posted 12-24-2015 01:24 PM               

Space Cover 348: Shenzou 5 Mission

This Space Cover of the Week commemorates the mission of Shenzou 5, the first manned Chinese space flight.

The above cover was cancelled on October 15, 2003 launch date aboard a Long March-2F launch vehicle at Jiuquan Space Launch Center. This cover was issued by the Beijing Philatelic Co. Ltd.

The above cover is a tracking station cover from the Beijing general station.

The above cover was cancelled on October 16, 2003 landing date of the Shenzou 5 descent module. All three covers were autographed by Yang Liwei and obtained from a trading partner I had in China.

posted 12-25-2015 08:55 AM               

The cover below, also signed by taikonaut Yang Liwei, is only an example.

The postmark commemorates the launch of Long March-2F rocket from Military Post Office (MPO) at Lanzhou (launch place).

However, astrophilatelists must be aware that slight variations can be found of this postmark. And it is one of the mottos of Astrophilately.

In Astro Guidelines, Article 3.3 Principles of Exhibit composition literally says:

Special attention should be given to the origin of the postmarks and the date and time related to the different space events. Also of importance is the philatelic knowledge of the different types of postmarks applied for the same event.

A very close-up of both covers allows us to see the differences. The last 9, showing local time 9:00 AM is different in font type but too the distance between day and hour.