1993 CEMPEX '93 Salutes NASA Space Exploration Sc 2741 Souvenir Station Cover
This historic commemorative event cover, postmarked at the CEMPEX '93 exhibition station, elegantly celebrates two monumental milestones in United States aviation and aerospace achievements.
Year of Issue / Event: 1993.
Designation: CEMPEX '93 Salutes 35 Years NASA Space Exploration.
Denomination: 29 Cents.
Scott Number: Sc 2741.
Stamp Design: From the popular 1993 Space Fantasy booklet strip, this stamp features a vivid sci-fi illustration of futuristic starships navigating past a ringed planet and cosmic gas clouds.
Cachet Detail: A highly detailed, multi-era illustration collage. The top portion portrays a classic early biplane alongside a reproduction of the 1968 24¢ Airmail stamp. The bottom portion highlights modern space travel with a rendering of the Space Shuttle Discovery soaring above an inset image of the 1981 18¢ Space Shuttle stamp labeled "Benefiting Mankind".
Special Event Postmark: Canceled at CEMPEX STATION, LANSING, MI 48924, FEB. 13 & 14 1993.
Pictorial Cancel: Features an elegant silhouette of a Curtiss JN-4 "Jenny" biplane flanked by dual commemorative milestones: "75 Years U.S. AIRMAIL SERVICE 1918–1993" and "35 Years NASA Space Exploration 1958–1993".
Designed and sponsored by the Capital Area Philatelic Society for CEMPEX (the Central Michigan Philatelic Exhibition), this souvenir station cover uses actual stamps and postal history graphics to construct a visual timeline of American flight.
The cachet brilliantly pairs the primitive wood-and-canvas biplanes of the early domestic airmail service with the reusable, heavy-lift orbiters of the Space Shuttle program. By applying a newly issued Space Fantasy stamp and securing a localized, custom-approved USPS exhibition postmark, collectors successfully bridged 75 years of pioneering aviation history onto a single envelope.
The Space Fantasy Strip: This stamp was illustrated by acclaimed designer Peter Good as part of a five-stamp fantasy sequence, which broke away from NASA's real-world tech to inspire creative imagination about outer space.
35 Years of NASA: The cover honors the 35th anniversary of the National Aeronautics and Space Act of 1958, which officially established NASA and kicked off the historic Space Race.
Airmail Pioneers: The biplane cancel pays tribute to May 15, 1918, the day the U.S. Post Office Department launched regular scheduled airmail service using Army pilots and planes.