Nasa celebrates 29-cent Pluto stamp that has been to space and back

Nasa is celebrating a 29-cent Pluto-themed postage stamp stuck to the side of the New Horizons spacecraft that has travelled nearly 3.5 billion miles from Earth.

Nasa is celebrating a 29-cent Pluto-themed postage stamp stuck to the side of the New Horizons spacecraft that has travelled nearly 3.5 billion miles from Earth.

A 1991 “Pluto Not Yet Explored” stamp is affixed to the New Horizons spacecraft. The stamp was officially recognized by Guinness World Records at Postal Service headquarters in Washington for the farthest distance travelled by a postage stamp. (AP Photo)

Nasa says the 1991 stamp that carried the message “Pluto Not Yet Explored” helped inspire the New Horizons team. The team stuck it to the spacecraft shortly before it launched in January 2006, and Nasa says the US Postal Service officially cancelled it after New Horizons made its fly-by of Pluto last July.

Guinness World Records recognised the stamp at Postal Service headquarters in Washington on Tuesday for the farthest distance travelled by a postage stamp.

The stamp and New Horizons’ next stop is a Kuiper Belt object 1 billion miles beyond Pluto, where the spacecraft is expected to arrive in 2019.