Rather than answer the question originally posed, I will instead discuss why the a U.S. never issued an IGY-related stamp that you might have expected. Again, I rely below on some earlier posts (links shown) and NASA web pages.
The IGY events that almost certainly most captivated the attention of the public were the launchings of the first artificial satellites by both the Soviet Union and the U.S., a key area of research that had been planned for the IGY. Ironically, the beginning of the so-called "space race" took place during the IGY which trumpeted international scientific cooperation.
In 1952, the International Council of Scientific Unions had announced the establishment of the International Geophysical Year. In Oct. 1954, the Council adopted a resolution calling for artificial satellites to be launched during the IGY. It was fully expected that both the U.S. and the Soviet Union would do this. In July 1955, the White House announced plans to launch an Earth-orbiting satellite for the IGY. In Sept. 1955, the Naval Research Laboratory's Vanguard proposal was chosen to carry out this mission.
On Oct. 4, 1957, the Soviet Union successfully launched the first satellite, Sputnik I. The Soviets struck again on Nov. 3 when Sputnik II was launched, carrying a much heavier payload (with consequent fears about ICBMs carrying nuclear warheads), including Laika, the dog. The United States attempt to respond with a Project Vanguard launch on Dec. 6 was a disaster, as the rocket only rose a few feet above the platform before it disintegrated in flames. During the next Vanguard test on Feb. 5, 1958, the launch vehicle reached an altitude of four miles but then exploded. At this point, the Army stepped in with Project Explorer under the direction of Wernher von Braun, which led to the first successful U.S. orbital launch of Explorer I aboard a Redstone rocket on Jan. 31,1958. Data collected with a geiger counter on this mission led to the discovery of the Van Allen radiation belts.
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| Celebrating the launch of Explorer I are: William H. Pickering, director of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory; James A. Van Allen, physicist who designed and built the instrument on Explorer that detected the eponymous radiation belts; and Wernher von Braun, leader of the Army's team which built the first stage Redstone booster that was part of the Jupiter C rocket that carried Explorer 1 into space. (Photo from NASA) |
The Soviet Union and some of its allies wasted no time issuing stamps honoring the Sputnik launches. A stamp (Scott SU 1991, blow left) depicting Soviet rocket pioneer Konstantin Tsiolkovsky was issued on Oct. 7, 1957, just three days of the launch of Sputnik I. This was the bicentennial year of Tsiolkovsky's birth, but the date of issue was neither his birth nor death date. It hardly seems like a coincidence that the stamp was issued so shortly after the Sputnik launch.
The same stamp (SU 2021, above right) was issued just seven weeks later on Nov. 28, 1957 with the overprint message of "First in the World Artificial Satellite."
Another Soviet Union stamp (SU 1992, right) for the launching of the first artificial earth satellite, depicting a satellite in orbit, was issued on Nov. 5, just a month after the launch of Sputnik I.Sputnik II was similarly lauded with a set of four stamps (SU 2032-2035) issued on Dec. 30, 1957, eight weeks after the launch.
The U.S., on the other hand, did not issue a stamp honoring Explorer I after its successful launch as the third satellite into Earth orbit. I had speculated to myself that the U.S. did not want to highlight this milestone because its Cold War rival had won this first leg of the space race, and feared being seen as the loser in this competition. My opinion was confirmed thanks to Matin Modarressi (see his American Philatelic Society presentation on The Role of Stamps in U.S. Foreign Relations). Matin sent me the link to a document (https://www.cia.gov/readingroom/docs/CIA-RDP80B01676R002700050014-5.pdf) dated Oct. 8, 1958, signed by CIA director Allen Dulles. It was from the Operations Coordinating Board (OCB), a committee of the United States Executive created in 1953 by an executive order of Pres. Eisenhower to provide oversight of United States covert operations. It stated that:
A suggestion by the Army was then brought up having to do with the possibility of a commemorative postage stamp in honor of the launching of Explorer 1. The majority of the Board felt that it might be unwise to issue such a stamp in view of the obvious disparity which now exists between our accomplishments in the satellite field and those of the USSR.
Fascinating documentation confirming my hypothesis! Also present at that OCB meeting was Abbott Washburn, mentioned in an earlier post as Deputy Director of the United States Information Agency and simultaneously a member of the Citizens' Stamp Advisory Committee. Yes, stamps can be propaganda, as Matin pointed out in this piece.
In a similar fashion, I have learned from my other topical collection on North American earthquakes that the U.S. has never issued a stamp on an earthquake, or any natural disaster for that matter, even though other countries do so, to respect the tragedy or honor rebuilding efforts (see this article by Raymond Burby). The Citizens Stamp Advisory Committee listed its criteria for possible U.S. stamps in 2019 (see statement here), one of which states that:
The stamp program commemorates positive contributions to American life, history, culture and environment; therefore, negative occurrences and disasters will not be commemorated on U.S. postage stamps or stationery [italics mine].
That would seem to rule out earthquake stamps, as well as being second to another country.
Finally, in 1999, Explorer 1 got its U.S. philatelic due (see stamp below), as a milestone event of the 1950s as part of the 1950s sheet (see below) in the series of 10 sheets to Celebrate the Century:
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| Scott US 3187d, front and back |
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| Scott US 3187, souvenir sheet |
