"Space Stamps" Coming Soon

Stamps collectors will have a rare chance to obtain postage stamps franked in space soon. A post office set up specially for this purpose will be sending stamps to the International Space Station, where the cosmonauts will frank them with a special stamp, reported a source in the Russian Aerospace Agency.

The price of a stamp, however, will also be sky-high -- about 20,000 to 30,000 dollars. The money thus raised will be spent on space exploration.

The high price of the "space stamps" arises from the high costs of cargo delivery to the ISS. Delivering 1 kg of cargo costs up to 20,000 dollars, while its return from space to the Earth costs up to 60,000 dollars. One hour of work at the space station costs 20,000 dollars, explained RIA Novosti's source.

Consequently the members of the seventh permanent ISS expedition, who left the Earth for the ISS on Saturday, are acting as the first "space postmen," said the source.