Commemorative Cover, Millennium Midnight

To celebrate the turn of the millennium, the Isle of Man Post Office issued a commemorative first day cover featuring three postage stamps inspired by astronomy. The stamps depict the night sky over the Isle of Man, as well as a clock and a time-date label. In sequence, they represent a minute before midnight December 31, 1999; midnight; and a minute after midnight on January 1, 2000. Each stamp is cancelled at the matching time, making the third one the first postage stamp issued in the world at the turn of the millennium. The third stamp in the set also shows the orbital track of the International Space Station over the island. The Isle of Man Post Office consulted with NASA in developing the stamp design and arranging for one of the first day covers to be flown on Space Shuttle mission STS-105 to the International Space Station in 2001.

After the mission, the Isle of Man Post Office donated the flown-in-space Millennium Midnight cover to the National Air and Space Museum.