Samoa 1 Dollar 2014 50 years of Mars Mission - First Floating Coin
This is a world premiere - the first floating coin in history - issued to honor the 50th Anniversary of Mars Mission! An electromagnet-based system that keeps the coin in a permanent floating state, makes it one of the world’s most innovative coin concepts of 2016. Struck from 60 g base metal BU, each coin is individually numbered and comes housed in a sophisticated packaging creating a planet-like atmosphere. The worldwide mintage is limited to 5 000 pieces.The obverse of the antique finish coin features the coat of arms of Samoa (officially the Independent State of Samoa). It is surrounded by the following inscriptions: the face value of the coin and its issuing country.
Thanks to the special technique, the coin is permanently and slowly rotating in the air – it generates the realistic atmosphere of the Mars physical properties! - issued to honor the 50th anniversary of Mars Mission and the landing of “Curiosity” on Mars in 2014 with a sophisticated packaging and an individually numbered coin. On the top of the coin, the inscription: “50th anniversary of Mars Mission” and in the bottom: “1964 – 2014” (the year of the mission and the year of issue).
On Nov. 28, 1964, NASA launched its first successful mission to the Red Planet. The historic Mariner 4 mission returned the first photos ever taken of another planet from deep space. The craft, launched from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, performed a flyby of Mars, making its closest approach on July 15, 1965. From a distance of about 6,000 miles, the craft captured 21 images of the planet's craggy surface.
Country: Samoa.
Face Value: 1 Dollar.
Year of Issue: 2014.
Weight: 60 g.
Dimensions: 50 mm.
Coin Accent: Glass and locket insert.
Metal Purity: Base-metal.
Quality: Brilliant uncirculated.
Mintage quantity: 5000 pcs.
Edge: Smooth with a serial number.
Exterior Decoration: Floating Technique (Weightlessness). Serial number on each coin.
Package type includes: Packaging creating a planet-like atmosphere.
Curiosity
Curiosity is a car-sized robotic rover exploring Gale Crater on Mars as part of NASA's Mars Science Laboratory mission (MSL). As of January 17, 2017, Curiosity has been on Mars for 1582 sols (1625 total days) since landing on August 6, 2012.
Curiosity was launched from Cape Canaveral on November 26, 2011, at 15:02 UTC aboard the MSL spacecraft and landed on Aeolis Palus in Gale Crater on Mars on August 6, 2012, 05:17 UTC. The Bradbury Landing site was less than 2.4 km (1.5 mi) from the center of the rover's touchdown target after a 563,000,000 km (350,000,000 mi) journey.
The rover's goals include: investigation of the Martian climate and geology; assessment of whether the selected field site inside Gale Crater has ever offered environmental conditions favorable for microbial life, including investigation of the role of water; and planetary habitability studies in preparation for future human exploration.
Curiosity's design will serve as the basis for the planned Mars 2020 rover. In December 2012, Curiosity's two-year mission was extended indefinitely.