CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. When it comes to memorable icons of the 1980s, Americas space shuttle ranks right up there with The Cosby Show, personal computers, cable TV and Cabbage Patch Kids.

So says the United States Postal Service, which unveiled 15 new commemorative postage stamps Wednesday depicting popular symbols of that decade.

The spaceship Columbia which blasted off in 1981 on NASAs first shuttle flight was among them.

"Its thrilling that the United States Postal Service chose to dedicate these stamps here at the Kennedy Space Center [KSC]. It is truly Americas gateway to the universe," said Viki Brennan, USPS manager for the Central Florida District.

Added KSC Director Roy Bridges, a former astronaut who now runs NASAs shuttle homeport: "We have a great piece of technology from U.S. industry here, and its really helped us open up and explore this so-called last frontier."

Selected by the public during nationwide balloting last February, the 1980s stamps were issued as part of the largest and most comprehensive stamp program ever developed by the U.S. Postal Service.

Dubbed "Celebrate the Century," the program features stamps that herald the most significant people, places, events and trends from each decade of the 20th century.

The colorful shuttle stamp is an artists rendering of NASAs oldest orbiter -- Columbia -- bathed in launch pad floodlights on the eve of the agencys inaugural shuttle flight on April 12, 1981.

"This was really a great time to be a part of the shuttle program, because we had never done this before," recalled Bridges, who joined NASAs elite astronaut corps in 1980 and piloted shuttle Challenger on a July 1985 mission.

"It was almost a miracle that we were able to take this first-generation reusable space vehicle and get it launched and returned safely to Earth."

With an American flag serving as a backdrop on the stamp, the orbiter Columbia sports twin solid solid rocket boosters and a 15-story external tank that is painted white. The rendering is remarkable because NASA stopped painting the bullet-shaped tanks after the agencys fourth shuttle flight to trim 600 pounds from the 87-ton ships.

Since the first shuttle flight in 1981, NASA has launched 95 other missions on Columbia, Challenger, Discovery, Atlantis and Endeavour.

More than 250 men and women have flown into orbit aboard the winged spaceships, traveling over 330 million miles during more than two years of accumulated flying time high above the planet.

And theyve done so in relative comfort.

"When the first shuttle tore into space in 1981, it was the end of a time when astronauts strapped into capsules just barely bigger than they were," Brennan told 500 people gathered at KSC for the "First-Day-Of-Issue" ceremony.

"Today, the space shuttles are part airplane, part rocket; part satellite-launcher and part bunkhouse; part laboratory and part locker room," she said. "They are the worlds first flying spaceships."

Joining the shuttle as postal emblems of the 1980s are a wide variety of people, events and places. Included in the roster: the Broadway musical "Cats;" the San Francisco 49ers; U.S. hostages coming home from Iran; Olympic figure skaters; cable TV; the Vietnam Veterans Memorial; compact disks; Cabbage Patch Kids; "The Cosby Show;" the fall of the Berlin Wall; video games; "ET The Extraterrestrial;" personal computers and hip-hop culture.

The fact that Americas shuttle fleet made the cut with the public is telling.

"It shows that the shuttle is an icon when it comes to American science and technology," said Ken Havekotte, a space philatelic expert and owner of Space Coast Cover Service, a Florida company that specializes in aerospace collectibles.

"It shows that America loves its space program -- Always has. Always will."