On January 25, 2011 Russian Post issued a postage stamp devoted to Mstislav KELDYSH, Soviet scientist in the field of mathematics and mechanics.
Keldysh's main efforts were devoted to jet propulsion and rockets including supersonic gas dynamics, heat and mass exchange, heat shielding etc. 1959 saw successful testing of the Soviet first cruise missile, which displayed better performance than the Navajo missile being designed in USA at the time.
In 1954 Keldysh, Sergey Korolyov and Mikhail Tikhonravov submitted a letter to the Soviet Government proposing development of an artificial satellite to orbit the Earth. This letter began the effort that culminated in the world's first satellite, Sputnik in October 1957, which marks the beginning of mankind's Space Age.
In 1955 Keldysh was appointed chairman of the Satellite Committee at the Academy of Science. In recognition of his contribution to the problems of defense Keldysh was awarded the Hero of Socialist Labor (1956) and the Lenin Prize (1957).
In 1961 he received a second Него of Socialist Labor medal for his contribution to Yuri Gagarin's flight into space, the first person to orbit the earth. In 1971 he was awarded with the 3rd Него of Socialist Labor medal.
In 1961 Keldysh was elected Chairman of the USSR Academy of Sciences and kept this position for 14 years. His last scientific works were devoted to creation of the Shuttle Buran.
Keldysh was 67 when he died. He was honoured with a state funeral and his ashes were buried in the Kremlin Wall Necropolis on Red Square.
Keldysh was a member of many foreign academies of sciences, including the Mongolian Academy of Sciences (1961), Polish Academy of Sciences (1962), Czechoslovak Academy of Sciences (1962), and Romanian Academy of Sciences (1965). He was also an honorary member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences (1966), Bulgarian Academy of Sciences (1966), Hungarian Academy of Sciences (1970), and Royal Society of Edinburgh (1968), foreign corresponding member of the German Academy of Sciences (1966), and Saxon Academy of Sciences in Leipzig (1966).
The crater Keldysh on the Moon, and a research vessel Akademik Mstislav Keldysh are named after him. Attachments: | 
