The Space Exploration card series was released in 1963 by J. Lyons & Co. Ltd. of London. One card was included with ice cream products from the Lyons Maid brand. Each card measures approximately 1.375 x 2.625 inches. The Space Album scrapbook was available by mail order.

 

The 40-card series features illustrations of Soviet and American astronauts and spacecraft, as well as space animals Laika (Лайка) and Ham. The depiction of Sputnik 2 is inaccurate, likely due to the limited information available.

Ham, the first chimpanzee in space, is erroneously credited as "The Monkey." Officially known as Number 65, "Chop Chop Chang" was nicknamed Ham after the Holloman Aerospace Medical Center in New Mexico. On January 31, 1961, Ham safely completed a suborbital flight aboard Mercury-Redstone 2 to an apogee of 157 miles (252.7 km).