Jump to content

Main menu Navigation ●Main page ●Contents ●Current events ●Random article ●About Wikipedia ●Contact us ●Donate Contribute ●Help ●Learn to edit ●Community portal ●Recent changes ●Upload file

●Create account ●Log in ●Create account ● Log in Pages for logged out editors learn more ●Contributions ●Talk

Editing Mission patch

●Article ●Talk ●Read ●Edit ●View history Tools Actions ●Read ●Edit ●View history General ●What links here ●Related changes ●Upload file ●Special pages ●Page information ●Get shortened URL ●Download QR code ●Wikidata item Appearance

You are not logged in. Your IP address will be publicly visible if you make any edits. If you log inorcreate an account, your edits will be attributed to a username, among other benefits.

Content that violates any copyrights will be deleted. Encyclopedic content must be verifiable through citations to reliable sources.

You are about to undo an edit. Please check the comparison below to verify that this is what you want to do, then publish the changes below to finish undoing the edit.

If you are undoing an edit that is not vandalism, explain the reason in the edit summary. Do not use the default message only.

{{Short description|Spaceflight mission emblem worn by astronauts}}
A '''mission patch''' is a cloth reproduction of a spaceflight mission emblem worn by [[astronaut]]s and other personnel affiliated with that mission. It is usually executed as an [[embroidered patch]]. The term '''''space patch''''' is mostly applied to an emblem designed for a crewed space mission. Traditionally, the patch is worn on the space suit that astronauts and cosmonauts wear when launched into space. Mission patches have been adopted by the crew and personnel of many other space ventures, public and private.

== Origins ==
[[Image:Vostok 6 patch.jpg|right|thumb|100px|[[Vostok 6]] mission insignia]]
The first space patch was flown by Soviet cosmonaut [[Valentina Tereshkova]] on the [[Vostok 6]]<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.collectspace.com/news/news-061413a.html|title=Fifty years ago, first woman to fly in space wore world's first mission patch - collectSPACE|website=collectSPACE.com}}</ref> mission in 1963; however, that was hidden from public view by the bright orange coverall that was part of the space suit at the time. At the start of the human spaceflight space age, as a rule, astronauts were pilots from a military background. These pilots took the tradition of military [[shoulder patch]]es with them; most US space missions have had dedicated designs, and since the mid-1980s most Soviet/Russian flights also featured space patches. Mission patches were first sported by [[NASA]] astronauts in 1965. The idea was first introduced to NASA by Air Force pilot (and astronaut) [[Gordon Cooper]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.collectspace.com/resources/patches_astronauts.html|title=collectSPACE - "Mission Patches: More Than Just a Merit Badge" by Travis K. Kircher|website=www.collectspace.com}}</ref>

== Evolution ==
[[Image:Apollo 11 insignia.png|right|thumb|130px|[[Apollo 11]] mission insignia]]Following the loss of the [[Apollo 1]] crew in a devastating fire, embroidered patches were restricted from crew clothing. Instead, astronauts in flight wore mission patches of fire-resistant [[Beta cloth]] onto which designs were [[silk screening|silkscreened]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://genedorr.com/patches/History.html|title=Space Mission Patches - History|first=Eugene|last=Dorr|website=genedorr.com}}</ref> (Embroidered patches were still produced for ground side wear, non-flight personnel, sale to collectors and to be flown in space as souvenirs.)

=== In the Soviet Union/Russia ===
The Vostok-6 patch was the only one of that program. The first spacewalker, [[Alexei Leonov]] wore a general patch on his EVA representing a rocket taking off Earth,<ref>{{Cite web | url=http://www.spacepatches.nl/salyut/cccp.html | title=Www.spacepatches.nl - Salyut - CCCP Zvezda-Rocket(1965) }}</ref> which was also used on subsequent flights. As part of the Interkosmos program, the crewed flights to the Salyut and Mir space stations between 1978 and 1988 featured mission logos. After that, some international flights had a patch, but only from 1994 onward did every Russian crewed launch feature a space patch. At that time, the design and production of the patches was done on the initiative of the crew; the designs were not sanctioned by the Russian space agency (Glavkosmos/RKA/Roscosmos). On a few confusing occasions, that lead to two 'crew-approved' patches existing for a single mission. The first agency-approved Russian space patch was the one for Soyuz TMA-13.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.spacepatches.nl/station/13tmapatch.html|title=Www.spacepatches.nl - ISS - Soyuz-TMA-12|website=www.spacepatches.nl}}</ref> However, Roscosmos was very late in announcing the design, by which time the crew had already produced their own version; the official design was not worn on the crew's suits. Since Soyuz TMA-14 in 2009, all launches feature 'official' patches.

=== In the United States ===
Early crewed NASA missions lacked patches; instead, the astronauts gave their spacecraft names. ([[Alan Shepard]]'s capsule for [[Mercury-Redstone 3|Mercury 3]] was named ''Freedom 7'', for instance.) When [[Gus Grissom]] proposed to name his [[Gemini 3]] capsule ''Molly Brown''&mdash;a reference to ''[[The Unsinkable Molly Brown (musical)|The Unsinkable Molly Brown]]'', referring in turn to Grissom's [[Mercury-Redstone 4|Mercury 4]] capsule which sank in the ocean shortly after splashdown &ndash; NASA officials were nonplussed and they abolished the practice of naming capsules.

[[Image:Gemini5-Patch.jpg|thumb|[[Gordon Cooper]]'s [[Gemini 5]] mission patch; NASA's first crewed patch]]
This prompted astronaut [[Gordon Cooper]] to propose and develop a mission patch for his and [[Pete Conrad]]'s 1965 [[Gemini 5]] flight: an embroidered cloth patch sporting the names of the two crew members, a covered wagon, and the slogan "8 Days or Bust" which referred to the expected mission duration. NASA administrator [[James E. Webb]] approved the design, but insisted on the removal of the slogan from the official version of the patch. The so-called '''Cooper patch''' was worn on the right breast of the astronauts' uniforms below their nameplates and opposite the NASA emblems worn on the left.<ref name=patch1>{{cite web|url=http://www.collectspace.com/news/news-082415a-gemini5-50th-8daysorbust.html |title='8 Days or Bust' +50 years: Gemini 5 made history with first crew mission patch |publisher=collectspace| date=August 24, 2015}}</ref>

Since Gemini 5, patches have been created for all NASA crewed missions and many uncrewed expeditions. Patches are now created by professional graphic designers, but the design is still directed by each astronaut crew. They are designed and manufactured by A-B Emblem in North Carolina.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Byrne |first=Brendan |date=February 24, 2023 |title=Every space crew needs a mission patch. This company has designed NASA's for 50 years |work=NPR |url=https://www.npr.org/2023/02/24/1159019083/nasa-spacex-mission-patches}}</ref>

Since Gemini 5, every NASA crewed space mission had its own patch; 8 designs for Gemini, 12 for Apollo, 3 for [[Skylab]], 1 for the [[Apollo-Soyuz Test Project]] (ASTP), 135 for the [[Space Shuttle]] program, and 1 for [[SpaceX]] (NASA Commercial Crew Program).

=== In Europe ===
Although European human spaceflight, performed by ESA, is dependent on US or Russian launches, most European astronauts have worn a patch designed for their particular mission (apart from some of the earlier Shuttle flights, when ESA astronauts wore the same crew patches as their NASA colleagues). ESA patches are designed either by the agency's graphics teams or occasionally by members of the public through competitions organized by ESA.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://spaceinimages.esa.int/Images/2012/09/Soyuz_TMA-09M_Volare_mission_patch_2013|title=Soyuz TMA-09M, Volare mission patch, 2013|website=European Space Agency}}</ref> ESA maintains a patch gallery of every patch worn by its astronauts. <ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.esa.int/About_Us/Welcome_to_ESA/ESA_history/European_manned_spaceflight_patches|title=European human spaceflight patches|last=esa|website=European Space Agency}}</ref>

=== China ===
In 2003, China launched its first astronaut, [[Yang Liwei]] aboard [[Shenzhou 5]]. Following the US and Soviet/Russian tradition, he had a mission patch on his pressure suit. The crewed Shenzhou-6, -7 and -9 missions continued the tradition. In a departure from US and Russian designs, the Chinese mission patches do not feature crew names.

== Categories == 
* Mission patch or crew patch; designed for a single crewed space mission.
* Payload patch; designed for a particular payload carried on board a Space Shuttle mission.
* ISS expedition patch; designed for the expedition of a crew on board the International Space Station; these crews wear a separate patch for the Shuttle or Soyuz mission that takes them to the station.
* Project patch; designed for a program of experiments on board a space station, like ESA designs for missions on Mir and ISS; also for a program of spaceflights, like the Space Shuttle program logo.
* Agency patch; depicting the logo of a space agency, like the NASA 'meatball' and the ESA 'thumbprint' (or the ESA 'flags' patch).
* Personal patch; designed for an individual astronaut or cosmonaut, for use on one or more space missions. Usually, the patch is not publicized.
* Astronaut/cosmonaut group patch; features the logo of a selection of one particular 'class' of astronauts/cosmonauts, usually including the year of selection.
* Uncrewed and commemorative patches; many patches feature rockets, satellites, spaceships, the Moon, planets or stars, but some collectors do not consider these 'true' space patches.

== Artists ==
On the US side, artist like Jean Bealieu, William Bradley, James Cooper, Victor Craft, Jerry Elmore, Frank Kelly Freas, Barbara Matelski, Robert T. McCall, Jean Pinataro, Emilio Pucci, Gene Rickman, Allen Stevens, Norman Tiller, Walter A. Weber, and Lumen M. Winter took care of patch designs. But also aerospace company artists, astronauts and their family members and NASA graphic department designers came up with patch designs. 
Most early Soviet/Russian patches were designed by artists that remain anonymous. In the 90s, Dmitri Shcherbinin and Alex Panchenko provided designs for Soyuz missions and personal patches. Russian designs for Soyuz TMA-14 through TMA-03M included art done by children, submitted to Roscosmos as part of a competition.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.roscosmos.ru/main.php?id=45 |title=ФЕДЕРАЛЬНОЕ КОСМИЧЕСКОЕ АГЕНТСТВО (РОСКОСМОС)&#124; Дети рисуют космос |access-date=2013-05-20 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130630052512/http://www.roscosmos.ru/main.php?id=45 |archive-date=2013-06-30 |url-status=dead }}</ref> More recently Tim Gagnon of the US and Jorge Cartes of Spain designed Shuttle and ISS expedition patches, while Luc van den Abeelen and Erik van der Hoorn, both of the Netherlands, provided art for Russian Soyuz missions to ISS. Additionally, Johnson Space Center graphic designer Blake Dumesnil has also worked closely with ISS crews on expedition mission patches, Soyuz patches, and personal crew patches, in addition to official NASA commemorative designs for the end of the Space Shuttle Program and the 50th Anniversary of Extravehicular Activities (EVAs).

== Collecting ==
Space patch collecting is done by a modest group of people worldwide, trying to keep up with new releases while searching for vintage examples of early mission patches, some now nearly 60 years old. Since 1971, all official NASA mission patches have been produced by a single supplier: [[A-B Emblem]] of [[Weaverville, North Carolina]]. As a result, most mission patches since Apollo have been widely available to the public. But a number of years ago, the company switched embroidery machines, and recent versions of older Shuttle patches differ from the originals, making the latter more interesting to serious collectors. Original Soviet-era patches and early Russian ones were either never available to the public or in very limited numbers. Since 2009, the supplier of Soyuz patches has modest numbers of patches available for collectors. The Chinese crew patches are very scarce and mostly only obtained through contacts within the Chinese aerospace industry. ESA patches were only made in limited numbers for PR events, but since 2012 the agency has moved to make its mission patches more widely available to the public from their original providers (Quadrotem in Germany, Emblemen in the Netherlands and Stewart Aviation in UK).

==See also==
* [[Astronaut badge]]

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

9. French Website about all the crewed space missions patches: https://space-badges.pagesperso-orange.fr/
== Further reading ==
* Kaplan, Judith and Muniz, Robert. Space Patches: From Mercury to the Space Shuttle. Sterling Publishing Co., Inc., New York, 1986, {{ISBN|0-8069-6294-1}}
* Hengeveld, Ed. The Apollo Emblems of Artist Al Stevens. Spaceflight magazine, June 2008, pp.&nbsp;220–225. Available online at [http://www.collectspace.com/news/news-052008a.html collectSPACE]
* Kircher, Travis. More Than Just a Merit Badge. Ad Astra magazine, Nov/Dec 2000, pp.&nbsp;23–25. Also available online at [http://www.collectspace.com/resources/patches_astronauts.html collectSPACE]
* Lattimer, Dick. All We Did Was Fly to the Moon. The Whispering Eagle Press, Gainesville, FL, 1985, {{ISBN|0-9611228-0-3}}
* Kaplan, Judith and Muniz, Robert. Space Patches: From Mercury to the Space Shuttle. Sterling Publishing Co., Inc., New York, 1986, {{ISBN|0-8069-6294-1}}
* Lattimer, Dick. All We Did Was Fly to the Moon. The Whispering Eagle Press, Gainesville, FL, 1985, {{ISBN|0-9611228-0-3}}
* Patterson, Ann. Space Shuttle Patch History. [[:File:NASA Shuttle Patch Descriptions.pdf|NASA Shuttle Patch Descriptions.pdf]]
* Glushko, Alexander. Design for Space: Soviet and Russian Mission Patches. DOM Publishing, 2016, {{ISBN|9783869223285}}

== External links ==
*[http://genedorr.com/patches/History.html History of Patches]
*[http://www.collectspace.com/resources/patches_astronauts.html "More Than Just a Merit Badge"]
* [http://www.spacepatches.nl www.spacepatches.nl]
* [http://www.abemblem.com www.abemblem.com]
* [http://www.roscosmos.ru www.roscosmos.ru]
* [http://www.esa.int/About_Us/Welcome_to_ESA/ESA_history/European_manned_spaceflight_patches www.esa.int]
* [http://space-badges.pagesperso-orange.fr/ French website: les badges du Cosmos]

[[Category:Embroidery]]
[[Category:Awards and decorations of NASA]]

Edit summary (Briefly describe your changes)

By publishing changes, you agree to the Terms of Use, and you irrevocably agree to release your contribution under the CC BY-SA 4.0 License and the GFDL. You agree that a hyperlink or URL is sufficient attribution under the Creative Commons license.

Cancel Editing help (opens in new window)

Copy and paste: – — ° ′ ″ ≈ ≠ ≤ ≥ ± − × ÷ ← → · § Cite your sources: <ref></ref>

{{}} {{{}}} | [] [[]] [[Category:]] #REDIRECT [[]]   <s></s> <code></code> <pre></pre> <blockquote></blockquote> <ref></ref> <ref name="" /> {{Reflist}} <references /> <includeonly></includeonly> <noinclude></noinclude> {{DEFAULTSORT:}} <nowiki></nowiki>

Symbols: ~ | ¡ ¿ † ‡ ↔ ↑ ↓ • ¶ # ∞ ‹› «» ¤ ₳ ฿ ₵ ¢ ₡ ₢ $ ₫ ₯ € ₠ ₣ ƒ ₴ ₭ ₤ ℳ ₥ ₦ № ₧ ₰ £ ៛ ₨ ₪ ৳ ₮ ₩ ¥ ♠ ♣ ♥ ♦ 𝄫 ♭ ♮ ♯ 𝄪 © ® ™
Latin: A a Á á À à Â â Ä ä Ǎ ǎ Ă ă Ā ā Ã ã Å å Ą ą Æ æ Ǣ ǣ B b C c Ć ć Ċ ċ Ĉ ĉ Č č Ç ç D d Ď ď Đ đ Ḍ ḍ Ð ð E e É é È è Ė ė Ê ê Ë ë Ě ě Ĕ ĕ Ē ē Ẽ ẽ Ę ę Ẹ ẹ Ɛ ɛ Ǝ ǝ Ə ə F f G g Ġ ġ Ĝ ĝ Ğ ğ Ģ ģ H h Ĥ ĥ Ħ ħ Ḥ ḥ I i İ ı Í í Ì ì Î î Ï ï Ǐ ǐ Ĭ ĭ Ī ī Ĩ ĩ Į į Ị ị J j Ĵ ĵ K k Ķ ķ L l Ĺ ĺ Ŀ ŀ Ľ ľ Ļ ļ Ł ł Ḷ ḷ Ḹ ḹ M m Ṃ ṃ N n Ń ń Ň ň Ñ ñ Ņ ņ Ṇ ṇ Ŋ ŋ O o Ó ó Ò ò Ô ô Ö ö Ǒ ǒ Ŏ ŏ Ō ō Õ õ Ǫ ǫ Ọ ọ Ő ő Ø ø Œ œ Ɔ ɔ P p Q q R r Ŕ ŕ Ř ř Ŗ ŗ Ṛ ṛ Ṝ ṝ S s Ś ś Ŝ ŝ Š š Ş ş Ș ș Ṣ ṣ ß T t Ť ť Ţ ţ Ț ț Ṭ ṭ Þ þ U u Ú ú Ù ù Û û Ü ü Ǔ ǔ Ŭ ŭ Ū ū Ũ ũ Ů ů Ų ų Ụ ụ Ű ű Ǘ ǘ Ǜ ǜ Ǚ ǚ Ǖ ǖ V v W w Ŵ ŵ X x Y y Ý ý Ŷ ŷ Ÿ ÿ Ỹ ỹ Ȳ ȳ Z z Ź ź Ż ż Ž ž ß Ð ð Þ þ Ŋ ŋ Ə ə
Greek: Ά ά Έ έ Ή ή Ί ί Ό ό Ύ ύ Ώ ώ Α α Β β Γ γ Δ δ Ε ε Ζ ζ Η η Θ θ Ι ι Κ κ Λ λ Μ μ Ν ν Ξ ξ Ο ο Π π Ρ ρ Σ σ ς Τ τ Υ υ Φ φ Χ χ Ψ ψ Ω ω {{Polytonic|}}
Cyrillic: А а Б б В в Г г Ґ ґ Ѓ ѓ Д д Ђ ђ Е е Ё ё Є є Ж ж З з Ѕ ѕ И и І і Ї ї Й й Ј ј К к Ќ ќ Л л Љ љ М м Н н Њ њ О о П п Р р С с Т т Ћ ћ У у Ў ў Ф ф Х х Ц ц Ч ч Џ џ Ш ш Щ щ Ъ ъ Ы ы Ь ь Э э Ю ю Я я ́
IPA: t̪ d̪ ʈ ɖ ɟ ɡ ɢ ʡ ʔ ɸ β θ ð ʃ ʒ ɕ ʑ ʂ ʐ ç ʝ ɣ χ ʁ ħ ʕ ʜ ʢ ɦ ɱ ɳ ɲ ŋ ɴ ʋ ɹ ɻ ɰ ʙ ⱱ ʀ ɾ ɽ ɫ ɬ ɮ ɺ ɭ ʎ ʟ ɥ ʍ ɧ ʼ ɓ ɗ ʄ ɠ ʛ ʘ ǀ ǃ ǂ ǁ ɨ ʉ ɯ ɪ ʏ ʊ ø ɘ ɵ ɤ ə ɚ ɛ œ ɜ ɝ ɞ ʌ ɔ æ ɐ ɶ ɑ ɒ ʰ ʱ ʷ ʲ ˠ ˤ ⁿ ˡ ˈ ˌ ː ˑ ̪ {{IPA|}}

Wikidata entities used in this page

mission patch: Sitelink, Title, Description: en

Pages transcluded onto the current version of this page (help):

Mission patch (edit)
Template:Catalog lookup link (view source) (template editor protected)
Template:Cite news (view source) (protected)
Template:Cite web (view source) (protected)
Template:Hlist/styles.css (view source) (protected)
Template:ISBN (view source) (template editor protected)
Template:Icon (view source) (template editor protected)
Template:Main other (view source) (protected)
Template:NASA space program (view source) (semi-protected)
Template:Navbox (view source) (template editor protected)
Template:Pagetype (view source) (protected)
Template:Reflist (view source) (protected)
Template:Reflist/styles.css (view source) (protected)
Template:Russian space program (edit)
Template:SDcat (view source) (protected)
Template:Short description (view source) (protected)
Template:Short description/lowercasecheck (view source) (protected)
Template:Small (view source) (protected)
Template:Yesno (view source) (protected)
Template:Yesno-no (view source) (template editor protected)
Template:Yesno-yes (view source) (template editor protected)
Module:Arguments (view source) (protected)
Module:Catalog lookup link (view source) (template editor protected)
Module:Check for unknown parameters (view source) (protected)
Module:Check isxn (view source) (template editor protected)
Module:Citation/CS1 (view source) (protected)
Module:Citation/CS1/COinS (view source) (protected)
Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration (view source) (protected)
Module:Citation/CS1/Date validation (view source) (protected)
Module:Citation/CS1/Identifiers (view source) (protected)
Module:Citation/CS1/Utilities (view source) (protected)
Module:Citation/CS1/Whitelist (view source) (protected)
Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css (view source) (protected)
Module:Disambiguation/templates (view source) (protected)
Module:Icon (view source) (template editor protected)
Module:Icon/data (view source) (template editor protected)
Module:Navbar (view source) (protected)
Module:Navbar/configuration (view source) (protected)
Module:Navbar/styles.css (view source) (protected)
Module:Navbox (view source) (template editor protected)
Module:Navbox/configuration (view source) (template editor protected)
Module:Navbox/styles.css (view source) (template editor protected)
Module:Pagetype (view source) (protected)
Module:Pagetype/config (view source) (protected)
Module:Pagetype/disambiguation (view source) (protected)
Module:Pagetype/rfd (view source) (template editor protected)
Module:Pagetype/setindex (view source) (protected)
Module:Pagetype/softredirect (view source) (protected)
Module:SDcat (view source) (protected)
Module:String (view source) (protected)
Module:Wikitext Parsing (view source) (protected)
Module:Yesno (view source) (protected)

This page is a member of 2 hidden categories (help):

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mission_patch" ●Privacy policy ●About Wikipedia ●Disclaimers ●Contact Wikipedia ●Code of Conduct ●Developers ●Statistics ●Cookie statement ●Mobile view