Mission Patch

In our Astronaut Gallery, located in front of the Northrop Grumman Theater

at Space Center Houston, you can see space suits from every era of NASA’s
manned space flight program. Some of the suits you can view are the Gemini space suit,
Apollo suits, Space Shuttle suits, ejection escape suit, liquid cooling garment, and every-
day outfits the Astronauts wear while in space. On the back wall of the Astronaut Gallery,
you can view pictures of every manned mission that NASA has flown. The first team task
the Astronauts that fly on these missions and wear these space suits do as part of their
mission is to design their mission patch.

Mission Patch Background: Materials

Each manned mission into space requires a hand picked • 1 large white poster board
crew of astronauts. The astronaut crew works with a per group
graphic designer to create a patch that represents the • Pencils
crew and their mission. The mission patch includes all of • Markers
the crew names and the graphic design depicts aspects • Crayons
of the mission and of the crew’s lives that are most • Example Mission Patches
important. For example: patriotic symbols, the Space • 1 round patch sticker per
Shuttle, the Orbiter, the International Space Station, student
and even symbols that represent fallen colleagues. Each
mission patch comes with a detailed description to explain the choice of the design.

Activity Procedure:

1. Discuss what a mission patch is and how it is designed. Tell the students they are to
design a mission patch that tells a story about their group, their school and their
personal goals. Just like the astronauts, the students must write a detailed explanation
of their patch.
2. Divide students into groups of 4.
3. Pass out all materials.
4. Suggest that the students brainstorm ideas on another sheet of paper before they
begin drawing their design with pencil.
5. Once the design is in pencil, the group can fill it in with color.
6. Remind the students that they must write a paragraph or two about their mission
patch.
7. The completed posters can be displayed around the classroom, school or an art contest
can be held to choose the most creative one.

Enrichment:

Students can design their own personal mission patch on a 3 inch diameter circular
sticker. The patches can be used for personal use, as a name badge or to represent a par-
ticular class or group. Your students can even design a patch that represents the entire
class to wear on the field trip.

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Astronaut Mission Patch Samples
STS-114 (July 2005) The STS 114 patch design signifies the return of the
Space Shuttle to flight and honors the memory of the STS-107 Columbia
crew. The blue Shuttle rising above Earth's horizon includes the Columbia
constellation of seven stars, echoing the STS-107 patch and
commemorating the seven members of that mission. The crew of STS-114
will carry the memory of their friends on Columbia and the legacy of their
mission back into Earth orbit. The dominant design element of the STS-114
patch is the planet Earth, which represents the unity and dedication of the
many people whose efforts allow the Shuttle to safely return to flight.
Commander Eileen Collins and Pilot James Kelly are named at the top of the
insignia, with Mission Specialists Wendy Lawrence and Charles Camarda
named below. Against the background of the Earth at night, the blue orbit
represents the International Space Station (ISS). Mission Specialists Soichi
Noguchi, Stephen Robinson and Andrew Thomas, who will work on the
Station during spacewalks, are named on the orbit. The red sun on the orbit
signifies the contributions of the Japanese Space Agency to the mission and
to the ISS program. The multi-colored Shuttle plume represents the broad
spectrum of challenges for this mission, including Shuttle inspection and
repair experiments, and International Space Station re-supply and repair.

STS 103 (August 1999) --- Designed by the crewmembers, the STS-103
emblem depicts the Space Shuttle Discovery approaching the Hubble Space
Telescope (HST) prior to its capture and berthing. The purpose of the mission
is to remove and replace some of the Telescope's older and out-of-date
systems with newer, more reliable and more capable ones, and to make
repairs to HST's exterior thermal insulation that has been damaged by more
than nine years of exposure to the space environment. The horizontal and
vertical lines centered on the Telescope symbolize the ability to reach and
maintain a desired attitude in space, essential to the instrument's scientific
operation. The preservation of this ability is one of the primary objectives of
the mission. After the flight, the Telescope will resume its successful
exploration of deep space and will continue to be used to study solar system
objects, stars in the making, late phases of stellar evolution, galaxies and the
early history of the universe. HST, as represented on this emblem was
inspired by views from previous servicing missions, with its solar arrays
illuminated by the Sun, providing a striking contrast with the blackness of
space and the night side of Earth.

STS 108 (May 2001) --- This is the insignia for the STS-108 mission, which
marks a major milestone in the assembly of the International Space Station
(ISS) as the first designated Utilization Flight, UF-1. The crew of Endeavour
will bring the Expedition Four crew to ISS and return the Expedition Three
crew to Earth. Endeavour will also launch with a Multi-Purpose Logistics
Module (MPLM) that will be berthed to ISS and unloaded. The MPLM will be
returned to Endeavour for the trip home and used again on a later flight. The
crew patch depicts Endeavour and the ISS in the configuration at the time of
arrival and docking. The Station is shown viewed along the direction of flight
as will be seen by the Shuttle crew during their final approach and docking
along the X-axis. The three ribbons and stars on the left side of the patch
signify the returning Expedition Three crew. The red, white and blue order
of the ribbons represents the American commander for that mission. The
three ribbons and stars on the right depict the arriving Expedition Four crew.
The white, blue, red order of the Expedition Four ribbon matches the color of
the Russian flag and signifies that the commander of Expedition Four is a
Russian cosmonaut. Each white star in the center of the patch represents the
four Endeavour crew members. The names of the four astronauts who will
crew Endeavour are shown along the top border of the patch. The three
astronauts and three cosmonauts of the two expedition crews are shown on
the chevron at the bottom of the patch.
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 Mission Patch Job Assignments

In order to facilitate the Mission Patch activity, please assign each student
in the class one of the following roles. Use of these roles should insure that
all students are involved and actively contribute to the project. Feel free to
modify the job assignments and numbers of recommended individuals as
necessary.

Student Jobs Associated with Written Component:

Researcher (one or two students): researches school history and school

symbols for incorporation into the mission patch.

Secretary (one student): takes notes as students brainstorm ideas for the
mission patch, takes notes as researcher uncovers information, shares
information with the class when necessary.

Author (one or two students): composes the written explanation of the

mission patch that will be turned in as part of the competition on Kids’ Day
at Space Center Houston.

Student Jobs Associated with Mission Patch:

Supply Master (one or two students): gathers supplies for students

working on mission patch, makes sure all supplies are in their proper
condition at the end of work time, returns all supplies to their proper
location.

Artist (one to three students): designs and creates the mission patch to be
entered into the competition on Kids’ Day at Space Center Houston.

Student Job Associated with Both Components:

• Supervisor/Task Manager (one student): observes behavior of

students performing other tasks and helps the class remain focused and on
task throughout the project.