Space shuttle Endeavour's final Flight Kit: merit badges, mission patches and more

Endeavour's final Flight Kit: merit badges, mission patches and more

May 31, 2011

— After more than 15 days in orbit, space shuttle Endeavour is headed home to Earth for its final time. The youngest of NASA's winged orbiters, Endeavour is returning with an empty cargo bay — its payload, the final U.S. components for the International Space Station delivered and installed.

Packed inside its crew cabin, sharing space with its six astronauts, is Endeavour's final delivery: several thousand pounds of science experiment results and spent supplies from the station. Also onboard, having made the round trip with the shuttle, is a special stash of souvenirs — the mission's Official Flight Kit (OFK), packed with mementos for the many organizations that supported the astronauts and made the flight a success.

The duffle-bag sized flight kit, together with the astronauts' individual personal preference kits, continues a tradition of astronauts flying mementos dating back through all of the 134 shuttle missions to date and the earlier U.S. manned space flights. Hundreds of thousands of small U.S. flags, crew patches, medallions, and lapel pins have flown over the course of the past five decades.

Endeavour's STS-134 flight kit is no exception, with nearly 500 of the crew's embroidered patches — as designed by commander Mark Kelly's mother-in-law, Congresswoman Gabrille Giffords' (D-Ariz.) mother, Gloria — alongside more than 5,000 4-inch by 6-inch U.S. flags and more than 2,000 of Endeavour's own orbiter flags.

Endeavour's 25th and final mission is also the next-to-last for the space shuttle program, which is represented in the OFK by 2,700 "end-of-mission" lapel pins and hundreds of similarly designed bookmarks, decals and emblems to be distributed after the flight to shuttle program workers.

Not everything in the flight kit however, is packed in mass. Many are individual mementos flown at the request of the crew members for organizations that they support and that supported them.

For example, a two-inch gold bar from the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy made the trip on behalf of Kelly, who graduated from the academy in 1986.

A poem from the Tucson Poetry Center in Arizona is also on board, along with an Archie Comics comic book cover.

Another cartoon character, a Czech mole named Krtek, is aboard Endeavour in the form of a stuffed toy.

"My wife's mother is Czech and so we have strong ties to the Czech Republic," mission specialist Drew Feustel told collectSPACE. "They're actually building a whole science and education outreach program around this character and we hope to be able to go back to visit the country and tour around with Krtek and try to get the schools involved and see a lot of the students and excite them about math and science and technology."

Mementos ranging from a metal disk borrowed from the National Institute of Nuclear Physics in Rome to a pennant from Tuscany are in the OFK representing Italy, the home nation of European Space Agency (ESA) astronaut and STS-134 mission specialist Roberto Vittori.

The Mary Rose Museum in Portsmouth, England, loaned a 3-inch wooden ball from the 16th century ship "Mary Rose" so it could sail in the vast ocean of space. The "Mary Rose" was one of the first purpose-built warships and was raised in 1982 after more than 400 years underwater. The ball, called a "parrel," was part of the mechanism used to raise sails up the masts.

The "Mary Rose" has an additional connection to NASA: astronaut Michael Foale worked as a volunteer diver on the ship's excavation in 1981.

Another museum-sponsored piece is the five-star insignia worn by General Henry "Hap" Arnold, an architect of the modern Air Force. The insignia belongs to the National Museum of the U.S. Air Force in Dayton, Ohio.

Endeavour's pilot Greg H. Johnson and mission specialist Mike Fincke are Air Force officers.

More than 100 robotics merit badges are inside the flight kit for the Boy Scouts of America. The newly introduced badge was developed in cooperation with NASA but also shares a connection with STS-134 mission specialist Greg Chamitoff, who was an Eagle Scout.

Chamitoff also flew a patch designed by the Boy Scouts' Santa Clara County Council in California, where he was a scout.

"When this flight came up, they got very excited about making a space patch for the council and so they did, and I'm flying it for them," Chamitoff told collectSPACE.

Robotics in space is also manifested by a hand and arm flying on Endeavour. Robonaut 2, the first humanoid robot in space, was delivered to the station during the previous shuttle mission and its extra appendage was packed on Endeavour to salute the work done on Earth to deploy the robot in space.

Some of the space shuttle program's "end of mission" patches that were packed in shuttle Endeavour's final Official Flight Kit.

Endeavour's empty cargo bay (with the station's Dextre robot in the foreground) as seen before undocking from the ISS. (NASA)

The STS-134 Official Flight Kit Manifest

The following is the STS-134 Official Flight Kit manifest, as provided by NASA. Inventory numbers that are missing indicate items that were removed prior to launch.

No.	Description	Sponsor/Purpose

1.	425 STS-134 crew patches 75 Expedition 27 patches 75 Expedition 28 patches 75 Expedition 29 patches	Agency Presentation
2.	800 Small United States Flags	Agency Presentation
3.	5 Sets U.S. States & Territories Flags	Agency Presentation
4.	5 Sets United Nations Members Flags	Agency Presentation
5.	50 Small Texas Flags 50 Small Flags of Italy 20 Small Flags of Russia 25 Small NASA Flags 25 NASA Patches 1 Large (3") JSC Medallion 6 Small (2") JSC Medallions 2 NASA Seal Medallions (1 Bronze, 1 Silver) 8 Silver Shuttle Pendant	Agency Presentation
6.	10 Small (4"x6") State Flags: Arizona California	Agency Presentation
7.	5 Small (4"x6") State Flags: Michigan Ohio Pennsylvania Hawaii (1) City of San Jóse Flag	Agency Presentation
8.	5 Small (4"x6") Flags: United Kingdom India Czech Republic Canada Australia Greece Israel Vatican	Agency Presentation
9.	20 Small (4"x6") Military Flags: 20 U.S. Air Force 20 U.S. Army 20 U.S. Coast Guard 20 U.S. Marine Corps 20 U.S. Navy	Agency Presentation
10.	10 Small United States Flags 10 Small Alabama State Flags	Marshall Space Flight Center Presentation
11.	10 Small Louisiana State Flags 10 Small Mississippi State Flags 5 Small NASA Flags 5 Small United States Flags 2 12"x20" LSU Flags	Stennis Space Center Presentation
12.	5 Small United States Flags 5 Small Florida State Flags 15 1.75" KSC Medallions	Kennedy Space Center Presentation
13.	200 Silver Snoopy Pins	Space Flight Awareness Presentation

14.	25 EVA Patches	Agency Presentation
15.	10 STS-134 Crew Patches 23 Small (4"x6") U.S. flags 11 Space Development & Test Wing Coins 10 DoD Space Test Program Patches 5 USS Hopper (DDG-70) Unit Coins 1 20th Space Control Squadron Unit Patch 1 20th Space Control Squadron Unit Scarf	DoD Presentation
16.	25 COD Patches	Center Operations Directorate Presentation

17.	25 Mission Operations Patches	Mission Operation Directorate Presentation

18.	27 Safety and Mission Assurance Patches	Safety and Mission Assurance Presentation

19.	25 JSC Engineering Patches	Engineering Directorate Presentation

20.	50 Power of One Lapel Pins	JSC Presentation

21.	10 Silver NASA Medallions (Ingots) 8"x10" Paper Artwork	Agency Presentation
22.	Challenger Center DVD 4 Challenger Center Computer Flash Drives	Agency Presentation
23.	100 Navy Space Systems Patches	Navy Presentation

24.	2 Apollo 1 Patches	Agency Presentation

Items 25 through 80 are manifested at the request of the STS-134 crewmembers.

25.	1"x2" Gold Bar	U.S. Merchant Marine Academy, Great Neck, NY

26.	6"x8.5" Printed Poem	Tucson Poetry Center, Tucson, AZ

27.	6.5"x10" Comic Book Cover	Archie Comics, Rye, NY

28.	355th Fighter Wing Medallion	Davis Monthan Air Force Base, Tucson, AZ

29.	11"x16" Red and White Pennant	Fort Huachuca, Sierra Vista, AZ

30.	9" Wooden Ball	Mary Rose Museum, Portsmouth, UK

31.	Red Astros Jersey	Houston Astros, Houston, TX

32.	5"x7" Photograph	Clear Creek Intermediate School Math Dept., League City, TX

33.	Black T-Shirt	Clear Creek Intermediate School, League City, TX

34.	3'x5' White and Green Flag	Clear Falls High School, League City, TX

35.	1.75'x1.2' White School Banner	Bayside Intermediate School, League City, TX

36.	White T-Shirt	Mossman Elementary School, League City, TX

37.	Black Tote Bag	Hagerty Insurance, Traverse City, MI

38.	Gen. Henry "Hap" Arnold USAF 5-Star Insignia	National Museum of the United States Air Force, Wright-Patterson AFB, OH

39.	Small White Patch	Mayor's Office, L'Aquila, Italy

40.	46th Aircraft Maintenance X Squadron Medallion	Eglin AFB, FL

41.	Pink and Black Keychain	L.A. Marine, Lake Ann, MI

42.	Gold American Contract Bridge League Pin	ACBL, Horn Lake, MS

43.	Book Cover	Microstrategy, Inc., Vienna, VA

44.	1.5'x5' White Banner	Erie Planetarium, Erie, PA

45.	3'x4' Green, White and Red Flag with Patches	Planetario, Citta de Lecco, Italy

46.	3'x5' U.S. Flag	Department of Defense Payloads Office, Houston, TX

47.	3.3'x2.3' Blue Flag	West Virginia University, Morgantown, WV

48.	Gray T-shirt	Junior Dynamos Academy, Houston, TX

49.	17.5"x18" Red Banner	University of Southern California Alumni, Houston, TX

50.	11"x18" Red Towel	Sewickley Academy, Pittsburgh, PA

51.	Red and Black Hat	Chandra-Tora Associates, New Delhi, India

52.	Gold Pocket Watch	Ingalls Images Photography, Washington, DC

53.	Silver International Space Station Pin	Clear Lake Piano, Houston, TX

54.	5.5"x9" White Pennant	Regione Toscana, Toscana, Italy

55.	9"x13" White Pennant	Security Institute Falcon, Rome Italy

56.	11"x9" Red Banner	Citta di Perugia, Perugia, Italy

57.	7"x11" White Pennant	Lions Club Sansepolcro, Italy

58.	3'x5' Flag	Centro Internazionale per la Pace, Popoli de Assisi, Italy

59.	3'x5' Flag of Italy	President's Office, Rome Italy

60.	6.5"x10" Flag of Italy	Italian Space Agency, Rome, Italy

61.	4"x2" Tan Stone	L'Aquila City, Italy

62.	10" Metal Disk	National Institute of Nuclear Physics, Rome, Italy

63.	2.5'x6.5' Banner	Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN

64.	3'x5' Purple, Yellow and Red Flag	Sigma Phi Epsilon Foundation, Richmond, VA

65.	3'x6' Red Flag	Province of Ontario, Canada

66.	4.5"x4.5" White Tile	McGill University, Montreal Canada

67.	6" Black Stuffed Animal	Moravska Ustredna, Brno, Czech Republic

68.	Tan Hat	Earth & Atmospheric Sciences Department, Purdue University

69.	Green and White School Letter "O"	Lake Orion High School, Lake Orion, MI

70.	12"x7.5" U.S. Flag	ABCK's Enterprises, Webster, TX

71.	3'x5' Yellow, White and Blue Flag	Office of the Mayor, San Jose, CA

72.	3'x2' Blue Banner	Silvercrest Elementary, Pearland, TX

73.	1.5'x1.5' Chess Board Mat	United States Chess Federation, Crossville, TN

74.	11"x14.5" Embroidered Placemat	Fairmount Bagels, Montreal, Canada

75.	13"x19" Printed Letter	Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Boston, MA

76.	Small Blue Scrubs	Baylor Department of Pediatrics, Houston, TX

77.	Blue Patch	University of Sydney, Australia

78.	Patch	Boy Scouts Santa Clara County Council, CA

79.	Silver STS-134 Medallion	Texas A&M University, College Station, TX

80.	Silver STS-134 Medallion	California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo, CA

81.	56 Assorted Constellation Patches	Agency Presentation

82.	25 NASA Tournament Lab Decals	Agency Presentation

83.	50 STS-134 Crew Patches	Space Shuttle Program Presentation

STS-134 Addendum OFK

1.	2718 Space Shuttle Program (SSP) Commemorative End of Mission Pins	SSP Presentation

2.	1 Roll of Foil	SSP Presentation

3.	3744 Small (4"x6") United States Flags	JSC Presentation

4.	450 STORRM Mission Patches	SSP Presentation

5.	815 Sheets of Wings in Orbit Bookmarks	SSP Presentation

6.	3000 Sheets SSP Legacy Bookmarks	SSP Presentation

7.	2000 Small (4"x6") Orbiter Flags	KSC Presentation

8.	25 NASA Human Research Program Patches	Space Life Sciences Presentation

9.	312 NASA/HRP Team Pins	Space Life Sciences Presentation

10.	1400 Space Life Sciences Lapel Pins	Space Life Sciences Presentation

11.	400 STS-134 SSP Bookmarks	SSP Presentation

12.	600 AMS Patches	International Space Station Presentation

13.	100 AMS Pins	ISS Presentation

14.	1 JAXA Memorial Wood Printing Block	ISS Presentation

15.	50 MERLIN U.S. Flags	ISS Presentation

16.	100 POIC Decals	ISS Presentation

17.	25 GLACIER Patches	ISS Presentation

18.	50 GLACIER Decals	ISS Presentation

19.	3 Cubelab-Kentucky Flag Patches	ISS Presentation

20.	12 Cubelab-NANORACKS Card	ISS Presentation

21.	100 BCAT-6 Patches	ISS Presentation

22.	15 CardioVascular Patches	ISS Presentation

23.	29 CardioVascular Decals	ISS Presentation

24.	3 Full Size (3'x5') United States Flags	Agency Presentation

25.	150 ULF6 Mission Pins	ISS Presentation

26.	100 STP-H3 Patches	ISS Presentation

27.	200 Shuttle Commemorative End of Mission Patches	SSP Presentation

28.	60 NASA Medallions	Agency Presentation

29.	25 CSA Patches	ISS Presentation

30.	50 CSA Decals	ISS Presentation

31.	10 University of Guelph Medallion Magnets (CSA)	ISS Presentation

32.	20 University of Guelph Patches (CSA)	ISS Presentation

33.	200 Robonaut Patches	ISS Presentation

34.	50 BXF Investigation Patches	ISS Presentation

35.	103 Boy Scout Robotic Merit Badges	Agency Presentation

36.	142 Sheets SSP Bookmarks	SSP Presentation

37.	1 Full Size (3'x5') LSU Flag	Stennis Space Center Presentation

38.	247 Shuttle Commemorative End of Mission Pins	SSP Presentation

39.	150 ULF6 Mission Patches	ISS Presentation

40.	101 EVA Patches	ISS Presentation

41.	100 MISSE Decals	ISS Presentation

42.	60 ULF5 MIssion Pins	ISS Presentation

43.	40 ASI Logos	ISS Presentation

44.	40 ASI Italian Flags	ISS Presentation

45.	15 ASI Small Logo Flags	ISS Presentation

46.	25 ASI Small Italian Flags	ISS Presentation

47.	30 IVGEN Patches	ISS Presentation

48.	30 Harness Station SDTO Patches	ISS Presentation

49.	1 String of Beads	Marshall Space Flight Center Presentation

50.	1 Robonaut Hand/Arm with TMG Glove	Agency Presentation

51.	1 ESA Achievement Award	ISS Presentation