Space Newsspace history and artifacts articlesMessagesspace history discussion forumsSightingsworldwide astronaut appearancesResourcesselected space history documents
advertisements
Discovery's on-board souvenir stash (STS-114 Official Flight Kit)
— Taking a short break from their on-orbit work, the crews of STS-114 and ISS Expedition 11 held an in-flight press conference this morning, answering the questions posed to them by Japanese, Russian and U.S. reporters. As part of the event, collectSPACE queried the joint crew about the personal items they carried to space.
The following is a transcript of the question and answer:
Robert Pearlman with collectSPACE.com:Steve, you said you have your trusty lunch box on board, and Eileen you mentioned bringing your daughter's school class picture. I wonder what other types of items you brought on board to make the station and shuttle more like your home or give it your touch?
Pilot Jim "Vegas" Kelly:I think each of us brought items along with us to make it a little more like home and also to bring stuff for other family members and things like that.
I brought a few special things along with me, things that remind me my kids at home and my wife, and also I have a very good friend from who I got a flag that he flew over Iraq just to remember the troops back down there on Earth that are protecting our freedoms around the globe. So, I like to do things like that so I brought a flag with me that came from the desert.
We brings things like that. I've got a cousin that I brought a firefighting badge along with that I will return to him and his fire department when we are done.
I think all of us brought stuff from high schools, colleges, friends and family just to help us while we go through this and also to remember folks back down on Earth that are working really hard. We have a lot of stuff for folks that worked on the shuttle to get us up here and get us ready to go. Carrying things for folks back in different areas back home that worked really hard, probably a lot harder than we have to be up here. I think each one of us has done something like that to remember the folks back on Earth.
Discovery's on-board souvenir stash
July 13, 2005
— Seven hundred STS-114 crew patches.
Over 2000 state, country and agency flags.
Hundreds of decals, medallions, banners, and lapel pins.
These are just some of the more than 6,000 items that are on-board Space Shuttle Discovery for its 12-day Return To Flight mission to the International Space Station.
Referred to by NASA as the "Official Flight Kit," the stash is formally defined in the Federal Code as "a container, approximately 0.057 cubic meters (2 cubic feet) in size, reserved for carrying official mementos of NASA and other organizations aboard Space Shuttle flights."
In layman's terms, the Official Flight Kit (OFK) acts as the souvenir store for the ultimate trip away from home.
NASA, as well as its payload customers and international partners choose mementos to be flown in the OFK. The crew can also request items on behalf of the organizations that are near and dear to them.
Though the STS-114 OFK manifest, as sourced by NASA, does not specifically identify whom among the crew asked for particular items to fly, its not hard to deduce given their intended recipients.
For example, a gold medallion to be presented post-flight to the University of California, Davis Alumni Association is likely on behalf of Mission Specialist Stephen Robinson. He is a member of the UC Davis Class of '78.
Less obvious might be another of Robinson's choices: a t-shirt belonging to Gryphon Stringed Instruments of Palo Alto. Besides Gryphon's location -- Robinson is the only Californian on the crew -- he is also an avid guitar player (which is what earned Robinson his nickname Stevie-Ray).
From rock-and-roll to just rocks; two pebbles are also in the OFK. The 3 by 1 and 2 by 2 inch stones may have been difficult to connect to a crew member if they didn't both hail from Australia. Intervehicular crew "mate" Andy Thomas was born down under and holds dual citizenship.
The rocks, which are labeled simply with their size, are flying for Curtin and Macquarrie universities.
Like Thomas, Soichi Noguchi can be traced back to his choices by their relation to his home nation. The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency astronaut has at least 10 items in the OFK that will travel home with him when he returns to Earth. Specifically among them are an acorn and a small bag of Japanese Cedar Tree seeds, carried for the local government of his birthplace.
Not all the OFK contents need be so unique. Mission Specialist Charles Camarda selected banners from each of his alma matters. Likewise, Commander Eileen Collins has a silver plaque and patch for the Air Force Academy and Test Center where she served.
Other OFK items are harder to assign to a specific crew member without more information. For example, a flag will be flown on behalf of The Mars Society, a non-profit that promotes exploration of the Red Planet. A jersey will be carried for the San Francisco Giants baseball team. And a polo shirt in on-board for Ron Jon's Surf Shop, the famous beachware store located on the Florida coast.
Besides the crew's items, NASA centers and contractors are accounting for the bulk of the OFK's contents, flying all those patches, pins, decals and flags. After STS-114 lands, NASA will distribute the items flown for others and present its own mementos as employee and VIP awards.
The OFK is not a new concept. Apollo astronauts carried similar packages to the Moon. Every Space Shuttle flight since 1981 has had one aboard. Discovery's most recent prior mission, STS-105 flew 15,000 mementos in its OFK. A single STS-107 patch, believed by some to come from its Kit, was found among Columbia's debris.
The STS-114 astronauts are not permitted to keep any of the items in their Official Flight Kit. Their own souvenirs, and those for their family and friends, are stowed in their Personal Preference Kits (PPKs), the contents of which are not released until a post-flight inventory is completed.
Mementos such as small U.S. flags, embroidered patches and lapel pins will fly on board Discovery as the Official Flight Kit. (cS)
The STS-114 and International Space Station crews gather in the station's Destiny Lab for a joint news conference Tuesday. (NASA)
The STS-114 Official Flight Kit Manifest
The following is the STS-114 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.
600 STS-114 Crew Patches
Agency Presentation
2.
600 Small United States Flags
Agency Presentation
3.
3 Sets U.S. States & Territories Flags
Agency Presentation
4.
3 Sets United Nations Members Flags
Agency Presentation
5.
100 Small Texas Flags
100 Small NASA Flags
5 NASA Lapel Pins
5 NASA Patches
2 Gold Space Station Lapel Pins
5 Texas Lapel Pins
5 U.S.~Japan Friendship Pins
5 U.S.~Italy Friendship Pins
4 Large JSC Medallions
20 Small JSC Medallions
Agency Presentation
6.
Small Flags of the Following States:
20 New York
10 Iowa
10 Colorado
10 Virginia
10 California
10 Florida
10 Texas
Agency Presentation
7.
Small Flags of the Following Countries and Province:
100 Japan
20 Italy
20 Australia
20 South Australia
10 Canada
10 British Columbia
Agency Presentation
8.
Small Military Flags:
20 U.S. Air Force
10 U.S. Navy
10 U.S. Marine Corps
10 U.S. Army
10 U.S. Coast Guard
Agency Presentation
9.
10 Small United States Flags
10 Small Alabama State Flags
Marshall Space Flight Center Presentation
10.
2 Small United States Flags
10 Brass KSC Etchings
Kennedy Space Center Presentation
11.
10 Small Louisiana State Flags
10 Small Mississippi State Flags
5 Small NASA Flags
5 Small United States Flags
Stennis Space Center Presentation
12.
15 SR&QA Patches
Johnson Space Center Presentation
13.
150 Silver Snoopy Pins
300 Small Discovery Flags
200 Small ISS Flags
100 Small U.S. Flags
2 Metal Ingots
Space Flight Awareness Presentation
14.
10 STS-114 Crew Patches
35 Small United States Flags
10 Payload Patches (MISSE-5)
10 DoD Space Test Program Patches
1 Florida Air National Guard Coin
USAF/DoD Presentation
15.
25 CenterOps Embroidered Patches
Johnson Space Center Presentation
16.
50 EVA Embroidered Patches
Johnson Space Center Presentation
17.
Small Replica Wright Flyer
Agency Presentation
18.
25 Mission Operations Patches
Agency Presentation
19.
Baseball Jersey
Ball Cap
Baseball
Agency Presentation
20.
"Challenge" Coin (Medallion)
Agency Presentation
22.
School Banner
Agency Presentation
23.
100 Small Wood Plank Pieces
Agency Presentation
Items 24 through 100 are manifested at the request of the STS-114 crewmembers.
24.
Class Patch
Air Force Ram Class of 2003, Brooks AFB, TX
25.
Museum Patch
National Soaring Museum, Elmira, NY
26.
Troop Medallion
Boy Scout Troop 28, Orlando, FL
27.
Society Flag
The Mars Society, Indian Hills, CA
28.
University Mouse Pad
South Miami Senior High, Miami, FL
29.
Patch
Order of the Arrow, BSA, Tipisa Lodge, FL
30.
Flag (3'x5')
Make A Wish Japan, Tokyo, Japan
31.
"Women in Aviation" Compact Disk
Aviation Archives, Santa Clara, CA
32.
Flag (3'x5')
Japan Association of Athletes, Tokyo, Japan
33.
Flag (3'x5")
Texas A&M University, Galveston, TX
34.
Laboratory Flag (5"x7")
Neutral Buoyancy Lab, Houston, TX
35.
Banner (3'x5')
Discovery School, Colorado Springs, CO
36.
Silver Plaque (4"x6")
Air Force Academy, Colorado Springs, CO
37.
Silver STS-114 Medallion
University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa, AL
38.
Squadron Patch
Air Force Flight Test Center, Edwards, CA
39.
Flag (3'x5')
Space Command, Peterson AFB, CO
40.
Shield (3'x5')
Phoenix Fire Department, Phoenix, AZ
41.
Squadron Patch
11 Fighter Squadron, Houston, TX
42.
Swim Cap
Clear Brook High School, Houston, TX
43.
Flag (3'x5')
Westbrook Intermediate, Houston, TX
44.
Small Bag of Japanese Cedar Tree Seeds
Kanagawa Prefecture, Yokohama, Japan
45.
Acorn
Yokohama City, Japan
46.
Digital Video Disk
Chigasaki City, Yokohama, Japan
47.
Flag (3'x5')
Chigasaki High School, Yokohama, Japan
48.
Compact Disk
Ikaruga Elementary School, Hyogo, Japan
49.
Flag (3'x5')
Scout Association of Japan, Tokyo, Japan
50.
Flag (3'x5')
Ishikawajima-Harima Heavy Ind., Japan
51.
Flag (5'x7')
University of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan
52.
Flag (3'x5')
2005 World Expo, Aichi, Japan
53.
Manuscript Paper (12"x15")
Iwate Prefecture, Iwate, Japan
54.
Museum Lapel Pin
Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, Cleveland, OH
55.
Baseball Cap
New York City Police Dept., NYC, NY
56.
Gold Medallion
University of California Alumni, Davis, CA
57.
Air Force Test Squadron Sweatshirt
Canadian Air Force, Vancouver, Canada
58.
Sheriff's Badge
Sacramento Sheriff's Department, CA
59.
Pennant
Stanford University, Stanford, CA
60.
T-Shirt
Gryphon Stringed Instruments, Palo Alto, CA
61.
Flag Lapel Pin
Japanese Space Agency, Tokyo, Japan
62.
T-38 Patch
Aircraft Ops, JSC, Houston, TX
63.
Flag (3'x5')
Experimental Aircraft Assoc., Oshkosh, WI
64.
Rock (3"x1")
Curtin University, Western Australia
65.
Star Chart
Scitech, West Australia
66.
Banner
Institute of Engineers, Australia
67.
Rock (2"x2"x4")
ACA, Macquarrie University, Australia
68.
Flag (2'x4')
RAAF Edinburgh AFB, Adelaide, South Australia
69.
Badge
South Australia Police Dept., South Australia
70.
Flag
Tandanya Aboriginal Center, South Australia
71.
Badge
Adelaide City Council, South Australia
72.
South Australia Map
Office of Premier, South Australia
73.
Cloth Wings
Australian Government, Canberra, Australia
74.
Command Flag (3'x5')
Naval Network and Space Ops, Dahlgren, VA
75.
Air Force ROTC Detachment 157 Patch
Embry Riddle Aeronautics Univ., Daytona Beach, FL
76.
Medallion
Office of Space Launch, NRO, Chantilly, VA
77.
Medal
Lane County ESD, Eugene, OR
78.
Hovercraft Patch
Crow High School, Eugene, OR
79.
Patch
NAS Whiting Field, Milton, FL
80.
Patch
NAS Whiting Field Starbase Atlantis, Milton, FL
81.
Unit Patch
Strategic Communications, Tinkler AFB, OK
82.
Patch
Air Force Space Command, Patrick AFB, FL
83.
Banner
Virginia Polytechnic Inst., Blacksburg, VA
84.
Banner
Polytechnic Inst. of New York, Troy, NY
85.
Banner
George Washington Univ., Washington, DC
86.
Banner
Archbishop Molloy High School, Queens, NY
87.
Banner
California Inst. of Technology, Pasadena, CA
88.
Banner
C-CAT, Houston, TX
89.
Jersey
San Francisco Giants, San Francisco, CA
90.
Polo Shirt
Ron Jon Surf Shop, Cocoa Beach, FL
91.
Banner
Southern Research Inst., Birmingham, AL
92.
Banner
Georgia Tech University, Atlanta, GA
93.
Gold Astronaut Pin
Agency Presentation
94.
Gold Astronaut Pin
Agency Presentation
95.
Gold Astronaut Pin
Agency Presentation
96.
Silver Air Force Wings
Agency Presentation
97.
Silver Air Force Wings
Agency Presentation
98.
Gold Astronaut Pin
Agency Presentation
Items 101 through 110 are manifested at the request of the STS-114 payload customers.