posted 03-14-2004 10:07 PM               

This diagram and text are taken from an illustration of Vitruvius' theory by Leonardo da Vinci.

Vitruvius, the architect, says in his work on architecture that the measurements of the human body are as follows that is that 4 fingers make 1 palm, and 4 palms make 1 foot, 6 palms make 1 cubit; 4 cubits make a man's height. And 4 cubits make one pace and 24 palms make a man.

The length of a man's outspread arms is equal to his height.

From the roots of his hair to the bottom of his chin is the tenth of a man's height; from the bottom of the chin to the top of the head is one eighth of his height; from the top of the breast to the roots of the hair will be the seventh part of the whole man. From the nipples to the top of the head will be the fourth part of man. The greatest width of the shoulders contains in itself the fourth part of man. From the elbow to the tip of the hand will be the fifth part of a man; and from the elbow to the angle of the armpit will be the eighth part of man. The whole hand will be the tenth part of the man. The distance from the bottom of the chin to the nose and from the roots of the hair to the eyebrows is, in each case the same, and like the ear, a third of the face.

posted 03-14-2004 10:19 PM               

Hamilton Sundstrand, the manufacturer of the Shuttle EVA (extravehicular activity, known colloquially as a "space walk") suits, designed this patch to be affixed to all of its space suits — since company logos are verboten on NASA equipment. This patch is also based on the da Vinci "Vitruvian Man" theme, but is updated for the space age: the central human figure is an astronaut suited for EVA. While this is a bit of a liberty with a classic image, it does address two modern concerns: the spacesuited figure is androgynous to reflect that female astronauts perform EVAs as well as male astronauts; and it presumably cushions delicate sensibilities from abuse.

posted 05-08-2004 06:00 AM            

NASA astronauts all have a blue and gold patch on the right shoulder of their Extravehicular Mobility Units (EMU), or spacesuits, when they venture outside the space shuttle on extravehicular activities (EVAs), or spacewalks.

The theme of the patch is "Extending the Dimensions of Man." It is derived from the Leonardo da Vinci sketch entitled "The Dimensions of Man" and is meant to be an extension of the dimensional, medical and scientific aspects of the original work.

It is fitting that the theme of the patch is associated with the original da Vinci work since the evolution of the space shuttle EMU from its Gemini, Apollo and Skylab origins represents the closest achievement of the ultimate EMU design goal — that of providing EVA mobility limited not by hardware but by man's natural range.

The three stars on the patch represent three historic milestones in extravehicular activity: America's first EVA by Ed White on Gemini IV; man's first steps on the lunar surface, made possible by the Apollo space suit worn by Neil Armstrong and the space walks of Pete Conrad and Joe Kerwin to repair, and eventually save, Skylab.

The Space Shuttle EVA patch was conceived and designed by Fred Keune, manager of Hamilton Standard's Houston office at the start of the space shuttle program, and Walter J. Wick, M.D., Hamilton Standard's medical director.

The Shuttle EMU suits first flew on STS-5, but on that flight there were some problems with the suits, so the spacewalk was cancelled. On the next flight, STS-6 the first EVA from the Space Shuttle took place, and on that flight the EVA patch first "flew" in space.

posted 04-08-2005 10:12 AM               

The three stars on the patch represent three historic milestones in extravehicular activity: America's first EVA by Ed White on Gemini IV; man's first steps on the lunar surface, made possible by the Apollo space suit worn by Neil Armstrong and the space walks of Pete Conrad and Joe Kerwin to repair, and eventually save, Skylab.

posted 08-03-2005 01:01 PM               

The five stars on the patch represent five historic milestones in U. S. extravehicular activity: America's first EVA by Ed White on Gemini IV; man's first steps on the lunar surface, made possible by the Apollo space suit worn by Neil Armstrong; the space walks of Pete Conrad and Joe Kerwin to repair and eventually save Skylab; the first space shuttle EVA performed on STS-6 by Story Musgrave and Don Peterson; and the first International Space Station (ISS) EVA performed by Mike Gernhardt and Jim Reilly.

posted 06-12-2013 05:31 AM               

quote:

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Originally posted by garymilgrom:
...what is the correct color for the outside of this patch?

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posted 01-08-2014 05:50 PM               

'Vitruvian Spaceman' patch on our EMU suits, worn from the water. A symbol of the art and science of the 'spacewalk'.

From NASA extravehicular activities flight controller and instructor Scott Wray (@stingwray) in response to Wheelock:

We also use the 'Vitruvian Spaceman' for the EVA Training/Flight Control group patch...

posted 01-10-2014 03:23 PM               

The three star versions with the black outline have this red filled area and the gloves do not touch the red box.