posted 01-17-2024 06:07 AM               

The revised 13 states patch is now 5" in diameter and has the patch design number 461356, it is made in China. The date code is not confirmed at this time.

posted 02-23-2024 04:34 PM               

The hardest part of creating a patch is waiting for it to be available. These designs were completed last fall now finally everyone can enjoy them too.

Since 2012 when the space shuttle orbiters were delivered to museums for display, the public has enjoyed seeing these amazing one of a kind vehicles up close. Each museum has presented their orbiter differently highlighting its history and contribution to the shuttle program. Consistent posts on social media share the reaction to the reveal of the exhibit proving the shuttle continues to inspire.

I hope that everyone who has seen these exhibits will want to celebrate that experience with a patch.

A-B Emblem:
Full Set | Atlantis | Challenger | Columbia | Discovery | Endeavour | Enterprise

posted 02-23-2024 07:12 PM               

In this effort I learned that the font style of Enterprise and the starship representing the letter P could be problematic. Even though my intention was to celebrate the effort to name Enterprise after the TV Show starship.

In this new patch I created a more realistic Liberty Island and skyline. I include the name of the museum and a more accurate representation of the mission stars. The stars along the bottom border represent the parts of the Approach and Landing Test Program.

• Three Taxi Tests atop the 747
  
• Eight Captive Inert (Enterprise uncrewed)/Captive Active (Enterprise crewed) Test Flights
  
• Five Free Flights

posted 03-08-2024 09:04 AM               

In December 2023, with Rubio having returned to Earth after his one year mission, his fellow crewmates discovered the bag, which due to the 17% humidity aboard the ISS were in surprisingly good condition.

"Despite being nearly a year after the initial disappearance of the tomatoes, the fruit was found in a plastic bag dehydrated and slightly squished," NASA officials wrote in an update Thursday (Dec. 14), without disclosing the exact find location. "Other than some discoloration, it had no visible microbial or fungal growth."

The find was a light-hearted moment in a serious endeavor that called for a special patch. In it I depict Rubio wearing a "Turtle" polo shirt (a nod to his astronaut class nickname), distracted as the two tomatoes float away behind him.

The title "Lost Tomatoes From Outer Space" is inspired by the cheesy horror movie titles of my youth.

Available from AB Emblem:

posted 07-01-2024 12:05 AM               

quote:

---

Originally posted by KSCartist:
I am pleased to announce the new KSCartist - Tim Gagnon website has launched.

---

I have to thank Logan for doing the heavy lifting on the site formatting and coding hundreds of emblems and their stories for display.

Since last fall Logan and I have been doing a deep dive into my archives for work that hadn't been yet exhibited. During this time I was simultaneously creating new work.

Today I am thrilled to share that we have curated and added nearly 175 additional emblems for your review and enjoyment.

As impressive as this is, we aren't finished yet. When clients publish emblems, I've created this year, we will publish them.

Next on the horizon is to curate the stories of paintings and drawings I've done.

posted 07-13-2024 10:24 AM               

This is the final, permanent version of a patch to commemorate international cooperation in space. The title is meant to convey that working together in space can lead to peaceful cooperation on Earth. I am delighted that AB Emblem as agreed to offer this patch for sale.

Starting at the bottom with Apollo-Soyuz in 1975, the United States and the Soviet Union demonstrated that former adversaries could cooperate in space.

The Shuttle-Mir missions in the 1990's expanded on that cooperation with nine U.S. astronauts taking residence aboard the Russian "MIR" space station and the U.S. Space Shuttle demonstrating the capability to deliver crew and cargo.

The success of Shuttle/Mir paved the way to build the International Space Station which has been permanently crewed since November of 2000.

The olive branches represent peaceful exploration of space and the borders of each illustration are inspired by those program patches. The text is in both Latin and English though I have simplified the translation "Ex Astrum" to "From Space."

posted 07-13-2024 10:26 AM               

The pentagon shape of the patch represents this as a Department of Defense program executed by the Air Force, hence the Air Force insignia at the top and patriotic color theme.

The central motif shows the Manned Orbiting Laboratory (MOL) in orbit to spy on our adversaries. An American Bald Eagle is keeping watch over the MOL in flight. In addition, Air Force and Navy wings represent the branches of the U.S. Armed Forces in which the men served.

Encircling the central motif are three groups of stars on a blue border, representing the 17 astronauts selected for the MOL program. The names outside the border are the astronauts of NASA Group 7 and are represented by gold stars.

Their names are listed in chronological order of their first flight.

posted 07-23-2024 08:06 AM               

• Ex Astrum Intelligendo 466910 Made In China 07/2440
  
• MOL commemorative 467427 Made In China 07/2440

posted 08-25-2024 04:03 AM               

There are already five in the queue waiting for the clients to unveil them this year which will take us to an even 500.
There are also another eleven in progress that should be completed before the end of the year.

If you add up the totals in each of the 29 galleries they already add up to over 600. This is because many emblems can fit into multiple categories and Logan and I know some visitors may seek out certain galleries to view.

I would be remiss if I didn’t also thank Jorge Cartes R, and collaborators Nathan Moeller, Bill Coukoulis Jr. and Andrew Nyberg for their help. The best part of creating these are the memories of the people involved.

In the coming months we’ll be sharing fine art and Astro-stories.

posted 08-25-2024 04:30 AM               

There are already five in the queue waiting for the clients to unveil them this year which will take us to an even 500.

There are also another 11 in progress that should be completed before the end of the year.

If you add up the totals in each of the 29 galleries they already add up to over 600. This is because many emblems can fit into multiple categories and Logan and I know some visitors may seek out certain galleries to view.

I would be remiss if I didn’t also thank Jorge Cartes R, and collaborators Nathan Moeller, Bill Coukoulis Jr. and Andrew Nyberg for their help. The best part of creating these are the memories of the people involved.

In the coming months we’ll be sharing fine art and Astro-stories.

posted 08-26-2024 06:04 PM               

NASA's interstellar explorer Voyager 1 is finally communicating with ground control in an understandable way again. On Saturday April 20, 2024 Voyager 1 updated ground control about its health status for the first time in 5 months. While the spacecraft still isn't sending valid science data back to Earth, it is now returning usable information about the health and operating status of its onboard engineering systems.

Voyager launched twin probes on a "grand tour" of the solar system's giant planets in 1977. The two spacecraft made many discoveries in our cosmic backyard — finding intense volcanism on the Jupiter moon Io and 10 new moons of Uranus, for example — and then kept on flying, into exciting and unexplored realms.

In 2012, Voyager 1 popped free of the heliosphere, the huge bubble of charged particles and magnetic fields that the sun blows around itself, becoming the first human-made object ever to reach interstellar space. Voyager 2, which took a different path and is moving slightly more slowly than its partner, followed suit in late 2018.

This amazing program deserved to be commemorated into a patch. I depict the spacecraft approaching the Andromeda Galaxy representing interstellar space. In the patch name I depict the "gold record" attached to the spacecraft. The Voyager Golden Records are two identical "phonograph records" which were included aboard the two spacecraft launched in 1977. The records contain sounds and images selected to portray the diversity of life and culture on Earth, and are intended for any intelligent life form who may find them. The records are a time capsule

posted 08-26-2024 06:12 PM               

This one is near and dear to my heart.

In June 1973 I wrote my first letter to a crew asking if I might design their patch. It was to General Tom Stafford the U.S. CDR of the Apollo-Soyuz Test Project. General Stafford responded in a letter dated June 20th. He thanked me for my interest but that the patch had to be a decision by both crews and that the Soviet Commander was an accomplished artist.

Almost immediately after sending my initial request I decided that if they were going to consider me, I should have sent some art. My second letter crossed with his first and on June 27th, I received his second reply. General Stafford was always kind and graciously encouraged me.

Needless to say I didn't get the assignment but over the years I maintained contact with the General and gifted him with some of my commemoratives. He put them on display in his museum.

In the summer of 2022, General Stafford and I collaborated on a special ASTP 50th patch for his museum. The plan was for his museum to offer them for sale to their guests. It remains to be seen if the museum will follow up on this now that General Stafford has passed. That art remains in my files.

But it was this effort that led me to update the original art I sent him in 1973 and make this a 50th Anniversary "Spirit Commemorative." You'll notice that the overall design is the same with obvious improvements to the art work. The two hands are dressed in their on orbit uniforms. General Stafford shared an image of them in his museum. The two spacecraft are depicted about to dock.

posted 11-15-2024 07:26 AM               

Dionne asked me if there were real patches available because she wanted to gift them to the other ASTP “kids.” But they were never made. So I volunteered to make her wish come true. I included details General Stafford provided when we collaborated on the ASTP Spirit patch.

For example the spacecraft docked over Germany.

This week Dionne shared the result.

Oh and before anyone asks, this was a private limited edition and they won't be available for sale. Sorry.