posted 06-05-2009 12:44 PM               

STS-129 mission patch

STS-129 will focus on staging spare components outside the station. The 15-day, three spacewalk flight will install two large ExPRESS Logistics Carriers (ELC) holding two gyroscopes, two nitrogen tank assemblies, two pump modules, an ammonia tank assembly, a spare latching end effector for the station's robotic arm, a spare trailing umbilical system for the Mobile Transporter and high-pressure tank.

Charlie "Scorch" Hobaugh will command the mission, which is scheduled to launch on the penultimate flight of Atlantis in November 2009. Barry "Butch" Wilmore will serve as pilot. The STS-129 mission specialists are Robert "Bobby" Satcher, Michael Foreman, Randy Bresnik and Leland Melvin. The flight will also return Nicole Stott from the space station.

STS-129 Mission Patch

The sun shines brightly on the International Space Station above and the United States below representing the bright future of U.S. human spaceflight.

The contiguous U.S., Rocky Mountains, and desert Southwest are clearly visible on the earth below encompassing all the NASA centers and the homes of the many dedicated people that work to make the space program possible.

The patch's integrated shapes follow the outline of the two ExPRESS Logistics Carriers to be delivered by STS-129 providing equipment ensuring the longevity of the ISS.

The space shuttle is silhouetted by the sun highlighting how brightly the orbiters have performed as a workhorse for the program over the past three decades.

The shuttle ascends on the astronaut symbol represented by the red, white and blue swoosh bounded by the gold halo.

The names of the crew members are denoted on the outer band of the patch.

As STS-129 launches, the shuttle is in its twilight years, juxtaposed by the 12 13 stars on the patch, symbolic of the crew's children who are the future.

The Moon and Mars represent how close humankind is to reaching further exploration of those destinations and how the shuttle and ISS missions are laying the ground work for those future endeavors.

posted 06-05-2009 06:49 PM               

The STS-129 crew is all male, except for the ride home for Nicole Stott; the patch has a O---> (Male/Mars) look about it. Was that just a mere coincidence? Was it intentional?

posted 06-06-2009 10:21 AM               

One thing you may not know is that every crew prepares custom jewelry of their patch as a gift to their spouses. For every star in a patch there is a diamond in the jewelry.

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Originally posted by embangloy:
the patch has a O---> (Male/Mars) look about it. Was that just a mere coincidence? Was it intentional?

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Originally posted by pargoo:
Two different versions of a US patch now?

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Yes, the crew could have chosen to have their "Sun" embroidered as was done with STS-98 - but in fact while Jorge created that gradient Sun, I (thinking of the embroidered version) submitted the design with a Sun as you see on the right above. The crew liked both and saw no reason why they couldn't have both. One for print media and one to be embroidered. While you compared it to STS-98 - I was thinking along the lines of ASTP. An homage to Robert McCall who gave me generous and excellent advice 27 years ago.

All and all a project we enjoyed very much.

posted 06-07-2009 10:14 AM               

Thank you Komrade, thank you Tim.

posted 06-11-2009 09:42 AM            

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Originally posted by KAPTEC:
A mistake of Houston's drawing guys...

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posted 06-11-2009 10:14 AM               

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Originally posted by Moonbase Alphan:
Odd that it no longer says "crew's children" though.

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posted 06-11-2009 10:23 AM            

This is the insignia for the STS-129 crew. The sun shines brightly on the International Space Station (ISS) above and the United States below, representing the bright future of U.S. human spaceflight. The contiguous U.S., Rocky Mountains and the Great Desert Southwest are clearly visible on the Earth below, encompassing all of the NASA centers and, in the words of the crewmembers, the homes of the many dedicated people who work to make our space program possible. The integrated shapes of the patch signify the two Express Logistics Carriers that will be delivered by STS-129, providing valuable equipment that will ensure the longevity of the ISS. The Space Shuttle is vividly silhouetted by the sun, highlighting how brightly the orbiters have performed as a workhorse for the U.S. Space Program over the past three decades. The Space Shuttle ascends on the astronaut symbol portrayed by the red, white and blue swoosh bounded by the gold halo. This symbol is worn with pride by this U.S. crew, whose members represent their country on STS-129. The names of the crew members are denoted on the outer band of the patch. As STS-129 launches, the Space Shuttle is in its twilight years, and this fact is juxtaposed by the 12 [sic] stars on the patch, which are symbolic of children who are the future. The moon and Mars feature predominantly to represent just how close humankind is to achieving further exploration of those heavenly bodies, and how the current Space Shuttle and ISS missions are laying the essential groundwork for those future endeavors.

posted 06-12-2009 03:53 PM               

(You know I'm the first fighting since long time ago against the double or triple versions of a patch.)

posted 07-29-2009 10:14 AM               

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Originally posted by Ken Havekotte:
In preparing our STS-129 crew cachet envelope covers, should we use the "glow" or "ray" version of the artwork?

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posted 08-16-2009 06:46 PM               

The white/gold star looks great electronically for the 3D effect, but didn't once we stiched it out. Looked at several other color options, but in the end went with the all gold, but sides stitched separately look.