posted 09-03-2014 11:43 AM               

Soyuz TMA-16M mission patch

Soyuz TMA-16M will launch for the International Space Station with Roscosmos cosmonauts Gennady Padalka and Mikhail Korniyenko and NASA astronaut Scott Kelly in March 2015 to join the Expedition 44 crew. Kelly and Korniyenko will remain on the space station for the outpost's first yearlong mission.

The patch, designed by Luc van den Abeelen, shows the Soyuz TMA-16M spacecraft coming in for docking with the space station.

In the background, the outline of a stopwatch is visible, which, when combined with the three running figures, depicts the "marathon" theme of this crew, as two of its members aim for a record stay of twelve months and Soyuz commander Padalka will break the record for cumulative days in space.

Three stars for the crew members, their names, the spacecraft identification and the Roscosmos logo complete the background of the stopwatch, while the Russian and American national colors form the outer border of the design.

posted 09-04-2014 05:23 AM            

But what is very important is that you, guys, pushed Russian board commanders to work on their own designs! Very good designs based on their vision of their flights.