STS-101 Original NASA Space Shuttle Patch

STS-101 Embroidered Patch

This patch, I believe, was manufactured by AB Emblem. It has exactly the same look, texture and thread colours as the AB Emblem version that followed for the actual STS-101 flight.

I did obtain a couple of them some years ago and they have remained packed away with a host of others until recently. I posted a photo on collectspace and it was confirmed that the astronauts/cosmonauts were a potential crew. Compare with the flown crew patch below.

Although only designed to fly autonomously for six to eight months, Zarya was required to do so for almost two years due to delays to the Russian Service Module, Zvezda. Zvezda was finally launched on July 12 2000, docking with Zarya on July 26 using the Russian Kurs docking system.

This initial patch depicts the 2 modules docked on orbit. It differs from the STS-101 patch because of this as well as the crew configuration and mission designation.

Launch Date: May 19, 2000 6:11 a.m. EDT Launch Vehicle: Atlantis Crew: Mission Commander : James D. Halsell, Jr. Pilot : Scott J Horowitz Mission Specialists : Susan J. Helms, Mary Ellen Weber, Jeffrey N. Williams, Yuri Vladimirovich Usachev, James S. Voss

Don't delay we only have a couple - when they're gone they're gone!