Before the space shuttle is officially retired, NASA is holding an internal contest to select the final space shuttle patch, according to Wired.
Eight-five of the team who work on the shuttle designed patches, according to the report. The finalists have been narrowed down to 15 and voting has begun on the final patch. The winner will be revealed later this year.
The patches for each mission continued a tradition begun by the space agency with the rocket-based program.
Robert Pearlman, space historian and memorabilia enthusiast, said the agency originally planned to have one patch that would be used for all space shuttle missions. Because of the ease of reusing the shuttle, NASA higher-ups decided that only one patch would be needed. However, NASA employees and mission crew objected, bringing the debate to the public and leading to the creation of a separate patch for each mission.
The first patch, for STS-1, was designed by Robert McCall, a well-known space artist, Pearlman said. Subsequent works have come together in a variety of ways. Some have been drawn by the astronauts themselves, others by hangers-on or friends. Together, they form an odd pictographic record of a program that has been at the center of the world’s premiere space agency for more than 30 years.
If you’d like to see a gallery of the nominees, you can HERE.
And if you’d like to see a gallery of the previous patches, you can see them HERE.
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