[sci.space] Getting NASA patches

rkolker@netxcom.UUCP (rich kolker) (10/19/87)

Since the shuttle jumpsuits some of us ordered have gone out, I've
gotten several requests for information concerning where people can get
NASA mission and other patches for them.  Here's the information I have,
feel free to add to it.

Any major NASA facility (KSC,JSC, JPL, Headquarters, Goddard etc.) has a
gift shop.  Many of them mail order.  I know that HQ sells the real
patches (many sources sell good replicas) and that Goddard also has a
nice selection of Soviet patches.

The National Air and Space Museum, Washington, DC does mail order and
has most everything.

The Space Shop, The Space and Rocket Center, Huntsville, AL 35807
phone (800) 633-7280.  They definitely do take mail order, have most
everything going back to Gemini (everything before then was not a
real mission patch).  STS-26 patches are available.

As best I've been able to determine.  The pattern for sewing patches
onto the shutlle coverall is.
	Right shoulder - NASA "worm"
	Right chest    - Mission patch
	Left chest (under nametag) - NASA "meatball"
	Left shoulder - American flag

++rich
 +--------------------------------------------------------------------^-------+
 |  Rich Kolker                 The work goes on...                 A|W|A     |
 |  8519 White Pine Drive        The cause endures...               H|T|H     |
 |  Manassas Park, VA 22111        The hope still lives...          /|||\     |
 |  (703)361-1290 (h)           And the dream shall never die.     /_|T|_\    |
 |  (703)749-2315 (w)  (..uunet!netxcom!rkolker)                    " W "     |
 +------------------------------------------------------------------V---V-----+

jay@ncspm.UUCP (10/21/87)

In article <440@netxcom.UUCP> rkolker@netxcom.UUCP (rich kolker) writes:
>Since the shuttle jumpsuits some of us ordered have gone out, I've
>gotten several requests for information concerning where people can get
>NASA mission and other patches for them.  Here's the information I have,
>feel free to add to it.

Well, what about the official NASA patch contractor, one of NC's proud
contributions to the space program, the A-B Emblem Company.

Write to:

A-B Emblem Division
Conrad Industries, Inc.
P.O. Box 695
Weaverville, NC 28787

and ask for the space emblem price list.  They sell other patches, too.
You can even get them to do a custom job if you want sufficient
quantities.  Inquire for more details.  Their Mercury and Gemini
patches go for $1.25, Apollos for $2.25, and STS for $3.50 (these are
last year's prices).  They also have Skylab, Apollo-Soyuz, NASA, and other
interesting patches like the Roadrunner Apollo 14 patch (can anyone
explain this one?).  And if you think your ordered patch has some
faulty stitching, then just send it back and they will fall all over
themselves apologizing in the letter they send with your replacement.

The Mercury and Gemini 3 and 4 patches sold are total
fabrications.  But there was a Gemini 3 patch (totally different from
the one being sold) that was imprinted on the cover of Gus Grissom's
book GEMINI and worn by John Young on his flightsuit as late as 1981.
It wasn't worn during the actual mission, though, and I think it may
have been designed later.  A real space collectible, and I have no
idea how to get one.  The real Gemini patches were manufactured by the
previous NASA patch contractor (who was it?) and A-B Emblem claims total
ignorance of any patches other than the ones they sell.

Some inaccuracies in A-B's Gemini patches:

Gemini 5 -- "8 days or bust" was not on the patches worn
during the flight because NASA didn't want adverse publicity in case
they didn't meet the mission objectives (newspaper headline:
"Astronauts Have To Settle For Bust").  It was the original design,
though.

The Gemini 9 patch they sell is inaccurate since the names were on a
separate patch below the main patch, and not amidst the design as they
have it now. 

The Gemini 10 patch should have no names on it, and the "X" should
protrude beyond the borders of the patch.

The others are pretty close, except for some minor color variations.

BTW, does anyone know what patch John Young was wearing on the right
shoulder of his flightsuit during the months before STS-1?  I can't
find any pictures with a good view of it.  Does anyone know where I
can get a velcro Navy astronaut wings name tag?

Thanks in advance.

-------------------------------------------------------------------
Jay Smith                     uucp:     ...!mcnc!ncsuvx!ncspm!jay
Domain:	jay@ncspm.ncsu.edu    internet: jay%ncspm@ncsuvx.ncsu.edu
-- 

-------------------------------------------------------------------
Jay Smith                     uucp:     ...!mcnc!ncsuvx!ncspm!jay
Domain:	jay@ncspm.ncsu.edu    internet: jay%ncspm@ncsuvx.ncsu.edu

jtk@mordor.s1.gov (Jordan Kare) (10/22/87)

In article <458@ncspm.ncsu.edu> jay@ncspm.UUCP (Jay Smith) writes:
>
>...Does anyone know where I
>can get a velcro Navy astronaut wings name tag?
>

Join the Velcro Navy and Stick to the World!	:-)


	Jordin (Ask not for whom the velcros -- it crows for thee) Kare
	
.

rkolker@netxcom.UUCP (rich kolker) (10/22/87)

In article <458@ncspm.ncsu.edu> jay@ncspm.UUCP (Jay Smith) writes:
>interesting patches like the Roadrunner Apollo 14 patch (can anyone
>explain this one?). 

It was the patch of the backup crew for Apollo 14 (I'm not sure who that was,
but in general, the rules in those days were backup flight x, fly on
flight x+3, so it might have been Cernan Evans and Schmitt).  NASA was
(and maybe still is) big on using cartoon and comic characters for such
uses as color coding (Snoopy on Skylab) and the zero-defects program (lots
of BC and Wizard of Id posters...boy I'd love to have one).  I do have a
sticker version of a Wizard of ID Skylab patch with Rodney and the Wizard
in a wooden bucket in orbit, looking out with a spyglass.

>
>Gemini 5 -- "8 days or bust" was not on the patches worn
>during the flight because NASA didn't want adverse publicity in case
>they didn't meet the mission objectives (newspaper headline:
>"Astronauts Have To Settle For Bust").  It was the original design,
>though.
My infomation was that some white parachute nylon was sewn over
the legend during the flight, so that Cooper/Conrad could tear
it off after the mission on the patches they flew with.

++rich
 +--------------------------------------------------------------------^-------+
 |  Rich Kolker                 The work goes on...                 A|W|A     |
 |  8519 White Pine Drive        The cause endures...               H|T|H     |
 |  Manassas Park, VA 22111        The hope still lives...          /|||\     |
 |  (703)361-1290 (h)           And the dream shall never die.     /_|T|_\    |
 |  (703)749-2315 (w)  (..uunet!netxcom!rkolker)                    " W "     |
 +------------------------------------------------------------------V---V-----+

rkolker@netxcom.UUCP (rich kolker) (10/22/87)

In article <16774@mordor.s1.gov> jtk@mordor.UUCP (Jordan Kare) writes:
>In article <458@ncspm.ncsu.edu> jay@ncspm.UUCP (Jay Smith) writes:
>>
>>...Does anyone know where I
>>can get a velcro Navy astronaut wings name tag?
>>
>
>Join the Velcro Navy and Stick to the World!	:-)
>
Gee Jordin, know any good Velcro Navy sea chanteys?

+------------------------------------^----------------------------------------+
|    Rich Kolker                    / \ "A captain must be seen seen as genial
|    8519 White Pine Dr.           / * \   it is your job to see I project that.
|    Manassas Park, VA 22111      |     |    Capt. Jean-Luc Picard
|    (703)361-1290                |  ^  | (..uunet!netxcom!rkolker)
+---------------------------------v/---\v-------------------------------------+

eder@ssc-vax.UUCP (Dani Eder) (10/25/87)

A company called "Action Packets" manufactures replica mission
patches, and a bunch of other space-related stuff, which is
sold in museum and gift shops.  The local L-5 (now NSS)
chapters had a successful fundraiser a few years ago by
selling such patches at an airshow.  We got them from
Action Packets.  The wholesale price is about like so:

95 cents each for 3 inch mission patches,
$1.89 each for 4 inch mission patches,
space shuttle program patch, 3 inch size $0.89
NASA 'worm' , red on white $0.85.

No minimum order, but minimum quantities of 5 patches of a type,
typically.  This is not a problem, since their price for 5
is about what you pay for one at a museum shop.  Buy 5, and
sell or give away the rest to promote space.

Their address:
344 Cypress Road,
Ocala, FL 32672
Tel: 1-800-874-9853 (in Florida: 1-800-342-0150)

Dani Eder/Advanced Space Transportation/Boeing

jtk@mordor.s1.gov (Jordan Kare) (10/27/87)

In <458@netxcom.UUCP> rkolker@netxcom.UUCP (rich kolker) writes:
>In <16774@mordor.s1.gov> jtk@mordor.UUCP (Jordin Kare) writes:
>>In <458@ncspm.ncsu.edu> jay@ncspm.UUCP (Jay Smith) writes:
>>>
>>>...Does anyone know where I
>>>can get a velcro Navy astronaut wings name tag?
>>
>>Join the Velcro Navy and Stick to the World!	:-)
>>
>Gee Jordin, know any good Velcro Navy sea chanteys?

No, sorry.  All the sea chanteys I know date from the
era of sail -- the grand old days of the Yankee Zippers ....

   Jordin (the shortest distance between two puns is a straight line) Kare










.
.
.

roy@phri.UUCP (Roy Smith) (10/27/87)

In article <17052@mordor.s1.gov> jtk@mordor.UUCP (Jordin Kare) writes:
-> In <458@netxcom.UUCP> rkolker@netxcom.UUCP (rich kolker) writes:
-> >In <16774@mordor.s1.gov> jtk@mordor.UUCP (Jordin Kare) writes:
-> >>In <458@ncspm.ncsu.edu> jay@ncspm.UUCP (Jay Smith) writes:
-> >>>
-> >>>...Does anyone know where I
-> >>>can get a velcro Navy astronaut wings name tag?
-> >>
-> >>Join the Velcro Navy and Stick to the World!	:-)
-> >>
-> >Gee Jordin, know any good Velcro Navy sea chanteys?
-> 
-> No, sorry.  All the sea chanteys I know date from the
-> era of sail -- the grand old days of the Yankee Zippers ....

If this storm of bad jokes doesn't subside soon, we're gonna have to button
down the hatches and pun for cover.
-- 
Roy Smith, {allegra,cmcl2,philabs}!phri!roy
System Administrator, Public Health Research Institute
455 First Avenue, New York, NY 10016

lasibley@watmath.UUCP (10/29/87)

In article <2989@phri.UUCP> roy@phri.UUCP (Roy Smith) writes:
>In article <17052@mordor.s1.gov> jtk@mordor.UUCP (Jordin Kare) writes:
>-> In <458@netxcom.UUCP> rkolker@netxcom.UUCP (rich kolker) writes:
>-> >In <16774@mordor.s1.gov> jtk@mordor.UUCP (Jordin Kare) writes:
>-> >>In <458@ncspm.ncsu.edu> jay@ncspm.UUCP (Jay Smith) writes:
>-> >>>
>-> >>>...Does anyone know where I
>-> >>>can get a velcro Navy astronaut wings name tag?
>-> >>
>-> >>Join the Velcro Navy and Stick to the World!	:-)
>-> >>
>-> >Gee Jordin, know any good Velcro Navy sea chanteys?
>-> 
>-> No, sorry.  All the sea chanteys I know date from the
>-> era of sail -- the grand old days of the Yankee Zippers ....
>
>If this storm of bad jokes doesn't subside soon, we're gonna have to button
>down the hatches and pun for cover.
>-- 


   Shouldn't that be "Button down the patches"?

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
  Lance A. Sibley
  University of Waterloo
  Waterloo, Ontario






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