MDRS-88 Crew Patch

Over the last ten days we have been working really hard to finalize the design of our crew patch. Everyone pitched in with emails going back and forth over three continents daily. We ended up with a more traditional design and we all feel very proud of where we finally ended. A huge thanks to the entire crew for helping design our crew patch.

This is the design intent of our crew patch: Outer border is "deep red" signifying the "red planet - Mars". Inner border contains our last names as well the flags of our host nations. 2010 signifies the year of our mission. CREW 88 stands out as the eighty-eighth mission to MDRS. Five stars in the night sky for the five astronaut explorers at MDRS and our dreams of exploring Mars and the stars. At the very center of the patch is the MDRS better known as the “Hab” and the “Musk Observatory” which is part of the MDRS complex. The three shades of brown signify the diverse geology of the red planet in a stylized format. "Mars Desert Research Station" is the Mars Analog Research Station (MARS) where we will be conducting our mission, and below that-- the "Flag of Mars".

We contracted with A-B Emblem Company in Weaverville, North Carolina (no pun intended) to do the embroiderary for our crew patch. A-B Emblem Company designs ALL of the crew patches for NASA. We worked directly with Kati Phelps who has designed most of the crew patches for the Space Shuttle Program and the International Space Station Program. Kati has met and worked with many of the NASA astronauts and she told me that she has been given personal tours of the Shuttle Processing Facility by the astronauts. Kati, if you are reading this blog, a special “thank you” for your patience and detailed advice and guidance in finalizing our crew patch.