October 18 - November 1, 1993
Columbia

Crew & Mission

(STS058-S-002 - 01 May 1993) --- STS-58 crew portrait shows the crew wearing training versions of their launch and entry garments. Left to right (front) are David A. Wolf, and Shannon W. Lucid, both mission specialists; Rhea Seddon, payload commander; and Richard A. Searfoss, pilot. Left to right (rear) are John E. Blaha, mission commander; William S. McArthur Jr., mission specialist; and payload specialist Martin J. Fettman, DVM.

The Artwork

(STS058-S-001 - 01 May 1993) --- The STS-58 crew insignia depicts the Space Shuttle Columbia with a Spacelab module in its payload bay in orbit around Earth. The Spacelab and the lettering "Spacelab Life Sciences II" highlight its primary mission. An Extended Duration Orbiter (EDO) support pallet is shown in the aft payload bay, stressing the length of the mission. The hexagonal shape of the patch depicts the carbon ring. Encircling the inner border of the patch is the double helix of DNA. Its yellow background represents the sun. Both medical and veterinary caducei are shown to represent the STS-58 life sciences experiments. The position of the spacecraft in orbit about Earth with the United States in the background symbolizes the ongoing support of the American people for scientific research.

A Personal Story...

..."The space patches are a great tradition. Each crew is responsible for their patch design, although some crews find a professional artist to help. I designed the STS-58 patch.

The process starts with one crew member, usually a rookie, assigned by the commander to work the patch. Once a basic design is developed and agreed upon by crew consensus, a NASA graphic artist helps cleaning it up, exact thread colors are chosen, and a prototype is produced by the contractor. Then with final crew approval, it goes into production.

The STS-58 patch, being a life sciences mission, is 6 sided reminiscent of the six-sided chemical representation of carbon, chemical basis of all life. A double-helix DNA strand depiction encircles the orbiter. Both medical and veterinary caducei symbols are on the edge with the crewmembers names. In the payload bay of Columbia, the Spacelab module is prominently displayed and the mission name, Spacelab Life Sciences II, is superimposed on the orbiter.

I'd say that I was much more excited to have an STS-58 patch available to sew on the flightsuit since I was a rookie. It was tangible evidence that my first spaceflight was actually about to happen! I was way too busy during STS-76 or STS-90 (my other missions) timeframes to give it much thought. Overall, I think it's a great tradition and crews who take the extra effort to develop a very good patch design, even though it's time consuming at a very busy time, appreciate it after the fact"...