Crew & Mission

(STS068-S-002 -March 1994) --- These six NASA astronauts are in training for the mission, scheduled for launch later this year. Standing are, left to right, Michael A. Baker, mission commander; and Terrence W. Wilcutt, pilot. On the front row are, left to right, Thomas D. Jones, payload commander; and Peter J. K. (Jeff) Wisoff, Steven L. Smith and Daniel W. Bursch, all mission specialists.

The Artwork

(STS068-S-001 -March 1994) --- Exploration of Earth from space is the focus of the design of the insignia, the second flight of the Space Radar Laboratory (SRL-2). SRL-2 is part of NASA's Mission to Planet Earth (MTPE) *project. The world's land masses and oceans dominate the center field, with the Space Shuttle Endeavour circling the globe. The SRL-2 letters span the width and breadth of planet Earth, symbolizing worldwide coverage of the two prime experiments of STS-68 - The Shuttle Imaging Radar-C and X-Band Synthetic Aperture Radar (SIR-C/X-SAR) instruments, and the Measurement of Air Pollution from Satellites (MAPS) sensor. The red, blue and black colors of the insignia represent the three operating wavelengths of SIR-C/X-SAR, and the gold band surrounding the globe symbolizes the atmospheric envelope examined by MAPS. The flags of international partners Germany and Italy are shown opposite Endeavour. The relationship of the Orbiter to Earth highlights the usefulness of human space flights in understanding Earth's environment, and the monitoring its changing surface and atmosphere. In the words of the crewmembers, "the soaring Orbiter also typifies the excellence of the NASA team in exploring our own world, using the tools which the Space Program developed to explore the other planets in the solar system". This STS-68 patch was designed by artist Sean Collins.