September 07 - 18, 1995
Endeavour

Crew & Mission

(STS069-S-002 -June 1995) --- These five NASA astronauts have been named as crewmembers for the STS-69 mission, scheduled onboard the Space Shuttle Endeavour in late July of 1995. David M. Walker (right front) is mission commander; with Kenneth D. Cockrell (left front) scheduled to serve as pilot. On the back row are (left to right) Michael L. Gernhardt and James H. Newman, both mission specialists; and James S. Voss, payload commander.

The Artwork

(STS069-S-001 -May 1995) --- Designed by the crewmembers, the patch for STS-69 symbolizes the multifaceted nature of the flight's mission. The primary payload, Wake Shield Facility (WSF), is represented in the center by the astronaut emblem against a flat disk. The astronaut emblem also signifies the importance of human beings in space exploration, reflected by the planned space walk to practice for International Space Station activities and to evaluate space suit design modifications. The two stylized Space Shuttles highlight the ascent and entry phases of the mission. Along with the two spiral plumes, the stylized Space Shuttles symbolize a NASA first - the deployment and recovery on the same mission of two spacecraft (both the Wake Shield Facility and the Spartan). The constellations Canis Major and Canis Minor represent the astronomy objectives of the Spartan and International Extreme Ultraviolet Hitchhiker (IEH) payload. The two constellations also symbolize the talents and dedication of the support personnel who make Space Shuttle missions possible.

Crew Evaluation Version

Above:The evaluation patch and detail and the final version.

Astronaut Jim Newman: "The vendor produces a small set of evaluation patches for NASA to ensure that they have got it "right" before the mass production begins. And it occasionally results in some slight modifications to the eval patch. That is what happened for STS-69"...