Space Patch of the Month: Apollo Program Insignia

NASA's Apollo program officially began in 1961 with President John F. Kennedy's announcement of the United States' commitment to land men on the moon (and return them safely to Earth) before the end of the decade. It was responsible for the development of the Saturn rocket family and its facilities (such as the Vehicle Assembly Building), the Manned Spacecraft Center (now Johnson Space Center) in Texas, and the Launch Operations Center (now the Kennedy Space Center) in Florida. 14 Apollo missions took place between 1961 and 1972, six of which landed men on the moon.

Apollo program insignia (NASA)

The large "A" in the center represents the Apollo program in a more subtle way than its name spelled out. The three stars forming the bar in the "A" represent the three astronauts of each Apollo mission and make up the belt of the constellation Orion in the background. Orion was later the callsign of Apollo 16's lunar module. To the left is a gold moon, the ultimate destination of the program. The face in the moon is that of the Greek god Apollo, the namesake of the program. The Apollo 17 mission patch pays homage to this specific design. To the right of the "A" is the Earth with North America in the center representing the United States' role in the space program. A double flight trajectory connects both spheres and passes through Orion's belt, symbolic of landing on the moon and returning to Earth. On the Earth, the flight path begins at Florida, the launch site of all manned NASA missions.

An updated embroidered patch & older embroidered patch

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Bibliography

• "Apollo Mission Patches." NASA https://science.nasa.gov/resource/apollo-mission-patches/#:~:text=The%20insignia%20was%20dominated%20by,symbolized%20the%20three%20astronaut%20crewmen

This post was written entirely without the use of AI (sorry HAL)