Expedition 52 Crew Patch-042517

ISS052-s-001 (01/27/2016) --- Orbiting the Earth continuously since 1998, the International Space Station (ISS) is one of our greatest engineering achievements. It is depicted in gold, symbolic of constancy and excellence. Flying directly toward a sunrise represents the ISS’s contributions to a bright future. That sunrise and the Earth beneath ituses blue, white, red, and green, the combined national colors of Italy, Russia, and the United States, symbolizing the crew’s cohesiveness. Crewmember names are in blue symbolizing devotion and loyalty. The white border represents sunlight unscattered by the Earth’s atmosphere. Symbolic of new Russian and U.S. spacecraft that will further human exploration, the patch is shaped as a capsule. The number 52 is drawn as a path eventually leading to Mars. Finally, the stars symbolize the values of leadership, trust, teamwork, and excellence lived by mission control teams throughout the history of human space programs, as well as their global vigilance in operating the ISS.