Space Shuttle Discovery's Commemorative Pins, Patches, Banners, and Flags

Explore the ways Space Shuttle Discovery was documented and remembered.

By Smithsonian's National Air and Space Museum

Smithsonian's National Air and Space Museum

Patch, STS-41D, Discovery, Sally Ride, From the collection of: Smithsonian's National Air and Space Museum
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This STS-41D patch was belonged by Dr. Sally K. Ride. STS 41-D was the first flight of Space Shuttle Discovery.

While Ride was not a crewmember of STS-41D, at the time she was married to crewmember Dr. Steven Hawley.

Flag, Space Shuttle, Discovery Flag, Space Shuttle, Discovery, From the collection of: Smithsonian's National Air and Space Museum
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This flag flew at the launch pad before Space Shuttle Discovery's final mission, STS-133, in 2011.

Banner, NASA Manned Flight Awareness, It Takes a Team to Build a Dream, From the collection of: Smithsonian's National Air and Space Museum
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This workplace banner was displayed in Orbiter Processing Facility-3 at NASA's Kennedy Space Center, the servicing bay for Discovery during the last 10 years of the Space Shuttle program.

Hubble Space Telescope Button, From the collection of: Smithsonian's National Air and Space Museum
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This button is a souvenir of the second human mission to service the Hubble Space Telescope, conducted aboard Space Shuttle Discovery in 1997.

Commemorative Patch For All Shuttle Workers, From the collection of: Smithsonian's National Air and Space Museum
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This "We Made History" commemorative patch was designed to celebrate the thousands of people who worked on the Space Shuttle Program over the course of its 30 years.

Banner, STS-133 Mission, "WE' RE BEHIND YOU, DISCOVERY", From the collection of: Smithsonian's National Air and Space Museum
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This STS-133 mission banner is autographed by the workers who prepared Space Shuttle Discovery for its final flight.

NASA Get Away Special Decal, From the collection of: Smithsonian's National Air and Space Museum
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This NASA Get Away Special decal belonged to Dr. Sally K. Ride. The Get Away Special, officially known as the Small, Self-Contained Payloads program, offered interested individuals or groups outside of NASA the opportunity to fly experiments aboard the space shuttle. The program was canceled after the loss of Space Shuttle Columbia during STS-107 in 2003.

Flag, STS-116, Atlantis-ISS Flag, STS-116, Atlantis-ISS, From the collection of: Smithsonian's National Air and Space Museum
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This flag was developed by NASA’s Space Flight Awareness program for the flight of STS-116 aboard Space Shuttle Discovery to the International Space Station in December 2006.

It belonged to Dennis Jenkins, a consulting aerospace engineer for the Space Shuttle Program.

Button, "SPACE MANufacturer", McDonnell Douglas Button, "SPACE MANufacturer", McDonnell Douglas, From the collection of: Smithsonian's National Air and Space Museum
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Buttons representing specific missions were examples of one type of space memorabilia often distributed to NASA employees and contractors.

This STS-41D Charlie Walker button was owned by John Bickers, a public affairs representative for the McDonnell Company. In 1984, Walker, a McDonnell engineer, flew aboard Space Shuttle Discovery as the first commercial payload specialist.

Pin, Lapel, Spacehab Pin, Lapel, Spacehab, From the collection of: Smithsonian's National Air and Space Museum
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This SPACEHAB lapel pin is a souvenir for the flight of Magellan T. Bear. Magellan became the first official teddy bear in space, flying as the designated "education specialist" for SPACEHAB aboard Space Shuttle Discovery on the STS-63 mission in February 1995. The bear's journey was part of an ambitious educational project to stimulate interest in geography, science, and social studies.

Patch, R2-ISS Robonaut, STS-134, Flown Patch, R2-ISS Robonaut, STS-134, Flown, From the collection of: Smithsonian's National Air and Space Museum
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This patch commemorates a robotic astronaut assistant, or Robonaut, developed to help human astronauts with routine chores like tightening bolts and collecting experiment specimens. Its hands and fingers are like humans’. After the first Robonaut was tested, the second—Robonaut 2 or R2—was sent to work on the International Space Station.

Pendant, STS-41D, Sally Ride, From the collection of: Smithsonian's National Air and Space Museum
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This STS 41-D pendant belonged to Dr. Sally K. Ride. STS 41-D was the first flight of the Space Shuttle Discovery.

While Ride was not a crewmember of STS-41D, at the time she was married to crewmember Dr. Steven Hawley.

Patch, Shuttle Mission, STS-133, From the collection of: Smithsonian's National Air and Space Museum
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Members of the launch pad closeout crew always wore the patch of the current mission. This is the patch for Discovery's final mission in 2011.

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The story featured may in some cases have been created by an independent third party and may not always represent the views of the institutions, listed below, who have supplied the content.
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