Designed by the crewmembers, the STS-51 crew patch honors all who have contributed to mission success. It symbolizes NASA's continuing quest to increase mankind's knowledge and use of space through this multi-faceted mission. The gold star represents the U.S. Advanced Communications Technology Satellite (ACTS) boosted by the Transfer Orbit Stage (TOS). The rays below the ACT\TOS represent the innovative communication technologies to be tested by this experiment. The stylized Shuttle Pallet Satellite (SPAS) represents the German-sponsored ASTRO\SPAS mission. The constellation Orion below SPAS is representative of the types of stellar objects to be studied by its experimenters. The stars in Orion also commemorate the astronauts who have sacrificed their lives for the space program. The ascending spiral, symbolizing America's continuing commitment to leadership in space exploration and development, originates with the thousands of persons who ensure the success of each Shuttle flight. The five large white stars, representing the five crewmembers, along with the single gold star, form the mission's numerical designation.
The NASA website hosts a large number of images from the
Soviet/
Russian space agency, and other non-American space agencies. These are not necessarily in the public domain.
The
SOHO (ESA & NASA) joint project implies that all materials created by its probe are copyrighted and require permission for commercial non-educational use.
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This image shows a
flag, a
coat of arms, a
seal or some other official insignia. The use of such symbols is restricted in many countries. These restrictions are independent of the
copyright status.
File:STS-51 patch.svg is a vector version of this file. It should be used in place of this PNG file when not inferior.