NASA - Official Space Shuttle Commemorative Emblem

Blake Dumesnil's winning design will become
NASA's official space shuttle commemorative emblem

"Special shuttle tribute hits it right on the nose" by Robert Z. Pearlman, MSNBC 6/9/2011

Excerpt

When the space shuttle Atlantis launches on its final mission next month, it will be adorned with the same markings it has always been – the United States flag and the NASA logo – with one subtle but special addition.

Launch spectators may find it difficult to see, but painted on an access door near the top of the shuttle's fuel tank will be "nose art" paying tribute to the winged space vehicles' 30-year legacy. It'll be only the second time in 135 missions that the space shuttle has lifted off with a commemorative emblem painted on its side.

The colorful design, which was created and chosen earlier this year through a contest for NASA's past and present employees, has already been reproduced on medallions, embroidered cloth patches and t-shirts – some of which have already flown on board previous shuttle missions.

This next and last launch however, will mark its premiere on the side of a spacecraft. Atlantis is due to launch on July 8 to mark the final flight of NASA's shuttle program.

But don't go searching for it just yet. Even though space shuttle Atlantis arrived on the launch pad last week, the hand-painted hatch is still waiting to be installed on the fuel tank during the weeks leading up to liftoff.

Gem of an emblem

The logo, which was designed by an engineer at NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston, depicts the shuttle set against a diamond-shaped background.

Artist Blake Dumesnil described his emblem as having been inspired by how the shuttle has been "an innovative, iconic gem in the history of American spaceflight." His insignia's jewel-like facets fan out to "evoke the vastness of space and our aim to explore it, as the shuttle has done successfully for decades."

The logo also evokes an old tagline for the vehicle. When the first shuttle launched in April 1981, it was dubbed "The Gem of the Galaxy."

The central element of Dumesnil's logo, the space shuttle itself, is bounded by panels showing the U.S. flag and two sets of stars: 14 in memory of the astronauts lost aboard orbiters Challenger and Columbia and five symbolizing the shuttle fleet including Discovery, Endeavour and Atlantis.

The emblem's jewel shape is cradled by the outline of a blue circle, symbolizing the orbiter's realm in Earth orbit but also alluding "to the smoothness of the shuttle orbiting the Earth," according to Dumesnil.

The artwork is finished with the inscription "Space Shuttle Program" and the years that the space planes flew, "1981" through "2011."