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NASA's Odd History of Mission Patches

by Thomas Houston on August 30, 2009 at 02:05 PM



For generations of geeks -- yes, we went to space camp -- NASA was the center of all things science and technology. Dwindling budgets, declining public interest, and a lack of gee whiz tech may be plaguing the agency today, but don't worry, the nerds are still in command. Wired writes about the long-running military tradition, which NASA adopted with a twist, of creating mission patches. We're hardly surprised at the past decades' patches, marked by everything from Daffy Duck and Marvin Martian references and treadmills named after fake late night pundits to just plain weird designs.

The nerdiest design, though, commemorates the International Space Station's Multi-Purpose Logistics Model, comprised of three (of four) modules named after renaissance artists. Naturally, the mission patch features sai-weilding Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle Raphael holding a space helmet.

Wired has more zany mission patches, and you can browse others at NASA's history section. While you're at it, don't miss Wired's other list of Awesomely Bad Military Patches. [From: Wired via Neatorama]

Tags: colbert, exploration, humor, nasa, ninja turtles, NinjaTurtles, space, top

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