August 28, 201114 yr #1 While digging through my patch boxes today I unearthed a few Air Force Space Shuttle related patches. I will post these in tribute to the brave crews who flew these dangerous missions,hope a new shuttle will be operational soon! I'm not sure if the Air Force manned orbital lab patch is shuttle related,I found it with the two others,so I thought I would post them as a group!
August 28, 201114 yr Author #7 I found a few more;if anyone has any military unit patches that were affiliated with the Space Shuttle program, please post them,I would be interested to see them.
August 29, 201114 yr Author #13 Very nice! Any Space Shuttle door Gunner patches? (LOL had to ask!) Hahaa,nice!Come to think of it,the shuttle would have made a great bomber,with that huge bomb bay!
August 29, 201114 yr #14 Another Manned Orbiting Laboratory (MOL) was a completely separate program. It was politely called a platform for space based military missions. In recent years it has come to light that it was basically a spaced based spy station. It would have been a larger version of Skylab. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manned_Orbiting_Laboratory After much initial hoopla, it was cancelled in the mid-1970's. Technology with spy satelites and long range cameras had developed to the point there was no need for the expensive and dangerous operation of keeping the station in orbit. I remember this one because my Dad was an accountant with GE's Missile and Space Division, and they were to be a major contractor on the project. When the progrm was shut down, you had a lot of high priced scientists suddenly unemployed. I remember an interview with one who had a PhD in Van Allen Belt Radiation. When asked if he could move onto a similar job, he replied "There are six people in the country that do what I do... and as far as I know the other five have no intention of giving up their jobs!" You have to remember that this was back when employees still looked forward to life time employment with better quality firms... this was quite a shock at the time.
August 29, 201114 yr Author #15 Manned Orbiting Laboratory (MOL) was a completely separate program. It was politely called a platform for space based military missions. In recent years it has come to light that it was basically a spaced based spy station. It would have been a larger version of Skylab.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manned_Orbiting_Laboratory After much initial hoopla, it was cancelled in the mid-1970's. Technology with spy satelites and long range cameras had developed to the point there was no need for the expensive and dangerous operation of keeping the station in orbit. I remember this one because my Dad was an accountant with GE's Missile and Space Division, and they were to be a major contractor on the project. When the progrm was shut down, you had a lot of high priced scientists suddenly unemployed. I remember an interview with one who had a PhD in Van Allen Belt Radiation. When asked if he could move onto a similar job, he replied "There are six people in the country that do what I do... and as far as I know the other five have no intention of giving up their jobs!" You have to remember that this was back when employees still looked forward to life time employment with better quality firms... this was quite a shock at the time. I stated in my first post that I was'nt sure if the patch was Shuttle related. Thanks for the great info,I'm into the Spy and Intel stuff,so learning this patch was about a spaced based surveillance platform made my day! :thumbsup:
August 30, 201114 yr #16 Thanks for posting this interesting topic, here's a patch from my collection; Air Force Flight Test Center, Shuttle Recovery Team, Edwards AFB. Tom
August 30, 201114 yr Author #17 Thanks for posting this interesting topic, here's a patch from my collection; Air Force Flight Test Center, Shuttle Recovery Team, Edwards AFB. Tom Hi Tom, Yes,it seems just like yesterday that the Shuttle was unveiled,and now it's being mothballed! Despite the several tragedies,overall the Shuttle program was an overwhelming success. Great patch you have there,I've never seen that one. :thumbsup:
September 1, 201114 yr #19 I found this one online This patch belongs to the 22nd Space Operations Squadron Detachment 1 out of Vandenberg AFB. COOK is there call sign, VTS stands for Vandenberg Tracking Station. The 22nd Space Operations Squadron is out of Schriever AFB and was activated in 1991. also the 6595th Shuttle Test Group shield patch was not authorized or used, only a decal was authorized. Mark
September 2, 201114 yr Author #20 This patch belongs to the 22nd Space Operations Squadron Detachment 1 out of Vandenberg AFB. COOK is there call sign, VTS stands for Vandenberg Tracking Station. The 22nd Space Operations Squadron is out of Schriever AFB and was activated in 1991. also the 6595th Shuttle Test Group shield patch was not authorized or used, only a decal was authorized. Mark Thanks for the info Mark! :thumbsup:
September 6, 201114 yr Author #22 Here is one from the USAF, Space Division Detachment 2 Mark Hey Mark,I like that patch!Great design,with the Shuttle and the Eagle! :thumbsup: Do you know anything about this Det?I looked online and found only a few vague references.
September 6, 201114 yr #23 Hey Mark,I like that patch!Great design,with the Shuttle and the Eagle! :thumbsup: Do you know anythingabout this Det?I looked online and found only a few vague references. All the info I have is that the USAF, Space Division was Headquarters was at Los Angeles Air Force Station, CA and that Detachment 2 was NASA Lynden B. Johnson Space Center Houston, TX. Mark
September 8, 201114 yr Author #24 All the info I have is that the USAF, Space Division was Headquarters was at Los Angeles Air Force Station, CA and that Detachment 2 was NASA Lynden B. Johnson Space Center Houston, TX. Mark Thanks Mark,all I could find was an obscure reference in a PDF describing experiments aboard the Shuttle using a handheld radiation detecting device. Interestingly enough,on the first page of the PDF,there is an image of another patch,the Air Force Technical Applications Center! I am including a link to the PDF here: Link to PDF
October 1, 201114 yr #25 Just an FYI, the first two shuttle patches and the orbital lab patch in this thread are newly made for space collectors. I’ve been getting back into space stuff recently and found several references to them on a space collector’s site about them all. The orbital lab one can be bought at the USAF missile museum at Cape Canaveral. The JSC Space Division Det 2 hasn’t existed since the mid-90s.
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