Shuttle and souvenirs at space station (STS-116 Official Flight Kit)

December 11, 2006

— Roman has a recording. Sunita's got her snapshots. And Bill has his banner from up north.

The STS-116 crew, living aboard Discovery and docked with the International Space Station, has mementos and favorite items packed with them.

Launched on the evening of December 9, the six member crew has also delivered supplies for the ISS, a new truss segment, and a new station resident, who will stay on the ISS when Discovery returns to Earth.

For STS-116 commander Mark "Roman" Polansky, pilot Bill Oefelein and their four crewmates, the mementos in their personal preference kits (PPKs) and in the Official Flight Kit (OFK) are souvenirs of their just begun 12-day mission to be given to family, friends, and organizations that they support. For Sunita Williams, who moved onto the ISS on Monday, they'll act as reminders of home for the duration of her six-month stay.

"We all have a small amount that we can take up on shuttle," Williams told collectSPACE. "For the station we have a little extra [room] that we can take up of stuff that we can really use while we are up there, like a ball cap or whatever."

"Its just like your office, where you have pictures of your family or little things that are mementos to you and some of that stuff is a little extra for station crew members [as] we are going to be there for a longer period of time," said Williams.

The photos she has brought with her include a special member of the Williams' family: her "crazy" Jack Russell Terrier named Gorby.

"Unfortunately, I cannot bring my dog [with me] but there will be a lot of pictures of my dog up there."

Williams also has a copy of the Bhagavad Gita, a small statue of Lord Ganesh and a letter written in Hindi by her father, representing her half-Indian heritage.

For her six other crew mates, "house guests" to her new home, their mementos are stowed and along for the ride.

Most have packed items for their hometowns, states and countries.

For three-time flyer Bob "Beamer" Curbeam, that means continuing a tradition. "Every flight that I have been on, I always take in my OFK a U.S. Virgin Islands flag," said the mission specialist and spacewalker. "My grandfather is from there, so I always take a flag from there."

"Whenever I fly my last [mission], after that I will return it to the governor and life will be good."

Similarly, Polansky, as the only other experienced crew member, extended a custom of honoring his home state.

"I flew things for my high school on my first mission. Since I grew up in Edison [New Jersey], I am flying an item for the Thomas Edison museum in the hometown. I believe we are flying a state flag for the governor. There's always a Jersey connection in there somewhere," shared commander Polansky.

Described in the OFK manifest as a "blue plastic cast cylinder" that is 4.25 inches long and 2 inches diameter, Polansky's item for the Thomas A. Edison Menlo Park Museum is likely a wax cylinder for the phonograph, the recording device invented by Edison.

For two crew members, the items they fly represent their status as the first astronaut from their region.

Oefelein is the first to hail from the 49th state.

"Its one of the fortunate things about being in the Navy. I'm still an Alaskan resident and can still maintain my residency up there... so I am taking something up for the state."

Indeed, six of the items in the OFK were borrowed from Anchorage, including a city medallion and a white shuttle patch from the Challenger Learning Center of Alaska.

Christer Fuglesang, the first Swede in space, has a full compliment of items from his nation.

"I am bringing... the Stockholm city flag with me for the town council there. I have a Swedish national flag I am flying for the Parliament," Fuglesang told to reporters.

"I have some things for some of the universities there, which I have been either studying to or earn a doctorate from a university in northern Sweden called the Umeå University, and the other ones are Stockholm University and the Royal Institute of Technology. Those are some other things I am flying for Sweden," said the European Space Agency astronaut.

In addition to home states and countries, some are also flying items for their families.

"I'm taking some things for my wife and kids. I'll probably take a few photographs for my parents," Nick Patrick, a mission specialist, told collectSPACE before the mission.

The items Joan Higginbotham decided to take were very personal to her. "Your space to take personal items is so limited and I struggle with that," she admitted.

"I am taking a picture of my father who passed away five years ago. I am [also] taking a White Sox cap from the World Series," the Chicago native said.

"I am also taking a shirt that I had gotten from our family reunion. I am taking it because my dad designed it when we went to our reunion back eons ago."

"It's a light purple shirt, and on the front is the skyline of Chicago and it's the neatest design I have ever seen. Of course, I am a little biased," said Higginbotham.

Two hundred fifty (250) flags honoring the 25th anniversary of Space Camp are packed inside the STS-116 Official Flight Kit. They are flying alongside thousands of other items carried as mementos for NASA and the STS-116 crew to present after the 12-day mission to the International Space Station. (U.S. Space & Rocket Center)

The STS-116 Official Flight Kit Manifest

The following is the STS-116 Official Flight Kit manifest, as provided by NASA. Inventory numbers that are missing indicate items that were removed prior to launch.

No.	Description	Sponsor/Purpose

1.	625 STS-116 Crew Patches 25 Expedition 14 Patches	Agency Presentation
2.	600 Small United States Flags	Agency Presentation

3.	3 Sets U.S. States & Territories Flags	Agency Presentation

4.	3 Sets United Nations Members Flags	Agency Presentation

5.	20 Small Texas Flags 20 Small JSC Medallions (in Lucite) 10 U.S.-Sweden Friendship Pins 5 U.S.-Germany Friendship Pins 1 Large Pewter NASA Medallion 1 Large Bronze NASA Medallion	Agency Presentation
6.	10 Each Small Flags of the Following States: New Jersey Texas Alaska Maryland Illinois Massachusetts Ohio	Agency Presentation
7.	Small Flags of the Following Countries: 5 France 5 Czech Republic 50 Sweden 5 Denmark 5 Slovenia 5 Norway 5 Finland 30 United Kingdom 30 Scotland 5 India 30 Spain 5 Switzerland 30 Germany 5 Peru	Agency Presentation
8.	Small Military Flags: 10 U.S. Air Force 40 U.S. Navy 10 U.S. Marine Corps 10 U.S. Army 10 U.S. Coast Guard	Agency Presentation
9.	10 Small United States Flags 10 Small Alabama State Flags 40 Small STS-116 Crew Patches	Marshall Space Flight Center Presentation
10.	250 Small SPACE CAMP Flags	MSFC and U.S. Space & Rocket Center

11.	10 Small Louisiana State Flags 10 Small Mississippi State Flags 5 Small NASA Flags 5 Small United States Flags	Stennis Space Center Presentation
12.	200 Silver Snoopy Pins 100 Small Discovery Flags 100 Small ISS Flags	Space Flight Awareness Presentation
13.	50 EVA Patches	Agency Presentation

14.	DELETE

15.	25 Center Operations Patches	Agency Presentation

16.	25 STS-116 Crew Patches 55 Small U.S. Flags 50 DoD Space Test Program STP-H2 Patches 10 Space & Missle System (SMC) Coins	DoD Presentation
17.	15 STS-116 Crew Patches	United Space Alliance Presentation

18.	30 ESA Patches (Polyester) 4 ESA Patches (Embroidered) 1 Small Stuffed Lion Mascot T-Shirt 38 Expedition 13 Patches 50 Celsius Patches	European Space Agency Presentation

Items 19 through 87 are manifested at the request of the STS-116 crewmembers.

19.	Blue Plastic Cast Cylinder (4.25"x2"D)	Thomas A. Edison Menlo Park Museum, Edison, NJ

20.	White, Green and Purple Mouse Pad	The International School of Prague, Prague, Czech Republic

21.	Red, White and Blue Flag with Alamo Scene	City of San Antonio, San Antonio, TX

22.	Stuffed Bear (8"x3")	United States Holocaust Museum, Washington, DC

23.	United States Flag (3'x5')	Houston Fire Department, Houston, TX

24.	United States Flag (3'x5')	Food Safety Net, San Antonio, TX

25.	Texas State Flag (3'x5')	Agri-West Corporation, San Antonio, TX

26.	Silver City Medallion	City of Auriol, France

27.	Green Plastic Expandable Sphere	Liberty Science Center, Jersey City, NJ

28.	New Jersey State Flag (23.5"x36")	Office of the Governor, Trenton, NJ

29.	Tapestry with School Bus Picture (18"x18.5")	Conoco Phillips Alaska, Anchorage, AK

30.	Orange School Banner	West Anchorage High School, Anchorage, AK

31.	Black, Yellow and White VF-31 Patch	VF-31 Squadron, Virginia Beach, VA

32.	White Shuttle Patch	Challenger Learning Center of Alaska, Anchorage, AK

33.	Blue, Gold and White Patch	176th Wing, Alaska Air National Guard, Kulis ANG Base, AK

34.	Blue VFA-146 Patch with Yellow Letters	VFA-146 Squadron, Lenmoore, CA

35.	Red, White and Blue Patch with Red Letters	National Science Foundation, Washington, DC

36.	Oregon State University Bronze Medallion	Oregon State University, Corvallis, OR

37.	Alaska Civil Air Patrol Gold Medallion	Alaska Civil Air Patrol, Anchorage, AK

38.	City of Anchorage Medallion	City of Anchorage, Anchorage, AK

39.	Red and White National Flag of Peru (35.5"x58")	Government of Peru, Lima, Peru

40.	Green Washington State Flag (36"x58")	Office of the Secretary of State, Olympia, WA

41.	White Flag with Emblem (36"x23")	The World Tae Kwon Do Federation, Seoul, Korea

42.	Blue Flag with White Cross (64"x36")	Scottish Parliament, Edinburgh, Scotland

43.	Red, White and Blue British Flag (58"x34")	British Embassy, Washington, DC

44.	Blue and White Museum of Flight Flag (13"x45")	Museum of Flight, Seattle, WA

45.	Blue School Flag (36"x58")	Harrow School, London, UK

46.	Blue Royal Air Force Ensign (6"x6")	Royal Air Force, London, UK

47.	Red, White and Blue Burgee (18"x12.5")	The American Yacht Club, Rye, NY

48.	Blue Scarf with Red and Yellow Stripes	University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK

49.	Blue Kenosha News Paper Route Bag (28"x14")	Kenosha News/United Communications, Kenosha, WI

50.	Neutral Buoyancy Laboratory Foam Board Placard	Neutral Buoyancy Laboratory, Houston, TX

51.	Quilt Piece (6"x6")	Seabrook Intermediate School, Seabrook, TX

52.	Princeton University Bronze Medallion	Princeton University, Princeton, NJ

53.	Olympic Park Institute White Flag (4"x6")	Olympic Park Institute, Port Angeles, WA

54.	2006 Final Four Championship Game Ticket	National Collegiate Athletic Association, Indianapolis, IN

55.	White and Black Banner (3'x5')	African-American Society, Princeton, NJ

56.	St. Thomas Flag (21.5"x33")	Island of St. Thomas, St. Thomas, VI

57.	Gold and Maroon Flag (48"x73")	Cosmo Club of Washington, Washington, DC

58.	White School Banner (6.5"x29")	Rymdgymnasiet, Kiruna, Sweden

59.	Green and White Flag (3'x5')	Awty International School, Houston, TX

60.	Swedish National Flag (28"x48")	The Swedish Parliament, Stockholm, Sweden

61.	Universitet Flag (36"x42")	Stockholm Universitet, Stockholm, Sweden

62.	Gold Pin	Royal Institute of Technology (KTH), Stockholm, Sweden

63.	Red and White Society Pennant (8"x13")	Sailing Society of Stockholm, Stockholm, Sweden

64.	Black and Orange Patch	Fysiksektionen, KTH (Student body of the School of Physics), Stockholm

65.	Black and White Poster (19"x17")	Umeå University, Umeå, Sweden

66.	Gold "IVA" Lapel Pin	Royal Swedish Academy of Engineering Sciences, Stockholm, Sweden

67.	Blue Flag (6.25"x6.25")	Stockholm City, Stockholm, Sweden

68.	Red, White and Blue Flag (7.25"x5.25")	Norsk Romcenter, Oslo, Norway

69.	Blue School Banner (36"x31")	Whitney M. Young High School, Chicago, IL

70.	T-Shirt	Hands of Worldwide, Carlisle, MA

71.	Jersey	Chicago White Sox, Chicago, IL

72.	Scanned Image of Bessie Coleman's Pilot License	DuSable Museum of African American History, Chicago, IL

73.	Sorority Banner (13"x60")	Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Washington, DC

74.	Photocopy of Members of The Links, Inc. (8.5"x11")	The Links, Incorporated, Washington, DC

75.	Poster (26"x19.5")	National Council of Negro Women, Inc., Washington, DC

76.	Alabama State University History on Paper (8.5"x11")	Alabama State University, Chicago, IL

77.	White Needham Town Flag (35"x60")	The Needham Historical Society, Inc., Needham, MA

78.	Blue Banner (3'x5')	U.S. Naval Academy, Annapolis, MD

79.	Pennant (30"x11")	Florida Institute of Technology, Melbourne, FL

80.	Leather Key Chain with Gold Emblem	United States Marshals Service, Washington, DC

81.	Leather Key Chain with Gold Emblem	United States Marshals Service, Portland, OR

82.	Gold Astronaut Pin	Agency Presentation

83.	Gold Astronaut Pin	Agency Presentation

84.	Gold Astronaut Pin	Agency Presentation

85.	Gold Astronaut Pin	Agency Presentation

86.	Gold Astronaut Pin	Agency Presentation

87.	Gold Wings	Agency Presentation

Items 88 through 94 are manifested at the request of the STS-116 payload customers.

88.	300 Sheets of Bookmarks	JSC Shuttle Program Presentation

89.	100 ISS-12A.1 Mission Patches 25 ISS-12A.1 Mission Pins	JSC/OC ISS Customer Presentation
90.	200 STS-116 Crew Patches 200 STS-116 Mission Pins	JSC/OC Cargo Mission Contract Presentation
91.	200 STS-116 Crew Patches 250 STS-116 Mission Pins 50 3-D Holographic Cards 100 STARS Decals	JSC/OC/SPACEHAB Presentation
92.	100 Flags (75 U.S., 25 Colorado) 50 Syncrhonized Position Experiment Patches 35 TRAC Decals	JSC/OC/OZ Utilization Presentation
93.	100 ISS Research and Technology Patches	JSC/OC/OZ Utilization Presentation

94.	25 Space Test Program Payload Patches 15 Atmospheric Neutral Density Experiment Patches (2 ANDE, 1 NRL, 2 STP, 10 STP-H2) 50 Elastic Memory Composite Hinge Payload Patches	JSC/OC/OZ/DoD Presentation

STS-116 OFK Addendum: Expedition 14 Crewmember Sunita Williams (Up on STS-116 — Over to ISS — Down TBD) Expedition 14 — ISS Official Flight Kit (OFK)

1.	USNA Flag (3'x5')	United States Naval Academy, Annapolis, MD

2.	New England Patriots Baseball Cap	New England Patriots, Foxborough, MA

3.	WHOI T-Shirt	Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, Woods Hole, MA

4.	Florida Tech Baseball Cap	Florida Tech, Melbourne, FL
5.	B 2004 World Series Champion Beanie Cap	Red Sox, Kenmore Square, Boston, MA

6.	Needham T-shirt	Needham School District, Needham, MA

STS-116 OFK Addendum: Expedition 14 Crewmember Michael Lopez-Alegria (Up on STS-116 — Over to ISS — Down TBD) Expedition 14 — ISS Official Flight Kit (OFK)

1.	USNA Banner (2'x3')	United States Naval Academy, Annapolis, MD

2.	2005 Championship Pennant	Houston Astros, Houston, TX

3.	Pelican Aviation T-Shirt	Pelican Aviation, Acadiana, LA

4.	Cloth Banner (1.5'x1.5')	Sociedad Astronomica Y Geografica, De Ciudad Real, Spain