Soyuz TMA-09M, currently scheduled to launch on May 28, 2013, will deliver Roscosmos cosmonaut Fyodor Yurchikhin, NASA astronaut Karen Nyberg and ESA astronaut Luca Parmitano to the International Space Station to join the Expedition 36 and Expedition 37 crews.
Credit: Roscosmos/SpacePatches.nlThe Soyuz TMA-09M patch designs shares elements of the two earlier Soyuz mission patches that Fyodor Yurchikhin participated in (TMA-10 and TMA-19): a bright blue rim featuring the crew names with a dark blue border and a central field featuring the Earth and the spacecraft in yellow and orange.
The white and light blue streaks underneath the Soyuz symbolize that this is the fourth mission to the ISS for Soyuz commander Yurchikhin; the first being on an American spacecraft during STS-112.
This design shares one element with another patch: the ISS is taken from the patch of Expedition 37, which Yurchikhin commands.
Designed by Luc van den Abeelen, Dmitriy Shcherbinin and Fyodor Yurchikhin.