posted 07-20-2011 03:02 PM            

Other than the specialist tab on the bottom and the different crew names on the final crew patch, the most obvious difference on the front of the original patch is the much lighter thread color for the water on the original version. On the reverse of the original, there is a very distinct AB sticker embedded (see inset), which I've personally never seen before. I know they do not put the crown symbol on contemporary patches, though I have seen an STS-114 final crew patch with a variant of the crown element on it's embedded sticker.

So my questions are:

1. Is the embedded sticker simply the standard version on AB patches issued at the time (June, 2007), and if not, does it signify a crew-evaluation version or prototype? I know early, official training pictures show crew members with the original crew version, so were these generally for sale or just NASA issue?

2. Is the lighter water color indicative of all original crew patches for STS-117?

posted 07-21-2011 01:14 PM               

The front of the patch is also different, it too has a light blue background behind the eagle, and yellow thread replacing the gold on the normal version patch. This patch also has s small piece of 'green' stitching on the tip of the upper 'wing' of the eagle. The Russian flag also has the correct colours. Overall the patch is more detailed and slightly smaller than the normal version patch.