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  Vintage Apollo patches: S-II Test and P.I. Team

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Author Topic:   Vintage Apollo patches: S-II Test and P.I. Team
Ken Havekotte
Member

Posts: 2913
From: Merritt Island, Florida, Brevard
Registered: Mar 2001

posted 09-12-2013 08:37 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for Ken Havekotte   Click Here to Email Ken Havekotte     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
Been going over some older patches and came across some unusual ones that I haven't seen before;
  1. A circular vintage-looking "Saturn S-II Test Team, Launch Operation," 4+ inches in diameter with the NAR Apollo program design in center. Of course, NAR was the prime Apollo contractor for the Saturn V second rocket stage. Must be a NAR-produced or related cloth patch for the company's S-II test team (probably at Kennedy Space Center)?

  2. Unusual 3" diameter circular patch, 100% embroider, with "NASA" at top and "APOLLO P.1. TEAM" at bottom in gold metallic thread. In the center of the vintage-era patch is an Apollo CSM in an upright flight position heading for a gold crescent moon with a portion of the earth below. Also in the center of the design are six silver stars with a thick blue arrow pointing from the earth to the moon.
If it would help, perhaps I can get Robert or someone else to scan the patch images for cS readers. Does anyone know anything further about these patches? Thanks!

spaced out
Member

Posts: 3110
From: Paris, France
Registered: Aug 2003

posted 09-12-2013 08:53 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for spaced out   Click Here to Email spaced out     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
If only we could persuade you to buy a scanner Ken! You do know they're only about $50 to $80 and can be used without any special knowledge?

Anyway, I don't think I've seen the first of those patches but the North American teams seem to have been pretty keen on producing patches.

Examples of the second patch - the Apollo P.I. Team - appeared from a single seller on eBay some time last year. It was the fist time I'd seen them but the guy seemed to have quite a large stock.

I believe the patches are related to the Apollo Principal Investigator scientists who worked on different areas of experimental science during the project, but don't know anything more.

Ken Havekotte
Member

Posts: 2913
From: Merritt Island, Florida, Brevard
Registered: Mar 2001

posted 09-12-2013 09:41 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for Ken Havekotte   Click Here to Email Ken Havekotte     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
Thanks for the above posted info Chris, and — yes I know — I am still behind the times a bit in not yet having my own computer equipment and "know how" for providing scans.

But I do now have an Epson Stylus NX420 printer that I am currently using. Can this unit be used for a scanner as well? I think so, therefore, I really need to get busy and start doing scans regularly as I know — as many others have told me — "scans are a MUST for me" as they can be so useful in so many ways. I'll dig up the operating manual for it and get educated, I promise.

Meanwhile, I do appreciate the comments, especially about the second patch possibly being related to the team of all the Apollo
principal investigators of scientists and researchers.

Thanks so much!

Liembo
Member

Posts: 583
From: Bothell, WA
Registered: Jan 2013

posted 09-12-2013 09:54 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for Liembo   Click Here to Email Liembo     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
Here's the SPDb copy of the PI Team patch.

Are these similar to the Saturn-II test team patches you describe?

fredtrav
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Posts: 1673
From: Birmingham AL
Registered: Aug 2010

posted 09-12-2013 10:09 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for fredtrav   Click Here to Email fredtrav     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
Yes Ken, the Epson Stylus NX420 is a scanner as well.

Ken Havekotte
Member

Posts: 2913
From: Merritt Island, Florida, Brevard
Registered: Mar 2001

posted 09-12-2013 03:34 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for Ken Havekotte   Click Here to Email Ken Havekotte     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
Thanks for the above postings, and yes, the S-II Test Team patch has the blue background as depicted on the Space Patch Database, which by the way, I've enjoyed viewing the patch website that I didn't know about beforehand. Thanks for sharing it with me.

The patch would appear to be a North American Rockwell (NAR) production of some kind, not NASA, since it was obtained from a retired NAR/Apollo-Saturn worker here at Kennedy.

Any idea, value wise, of the S-II and P.1. patches? Just curious to know.

I've got a few more unusual space patches, as time permits, I'll get them scanned for cS-postings here.

Good to know, also, that my new Epson printer is indeed a scanner as well; thanks for the affirmation.

SleeBaudrons
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Posts: 16
From: Scotland
Registered: Sep 2012

posted 09-14-2013 05:01 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for SleeBaudrons     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
I have to admit I'm not very techno-savvy either. I have a printer that scans and I often include images in e-mails, but I've no idea how to include an image in a forum post.

spaced out
Member

Posts: 3110
From: Paris, France
Registered: Aug 2003

posted 09-17-2013 07:22 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for spaced out   Click Here to Email spaced out     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
Incidentally, I suspect that the blue and red Saturn S-II Test Team patches pictured on the database were Randy Hunt reproductions from the late 90s / early 2000s.

Ken Havekotte
Member

Posts: 2913
From: Merritt Island, Florida, Brevard
Registered: Mar 2001

posted 09-17-2013 07:55 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for Ken Havekotte   Click Here to Email Ken Havekotte     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
Can someone here depict (front and back) of a Randy Hunt produced S-II Test Team patch?

It would appear the S-II and Apollo P1 patches that started this thread do have a vintage production style (to my knowledge that Hunt did not have) along with an old backing-type weaving process.

Keep in mind, also, that some patches referred to like this came from ex-space workers that were not at all, as we are, space memorabilia collectors.

spaced out
Member

Posts: 3110
From: Paris, France
Registered: Aug 2003

posted 09-17-2013 09:01 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for spaced out   Click Here to Email spaced out     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
Ken, there's every chance that your patch is a genuine vintage example. I was just pointing out that replicas exist.

Randy Hunt's patches usually had bare cloth backs, not plastic coatings, but the stitching generally looks bright and modern.

I don't have images of the backs of Randy's patches but I think the blue example on Liem's site above is a Randy Hunt replica.

To get your scanner working I believe it's as simple as this: put the patch face down on the glass and close the cover ; press the Scan button on the machine ; select "Scan to PC" using the left and right buttons ; press the Start button.

This should scan the image and create a JPG on your PC that you can then send as an attachment to a mail etc.

I'm looking forward to seeing a scan of your patch Ken!

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