Artist-supplied caption:
This design was purposely shaped to reflect the original Space Shuttle's program patch. Where the original patch showed the Shuttle launching toward the top of the triangle, this patch has the shuttle coming in for its last landing on its home planet Earth, after playing the important toll of transporting all of the necessary hardware to produce the Intermnational Space Station. The 14 white stars serve as a reminder of those astronauts who sacrificed their lives for science and the Space Shuttle program. The lone gold star at the top of symbolized the excellence achieved by the STS system, its people and the technology developed during this time. It reminds us to strive for that same kind of excellence in the future of technology development as well as space exploration. And of course, the red white and blue of our Nation's flag makes us proud of these accomplishments in the last 30 years.
