posted 11-24-2011 09:46 AM               

ISS Expedition 33 mission patch

The International Space Station's (ISS) Expedition 33 begins with the scheduled undocking of Soyuz TMA-04M in September 2012. Three new crew members will arrive shortly thereafter on Soyuz TMA-06M.

ISS Expedition 33 will be commanded by NASA astronaut Sunita Williams. Her crewmates, all flight engineers, include: Kevin Ford of NASA, JAXA astronaut Akihiko Hoshide and Roscosmos cosmonauts Yuri Malenchenko, Oleg Novitskiy and Evgeny Tarelkin.

posted 11-24-2011 03:18 PM               

Kevin Ford (who did ask us to work with him on the 34 patch) told me he is not sure who the artist is.

posted 12-30-2011 12:36 AM               

quote:

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Originally posted by KAPTEC:
As far as I can see, it is taken from their re-design of our (Tim and I) ISS on the Expedition 29 artwork.

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It is now pretty clear to me what went wrong. In the Expedition 29 patch, your art was simplified, but also given a white outline, that still gave the ISS a realistic (outer) shape.

It looks like for the Expedition 33 patch, NASA no longer had the layered Expedition 29 art available, so they were unable to separate the white ISS outline from the white Sun in the background and could only use the black 'fill'.

posted 12-30-2011 02:59 AM               

I do not think it is NASA taking parts from one patch and putting them on this one. I think it all down to AB being lazy and using an ISS they have programed in to there machines and not wanting to put in time and cost of add a new ISS.

posted 12-30-2011 08:34 AM               

The two (AB and NASA) must have telephone calls and get together with the designer to set the final patch.

As to adding parts for a different patch, does not the designer of that patch have a say in having their parts added to a design that they did not design? I would think so as it may come down to copyright on the patch they are taking the part from.

posted 12-30-2011 08:43 AM               

But even when outside artists volunteer their services to help the astronauts with their patch (and that service is accepted), the design is still the astronauts' and NASA's to do with as they please. They have the final say, not the designer, and it has always been that way. Even Robert McCall saw his designs altered by the crews and NASA.

As for this patch, the design changed. We do not know yet why it changed. It could have been that the crew received samples of the embroidered version and decided changes were needed. It could be some other reason. Until that is known (if it is ever known), no one should be jumping to conclusions.

posted 01-01-2012 12:46 PM               

We are being a bit spoiled as the designs are available long before the mission. Patience is a virtue.

posted 01-01-2012 01:48 PM               

quote:

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Originally posted by butch wilks:
Sorry but I cannot believe that NASA just sends AB the specs and the artwork and says get on with it. Sorry I do not believe that.

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The crews work with an artist (either someone in the JSC Graphics department or an outside artist) over the course of weeks or months until a design is created. Once the crew is happy with it the design, it is sent "upstairs" to management for approval.

Once approved, the JSC Graphics folks recreate the design to meet NASA uses (print, TV, embroidery, etc.). They also must ensure that there are no more than eight colors and that the colors are true to Pantone values.

Imagine if you will that you have a group of very talented artists and over the last few years all they've been asked to do is to re-draw someone else's work. Also understand that they have suffered cutbacks like other departments due to the end of the shuttle program.

Could they have done a better job on the Soyuz attached to the ISS? Absolutely. But in the final design, it's going to be what, about 1/16th of an inch long? I think we can cut them a little slack.

There were changes made to the Expedition 30 design once Jorge and I were finished. We had designed the borders to be a light gray and I envisioned the embroidery to be like the border of the Apollo 13 patch. Nope, it was changed to blue and my gold was changed to yellow. It HAD to have been approved (or requested) by the crew. But when Dan Burbank thanked me for our work, it's no longer "my patch" - it's theirs. Was I happy with the change? No, but I cherish the memory of working with them.

Luc had a similar experience with the Expedition 31 patch. His art is beautiful, the AB patch, not so much. So I was thrilled when Erik and Jacques along with Luc produced their own version.

I appreciate the passion that everyone has for these little pieces of art, but let's not dump on the JSC graphics team too hard. We don't know what they are up against.