This design for NASA's Payload Operations Director emblem focuses on the varied science disciplines being investigated on board the International Space Station.
The design illustrates a spacecraft on orbit above the Earth. On the left and right areas of the emblem are the symbols for Integration and Microgravity. This illustrates the fact that the science is being conducted in Earth orbit is coordinated, integrated into the flight plan and managed by the Payload Operations Directorate.
At the bottom is the motto: "Scientiam Spatii per Ducatum," which translates from Latin as "Space Science through Leadership."
All U.S. payloads are managed from the Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala., which is represented by a compass rose providing leadership and direction in that effort.
The future deep space exploration is represented by the Milky Way galaxy and its stars stretching across the sky beyond Earth. The multitude of stars too numerous to count pay tribute to the vast multitudes of experiments and researchers whose work leads toward bright spots of our future understanding to both better life here on Earth and also make future deep space exploration possible.
The design was created by Mr. Tim Gagnon of Titusville, FL and Dr. Jorge Cartes of Madrid, Spain.