posted 03-16-2025 01:06 PM               

Kirby Kahler wrote about the custom and its history for The Space Review ("Walking through the doors of history: unlocking a space tradition") in 2020.

The posting of the first mission sticker at the O&C began with STS-87 on November 19, 1997. The decal first appeared directly in the middle of the doorway "head" prior to the mission. It is not immediately identifiable as it does not match in any of the sticker databases. This became Mystery Sticker 1, and needed further investigation.

Questions also arose considering this tradition and why it started with STS-87, as there were many prior shuttle missions. It was also discovered that there were two NASA signs with stickers, but NASA Sign 1 disappeared after STS-114.

It is not known whose idea it was or why the tradition began with STS-87 in 1997 (as pictured above). The decal that was added was not their mission patch but the insignia for one of their payloads, Spartan 201.

Kirby's article has a list of the missions represented from STS-87 through SpaceX Demo-2. There are also decals for Expedition 4, Expedition 5, JAXA's Kibo pressurized lab (launched on STS-124), Naoko Yamazaki's personal patch for STS-131 and the shuttle crew escape team.

For reasons unknown, there are no decals for STS-88, STS-95, STS-102, STS-113, and STS-117.

Since Kirby's article was published, additional decals have been added (through SpaceX Crew-10, as pictured above):

Left Jam (top to bottom, starting below STS-128):
• SpaceX Crew-9
  
• STS-51A
  
• SpaceX Crew-10

  Right jam (top to bottom, starting below STS-117):

• STS-109 (previously on sign 1)
  
• SpaceX Crew-3
  
• SpaceX Crew-4
  
• SpaceX Crew-5
  
• SpaceX Crew-6
  
• SpaceX Crew-7
  
• SpaceX Crew-8

  NASA "meatball" sign 2 (in order of placement, after Yamazaki's patch):

• U.S. Air Force Thunderbirds
  
• SpaceX Crew-1
  
• SpaceX Crew-2 (covering Yamazaki's patch)
  
• Starliner Crew Flight Test

posted 08-10-2025 09:31 AM               

The first 'mystery' patch appeared (as Kirby pointed out) at the walkout of STS-87. It remained in place through STS-89 and STS-90, and was replaced/covered by the STS-91 patch in time for the walkout of that crew.

Using the highest resolution photos available at the time, the first 'mystery' patch looked like this:

I don't believe it's the 'Spartan 201' patch.

The second 'mystery' patch (not mentioned by Kirby) appeared on the 'left head' of the doorway during the STS-99 walkout, to the left of the STS-108 patch.

By the next flight (STS-101) it had been removed.

The third 'mystery' patch appeared at about 7 o'clock on the original NASA Meatball sign for the walkout of STS-113, and remained for the next flight: STS-107.

It vanished along with the NASA sign when it was replaced prior to the walkout of the STS-114 return-to-flight mission.

I agree with Kirby's identification.

The way the first two patches were treated suggests they were considered 'inappropriate', such that they weren't directly related to the Shuttle program.

Perhaps they were applied by representatives of KSC contractors.

I've scanned as many mission-connected patches (payload, DoD, personal crew-member etc.) as I could find, without success.

It'd be helpful if anyone could provide some further clues to help identify the first two 'mystery' patches, or point me to higher-resolution images (wherever NASA has hidden them).

As a follow-on from Kirby's article, a few points:

• The patch for STS-93 was also never added

• During Kirby's visit to KSC in July 2019, he noted that the patch for STS-117 had peeled away. It had originally been applied to the top of the right jam some time after STS-124 and before STS-130 (many walkout photos don't have a clear view of the right jam). What's clear is that a fresh replacement was applied prior to the walkout of the SpX-DM2 crew in May 2020.

• Likewise, the 'severely faded' STS-111 patch Kirby witnessed had also been replaced with a fresh copy.

• The STS-105 patch was first applied to the bottom left corner of the original NASA sign. A replacement was applied below the STS-117 patch prior to SpX-DM2.

• I'm curious as to why the USAF Thunderbirds patch was added to the bottom-right of the replacement NASA sign prior to the walkout of Crew-8.

Here is a table that outlines the comings and goings of patch decals to-date:

And the following illustrates what the doorway looks like today (a mash-up of various walk-out photos in recent years):

posted 08-10-2025 02:49 PM               

quote:

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Originally posted by Peter G Duncan:
The first 'mystery' patch appeared (as Kirby pointed out) at the walkout of STS-87.

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posted 08-10-2025 06:19 PM            

Definitely not 51C.

And now to add to the mystery:

This photo is from the STS-91 TCDT dated May 7, 1998. So, before their launch and after STS-90. There is a single decal and it does not match the other single decal photo above:

posted 08-10-2025 10:50 PM               

Here's the head of the exit during the STS-90 walkout on 17 April 1998:

And this is the same spot during the STS-91 walkout on 2 June:

As I mentioned in my table, during STS-91, the crew patch has now replaced Mystery #1 (to the right of STS-90), and STS-89 is to the left of STS-90.

posted 08-11-2025 07:53 AM               

quote:

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Originally posted by Peter G Duncan:
Also, there's no place for Payton's name, and there's no extension of the eagle's wings.

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posted 08-11-2025 07:17 PM               

Alas, it wasn't him.

He suggested it was likely a more current team member who may have been given a VIP tour at some point and to look at the air show calendar to see when the team was performing in the general area.