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STS099-S-001 (June 1999) --- The STS-99 crew members designed the flight insignia for the Shuttle Radar Topography Mission (SRTM), the most ambitious Earth mapping mission to date. Two radar antennas, one located in the shuttle bay and the other located on the end of a 60-meter deployable mast, will be used during the mission to map Earth?s features. The goal is to provide a three-dimensional topographic map of the world?s surface up to the Arctic and Antarctic Circles. The clear portion of Earth illustrates the radar beams penetrating its cloudy atmosphere and the unique understanding of the home planet that is provided by space travel. The grid on Earth reflects the mapping character of the SRTM mission. The patch depicts the space shuttle Endeavour orbiting Earth in a star spangled universe. The rainbow along Earth?s horizon resembles an orbital sunrise. The crew deems the bright colors of the rainbow as symbolic of the bright future ahead because of human beings? venturing into space. The NASA insignia design for space shuttle flights is reserved for use by the astronauts and for other official use as the NASA Administrator may authorize. Public availability has been approved only in the forms of illustrations by the various news media. When and if there is any change in this policy, which is not anticipated, the change will be publicly announced. Photo credit: NASA sts099-s-001
Summary
STS099-S-001 (June 1999) --- The STS-99 crew members designed the flight insignia for the Shuttle Radar Topography Mission (SRTM), the most ambitious Earth mapping mission to date. Two radar antennas, one located in the shuttle bay and the other located on the end of a 60-meter deployable mast, will be used during the mission to map Earth?s features. The goal is to provide a three-dimensional topographic map of the world?s surface up to the Arctic and Antarctic Circles. The clear portion of Earth illustrates the radar beams penetrating its cloudy atmosphere and the unique understanding of the home planet that is provided by space travel. The grid on Earth reflects the mapping character of the SRTM mission. The patch depicts the space shuttle Endeavour orbiting Earth in a star spangled universe. The rainbow along Earth?s horizon resembles an orbital sunrise. The crew deems the bright colors of the rainbow as symbolic of the bright future ahead because of human beings? venturing into space. The NASA insignia design for space shuttle flights is reserved for use by the astronauts and for other official use as the NASA Administrator may authorize. Public availability has been approved only in the forms of illustrations by the various news media. When and if there is any change in this policy, which is not anticipated, the change will be publicly announced. Photo credit: NASA
The Space Shuttle program was the United States government's manned launch vehicle program from 1981 to 2011, administered by NASA and officially beginning in 1972. The Space Shuttle system—composed of an orbiter launched with two reusable solid rocket boosters and a disposable external fuel tank— carried up to eight astronauts and up to 50,000 lb (23,000 kg) of payload into low Earth orbit (LEO). When its mission was complete, the orbiter would re-enter the Earth's atmosphere and lands as a glider. Although the concept had been explored since the late 1960s, the program formally commenced in 1972 and was the focus of NASA's manned operations after the final Apollo and Skylab flights in the mid-1970s. It started with the launch of the first shuttle Columbia on April 12, 1981, on STS-1. and finished with its last mission, STS-135 flown by Atlantis, in July 2011.
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