![](Exp21_Crew_March.jpg) Frank De Winne (left), Roman Romanenko, Bob Thirsk, Nicole Stott in Houston on March 4, 2009; Max Suraev and Jeff Williams in Star City on March 5, 2009.
The Expedition-21 Artwork
|
![](ISS21_Patch_Art_626.jpg)
An early sketch of the patch made by Frank de Winne's wife Lena, and the final artwork with names. A version without names was only released by NASA so far.
2009 is a special year in ISS history. Long-awaited permanent crew of 6 is working on-board. Achieving permanent 6 crew is such a major milestone that all symbolism of the patch is built upon number 6.
The central element of the patch is inspired by a fractal of six. The concept of the fractal is "self-similarity". It is symbolically representative of team work as a crew: basic element - a crew member - is in a way similar to the others, but together six of them form a much more complex and multifaceted entity with infinite capabilities. Fractal is related to space because you can go to infinity looking at a fractal at different scales, like in the universe.
The contour shape has 6 tips. Smoothly flowing into each other the shape is geometrically sound and at the same time reminds of a leaf. It represents symmetry and ecological harmony.
Three sections represent: children on Earth in bright Sun - our future and reason why we explore and invest into the future. The Sun has 7 rays - number of luck and happiness which transcends cultures. In order to succeed in future human space exploration today we fly Soyuz and Shuttle to the ISS in low Earth orbit; our next goals are Moon and Mars.
Moon in "young" as a symbol is potential growth. Six stars in deep space represent the current crew and possible later exploration crew.
The Expedition 21 patch was designed by Frank de Winne's wife Lena.
![](exp21_winne_training.jpg) Frank de Winne during training on February 18, 2009, in Houston.
![](exp21patch_free_400.jpg)
A souvenir version that was available in February 2009.
EXP-20 | ISS Index | EXP-22
www.spacepatches.nl
|