Apollo-Soyuz Test Project Patch Analysis

Submitted by liem on Fri, 10/02/2015 - 17:29

Thanks to Wikipedia's extremely high resolution photo of the ASTP crews, its possible to examine the 4" Apollo-Soyuz patches that the crew members are wearing. It's evident that the US team have 4" patches affixed to their training jumpsuits while Leonov and Kubasov have theirs temporarily attached. Kubasov's is not in the same position as Leonovs and Leonov's is actual placed over the smaller Apollo-Soyuz patch he already had affixed to his jumpsuit:

At full resolution, several distinct details can be identified:

These details are distinct from other ASTP patches of this type. The A-B Emblem version is only 3 1/2" inches in diameter, so it's right out. This unidentified patch is close, but misses in several key areas, particularly the grain of the white thread (it's 90 degree off) and the outline of the CSM. However, this patch is extremely close:

Eventually I did identify and acquire a nearly perfect match. However, the gold color is wrong. Instead of gold tinsel thread it uses an orange color. Despite that, I am conviced that this patch was made by the same company on the same machine that made the patch in the original photo:

Every detail is an exact match, right down to the direction of the thread in the white part of the globe. The patch has a coated back, but it is impossible to tell of the patch in the photo does or not. In September 2015 I was finally able to identify a vintage version of this patch and acquire it, however, the patch for unknown reasons, has the red and blue fields swapped:

[Update 1/6/2015]

I finally acquired the proper patch with the colors in the right place. Curiously, this version has a plastic back (that has delaminated from the cloth) but still retains the original taped tail. Now that I can physically say that this patch exists in the proper size and color, I am certain this is the patch in the ASTP crew photo.

The most interesting thing about this patch is the (mis) taped tail. That feature has traditionally been linked to Cape Kennedy Medals in that era. Unfortunately, this patch was sold in a lot mixed with A-B Emblems and Lion Brothers, so the patches adjacent aren't very useful in identifying the source.

This patch was worn by Deke Slayton and Alexi Leonov during their combined training at JSC, as shown in these photos:

I would say that this qualifies this as a crew-worn variation (in as much as other Apollo patches are considered crew-worn when worn on their post-recovery jumpsuits).