Cape Kennedy Medals

This version of the Cape Kennedy Medals Skylab 3 patch has a distinctive darker blue border. It has the typical taped tail of a Cape Kennedy Medals patch but has a hard plastic back. A cloth back version is also to be found. 

Expedition 28 was the 28th long-duration expedition to the International Space Station, and began on 23 May 2011 with the departure of the members of Expedition 27. The first three members of Expedition 28 arrived on the ISS aboard the Soyuz TMA-21 spacecraft on 4 April 2011, and were joined on 9 June 2011 by the three other crew members, who arrived aboard Soyuz TMA-02M. The expedition saw a number of significant events, including the final Space Shuttle mission, STS-135, which took place in July 2011. Expedition 28 was superseded by Expedition 29 on 16 September 2011.

The Cape Kennedy Medals version has a more "dashed" embroidery appearance to the ship and "29".

Expedition 25 was the 25th long-duration mission to the International Space Station (ISS). Expedition 25 began with the Soyuz TMA-18 undocking on 25 September 2010. Three new crewmembers (Scott Kelly, Alexander Kaleri and Oleg Skripochka) arrived aboard the ISS October 2010 on Soyuz TMA-01M to join Douglas Wheelock, Fyodor Yurchikhin and Shannon Walker, and formed the full six member crew of Expedition 25  NASA astronaut Doug Wheelock accepted command of Expedition 25 on 22 September 2010, taking over from Russia's Aleksandr Skvortsov. The departure of Wheelock, Walker and Yurchikhin on 25 November 2010 marked the official end of Expedition 25.
During Expedition 25 Progress M-08M spacecraft visited the ISS. Progress M-08M docked with the space station on 30 October 2010 bringing 2.5 tons of cargo supplies. Space shuttle Discovery on STS-133 mission was scheduled to arrive at the ISS on 3 November 2010 but was re-scheduled for launch on 3 February 2011. The 10th anniversary of human life, work and research on the ISS fell during Expedition 25. On 2 November 2000, Expedition 1 Commander William Shepherd and Flight Engineers Sergei Krikalev and Yuri Gidzenko became the first residents of the space station. Expedition 25 ended on 26 November.

The Cape Kennedy Medals version has a merrowed edge. 

Expedition 18 was the 18th permanent crew of the International Space Station (ISS). The first two crew members, Michael Fincke, and Yuri Lonchakov were launched on 12 October 2008, aboard Soyuz TMA-13. With them was astronaut Sandra Magnus, who joined the Expedition 18 crew after launching on STS-126 and remained until departing on STS-119 on 25 March 2009. She was replaced by JAXA astronaut Koichi Wakata, who arrived at the ISS on STS-119 on 17 March 2009. Gregory Chamitoff, who joined Expedition 18 after Expedition 17 left the station, ended his stay aboard ISS and returned to Earth with the STS-126 crew.

The Cape Kennedy Medals patch is virtually identical to the official A-B Emblem version.

Expedition 12 (2005) was the 12th expedition to the International Space Station, launched from Kazakhstan using the Russian Soyuz TMA-7 spacecraft. The crew landed back in Kazakhstan on 8 April 2006 with the addition of the first Brazilian astronaut, Marcos Pontes.
American entrepreneur Gregory Olsen was launched in the Soyuz TMA-7 spacecraft and returned with Expedition 11 on Soyuz TMA-6 on 11 October 2005 thereby becoming the third space tourist. 

The Cape Kennedy Medals has a partially merrowed edge.

Expedition 11 (2005) was the 11th expedition to the International Space Station, using the Soyuz TMA-6, which stayed during the expedition for emergency evacuation.
European Space Agency Italian Astronaut Roberto Vittori launched with Expedition 11 on the Soyuz TMA-6 spacecraft and returned 24 April 2005 with Expedition 10 on Soyuz TMA-5.

Padalka and Fincke arrived at the Station on 21 April 2004 aboard the Soyuz TMA-4 spacecraft with European Space Agency (ESA) Astronaut André Kuipers. After more than a week of joint operations and handover activities, Padalka and Fincke officially took command of the Station on 29 April when Expedition 8 Commander Michael Foale and Flight Engineer Alexander Kaleri left the Station. This mission was the site for the Advanced Diagnostic Ultrasound in Microgravity Project.
Expedition 8 and Kuipers returned to Earth that same day aboard the Soyuz TMA-3 spacecraft. Kuipers' 11-day mission to the ISS was part of a commercial agreement between ESA and the Federal Space Agency of Russia.

Expedition 8 Commander and NASA Station Science Officer Michael Foale, Flight Engineer Alexander Kaleri and ESA Astronaut Pedro Duque docked the Soyuz TMA-3 with the International Space Station at 07:15:58 UTC on 20 October 2003. At the time of docking, both spacecraft orbited the Earth above Russia.
Once the Expedition 7 crew undocked, Foale and Kaleri settled down to work, beginning a more than six-month stint focused on Station operations and maintenance.
The new Station crew, along with Duque, launched from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan at 05:38:03 UTC, on 18 October 2003.
Foale and Kaleri departed the station for earth aboard the Soyuz TMA-3 spacecraft on 29 April 2004 along with ESA Astronaut André Kuipers, who had arrived with the Expedition 9 crew aboard Soyuz TMA-4 nine days earlier.

The Cape Kennedy Medals version has a merrowed rather than cut edge. The continents lack a blue border and the ISS embroidery is thinner than the official A-B Emblem version.

Expedition 3 was the third expedition to the International Space Station. Commander Frank Culbertson was the only American crew member, and as such the only American not on Earth during the 11 September terrorist attacks, which the crew photographed and videoed from the ISS.

Virtually identical to the offical A-B Emblem version.

This patch commemorates the first flight of an American female astronaut, Sally Ride 

STS-121 was a 2006 NASA Space Shuttle mission to the International Space Station (ISS) flown by Space Shuttle Discovery. The main purposes of the mission were to test new safety and repair techniques introduced following the Columbia disaster of February 2003 as well as to deliver supplies, equipment and European Space Agency (ESA) astronaut Thomas Reiter from Germany to the ISS.

STS-121 was also designated the ISS Assembly Mission ULF 1.1. As the mission followed on from STS-114 in carrying out the recommendations made in response to the Columbia Accident Investigation Board report, it was considered a Return to Flight test mission. Its successful launch and landing led NASA to fully resume regular Space Shuttle launches in the construction of the ISS.

This is a secondary type of Apollo 17 patch identified in Cape Kennedy Medals packaging. Still trying to locate a patch photo. 

Cape Kennedy Medals, cloth back

This is a quality reproduction of the Gemini 4 patch. Possibly by Cape Kennedy Medals as part of a 4" set. 

This Skylab II patch is possibly part of a set of modern reproduction Skylab and Apollo patches produced by Cape Kennedy Medals.

This Apollo-Soyuz Test Project patch is possibly part of a set of modern reproduction Apollo patches produced by Cape Kennedy Medals. It appears to be identical to the A-B Emblem version, however minute, subtle differences can be found. The gold stars appear to be sewn on top of the red field rather than being holes in the red field as in the A-B Emblem version.

Found in auctions adjacent to other Cape Kennedy Medal Apollo patches.

This Apollo 16 patch is part of a set of modern reproduction Apollo patches produced by Cape Kennedy Medals. 

This Apollo 14 patch is part of a set of modern reproduction Apollo patches produced by Cape Kennedy Medals. 

This Apollo 13 patch is part of a set of modern reproduction Apollo patches produced by Cape Kennedy Medals. This patch is one of two versions of the Apollo 13 patch issued by Cape Kennedy Medals around the same time.

This Apollo 12 patch is part of a set of modern reproduction Apollo patches produced by Cape Kennedy Medals.

This Apollo 11 patch is part of a set of modern reproduction Apollo patches produced by Cape Kennedy Medals. This is one version of apparently two different Apollo 11 patches produced by Cape Kennedy Medals around the same time.

This Apollo 10 patch is part of a set of modern reproduction Apollo patches produced by Cape Kennedy Medals. 

This Apollo 1 patch is part of a set of modern reproduction Apollo patches produced by Cape Kennedy Medals. 

This is one of two different versions of the Apollo 1 Cape Kennedy Medals patch produced around this time. This version has a shaded LM/CM and the moon is in gray rather than blue and yellow.

This Apollo 8 patch is part of a set of modern reproduction Apollo patches produced by Cape Kennedy Medals.  It is distinct in the use of non-serifed fonts in the crew member names.

This Apollo 7 patch is part of a set of modern reproduction Apollo patches produced by Cape Kennedy Medals. 

This Apollo 1 patch is part of a set of modern reproduction Apollo patches produced by Cape Kennedy Medals. 

This is one of two different versions produced around the same time for Cape Kennedy Medals.

Vintage issue Apollo 17 patch. This patch is distinct in the extra stars and galaxies that cover the background. There is a very similar 3" version, suspected to be a Cape Kennedy Medals release.

STS-125, or HST-SM4 (Hubble Space Telescope Servicing Mission 4), was the fifth and final space shuttle servicing mission to the Hubble Space Telescope (HST). Launch occurred on 11 May 2009 at 2:01 pm EDT. Landing occurred on 24 May at 11:39 am EDT, with the mission lasting a total of just under 13 days.
Space Shuttle Atlantis carried two new instruments to the Hubble Space Telescope, the Cosmic Origins Spectrograph and the Wide Field Camera 3. The mission also replaced a Fine Guidance Sensor, six gyroscopes, and two battery unit modules to allow the telescope to continue to function at least through 2014. The crew also installed new thermal blanket insulating panels to provide improved thermal protection, and a soft-capture mechanism that would aid in the safe de-orbiting of the telescope by an unmanned spacecraft at the end of its operational lifespan. The mission also carried an IMAX camera and the crew documented the progress of the mission for an upcoming IMAX movie.

This version has a thinner border around the solar panels of the HST and black for the panels themselves.

STS-121 was a 2006 NASA Space Shuttle mission to the International Space Station (ISS) flown by Space Shuttle Discovery. The main purposes of the mission were to test new safety and repair techniques introduced following the Columbia disaster of February 2003 as well as to deliver supplies, equipment and European Space Agency (ESA) astronaut Thomas Reiter from Germany to the ISS.

STS-121 was also designated the ISS Assembly Mission ULF 1.1. As the mission followed on from STS-114 in carrying out the recommendations made in response to the Columbia Accident Investigation Board report, it was considered a Return to Flight test mission. Its successful launch and landing led NASA to fully resume regular Space Shuttle launches in the construction of the ISS.

There were several crew changes made along the way for STS-121. This version has Volkov instead of Reiter. Thomas Reiter's position was previously planned to be filled by Sergey Volkov (Russia) before the launch of STS-121 was postponed until July 2006.

This is a modern reproduction patch with a curious cracked lunar surface and distinct feather hints on the eagle. Vacuum-sealed back.

This Apollo 11 patch is part of a set of modern reproduction Apollo patches produced by Cape Kennedy Medals. This is one version of apparently two different Apollo 11 patches produced by Cape Kennedy Medals around the same time. This one is of poorer detail.