STS-51-F (also known as Spacelab 2) was the nineteenth flight of NASA's Space Shuttle program, and the eighth flight of Space Shuttle Challenger. It launched from Kennedy Space Center, Florida, on 29 July 1985, and landed just under eight days later on 6 August.
While STS-51-F's primary payload was the Spacelab 2 laboratory module, the payload which received the most publicity was the Carbonated Beverage Dispenser Evaluation, which was an experiment in which both Coca-Cola and Pepsi tried to make their carbonated drinks available to astronauts
The Swissartex patch is a single piece design with lightly rounded corners on the tab.
This STS-51F is one of three different subtle design versions manufactured by Swissartex Emblem Inc. from 1985 to 1991 before they changed their name back to Eagle Crest Emblem Inc. & moved their opperations to Taiwan. All the differences are at the base of the patch were the names 'Acton & Bartoe' are. The one shown in the image above is the first version with a waxy matt plastic coated backing. The other two versions have the shiny vacuum sealed backings. The differences are in the angular & length / area of the extended 'tab' part of the patch. Also one version has a red or pink tint to the vacuum sealed backing.
