long duration exposure facility

NASA's Long Duration Exposure Facility, or LDEF, was a school bus-sized cylindrical space experiment rack that exposed various material samples to outer space for about 5.7 years, completing 32,422 Earth orbits.

It was carried into orbit onboard STS-41C and retrieved by STS-32.

This version of the LDEF patch is more crudely executed than another version.

NASA's Long Duration Exposure Facility (LDEF) was designed to provide long-term data on the space environment and its effects on space systems and operations. It successfully carried science and technology experiments that have revealed a broad and detailed collection of space environmental data. Launched aboard STS-41C, retrieved with STS-32.
This patch has more detail than another version, such as stars and more detail on the LDEF panels.