STS 51-B was the seventeenth flight of NASA's Space Shuttle program, and the seventh flight of Space Shuttle Challenger. The launch of Challenger on 29 April 1985 was delayed by 2 minutes and 18 seconds, due to a launch processing failure. Challenger was initially rolled out to the pad to launch on the STS-51-E mission. The shuttle was rolled back when a timing issue emerged with the TDRS-B satellite. When STS-51-E was canceled, Challenger was remanifested with the STS-51-B payloads. The shuttle landed successfully on 6 May 1985, after a week-long mission.
The Swissartex version of this patch has a radial border area stitching and is a single piece construction.
There are two versions of this STS-51B patch manufactured by Swissartex Emblem Inc. One with a waxy matt plastic coated backing, & the other with a shiny vacuum sealed backing.