sts-113

Expedition 6 was the sixth expedition to the International Space Station. It was the last three-man crew to reside on the station until the arrival of STS-121. The crew performed two spacewalks in support of maintenance and assembly of the International Space Station.

The Station's sixth crew was launched to the Station aboard Space Shuttle Endeavour STS-113 in November 2002. The mission was expected to be a four-month mission that was to end in March 2003 when Atlantis STS-114 was to fly to the Station with the Expedition 7 crew. The Columbia disaster, which occurred during the mission on 1 Feb. 2003, and resulted in the indefinite suspension of shuttle flights, changed plans and the crew stayed on the station until May 2003. They returned to earth on Soyuz TMA-1 and a reduced Expedition 7 crew with just two members was delivered to the ISS on Soyuz TMA-2. The Space Shuttle was expected to be grounded for up to two years. Ongoing logistical support for the ISS would have to be carried out by Soyuz and Progress flights until the Space Shuttle returned to flight.

Originally scheduled to fly on the Expedition 6 Crew in place of Don Pettit was Donald A. Thomas. A limited number of patches with "Thomas" were issued. 

Expedition 6 was the sixth expedition to the International Space Station. It was the last three-man crew to reside on the station until the arrival of STS-121. The crew performed two spacewalks in support of maintenance and assembly of the International Space Station.

The Station's sixth crew was launched to the Station aboard Space Shuttle Endeavour STS-113 in November 2002. The mission was expected to be a four-month mission that was to end in March 2003 when Atlantis STS-114 was to fly to the Station with the Expedition 7 crew. The Columbia disaster, which occurred during the mission on 1 Feb. 2003, and resulted in the indefinite suspension of shuttle flights, changed plans and the crew stayed on the station until May 2003. They returned to earth on Soyuz TMA-1 and a reduced Expedition 7 crew with just two members was delivered to the ISS on Soyuz TMA-2. The Space Shuttle was expected to be grounded for up to two years. Ongoing logistical support for the ISS would have to be carried out by Soyuz and Progress flights until the Space Shuttle returned to flight.

Originally scheduled to fly on the Expedition 6 Crew in place of Don Pettit was Donald A. Thomas.

STS-113 was a Space Shuttle mission to the International Space Station (ISS) flown by Space Shuttle Endeavour. During the 14-day mission in late 2002, Endeavour and its crew extended the ISS backbone with the P1 truss and exchanged the Expedition 5 and Expedition 6 crews aboard the station. With Commander Jim Wetherbee and Pilot Paul Lockhart at the controls, Endeavour docked with the station on 25 November 2002 to begin seven days of station assembly, spacewalks and crew and equipment transfers. This was Endeavour’s last flight before entering its Orbiter Major Modification period until 2007, and also the last shuttle mission before the Columbia disaster.

This version is easy to spot by the black bordering around the "CXIII" lettering.

STS-113 was a Space Shuttle mission to the International Space Station (ISS) flown by Space Shuttle Endeavour. During the 14-day mission in late 2002, Endeavour and its crew extended the ISS backbone with the P1 truss and exchanged the Expedition 5 and Expedition 6 crews aboard the station. With Commander Jim Wetherbee and Pilot Paul Lockhart at the controls, Endeavour docked with the station on 25 November 2002 to begin seven days of station assembly, spacewalks and crew and equipment transfers. This was Endeavour’s last flight before entering its Orbiter Major Modification period until 2007, and also the last shuttle mission before the Columbia disaster.

STS-113 was a Space Shuttle mission to the International Space Station (ISS) flown by Space Shuttle Endeavour. During the 14-day mission in late 2002, Endeavour and its crew extended the ISS backbone with the P1 truss and exchanged the Expedition 5 and Expedition 6 crews aboard the station. With Commander Jim Wetherbee and Pilot Paul Lockhart at the controls, Endeavour docked with the station on 25 November 2002 to begin seven days of station assembly, spacewalks and crew and equipment transfers. This was Endeavour’s last flight before entering its Orbiter Major Modification period until 2007, and also the last shuttle mission before the Columbia disaster.

Pettit replaced Don Thomas on the crew due to a medical issue. Loria was removed from the flight after he injured his back at home and replace with Lockhart.

The source of this patch is unknown. It differs from the A-B Emblem STS-113 version, most notebly in the red solar panels (A-B Emblem version has raised red border, this version has black) and the embroidery of the star. Other than that it is a faithful reproduction. 

Curiously, there is a complimentary STS-113 original crew version (Thomas/Loria) of this patch from the same maker. 

STS-113 was a Space Shuttle mission to the International Space Station (ISS) flown by Space Shuttle Endeavour. During the 14-day mission in late 2002, Endeavour and its crew extended the ISS backbone with the P1 truss and exchanged the Expedition 5 and Expedition 6 crews aboard the station. With Commander Jim Wetherbee and Pilot Paul Lockhart at the controls, Endeavour docked with the station on 25 November 2002 to begin seven days of station assembly, spacewalks and crew and equipment transfers. This was Endeavour’s last flight before entering its Orbiter Major Modification period until 2007, and also the last shuttle mission before the Columbia disaster.

Pettit replaced Don Thomas on the crew due to a medical issue. Loria was removed from the flight after he injured his back at home and replace with Lockhart.

The source of this patch is unknown. It differs from the A-B Emblem STS-113 version, most notebly in the red solar panels (A-B Emblem version has raised red border, this version has black) and the embroidery of the star. Other than that it is a faithful reproduction. A-B Emblem said that no STS-113 versions with Thomas/Loria were produced. 

Nevertheless, this is a scarce patch to find.

Curiously, there is a complimentary STS-113 revised version (Pettit/Lockhart) of this patch from the same maker.