sts-63

The Orbital Debris Radar Calibration Spheres (ODERACS) spaceflight experiments were designed to provide small, low earth orbiting (LEO) calibration targets for the ground-based radar and optical systems used for orbital debris measurements. The primary objective was to calibrate the Haystack Long Range Imaging Radar (LRIR) and validate the JSC Orbital Debris Analysis System (ODAS). These measurements and resulting data processing were a complete success.

STS-63 was the second mission of the US/Russian Shuttle-Mir Program, which carried out the first rendezvous of the American Space Shuttle with Russia's space station Mir. Known as the 'Near-Mir' mission, the flight used Space Shuttle Discovery, which lifted off from launch pad 39B on 3 February 1995 from Kennedy Space Center, Florida. A night launch and the 20th mission for Discovery, it marked the first time a Space Shuttle mission had a female pilot, Eileen Collins, and carried out the successful deployment and retrieval of the Spartan-204 platform, along with the scheduled rendezvous and flyaround of Mir, in preparation for STS-71, the first mission to dock with Mir.

This version of the STS-63 patch was made prior to Janice Voss' name change after her divorce. Rumor has it that this was produced by A-B Emblem, however, A-B Emblem denies making such a patch and closer examination confirms that this wasn't their production. The actual source of these patches is unknown, nor are the quantities, though based on the frequency of which they appear for sale or auction, they fall under the "rare" category. 

STS-63 was the second mission of the US/Russian Shuttle-Mir Program, which carried out the first rendezvous of the American Space Shuttle with Russia's space station Mir. Known as the 'Near-Mir' mission, the flight used Space Shuttle Discovery, which lifted off from launch pad 39B on 3 February 1995 from Kennedy Space Center, Florida. A night launch and the 20th mission for Discovery, it marked the first time a Space Shuttle mission had a female pilot, Eileen Collins, and carried out the successful deployment and retrieval of the Spartan-204 platform, along with the scheduled rendezvous and flyaround of Mir, in preparation for STS-71, the first mission to dock with Mir.

STS-63 was the second mission of the US/Russian Shuttle-Mir Program, which carried out the first rendezvous of the American Space Shuttle with Russia's space station Mir. Known as the 'Near-Mir' mission, the flight used Space Shuttle Discovery, which lifted off from launch pad 39B on 3 February 1995 from Kennedy Space Center, Florida. A night launch and the 20th mission for Discovery, it marked the first time a Space Shuttle mission had a female pilot, Eileen Collins, and carried out the successful deployment and retrieval of the Spartan-204 platform, along with the scheduled rendezvous and flyaround of Mir, in preparation for STS-71, the first mission to dock with Mir.

This version was sold on eBay from a vendor in Russia. The patch has a cut edge which lends a distinct appearance to the boxes around the flags.

STS-63 was the second mission of the US/Russian Shuttle-Mir Program, which carried out the first rendezvous of the American Space Shuttle with Russia's space station Mir. Known as the 'Near-Mir' mission, the flight used Space Shuttle Discovery, which lifted off from launch pad 39B on 3 February 1995 from Kennedy Space Center, Florida. A night launch and the 20th mission for Discovery, it marked the first time a Space Shuttle mission had a female pilot, Eileen Collins, and carried out the successful deployment and retrieval of the Spartan-204 platform, along with the scheduled rendezvous and flyaround of Mir, in preparation for STS-71, the first mission to dock with Mir.

STS-63 was the second mission of the US/Russian Shuttle-Mir Program, which carried out the first rendezvous of the American Space Shuttle with Russia's space station Mir. Known as the 'Near-Mir' mission, the flight used Space Shuttle Discovery, which lifted off from launch pad 39B on 3 February 1995 from Kennedy Space Center, Florida. A night launch and the 20th mission for Discovery, it marked the first time a Space Shuttle mission had a female pilot, Eileen Collins, and carried out the successful deployment and retrieval of the Spartan-204 platform, along with the scheduled rendezvous and flyaround of Mir, in preparation for STS-71, the first mission to dock with Mir.

This experiment was launched aboard Endeavour (STS 57) in June 1993. Once returned, it was modified and refitted for successful reflight aboard Discovery (STS-60) in February 1994. For STS-63 (Discovery) we replaced the Canadian Float Zone furnace in only 57 days. This fact has received several commendations. ECLiPSE-03 was successfully reflown on STS-63 in February 1995.

Spartan 204 was the fifth flight of the Spartan Project's reusable carrier which flew on STS-63 in February of 1995. Spartan 204 carried a science instrument called the Far Ultraviolet Imaging Spectrograph, or FUVIS, provided by the Naval Research Laboratory (NRL) and sponsored by the DoD Space Test Program.