van hoften

STS-41C was originally numbered STS-13. The crew played with the superstition idea and had this patch made for the crew (and wore it on their flight suits at times). Coincidentally, the shuttle landed on Friday the 13th:

VAN HOFTEN: Oh yes, triskaidekaphobia. In fact, you’ve probably seen the patch that Dick Scobee put together, the black cat patch. It was funny, because somewhere through our program NASA just decided they didn’t want thirteen anymore, and that’s when they invented all these goofy other labels, like we ended up 41-C that no one could ever figure out what that was. So we flew around with our STS-13 patch on, and that was a lot of fun. We ended up landing on Friday the 13th, so that was pretty cool. But no, it was really fun.  - JSC Oral history

This is the Randy Hunt replica version.

  STS-51-I was the 20th mission of NASA's Space Shuttle program and the sixth flight of Space Shuttle Discovery. During the mission, Discovery deployed three communications satellites into orbit. The mission launched from Kennedy Space Center, Florida, on 27 August 1985, and landed at Edwards Air Force Base, California, on 3 September.

I am unsure of the maker of this patch. It appears very similar to the A-B version however, the lettering is thicker. The stitching is exquisite.

STS-51-I was the 20th mission of NASA's Space Shuttle program and the sixth flight of Space Shuttle Discovery. During the mission, Discovery deployed three communications satellites into orbit. The mission launched from Kennedy Space Center, Florida, on 27 August 1985, and landed at Edwards Air Force Base, California, on 3 September.

This is a modern-style embroidered patch, may have a bare cloth back.  Quality is not bad aside from the stitching joinging all letter elements. The bow shock line is very thin.

STS-51-I was the 20th mission of NASA's Space Shuttle program and the sixth flight of Space Shuttle Discovery. During the mission, Discovery deployed three communications satellites into orbit. The mission launched from Kennedy Space Center, Florida, on 27 August 1985, and landed at Edwards Air Force Base, California, on 3 September.

The Swissartex is virtually identical to the A-B Emblem version, however some suble differences exist. The "Y" in Covey is taller than the preceding "E", the stars tend to crowd in to the "NG" in Engle and the stars are ever so slightly larger. 

For this Swissartex STS-51I patch there are two versions manufactured by Swissartex Emblem Inc. A waxy matt plastic coated backing, or a vacuum sealed backing. The modern version of this patch is manufactured by Eagle Crest Emblem Inc. of Taiwan, which has a clear shiny plastic coated backing.

STS-51-I was the 20th mission of NASA's Space Shuttle program and the sixth flight of Space Shuttle Discovery. During the mission, Discovery deployed three communications satellites into orbit. The mission launched from Kennedy Space Center, Florida, on 27 August 1985, and landed at Edwards Air Force Base, California, on 3 September.

STS-41-C was NASA's 11th Space Shuttle mission, and the fifth mission of Space Shuttle Challenger. The launch, which took place on 6 April 1984, was the first direct ascent trajectory for a shuttle mission. STS-41-C was extended one day due to problems capturing the Solar Maximum Mission ("Solar Max") satellite, and the landing on 13 April took place at Edwards Air Force Base instead of at Kennedy Space Center as had been planned. The flight was originally numbered STS-13.

STS-41-C was NASA's 11th Space Shuttle mission, and the fifth mission of Space Shuttle Challenger. The launch, which took place on 6 April 1984, was the first direct ascent trajectory for a shuttle mission. STS-41-C was extended one day due to problems capturing the Solar Maximum Mission ("Solar Max") satellite, and the landing on 13 April took place at Edwards Air Force Base instead of at Kennedy Space Center as had been planned. The flight was originally numbered STS-13.

STS-41-C was NASA's 11th Space Shuttle mission, and the fifth mission of Space Shuttle Challenger. The launch, which took place on 6 April 1984, was the first direct ascent trajectory for a shuttle mission. STS-41-C was extended one day due to problems capturing the Solar Maximum Mission ("Solar Max") satellite, and the landing on 13 April took place at Edwards Air Force Base instead of at Kennedy Space Center as had been planned. The flight was originally numbered STS-13.

STS-41-C was NASA's 11th Space Shuttle mission, and the fifth mission of Space Shuttle Challenger. The launch, which took place on 6 April 1984, was the first direct ascent trajectory for a shuttle mission. STS-41-C was extended one day due to problems capturing the Solar Maximum Mission ("Solar Max") satellite, and the landing on 13 April took place at Edwards Air Force Base instead of at Kennedy Space Center as had been planned. The flight was originally numbered STS-13.

Launched April 6, 1984, landed April 14, 1984. First direct ascent trajectory for Space Shuttle. Using manned maneuvering unit, astronauts replaced altitude control system and coronagraph/polarimeter electronics box in the Solar Max satellite while it remained in orbit. Long Duration Exposure Facility (LDEF) deployed, carrying 57 experiments.