The Apollo Program led by NASA saw twelve Americans land on the Moon from 1969 to 1972, paving the way for human exploration of space for decades to come. This patch commemorated this momentous mission as well as reflecting its vision for human exploration.
The image depicting an eagle holding an olive branch symbolized their peaceful landing and fulfilled President John F. Kennedy’s challenge to the nation.
The Apollo Missions
In 1961, NASA initiated their Apollo program in order to transport astronauts safely to and from the Moon. It marked the first time humans left Earth orbit and visited another planet. Six Apollo missions completed this goal and allowed humanity to experience first-hand some of the wonders of our universe. At its height, the Apollo program cost approximately $257 billion in today’s dollars and employed up to 400,000 people at one time; its astronauts brought back 382 kilograms of lunar rocks and core samples back home with them. These studies demonstrated that the Moon formed approximately 4.5 billion years ago and experienced dramatic change at that time. While no longer host life forms, its history offers insight into early Earth development.
The Apollo 15 crew wanted a patch to represent their mission and represented their team, so they turned to designer Emilio Pucci for assistance in making one that captured both. Pucci’s design featured two birds flying close together – representing how closely crew members worked on the flight – with another flying above them, symbolizing when Command Module and Lunar Module deployed the astronauts onto the Moon. Furthermore, Pucci also included Roman numeral ’15’ on it along with lunar surface with craters as a focal point; making it unique among NASA history which did not include names of crew.
Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin and Edwin “Buzz” Aldrin Jr. and Michael Collins of Apollo 11 wanted their patch to reflect a patriotic theme, as well as represent the Moon itself. When approached by artist Riccardo Pucci for ideas regarding this logo and symbol for representations of such symbols he suggested an American eagle landing on the Moon carrying an olive branch with it, symbolizing that these explorers came in peace for all mankind; its starry backdrop represented both crew members and United States alike; further more towards Saturn and beyond, suggesting they might one day reach other planets within their solar system and even further out than this patch can represent.
Neil Armstrong, Jim Lovell, and Jack Swigert wanted to honor President Kennedy’s challenge to land astronauts on the Moon before the end of this decade by commissioning artist Victor Craft to design their emblem, featuring a clipper ship painted in traditional Navy blue and gold colors and featuring an eagle carrying an olive branch in its beak as they headed to fulfill President Kennedy’s request for them to reach it by fulfilling it themselves by coming together on one mission and landing them successfully; these four stars also symbolized Clifton Williams who perished before ever joining their mission crew as they represented both members as well as crew and Clifton Williams who died prior to being part of their crew!