Country of Origin: Unknown
2-D - Unframed (H x W): 10.2cm (4 in. dia.)
This STS-26 patch belonged to NASA astronaut David Brown, a mission specialist who flew in space for the first time as a member of the crew of STS-107, the Space Shuttle Columbia mission that disintegrated upon reentry on February 1, 2003. Aboard STS-107, Brown logged 15 days, 22 hours, and 20 minutes in space. Although this patch was never flown in space, it was a personal memento of Brown's.
STS-26, which launched on September 29, 1988, was the first shuttle mission to fly after the loss of the Space Shuttle Challenger in January 1986. The presence in Dave Brown's possessions of ten sequential mission patches, beginning with STS-26, may indicates that Brown started following the NASA space program more closely in 1988 after this return to flight mission. A flight surgeon and a naval aviator, Brown was selected by NASA as an astronaut candidate in April 1996.
Doug Brown, Dave Brown's brother, gave the patch to the Museum in 2006.
Gift of Douglas R. Brown.