STS-3
As with the other early Shuttle flights, during the launch of the STS-3 mission the crew wore USAF high-altitude escape suits with an embroidered mission patch attached.
The set of patches worn by Jack Lousma on the STS-3 flight was sold at auction[1], allowing us to see the detail of the mission patch he wore. Since this patch differs from the standard AB Emblem patch it is described below as a possible Crew Patch
In addition to the patch worn by the crew, there is also an Initialed STS-3 Crew Patch. This was manufactured in a limited run by AB Emblem explicitly for the crew.
The Crew Patches
STS-3 Crew Patch
In general, the Shuttle crews are believed to have worn the standard AB Emblem mission patches
on their flight suits but the patch above is not the standard AB Emblem STS-3 patch.
The most obvious difference is the merrowed edge, whilst the standard AB version of the patch
had a stitched border and cut edge.
This patch looks quite similar to the Swissartex patch but the 'Crew' patch has
an inner set of lighter yellow flames
to the immediate left and right of the Shuttle which is absent from other non-Crew versions, and
the Canadarm seems to attach to the rear part of the cargo bay door on this patch.
It is not known how common this version of the patch is.
STS-3 Initialed Crew Patch
Following on from the crews of Apollo 17 and the Apollo-Soyuz Test Project, the STS-3 crew of Jack Lousma and C. Gordon Fullerton
had AB Emblem create a limited run of oversize mission patches for them which included the first and middle initials of the crew (
"JR" and
"CG")
emboidered in the background of the designs.
A small number of these initialed crew patches (25 "JR" and 14 "CG"), most likely from a production overrun, appeared on the market
in 2006/7. Apart from resales of these examples the supply is extremely scarce.
Other Embroidered Mission Patches
A-B Emblem patch
The regular commercial AB Emblem patch is the one most commonly seen, and is easily recognisable by the cut border.
Lion Brothers patch
The Lion Brothers patch has a merrowed edge, unlike the cut edge of the AB patch. The reverse has a bare cloth back without a plastic or wax coating. The Lion Brothers patch can be readily identified by the pale blue nose of the orbiter, the four colors of flames, and the short outer points of the flames which don't reach the outer border.
AB Emblem variant 2 patch [STS3ABV2]
This patch appears to be a variant of the AB Emblem patch. It has the pale yellow inner flames around the Shuttle which are characteristic of the crew patch but it has a cut edge and the Canadarm attachment area is more accurately rendered than that of the crew version.
Swissartex patch circa 1982
This distinctive bare cloth backed patch has recently been identified by Kevin Randall as the earliest
Swissartex design, produced around the time of the mission itself in 1982. It can be readily identified by the
black twill backing cloth and the dark reddish coloration of the outer flame spikes.
By around 1983 Swissartex had changed production methods and begun producing the coated-back version shown below.
STS-3 unknown manufacturer patch [STS3UNK2]
This patch from an unknown manufacturer has a distinctive color scheme with the outer area of flames in orange thread and the inner areas in red. It also has a bare cloth back with no plastic or wax coating.
Swissartex patch circa 1983 onwards
Originally thought to be the oldest Swissartex STS-3 mission patch, this design was actually introduced around 1983
when the company switched production methods to produce coated backed patches. Since it was produced
only a year after the mission this can still be considered a vintage patch.
This design of the Swissartex STS-3 mission patch is pretty similar to the 'crew' patch identified above
but lacks the light yellow inner flames and has the base of the Canadarm connected to the cargo bay.
STS-3 Initialed Crew Patch replica
This is a modern replica of the initialed crew patch.
AB Emblem 'hybrid' patch
This patch was listed on eBay with a number of Shuttle-era sample patches. It appears to be standard AB Emblem design (with no inner pale yellow flames) but with the merrowed edge of the 'crew' version applied over the standard version's stitched border and cut edge. This has left this 'hybrid' design with a distinctive inner border of paler blue thread exposed within the outer merrowed edge.
Footnotes
[1] Flown STS-3 mission patches:
Jack Lousma's actual flown suit patches were sold as lot 40203
of the Heritage Space Auction on Nov 30, 2011, for $6,000.
Lousma's flown mission patch from his in-flight coveralls sold as Heritage Space Auction lot 50229 Nov 10, 2017 sold at $2188
[2] Example sales of STS-3 crew patches:
eBay item no. 150216366917 Feb 22, 2008, sold at $18.02 (with other patches)
eBay item no. 160693797913 Mar 28, 2012, sold at $75 [in batch of patches with STS-4 'crew' patch too]
eBay item no. 170812680036 Apr 1, 2012, sold at $203.50
eBay item no. 180855458027 Apr 2, 2012, sold at $201 [2nd chance of above auction]
eBay item no. 220992001475 Apr 8, 2012, sold at $179.50 [on contribution presentation card]
Direct private sales via AstroGallery web site Jun-Aug 2012 at $99 [several examples from Al Bishop collection]
eBay item no. 180962583670 Sep 4, 2012, sold at $216.17
eBay item no. 321017808482 Nov 9, 2012, sold at $92.52
eBay item no. 321020075743 Nov 15, 2012, sold at $78
eBay item no. 321027515328 Nov 25, 2012, sold at $49.99
eBay item no. 140901623064 Jan 6, 2013, sold at $56
eBay item no. 181112127481 Apr 1, 2013, sold at $89.99
eBay item no. 130912091828 May 26, 2013, sold at $78.59
eBay item no. 390600426688 May 30, 2013, sold at $26.99
eBay item no. 130934875787 Jun 30, 2013, sold at $77
eBay item no. 181260155790 Nov 15, 2013, sold at $39.99
eBay item no. 251491874679 Mar 31, 2014, sold at $79 [buy-it-now]
eBay item no. 181415361890 May 22, 2014, sold at $79.99
eBay item no. 121499343721 Dec 6, 2014, sold at $12.45
eBay item no. 121548261020 Jan 21, 2015, sold at $69.95
eBay item no. 281592329911 Feb 13, 2015, sold at $32.40
eBay item no. 281599410393 Feb 17, 2015, sold at $34.99
eBay item no. 281602541191 Feb 22, 2015, sold at $20.93
eBay item no. 331486770491 Feb 22, 2015, sold at $9.99 [buy-it-now]
eBay item no. 281638117892 Mar 27, 2015, sold at $6.49
eBay item no. 281794830363 Sep 9, 2015, sold at $33.49
eBay item no. 262655108124 Oct 3, 2016, sold at $35.00
eBay item no. 132102601417 Feb 27, 2017, sold at $16.01 (with other patches)
Space Walk Hall of Fame Charity Auction lot no. 221 Jun 17, 2017 sold as part of crew patch collection (STS-1, 3 & 4)
eBay item no. 122823896901 Nov 22, 2017, sold at $25
eBay item no. 292390572965 Dec 31, 2017, sold at $5.26 (with STS-1 & STS-4 crew patches)
eBay item no. 401476403402 Jan 25, 2018, sold at $34.95
eBay item no. 122957106152 Feb 15, 2018, sold at $49.95 (with flown material coin)
eBay item no. 372227278084 Feb 25, 2018, sold at $24.99
eBay item no. 362239159357 Mar 10, 2018, sold at $34.95
eBay item no. 332635110088 May 5, 2018, sold at $10.50 (with Fullerton ISP)
eBay item no. 253864324116 Sep 11, 2018, sold at $7.00
eBay item no. 283183812626 Sep 27, 2018, sold at $4.49
eBay item no. 254521449359 Feb 23, 2020, sold at $11.99
eBay item no. 303647901141 Aug 13, 2020, sold at $132.12 with STS-1 and STS-4 crew patches
[3] Example sales of STS-3 initialed crew patches:
eBay item no. 180166843093 Oct 12, 2007 sold at $36.00 [JR]
eBay item no. 180176361651 Nov 10 2007 sold at $41.51 [JR]
eBay item no. 320309394702 Oct 9 2008 $24.99 (Buy It Now) [CG]
eBay item no. 360055431750 May 31 2008 sold at $110.51 [JR]
eBay item no. 400011736600 Nov 30 2008 sold at $36.12 [JR]
eBay item no. 120428090404 Jun 4, 2009, sold at $128.49 [JR]
eBay item no. 120428089706 Jun 4, 2009, sold at $215.49 [CG]
eBay item no. 360199252354 Oct 24 2009 sold at $99.00 [JR]
eBay item no. 360199252664 Oct 24 2009 $153.76. [CG]
Lunar Legacies item no. P3010 Jan 13 2010 sold at $125.00 [JR]
eBay item no. 180787247518 Jan 4, 2012, sold at $128.01 [JR]
eBay item no. 180789400858 Jan 7, 2012, sold at $164.29 [CG]
eBay item no. 132082750947 Jan 17, 2012, sold at $158.49 [JR]
eBay item no. 111249809837 Jan 9, 2014, sold at $150 [JR]
eBay item no. 181430462065 Jun 8, 2014, sold at $145 [JR]
eBay item no. 181549753976 Oct 11, 2014, sold at $149.99 [JR]
eBay item no. 181549756979 Oct 11, 2014, sold at $149.99 [CG]
Lunar Legacies auction lot 570 Jul 25, 2015 sold at $238 [JR, from his collection
Lunar Legacies Space Auction lot no. 486 Mar 12, 2016 sold at $190.40 [JR, from his collection]
Space Walk Hall of Fame Charity Auction lot no. 118 Apr 2, 2016 sold at $250 [JR, from his collection]
Space Walk Hall of Fame Charity Auction lot no. 232 Oct 289, 2016 sold at $180 [JR, from his collection]
Lunar Legacies Space Auction lot no. 598 Mar 11, 2017 sold at $297.50 [JR, from his collection]
Lunar Legacies Space Auction lot 455A Jul 15, 2017 sold at $190.40 [JR, from his collection]
eBay item no. 362156107656 Nov 12, 2017, sold at $150 [JR]
eBay item no. 122803613375 Nov 12, 2017, sold at $150 [CG]
Lunar Legacies Space Auction lot 455A Oct 13, 2018 sold at $146.40 [JR, from his collection]
eBay item no. 353175772904 Aug 23, 2020, sold at $150- (unknown offer accepted) [JR]
American Space Museum & Space Walk of Fame auction lot 250 Apr 10, 2021 [JL] UNSOLD
American Space Museum Auction lot 293 Jul 23, 2023 sold at $210
eBay item no. 126999044593 Mar 22, 2025 sold at $202.50
[4] Example sales of STS-3 AB Emblem variant 2 patch [STS3ABV2] patches:
eBay item no. 271469736874 May 5, 2014, sold at $173.60 (with numerous other patches)
eBay item no. 181625571249 Jun 27, 2014, sold at $79
[5] Example sales of STS-3 Swissartex oldest [previously STS3UNK1] patches:
eBay item no. 261016053594 May 9, 2012, sold at $71 [listed as Crew Patch]