Mission Patch Art & Design Competition
Mission patches have been part of human spaceflight since the days of Project Mercury in the 1960s. The SSEP Mission Patch competition allows communities to engage in another authentic aspect of the space program, and broadens SSEP to be more appropriately designated as a STEAM education initiative – Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, and Mathematics.
Once the winning Mission Patch is chosen, we will then fly that Mission Patch in space as part of the payload containing your experiment, and it will be returned to you embossed with a certification stating that it flew in space. On return to Earth, it’s worth noting that your Mission Patch has traveled 400,000 miles each day aboard the International Space Station, as ISS orbited the Earth at an altitude of 260 miles – 47 times higher than Mt. Everest.
REQUIREMENTS
- A Mission Patch must be a piece of paper no larger than 3.5 in. x 3.5 in.
- In order to fly, your design must be created on paper - not card stock or cardboard. Patches submitted on card stock or cardboard will be (and have been) rejected.
- Its design should reflect pride in your community and your participation in the SSEP.
- There is no restriction on inks to be used.
- A Mission Patch can be black and white or full color.
- A Mission Patch cannot include multiple layers of paper glued or taped on top of one another.
- We require a JPG image of each Mission Patch flying so we can display it on the SSEP website.
Below are Mission Patches that have flown in space. Click on on a Mission Patch to see a larger view.
TIMELINE
FRIDAY, OCTOBER 7, 2022
- Deadline for Community’s first draft of a One- or Two-Patch Plan to be received by NCESSE via email, by 5:00 PM Eastern Time
- Once received, NCESSE will determine if the Plan includes all needed information, and is consistent with all requirements necessary for a community to fly the Mission Patch. If a Plan is not acceptable, the submitting community will be notified as soon as possible, and have until 5:00 PM ET on October 14, 2022, to submit an approvable Plan.
FRIDAY, OCTOBER 14, 2022
- Deadline for Community’s One- or Two-Patch Plan to be approved by NCESSE, by 5:00 PM ET
FRIDAY, MARCH 3, 2023
- Deadline for NCESSE to receive by 5:00 PM ET:
- 1) Mission Patch to fly to ISS
- 2) JPG images of flight Mission Patch
- 3) A post-completion description of your competition