Discovery's on-board souvenir stash (STS-114 Official Flight Kit)

Article index:

2005:

08.02 - Pilot Kelly discusses space souvenirs
07.13 - Discovery's on-board souvenir stash

Pilot Kelly discusses space souvenirs

August 2, 2005

— Taking a short break from their on-orbit work, the crews of STS-114 and ISS Expedition 11 held an in-flight press conference this morning, answering the questions posed to them by Japanese, Russian and U.S. reporters. As part of the event, collectSPACE queried the joint crew about the personal items they carried to space.

Click to enlarge video in a new pop-up window. (NASA TV)

The following is a transcript of the question and answer:

Robert Pearlman with collectSPACE.com: Steve, you said you have your trusty lunch box on board, and Eileen you mentioned bringing your daughter's school class picture. I wonder what other types of items you brought on board to make the station and shuttle more like your home or give it your touch?

Pilot Jim "Vegas" Kelly: I think each of us brought items along with us to make it a little more like home and also to bring stuff for other family members and things like that.

I brought a few special things along with me, things that remind me my kids at home and my wife, and also I have a very good friend from who I got a flag that he flew over Iraq just to remember the troops back down there on Earth that are protecting our freedoms around the globe. So, I like to do things like that so I brought a flag with me that came from the desert.

We brings things like that. I've got a cousin that I brought a firefighting badge along with that I will return to him and his fire department when we are done.

I think all of us brought stuff from high schools, colleges, friends and family just to help us while we go through this and also to remember folks back down on Earth that are working really hard. We have a lot of stuff for folks that worked on the shuttle to get us up here and get us ready to go. Carrying things for folks back in different areas back home that worked really hard, probably a lot harder than we have to be up here. I think each one of us has done something like that to remember the folks back on Earth.

Discovery's on-board souvenir stash

July 13, 2005

— Seven hundred STS-114 crew patches.

Over 2000 state, country and agency flags.

Hundreds of decals, medallions, banners, and lapel pins.

These are just some of the more than 6,000 items that are on-board Space Shuttle Discovery for its 12-day Return To Flight mission to the International Space Station.

Referred to by NASA as the "Official Flight Kit," the stash is formally defined in the Federal Code as "a container, approximately 0.057 cubic meters (2 cubic feet) in size, reserved for carrying official mementos of NASA and other organizations aboard Space Shuttle flights."

In layman's terms, the Official Flight Kit (OFK) acts as the souvenir store for the ultimate trip away from home.

NASA, as well as its payload customers and international partners choose mementos to be flown in the OFK. The crew can also request items on behalf of the organizations that are near and dear to them.

Though the STS-114 OFK manifest, as sourced by NASA, does not specifically identify whom among the crew asked for particular items to fly, its not hard to deduce given their intended recipients.

For example, a gold medallion to be presented post-flight to the University of California, Davis Alumni Association is likely on behalf of Mission Specialist Stephen Robinson. He is a member of the UC Davis Class of '78.

Less obvious might be another of Robinson's choices: a t-shirt belonging to Gryphon Stringed Instruments of Palo Alto. Besides Gryphon's location -- Robinson is the only Californian on the crew -- he is also an avid guitar player (which is what earned Robinson his nickname Stevie-Ray).

From rock-and-roll to just rocks; two pebbles are also in the OFK. The 3 by 1 and 2 by 2 inch stones may have been difficult to connect to a crew member if they didn't both hail from Australia. Intervehicular crew "mate" Andy Thomas was born down under and holds dual citizenship.

The rocks, which are labeled simply with their size, are flying for Curtin and Macquarrie universities.

Like Thomas, Soichi Noguchi can be traced back to his choices by their relation to his home nation. The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency astronaut has at least 10 items in the OFK that will travel home with him when he returns to Earth. Specifically among them are an acorn and a small bag of Japanese Cedar Tree seeds, carried for the local government of his birthplace.

Not all the OFK contents need be so unique. Mission Specialist Charles Camarda selected banners from each of his alma matters. Likewise, Commander Eileen Collins has a silver plaque and patch for the Air Force Academy and Test Center where she served.

Other OFK items are harder to assign to a specific crew member without more information. For example, a flag will be flown on behalf of The Mars Society, a non-profit that promotes exploration of the Red Planet. A jersey will be carried for the San Francisco Giants baseball team. And a polo shirt in on-board for Ron Jon's Surf Shop, the famous beachware store located on the Florida coast.

Besides the crew's items, NASA centers and contractors are accounting for the bulk of the OFK's contents, flying all those patches, pins, decals and flags. After STS-114 lands, NASA will distribute the items flown for others and present its own mementos as employee and VIP awards.

The OFK is not a new concept. Apollo astronauts carried similar packages to the Moon. Every Space Shuttle flight since 1981 has had one aboard. Discovery's most recent prior mission, STS-105 flew 15,000 mementos in its OFK. A single STS-107 patch, believed by some to come from its Kit, was found among Columbia's debris.

The STS-114 astronauts are not permitted to keep any of the items in their Official Flight Kit. Their own souvenirs, and those for their family and friends, are stowed in their Personal Preference Kits (PPKs), the contents of which are not released until a post-flight inventory is completed.

Mementos such as small U.S. flags, embroidered patches and lapel pins will fly on board Discovery as the Official Flight Kit. (cS)

The STS-114 and International Space Station crews gather in the station's Destiny Lab for a joint news conference Tuesday. (NASA)

The STS-114 Official Flight Kit Manifest

The following is the STS-114 Official Flight Kit manifest, as provided by NASA. Inventory numbers that are missing indicate items that were removed prior to launch.

No.	Description	Sponsor/Purpose

1.	600 STS-114 Crew Patches	Agency Presentation

2.	600 Small United States Flags	Agency Presentation

3.	3 Sets U.S. States & Territories Flags	Agency Presentation

4.	3 Sets United Nations Members Flags	Agency Presentation

5.	100 Small Texas Flags 100 Small NASA Flags 5 NASA Lapel Pins 5 NASA Patches 2 Gold Space Station Lapel Pins 5 Texas Lapel Pins 5 U.S.~Japan Friendship Pins 5 U.S.~Italy Friendship Pins 4 Large JSC Medallions 20 Small JSC Medallions	Agency Presentation
6.	Small Flags of the Following States: 20 New York 10 Iowa 10 Colorado 10 Virginia 10 California 10 Florida 10 Texas	Agency Presentation
7.	Small Flags of the Following Countries and Province: 100 Japan 20 Italy 20 Australia 20 South Australia 10 Canada 10 British Columbia	Agency Presentation
8.	Small Military Flags: 20 U.S. Air Force 10 U.S. Navy 10 U.S. Marine Corps 10 U.S. Army 10 U.S. Coast Guard	Agency Presentation
9.	10 Small United States Flags 10 Small Alabama State Flags	Marshall Space Flight Center Presentation
10.	2 Small United States Flags 10 Brass KSC Etchings	Kennedy Space Center Presentation
11.	10 Small Louisiana State Flags 10 Small Mississippi State Flags 5 Small NASA Flags 5 Small United States Flags	Stennis Space Center Presentation
12.	15 SR&QA Patches	Johnson Space Center Presentation

13.	150 Silver Snoopy Pins 300 Small Discovery Flags 200 Small ISS Flags 100 Small U.S. Flags 2 Metal Ingots	Space Flight Awareness Presentation
14.	10 STS-114 Crew Patches 35 Small United States Flags 10 Payload Patches (MISSE-5) 10 DoD Space Test Program Patches 1 Florida Air National Guard Coin	USAF/DoD Presentation
15.	25 CenterOps Embroidered Patches	Johnson Space Center Presentation

16.	50 EVA Embroidered Patches	Johnson Space Center Presentation

17.	Small Replica Wright Flyer	Agency Presentation

18.	25 Mission Operations Patches	Agency Presentation

19.	Baseball Jersey Ball Cap Baseball	Agency Presentation
20.	"Challenge" Coin (Medallion)	Agency Presentation

22.	School Banner	Agency Presentation

23.	100 Small Wood Plank Pieces	Agency Presentation

Items 24 through 100 are manifested at the request of the STS-114 crewmembers.

24.	Class Patch	Air Force Ram Class of 2003, Brooks AFB, TX

25.	Museum Patch	National Soaring Museum, Elmira, NY

26.	Troop Medallion	Boy Scout Troop 28, Orlando, FL

27.	Society Flag	The Mars Society, Indian Hills, CA

28.	University Mouse Pad	South Miami Senior High, Miami, FL

29.	Patch	Order of the Arrow, BSA, Tipisa Lodge, FL

30.	Flag (3'x5')	Make A Wish Japan, Tokyo, Japan

31.	"Women in Aviation" Compact Disk	Aviation Archives, Santa Clara, CA

32.	Flag (3'x5')	Japan Association of Athletes, Tokyo, Japan

33.	Flag (3'x5")	Texas A&M University, Galveston, TX

34.	Laboratory Flag (5"x7")	Neutral Buoyancy Lab, Houston, TX

35.	Banner (3'x5')	Discovery School, Colorado Springs, CO

36.	Silver Plaque (4"x6")	Air Force Academy, Colorado Springs, CO

37.	Silver STS-114 Medallion	University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa, AL

38.	Squadron Patch	Air Force Flight Test Center, Edwards, CA

39.	Flag (3'x5')	Space Command, Peterson AFB, CO

40.	Shield (3'x5')	Phoenix Fire Department, Phoenix, AZ

41.	Squadron Patch	11 Fighter Squadron, Houston, TX

42.	Swim Cap	Clear Brook High School, Houston, TX

43.	Flag (3'x5')	Westbrook Intermediate, Houston, TX

44.	Small Bag of Japanese Cedar Tree Seeds	Kanagawa Prefecture, Yokohama, Japan

45.	Acorn	Yokohama City, Japan

46.	Digital Video Disk	Chigasaki City, Yokohama, Japan

47.	Flag (3'x5')	Chigasaki High School, Yokohama, Japan

48.	Compact Disk	Ikaruga Elementary School, Hyogo, Japan

49.	Flag (3'x5')	Scout Association of Japan, Tokyo, Japan

50.	Flag (3'x5')	Ishikawajima-Harima Heavy Ind., Japan

51.	Flag (5'x7')	University of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan

52.	Flag (3'x5')	2005 World Expo, Aichi, Japan

53.	Manuscript Paper (12"x15")	Iwate Prefecture, Iwate, Japan

54.	Museum Lapel Pin	Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, Cleveland, OH

55.	Baseball Cap	New York City Police Dept., NYC, NY

56.	Gold Medallion	University of California Alumni, Davis, CA

57.	Air Force Test Squadron Sweatshirt	Canadian Air Force, Vancouver, Canada

58.	Sheriff's Badge	Sacramento Sheriff's Department, CA

59.	Pennant	Stanford University, Stanford, CA

60.	T-Shirt	Gryphon Stringed Instruments, Palo Alto, CA

61.	Flag Lapel Pin	Japanese Space Agency, Tokyo, Japan

62.	T-38 Patch	Aircraft Ops, JSC, Houston, TX

63.	Flag (3'x5')	Experimental Aircraft Assoc., Oshkosh, WI

64.	Rock (3"x1")	Curtin University, Western Australia

65.	Star Chart	Scitech, West Australia

66.	Banner	Institute of Engineers, Australia

67.	Rock (2"x2"x4")	ACA, Macquarrie University, Australia

68.	Flag (2'x4')	RAAF Edinburgh AFB, Adelaide, South Australia

69.	Badge	South Australia Police Dept., South Australia

70.	Flag	Tandanya Aboriginal Center, South Australia

71.	Badge	Adelaide City Council, South Australia

72.	South Australia Map	Office of Premier, South Australia

73.	Cloth Wings	Australian Government, Canberra, Australia

74.	Command Flag (3'x5')	Naval Network and Space Ops, Dahlgren, VA

75.	Air Force ROTC Detachment 157 Patch	Embry Riddle Aeronautics Univ., Daytona Beach, FL

76.	Medallion	Office of Space Launch, NRO, Chantilly, VA

77.	Medal	Lane County ESD, Eugene, OR

78.	Hovercraft Patch	Crow High School, Eugene, OR

79.	Patch	NAS Whiting Field, Milton, FL

80.	Patch	NAS Whiting Field Starbase Atlantis, Milton, FL

81.	Unit Patch	Strategic Communications, Tinkler AFB, OK

82.	Patch	Air Force Space Command, Patrick AFB, FL

83.	Banner	Virginia Polytechnic Inst., Blacksburg, VA

84.	Banner	Polytechnic Inst. of New York, Troy, NY

85.	Banner	George Washington Univ., Washington, DC

86.	Banner	Archbishop Molloy High School, Queens, NY

87.	Banner	California Inst. of Technology, Pasadena, CA

88.	Banner	C-CAT, Houston, TX

89.	Jersey	San Francisco Giants, San Francisco, CA

90.	Polo Shirt	Ron Jon Surf Shop, Cocoa Beach, FL

91.	Banner	Southern Research Inst., Birmingham, AL

92.	Banner	Georgia Tech University, Atlanta, GA

93.	Gold Astronaut Pin	Agency Presentation

94.	Gold Astronaut Pin	Agency Presentation

95.	Gold Astronaut Pin	Agency Presentation

96.	Silver Air Force Wings	Agency Presentation

97.	Silver Air Force Wings	Agency Presentation

98.	Gold Astronaut Pin	Agency Presentation

Items 101 through 110 are manifested at the request of the STS-114 payload customers.

101.	100 LF1 Patches 100 LF1 Pins 100 ISS Lapel Pins	LF1 Payload Customer Presentation
102.	100 LMC Decals	Lightweight MPESS Carrier Presentation

103.	250 HRF Decals 9 STP Patches 13 MISSE 5 Patches 25 MISSE 5 Decals 50 Coldbag/Icepac Lapel Pins 100 ISS Research Patches	JSC/OZ Presentation
104.	100 LF1 Pins	LF1 Boeing Presentation

105.	100 STS-114 Patches 100 Bookmarks	Spacehab Presentation
106.	150 MPLM Decals	Marshall Space Flight Center Presentation

107.	100 JAXA STS-114 Patches 100 JAXA STS-114 Pins 100 Small Flags of Japan 100 Small Kibo Flags 100 Small JAXA Flags	Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency Presentation
108.	1 Banner of Italy 1 Banner of Italy with Photograph 1 School Banner 75 ASI Alenia Flags 39 MPLM ASI Pins 4 MPLM Patches 10 MPLM Decals	Italian Space Agency Presentation
109.	300 DTO 848 Decals	Space Shuttle Program Office Presentation

110.	300 Sheets of SSP Bookmarks	Space Shuttle Program Office Presentation