While NASA and SpaceX prepare to launch four people to the International Space Station on Monday from Florida’s Kennedy Space Center, a North Carolina company has done its part for the Crew-6 mission.
There’s one crucial thing every launch needs before leaving the planet — a mission patch. The coaster-sized piece of embroidery adorns the crew’s flight suits, each unique to the mission at hand, and has a decades-long history.
The story of the patch that is sewn into the historical fabric of spaceflight begins in a factory situated in the shadows of North Carolina’s Blue Ridge Mountains, robotic sewing needles rise and plunge at blurring-fast speeds, weaving blue, orange and black thread into a three-and-a-half inch circular patch.
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