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The Canadian Space Agency has unveiled the personal patch for Joshua Kutryk’s Starliner-1 mission scheduled for early 2025.
The Canadian Space Agency describes the patch as follows.
“Canada’s emblem, the maple leaf, rises over the horizon. This points to his pride in being Canadian, as well as the importance of space for our future shared prosperity as a country. It rests on a light blue background representing the vast sky, which has always captured his imagination. The light and dark greens evoke the Canadian Prairies – his childhood home – and convey his great interest in environmental protection and healthy food production, both on Earth and in space. In the distance, the Rockies jut into the sky, a nod to his love of the great outdoors and to the natural beauty of Canada.”
“In the lower portion is an outline of the first plane to be flown in Canada, the Silver Dart. The two triangles meeting behind it signify the intersection of engineering and operational excellence, alluding to Colonel Kutryk’s career as a test pilot in the Royal Canadian Air Force.”
“In the upper portion is the ISS, the orbiting laboratory where Kutryk will live and work for about six months. While there, he will conduct research that is essential not only for astronauts, but also for people on Earth – helping improve our quality of life and our understanding of human health. The stars represent his immediate family. Lastly, the Moon symbolizes crewed missions to deep space, a new frontier that Canada is preparing to explore.”
Along with this patch, NASA will unveil the official Starliner-1 mission patch prior to the launch.
Prior to Kutryk’s Starliner-1 mission next year, Boeing and NASA will conduct what is expected to be the last test flight of Starliner, the Crew Flight Test. That flight will have a two-person crew consisting of Butch Wilmore, NASA astronaut and mission commander, and Suni Williams, NASA astronaut and mission pilot. NASA said at a recent news conference that “the flight test, currently scheduled to launch early May due to space station scheduling, will transport Wilmore and Williams to the orbiting laboratory for a planned stay of up to two weeks.” Along the way they will test a variety of systems on the spacecraft including free flying.
When Kutryk launches on his mission, it will be for an approximate six month stay on the International Space Station. Travelling with him will be NASA astronauts Scott Tingle and Mike Fincke along with a yet to be announced fourth astronaut.
