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Max-Q Entertainment
STS-135 "IDIC" Emblem |
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| Production Timeline |
| Summer 2010 |
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| History |
Having lost out on the chance to design the STS-133 emblem due to a rushed effort and the STS-134 design already coming down the pipe, we decided to throw our hat in the ring for the flight that might, or might not happen - STS-135. In the summer of 2010, Chris Gebhardt and I sat down and started hammering out ideas for a design that we hoped could potentially become the official mission emblem of the final space shuttle mission.
A few simple ideas were put forward and looked promising enough, but they all lacked a unifying theme. We wanted something that, instead of making it perfectly known that this was the final flight, would pay tribute to the program and show the goals of STS-135 simultaneously. It was then tha Chris put forward the idea of the "IDIC." I had never been a Star Trek fan, so I had no idea what this meant. When he explained that it stood for "Infinite Diversity in Infinite Combination," I knew exactly where he was headed.
Not only did the famed circle and triangle of the Vulcan philosophy give us the theme we needed, it gave us two distinct geometrical figures to incorporate into the design, which ended up opening a world of possibilities for us. The circle provided the framing for the globe, sunrays and sky that we had wanted to include for the symbolism of the sunset of the program, sunrise of the new era, tribute to the orbiters and the ISS. It also gave us the needed space for the names of the crew and the designation of the ISS assembly designation (ULF7). The triangle gave us a perfect spot for the delta-wing orbiter and her payload.
To bring it home, we included the fiery trail encircling the entire emblem with the name of the orbiter chosen for the flight, as well as the symbol of the astronaut office. We had been looking to pay tribute to the fallen crews of STS-51L and STS-107, and the blank areas to each side of the orbiter provided the perfect locations for this tribute.
When all was said and done with the design, we caught a few interesting items in the patch we hadn't expected or meant to create. The sixteen stars on either side of the orbiter pay tribute to the crews of Challenger and Columbia, including the orbiters themselves; Challenger on the left and Columbia on the right (the righthand group includes the star of David for Ilan Ramon). This configuration shows Challenger's stars on the side of the vehicle on which the issue that led to the accident occurred (the righthand SRB). It is the same for Columbia's stars, as they lie next to the vehicle's left wing. The other unexpected design element came from the coloring - the gray triangle looks like a runway for the orbiter, landing at the end of her career.
With the design complete, it was up to Chris to do his thing. A beautifully-written description (available below the design image) of the design was completed and submitted to the crew via our friend Tim Gagnon the day the announcement was handed down in September 2010. While the design was not selected in the end, we had a wonderful time creating the emblem and even ended up having it created as a real patch for fun. We proved to ourselves that we could do this and promised to push forward, even if we'll never have the chance to create a design for the vehicle that inspired us all - the space shuttle.
- Nathan Moeller
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Emblem Artwork |
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Follow the Emblem |
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STS-135 IDIC emblem inside the space shuttle ("White") Flight Control Room (FCR) at Johnson Space Center in June 2011 |
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All Max-Q and Max-Q-derived images, photos, videos and writings are the property of Max-Q Entertainment. Max-Q
Entertainment is in no way affiliated with any company or agency, be it government or commercial.
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