Artifact: Space Shuttle Columbia (STS-1) Flown American Flag on Presentation Certificate
Artifact Category: Flag, certificate
Date of use: 12-14 April, 1981
Spacecraft/Launch Systems: Space Shuttle Columbia
Materials: Cloth, paper
Program: Space Transportation System

Dimensions: 21.2 x 27.9 cm. Flag: 10.5 x 14.5 cm.
Flown Status: Flown

Description: A 5.75" x 4.125" cloth U.S. flag that accompanied crewmembers Young and Crippen aboard the maiden voyage of the Space Shuttle program, April 12-14, 1981. It is laid down to a 7" x 11" certificate with two color photos, the mission insignia, and facsimile signatures of Christopher C. Kraft, John Young and Bob Crippen, along with text as follows: "Presented to JERRY T. KILPATRICK. This flag was flown aboard Space Shuttle 'Columbia' (STS-1) April 12 - 14, 1981. It is presented to you in recognition of the significant contribution you made to the success of the mission."

Jerry T. Kilpatrick worked at the NASA Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas.

Besides the Personal Preference Kit (PPK) limited to 2.5 pounds of personal items the astronauts flew for family members and friends, STS-1 also carried an Official Flight Kit (OFK) containing presentation items that NASA, the crew and others would distribute post-flight. OFKs have flown on all subsequent shuttle missions and can be traced back to Apollo flights.

Notable among the STS-1 OFK contents were 10,000 small U.S. flags, which were later given to employees and VIPs. These flags represent the most accessible of STS-1's artifacts today.

Item: Apollo Beta cloth American flag patch

Size: 14 x 20 cm. (flag: 6.5 x 12.1 cm.).

Manufacturer: Owens Corning Fiberglas Corp.

Description: After the fire of Apollo 1 on January 27, 1967, NASA worked with Owens-Corning and DuPont to develop beta cloth, a fireproof cloth of woven fiberglass coated with Teflon, as a replacement for the nylon outer layer of the Apollo/Skylab A7L space suit. This American flag is the rarer-smaller of the patches to find. The larger were also used on the Lunar Rover, whilst this is a patch that might of been applied to the shoulder area of the Apollo Space Suit.

Information source:

http://crewpatches.com/crewpatches_betacloth.shtml