While Texas was not selected to receive one of NASA's space shuttle orbiters for museum display, we were awarded the high-fidelity mockup, which was removed from Kennedy Space Center to clear the way for space shuttle Atlantis. Known as "Explorer," the mockup will be ferried by barge from KSC to Space Center Houston. To commemorate the occasion, two friends approached us to design an emblem for the NASA Tweetup planned for the event. Since Explorer is viewed by many to be as important in the mission of inspiration as her once-spaceworthy sisters, we used one of the same templates that was applied to the other final transport patches. Three stars to the east of Texas represent the three sisters on the east coast (Discovery, Enterprise and Atlantis), while the single star to the west symbolizes Endeavour. Explorer is represented by the star over Houston.
- Nathan Moeller
