‘Not that into peace doves’: The Apollo-Soyuz patch NASA rejected

Summary

Paul Calle's July 1975 cartoon poking fun at his own rejected mission patch for the joint Apollo-Soyuz Test Project. Credit: Calle Space Art Rejects and revivals Calle's patch design was not the only one ruled out by NASA's officials. At first, Stafford, Brand, and Slayton chose a design from a contest among the US space program's workforce. The winner, Jean Pinataro of North American Rockwell (the prime contractor for the Apollo command module), came up with a concept that the astronauts liked, but the agency's leaders rejected it for not having enough "international significance" (unofficially, it was also said to be "cartoonish"). That led to NASA accepting the cost of hiring an artist from the NASA art program and Calle being invited to offer his ideas. It also resulted in the patch that flew. When Calle stepped away, the decision was made to repurpose the work of Bob McCall, an artist who had designed the Apollo 17 mission patch and in 1974 had painted the scene of the Apollo and Soyuz spacecraft nearing a docking. McCall would go on to create similar art for a pair of postage stamps issued in the United States and the Soviet Union, while Pinataro adapted McCall's original painting as the central image of the US ASTP emblem. The cosmonauts had their own design—in fact, it was the first Russian mission patch to involve the crew's input—but wore both their own and the US patch during their six days in space. Apollo-Soyuz Test Project (ASTP) patches, from top left to right: 2021 embroidered replica of Jean Pinataro's original design; the Soviet Soyuz 18 crew patch; the Apollo-Soyuz Test Project crew patch; souvenir ASTP program patch; and ASTP program patch. Credit: AB Emblem/Roscosmos/collectSPACE.com Today, 50 years later, the McCall-inspired design, the cosmonauts' patch, and the Apollo-Soyuz program insignia are used interchangeably to represent the mission. Calle's designs have been largely forgotten but are now getting a revival for the golden anniversary. "...