Neil Armstrong's Apollo 11 Quarantine Mission Patch
Neil Armstrong's Apollo 11 Quarantine Mission Patch
This mission patch comes from Neil Armstrong's collection and was generously donated to the National Space Centre by his family. It is one of the rarest types of mission patch and also one of the highest quality productions.This particular patch was one of those made to be worn by the crew and the support staff that resided in quarantine after the Apollo 11 mission. Due to fears that Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin and Michael Collins might bring back pathogens from the Moon, which in turn might infect Earth, all three crew members were placed into quarantine after the flight. Upon their return to Earth the crew put on Biological Isolation Garments, before entering the Mobile Quarantine Facility and eventually ending up at the Lunar Receiving Laboratory isolated from the outside world.
It is unknown precisely which flightsuit this patch was worn on by Neil Armstrong, although it can be ruled out that it was from his Biological Isolation Garment. Pictures showing the crew crossing the deck of the USS Hornet on their way to the Mobile Quarantine Facility appear to reveal only a blank space where the patch should be. The astronauts removed these patches and gave them as spontaneous gifts to the helicopter crew that had recovered them from the Pacific Ocean, after the Apollo Command Module had splashed down. The patches worn in the famous photo of President Nixon addressing the crew in the Mobile Quarantine Facility is of the same design as this one.
All images:
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![Apollo 11 mission patch, worn in quarantine]()
Apollo 11 mission patch, worn in quarantine -
![Apollo 11 mission patch, worn in quarantine - reverse]()
Apollo 11 mission patch, worn in quarantine - reverse -
![The Apollo 11 crew set foot on the USS Hornet in Biological Isolation Garments. The mission patches have been removed, as can be seen from the circular dark patch on the right hand side of their chests - Credit: NASA]()
The Apollo 11 crew set foot on the USS Hornet in Biological Isolation Garments. The mission patches have been removed, as can be seen from the circular dark patch on the right hand side of their chests - Credit: NASA -
![President Nixon addresses the Apollo 11 crew in the Mobile Quarantine Facility. The mission patches that can be seen are of the same design as the one in the National Space Centre's collection - Credit: NASA]()
President Nixon addresses the Apollo 11 crew in the Mobile Quarantine Facility. The mission patches that can be seen are of the same design as the one in the National Space Centre's collection - Credit: NASA
Web resources
More information
Object number
2017-41
Location
Artefact Store
Curator's comments
For an in-depth look at the history of crew patches, take a look at the link to Chris Spain's mission patch website
Has this object been into space?
No
Dimension - Dimension, Value, Measurement unit
Diameter: 10.4cm
Depth: 0.2cm
Material
Cotton
Materials & techniques note
Fully embroidered with merrowed edges.
Fully embroidered patches are those that have no part of the underside left exposed. Instead the whole design is made up of threads, without using the underlying base-layer to make up the background colours.
A merrowed edge is a technique for fixing the outer edge of the patch so that it doesn't fray. Once the patch has been embroidered, overlocked stitches are used that run from the front to the back (the gold outer edge) - essentially sealing the edge to avoid fraying
Associated Organisation
National Aeronautics and Space Administration
Associated event
Apollo 11
Associated Person
Neil Armstrong
Buzz Aldrin
Michael Collins
Associated Place
Houston
Johnson Space Center
Lunar Receiving Laboratory (LRL)
United States
Object Production Date
1969
Object Production Organisation
Texas Art Embroidery
Object Production Place
Texas
Houston
United States
Credit Line
Neil Armstrong's quarantine mission patch was generously donated by his family to the National Space Centre
On Display Status
In storage
Copyright and Photos
Photography is shared via the license below.
However, some objects on this website are on loan to the National Space Centre and are being shared through the permission of their owners.
Commercial use of images from this website is not allowed without additional permissions being granted. To request permission to use images for purposes not covered in the license below, please contact [email protected]
Individual objects on loan to the National Space Centre may have additional copyright permissions, so advice should always be sought before use.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.
