Beta Cloth Patches

Beta cloth is a fire proof material woven from teflon coated glass fibres. It was supplied to NASA by the Owens Corning Corporation for use as the outer layer of the Apollo space suits and in-flight garments worn by the astronauts after the Apollo 1 fire.

In order to reduce the use of flammable materials to a minimum it was logical that the mission patch, NASA insignia, U.S. flag, and name tag used on each space suit and coverall from Apollo 7 onwards would also be produced in beta cloth rather than embroidered cloth. In general these beta cloth patches were never made available commercially and are now sought-after collectibles.

When most people think about the beta cloth patches used by the Apollo astronauts they are probably picturing those used on the outside of the astronauts' white space suits.

As can be seen in the photo on the left of Neil Armstrong prior to the Apollo 11 flight, each Apollo astronaut wore a mission insignia, NASA insignia, US flag and name tag on the chest and shoulder of their space suits (officially Pressure Garment Assemblies or PGAs).

However, another complete set of beta cloth patches was worn on the inflight coverall garments (ICGs) which the astronauts wore in the spacecraft during most of the mission, as shown in the photo below.

The mission patches, NASA insignia patches and US flag patches worn on the ICGs might be hemmed differently to those worn on the pressure suits but they were still the same designs.

However, the name tags used on the pressure suits and in-flight garments were of different designs and were also used in a number of other locations. This is described in more detail in a dedicated section below.

Those deep-pocketed collectors in the market to buy patches actually worn by the astronauts during the missions themselves should be careful to determine exactly which patches they're dealing with and where they were worn.

Another thing often overlooked by collectors is the fact that the majority of beta cloth patches prepared for use on clothing were likely those used on the coveralls of the NASA and contractor technicians who worked in the white room and in the suit-up area at the Cape.

As can be seen in the photo on the left, NASA technicians in the suit-up area and white room usually wore both ission and NASA insignia patches, and contractor technicians often wore a mission insignia beta cloth patch on their coveralls alongside the insignia of their own company.

However, the bulk of the production runs of mission insignia beta cloth patches were always destined to be souvenirs, either used by NASA for presentations, given directly to the astronauts for their personal use, or packaged and prepared to be carried as souvenirs on the flights themselves. These patches were carried flat, sealed in lots of 25 in plastic packages like the one shown on the right.

Although we don't know how many beta cloth patches were flown on each Apollo mission we do know that Jim Lovell carried 450 in his PPK on Apollo 13. Other astronauts may have carried similar numbers, although the weight restrictions on earlier missions may have limited the numbers.

Most beta cloth patches were never made available commercially, which greatly increases their desirability as collectibles. However, Owens Corning did use beta cloth patches in various forms in promotional materials designed to highlight the use of Fiberglas in the space program.

One of the most commonly-seen promotional items is a set of patches accompanied by an information card entitled "Apollo Emblems" which advertized Fiberglas insulation on the reverse.

As shown on the right this set included a US flag beta cloth patch, a "Man On The Moon" commemorative design unique to this set, and an Apollo 11 mission insignia variant without the "APOLLO 11" text and with the background executed in blue ink instead of black.

These sets come up for sale quite frequently, although the patches are often sold individually.

Owens Corning also produced at least three commemorative lucites incorporating beta cloth mission patches which were most likely distributed as promotional items.

• A lucite entitled "Fiberglas was there" featuring an Apollo 8 beta cloth mission emblem.
• A lucite entitled "man's greatest adventure" featuring an Apollo 11 beta cloth mission emblem.

• A lucite enitled "First Motor Vehicle on the Moon" featuring an Apollo 15 beta cloth mission emblem and a small model of the Lunar Rover.

The Apollo 8 lucite must have been distributed in very small numbers as examples are rarely seen for sale. The Apollo 11 lucite appears more frequently, selling for around $120 to $250, and the Apollo 15 lucites are particularly popular with collectors, generally selling for around $200 to $300.

Finally, an Owens Corning framed commemorative presentation was produced in the mid 70s which incorporated trimmed beta cloth insignia from all the Apollo missions, as shown on the right. These presentations sell on eBay for anywhere from $150 to $500.

Overall, apart from the US flag patch none of the beta cloth patch designs used by NASA were ever sold directly to the general public in uncut form.

Despite this, from the number of unflown and uncut beta coth mission patches that appear on the secondary market today it is clear that the production runs of the Apollo beta cloth patches must have been very significant - certainly into the thousands of examples.

Apart from those patches flown on missions, the most valuable beta cloth patches are those that were prepared for use on garments. Very few examples exist in this form, with the few that I've seen to date coming from the collections of former Apollo suit technicians.

When it comes to regular beta cloth patches, examples on full 9" x 9" cloth squares (5½" squares for ASTP) are the most sought-after.

Issues that detract from beta cloth patch values include:

• Misalignment of printed elements - if one or more of the ink colors is signficantly misaligned this will lower the appeal of a patch. This is actually quite common in patches but perhaps this shouldn't be taken too far as it's worth noting that the beta cloth mission patches worn by Armstrong and Aldrin on their Apollo 11 space suits both show significant misalignment.
• Trimmed patches - patches that have been trimmed close to the printed image are generally worth less than those on full-sized cloth squares, with the exception of examples prepared for use on garments.
• Creases - creases are almost impossible to remove from beta cloth, so any creases on a beta cloth patch will definitely have an impact on its value.
• Scrapes - the ink on beta cloth patches can be scraped off fairly easily so damaged patches are not uncommon.
• Soiling - discoloration will obviously affect the appeal of patches, although some careful cleaning may be possible.

Values fetched by individual beta cloth mission patches on eBay over the last few years have varied quite wildly, but as of 2013-2014 a steady supply of patches from several eBay sellers appears to have saturated the market leading to a pretty consistent fall in prices to the point where many patches are being sold in the $29 to $49 range.

Good cleanly-printed examples of the Apollo 11 beta cloth mission patch without creases and on a full 9" x 9" cloth sell for anywhere between $100 and $305.

It is noteworthy that there are several distinct variants of the Apollo 11 beta cloth mission patch.

On the older variant (current at the time of the mission itself) the black outlines of the letters and Earth appear to have been part of the same screen-print stencil as the black concentric circles of the outer border.

When this stencil is misaligned with that used for the dark fill of the background - something that is very common - it leaves a sort of 3D effect on the lettering and adds a rim of sorts one one side of the Earth. This can be seen on the example shown above and indeed on the patches used on the crew's PGA suits.

On a later variant of the patch (shown on the right) this problem is not seen, apparently because the black outlines of the lettering and Earth were removed from the design.

The later variant includes some other changes to the design, noticeably in the shape and detail of the landmasses on the Earth and in the dark crater details on the lunar surface, which are somewhat reduced and simplified.

It's not clear when the design was changed but this variant is the one included in the complete Apollo project presentation piece created by Owens Corning in the mid 1970s and is also the version incorporated in the Owens Corning Apollo 11 lucites.

An oversize version of the Apollo 11 beta cloth patch also exists where the printed design measures approximately 10" across. It is not clear what this was intended for, although it was perhaps to be worn on the backs of technicians' overalls. In any case these patches are scarce, with examples selling for between $99 and $555.^[2]

It's also worth noting that a fourth version of the Apollo 11 beta cloth mission patch was produced by Owens Corning for use in a promotional set of patches which also included a beta cloth U.S. flag and a Man on the Moon commemorative design.

As shown on the right this version of the patch lacks the "APOLLO 11" text at the top and has a distinctive blue background.

This promotional version of the Apollo 11 patch is not as popular with collectors as the standard versions, generally selling for around $25 to $60.

Good cleanly-printed examples of the Apollo 17 beta cloth mission patch without creases and on a full 9" x 9" cloth sell for anywhere between $40 and $155.

Good cleanly-printed examples of the Skylab III beta cloth mission patch without creases and on a full 9" x 9" cloth sell for around $40 to $50, but with some recent high sales at $115 to $227.

Good cleanly-printed examples of the ASTP beta cloth mission patch without creases and on a full 5½" square cloth sell for around $40 to $130.