Gemini 10

Gemini 10 Crew Patch

John Bisney's research for his forthcoming book on space patches has revealed that this patch was manufactured by Texas Art Embroidery.

Further research by Kenny Suit has shown that just 110 examples were supplied to NASA.

Gemini 10 Crew Patch Variant

This variant of the Crew Patch has blue background thread which has horizontal rows about 50% wider than those of the standard crew version. This is particularly noticeable on the reverse of the patch.

In general, the black thread used around the "X" and on the spacecraft orbits is noticeably thinner in this version than the crew version. This makes the Gemini capsule skinny and the Agena particularly slim. There is also a clear gap behind the Agena in this example that is not present in any examples of the other variant that I've seen.

One point on the crew version where the black thread is not thick is at the upper left side of the lower yellow star, where the black becomes a single line of thread. This feature is consistent on all examples of the crew patch I've seen to date. On the variant the black thread is of more or less constant thickness all the way round the star.

Also noteworthy is that the extreme edges of the crew versions that I've seen all have trimmed traces of the pale blue backing cloth visible all around whilst this version has none. The edges appear black all round indicating that this version was apparently embroidered on black cheesecloth.

These differences are more than just natural variations during a production run, they indicate a separate production using a different pattern. Because the design is so similar to the crew version it seems likely that it was produced by the same company producing a separate run of the patch from a new pattern based on the same artwork. Whether it was produced at the same time as the other variant or sometime afterwards is impossible to say.