Apollo XIII Patch [Series III-IV, X-XII + The Promised Land]

This memorable circular patch, marking the infamous thirteenth NASA Apollo mission, can first be seen in Series III, but doesn't make it as far as Series V. For whatever reason, the design can only be found up to the end of Series IV before being replaced by the mysterious, red Running Man pin. In anticipation of the film of the same name's release, I recall seeing a wonderful exhibition at Birmingham's sadly-lost Museum of Science & Industry, at around ten years of age, and consequently have always had a soft-spot for Ron Howard's astrophobic retelling of new frontiersmen, Lovell, Swigert, and Haise's inspiring, real-life survival story.

There appear to be lots of variants for this one. Size-wise, I believe the patch used in the show, found on the screen-left collarbone area of Lister's leather jacket, is around 4 inches across.

I'm fascinated by the use of NASA patches on Lister's jacket. I plan on writing more on the potential motivations for the character's reasoning behind adding the various adornments; but consciously or otherwise, it is curious how many seem to directly reference disaster, tragedy, authority, or technical skill. So much bloody thought has gone into this jacket. Somebody should do a blog about it.

I'm fairly confident this patch is also one of a number of originals that carry over into the Dave-era cossie, too - specifically, in this case, Lister's screen-right trouser leg. Mechanical/virtual taranshula notwithstanding.