Astrocosmonaut Norman Thagard Embroidered Patch

Replica of the personal patch was worn by Dr. Norman Thagard, primary NASA Astronaut Researcher, on his record 115-day stay aboard the Russian Space Station MIR.

Norman Thagard an American scientist and former NASA astronaut. He was the first American to travel into space onboard a Russian vehicle. He did this on March 14, 1995 in the Soyuz TM-21 spacecraft for the Russian Mir-18 mission.

Thagard was selected as an astronaut candidate by NASA in January 1978. In August 1979, he completed a one-year training and evaluation period, making him eligible for assignment as a mission specialist on future Space Shuttle flights. A veteran of five space flights, he logged over 140 days in space. He was a mission specialist on STS-7 in 1983, STS-51-B in 1985, STS-30 in 1989, was the payload commander on STS-42 in 1992, and was the cosmonaut/researcher on the Russian Mir-18 mission in 1995.