DISCOVERER Mission Patch Competition
Patches are a tradition in the space flight program!
Challenge Objectives
The Satellite for Orbital Aerodynamics Research (SOAR) is a scientific CubeSat which was designed by GomSpace, Manchester University and University College London and will be launched in June 2021.
SOAR will investigate how different materials act in the environment of very low Earth orbit (below 450 km in altitude) and will help to identify new materials which can reduce the drag which satellites experience due to the very low density atmosphere which remains at these heights. SOAR will be the University of Manchester’s first satellite and as such needs a mission patch to commemorate the development and launch of the spacecraft, but also to publicise the unique mission that the satellite has been designed to perform.
For the DISCOVERER Mission Patch Design competition, children at High School or University Level were asked to design their own mission patch for our Satellite for Orbital Aerodynamics Research (SOAR) scheduled for launch on 3rd June 2021 on Space X mission CRS-23. A total of 15 entries were received.
The winning design was designed by Laura Mann, Lancaster Girls’ Grammar School. Congratulations!
Laura: “I am a Year 12 student at Lancaster girls grammar school. I study Computer science, maths, and physics, and I have always had an interest in space, and in bettering our civilisation for generations to come, and to me the Discoverer mission and the SOAR satellite program is the perfect endeavour to help humanity accomplish just that. My mission patch design was inspired by this, and the mission taking new steps forward for science.”
The two runners up are:
Katherine: “Katherine Bjelke is a Canarian illustrator based in Denmark, she graduated from a degree in Fine arts by the University of La Laguna, and then continued her education in graphic design. Great lover of literature, sci fi, history, space exploration and science, where she draws most of the inspiration for her own work, she is specializing in working alongside science and tech industry. Apart from her work as an illustrator, she is part of the outreach team for Teidesat, an initiative to build, launch and operate a Cubesat. Currently you can find her on social media under the name KateGraphics, alternating her work as a graphic designer and combining it with her more personal work where she focuses on science and space illustration. For the DISCOVERER Mission Patch Competition, The design represents SOAR satellite leaving earth to reach the very low orbit in between the stars, it was created following the different parts of the mission, the three circles for the different orbits of the earth, and the broken circular pattern located in the very low orbit representing the drag that the satellites face due to the very low density atmosphere for which the soar satellite wants to investigate how different materials act in the environment and help to identify new materials which can reduce it. It also included a part of the discoverer logo in between the stars as well as the names of the Satellite, the name of the University of Manchester and the Discoverer.”
Marco: “Hiya I’m Marco! I’m a 4th Year Mechanical Engineering Student at the University of Manchester. In my free time I design material such as graphics, posters and merchandise for various societies. The design I made for the DISCOVERER mission patch integrates various elements of the logo with its colour scheme. Combining this along with the likeness of the satellite itself forms the design I had created.”
Congratulations to those selected and thank you to all those who entered and to those who have been shortlisted by the judging panel.
Due to the requirements for printing and to include the name of the satellite, the winning entry has been updated slightly:
