Description

The Mission Patch:
Leonardo da Vinci’s Vitruvian Man, created some 525 years ago as a blend of art and
science and a symbol of the medical profession, is depicted amongst the orbits of a
variety of satellites circling the Earth at great speed. Da Vinci’s drawing, based on the
proportions of man as described by the Roman architect Vitruvius, is often used as a
symbol of symmetry of the human body and the universe as a whole. Almost perfect in
symmetry as well, the International Space Station, with its solar wings spread out and
illuminated by the first rays of dawn, is pictured as a mighty beacon arcing upwards
across our night skies, the ultimate symbol of science and technology of our age. Six
stars represent the six members of Expedition 37 crew, which includes two cosmonauts
with a medical background, as well as a native of Da Vinci’s Italy.