Artemis II crew unveils Mach 39 patch following historic lunar flyby
While the Artemis II mission did not break the all-time speed record held by Apollo 10, the crew’s high-velocity return has inspired a custom patch produced by A-B Emblem, replacing the Space Shuttle design with the Orion spacecraft.
NASA’s Artemis II crew, comprising Commander Reid Wiseman, pilot Victor Glover, and mission specialists Christina Koch and Jeremy Hansen, have officially unveiled a commemorative “Mach 39” mission patch. The emblem honours the crew’s peak atmospheric reentry speed of approximately 24,664 miles per hour (39,693 kph) achieved in early April 2026. The patch was produced by A-B Emblem in Weaverville, North Carolina, and took three weeks to manufacture before its public debut on 5 June 2026.
The designation “Mach 39” reflects the Mach number at the point of peak velocity during reentry, where atmospheric conditions differed significantly from sea level. At the altitude where the crew reached their maximum speed, the air was thinner and colder, resulting in a lower speed of sound. Consequently, while the crew’s speed would have registered as Mach 32 at sea level, it appeared as Mach 38.89 on onboard displays, rounded up to 39 for the patch. Pilot Victor Glover noted during the post-flight press conference that measuring Mach number from space is complex due to varying air temperature and density.
Although the Artemis II crew are the fastest humans to travel by vehicle, they did not surpass the all-time speed record for crewed flight. That distinction remains with the Apollo 10 mission, which reached 24,791 mph (39,897 kph) on 26 May 1969. The Artemis II journey, which took the crew 52,756 miles (406,771 km) from Earth, saw them spend 10 days flying by the Moon before their high-speed return to Earth on board the Orion spacecraft Integrity.
The new patch updates a venerable tradition that began after the first Space Shuttle mission, STS-1, in 1981. Former astronaut Dan Brandenstein explained that the original design was inspired by fighter pilots who received Mach 2 patches, leading to a custom emblem for the Shuttle’s Mach 25 reentry speed. The Artemis II version retains the general aesthetic of that original design but replaces the Space Shuttle orbiter with the Orion spacecraft, featuring its solar wings deployed from the European Service Module.
The patch made its public appearance in a social media video posted by Wiseman on 5 June. In the clip, Wiseman, a retired US Navy captain, focused on reenlisting a member of the recovery team rather than the patch itself. However, the new emblem is visible on his left chest, situated below his name tag and a “100 Days” in space insignia. The latter is a tradition dating back to 2004 for International Space Station crew members, celebrating milestones of time spent in orbit.
