 We're all pretty familiar with NASA having mission patches for every flight, but they weren't always a thing. The first mission patch is what we're talking about today on Vintage Space. Like so many things of the space age, we owe mission patches to the military heritage. Pilots used to wear mission patches on their jackets to denote their core and their division. And the test pilots that made up NASA's first classes of astronauts brought that tradition to the space agency with them. But mission patches didn't come to spaceflight right away. The Mercury astronauts flew with a NASA meatball logo and named tag on their suits but no mission patch. The ones we recognize today were actually designed after the fact as commemorative patches. The same is the case with Gemini 3 and Gemini 4 mission patches. Gemini 3 was the only mission of the program to have a name, the spacecraft is called Bolly Brown, and Gemini 4 was the first flight on which astronauts wore American flag patches on their suits. The first mission patch was actually created by the Gemini 5 crew, Gordon Cooper and Pete Conrad. The Gemini program was NASA's fastest moving program and my personal favorite. 10 manned missions flew in just 20 months and every single mission advanced NASA on its path to the moon. Gemini 5 was the third manned mission of the program and NASA's first real long duration flight. Because it was a long duration it was also the first flight to use fuel cells as opposed to batteries as the power source. Fuel cells of course being a vital technology for the longer duration missions to the moon. And the crew, specifically Cooper, was pretty keen to have a patch for the mission. Inspired by a model covered wagon Conrad's father-in-law had whittled, Cooper came up with a patch featuring a covered wagon and the motto eight days or bust to mark the mission's duration. He took the idea directly to NASA administrator Jim Webb who approved the patch but not the motto. He said it would give the public the idea that if the mission were cut short for any reason it would be a bust. Something NASA really didn't need in 1965 when it was closing in on that lunar landing deadline. But the covered wagon was eventually approved and Conrad and Cooper became the first astronauts to fly with a dedicated mission patch on their suits. And commemorative additions of the Gemini 5 patch that you can get today do have the eight days or bust motto. If you guys have questions about the mission patches leave them below and let me know what your favorite mission patch is because everyone's got a favorite and we tend to wear them with a little bit of pride. For more on the Gemini 5 flight check out the latest post over on Vintage Space at Popular Science and for daily Vintage Spacey content follow me on Twitter as AST Vintage Space. And with new videos going up every Tuesday and Friday don't forget to subscribe right here so you never miss an episode.