The patch seen in the movie

What Space Camp forum would be complete without a place to talk about one of the best/worst movies of all time, SpaceCamp, as well as all Space Camp references in pop culture.

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The patch seen in the movie

Post by Boomerang »

I noticed the patch warn by the kids in the movie is diffrent from the one space camp currently uses. I've only ever seen e patches on the pictures of space camp flight suits over the years. Yhe earliest ive seen was a black rectangular patch with US Space Camp embroidered in orange, The other is the regulat rouns space camp academy design we're all familiar with and the other is the Advanced Space academy patch. My question is was the patch seen in the movie just made for the movie or was it actually used by the camp at one time?The patch if i remember had a orbiter on it with whats either supose to be the sun or the engines firing behind it and it said US Space camp, I dont remember if it had the flag like the current patch but i do remember the colors were diffrent as well. Does anyone know if it was a real patch or just one made for the movie?
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Post by orion8 »

well this is another thing i will look for when i watch it soon.
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Post by Boomerang »

I noticed this along time ago because i had a flight suit a few years before the first time i went to camp and i noticed the diffrence but i never knew if its just because they changed the design or if its because the patch was only for the movie.
Jason original callsign Loverboy
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Post by Richasi »

I have an old Square patch one that you mention. It's a real old logo for Space Camp. I have post cards with that logo on it. I've never been able to determine whether the patch worn for the movie was really one in use or not - I highly doubt it.

Also, what about those nifty little "S" badges they wore? :)

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Post by Boomerang »

I'm beginning to think that the patches seen in the movie were just for the movie as well. I got my first space camp brochure and flightsuit in 1989. By that time the patch was already the familiar round patch thats still used today but the brochure still had some older pictures that had flight suits with the rectangular one you mentioned above. As for the badges i know the style has changed over the years and for the better from what i've seen. When i went to space camp in 91 our name badges were pin on type. They still had the same indo your name home town and program you were attending but instead of the now familiar aligator clip stile it had a pin back to attack it to your shirt or whatever. Since we always had to wear our visors at camp everyone just pined it to their visor to keep track of it. Unfortunatley they were't high quality and mine fell apart over the years. I still have the visor and it still has the pin itself but no more badge. By the time i went in 93 they had switched to the type they use now. And i have all of those still.
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Post by Richasi »

Of all the items that I have from that period, most of them show just the plain black square patch, however, taking a look at the movie patch again I noticed some similarities with it and the design we see today.

The movie patch features the three stars for the three original programs just left of the Shuttle. The Shuttle image appears to be that of Columbia from 1981 or 1982 - the art of it reflects something I've seen before (on the back of a coin or something). And it has the flag lines that are also on the patch we see today.

Some differences are: There's no "US Space Camp", its just "SpaceCamp" run together (which is the real title of the movie). And it has a fourth star on it.

Since the movie was filmed in 1985 with a 1986 theatrical release, everything to me points that the patch was indeed a movie prop. The only thing that existed was the square patch.

It is entirely possible that the icon patch we know today was TAKEN from the movie version. Wouldn't that be a twist? :)

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Post by Boomerang »

Your probably right aboiut the patch. As for the columbia image you are referring to i believe it was the patch from either STS-3 or 4it had a similay image of the shuttle with a big bright i guess its supose to be engine exaust behind it. It would be cool to have one of those patches from the movie though and one of the black ones as well.
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Post by Richasi »

Yes! That's it!

I'd love to get my hands on one of the movie patches... but then again, I'd like to get my hands on a lot of Space Camp and SpaceCamp stuff :)

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Post by Richasi »

That is very interesting. When I look a the patch that I purchased from ebay (the movie patch one). It's smaller than I had expected and is not quite the same (in the wording). So it may have been used at some point in time for real. I guess the only way to know is to get copies of old OLD application guides.

Then again, all the old 1985 post cards I have only show the old black-square logo.

Could have been a publicity shot for the movie?
Space Camp • June 11-16, 1989 - Session 31 - Martin Marietta
Space Academy, Level 1 • June 16-21, 1991 - Session 24 - BDM
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Post by Vincent »

Yeah...I saw that auction...about a month after it closed! :(

Too bad, too! I would have given you a run for your money! :wink:

edit: If anyone's curious, take a look here and envy Richasi!
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Post by Richasi »

As it is I paid over $30 for three patches... and its worth it for the movie edition. If I ever get my FTP access back and get start updating my pages, I'm going to scan it and put it up....
Space Camp • June 11-16, 1989 - Session 31 - Martin Marietta
Space Academy, Level 1 • June 16-21, 1991 - Session 24 - BDM
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Patch question

Post by WesL »

I have heard this from a few people that work around here. At the time the movie was made Space Camp did not have a logo. (Sorta like the U.S. Space & Rocket Center did not have a logo until a few years ago) They just used a nice font and a nice color and instant logo.

Right before the movie was made (about a year or so) the studio developed the space camp logo (looks like an earlier attempt of a space camp logo of today). After the movie the the staff at camp, re-developed the logo to the logo we know and love (sorta) today.
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Post by Boomerang »

That makes sense because in that old promotional video it looks like there is a transition going on. Some campers have shirts with the current space camp logo on them others have just US Space Camp on there. And most still have the old black rectangular US SPace Camp patch oin there flight suits while others have the current round one. So maybe space camp borrowed some of the look of the move patch and developed the real one now in use. That promo video does appear to be ahortly after or around the time the movie was filmed so its a possibility. Unfortunately there is no copyright date on it.
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Post by Vincent »

I'm happy!

After a great deal of waiting, I finally got my own SpaceCamp movie patch!!!

:D
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Post by Space Nerd »

Congratulations! Are you gonna leave it on the jacket or rip it off?
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Post by Vincent »

It's going to stay on the jacket. Hopefully, I'll be able to find another one or two loose ones over the next couple of years, but this one will remain where it is.

Also of interest to me is that the jacket itself has an old-school Space Camp name badge on it.

I don't know for sure that it was a promotional item for the movie, as was suggested in the auction, but I do suspect that it was once at the Space & Rocket Center!
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