Pride, not profit, inspires Conrad Industries Inc. to embroider the patches that adorn the space suits of the astronauts, the company's president says. Conrad has embroidered the patch for Discovery, designed in tribute to the seven Challenger astronauts, as it has for every manned mission since Apollo 12, the second moon landing. The Discovery patch shows a stylized shuttle rising into the the sky on a plume of fire and smoke and streaking through a red, V-like vector. A multi-rayed sun creeps over the horizon and the Big Dipper hangs in the sky. NASA said the sunrise represents a new beginning; the launch, a safe mission; and the red vector, the symbol of aeronautics, the traditional strength of the space agency. The seven stars of the dipper symbolize Challenger astronauts. The patch has five colors, but such emblems can have up to 19, compared with three colors in a typical commercial or military design, said company president Bernhard Conrad. ``We sometimes spend a dollar and charge a dime. But we do it for the prestige, the satisfaction and the chance to sell to collectors,'' he said, adding that the emblems represent only a small part of its $11 million annual volume.
