ISS Expedition 66 patch, 2021

ESA astronaut Thomas Pesquet (FR) was launched on a SpaceX Crew Dragon spacecraft to the International Space Station, on its second crewed operational flight called Crew-2, in April 2021. On his six-month Alpha mission, he is accompanied by NASA astronauts Shane Kimbrough and Megan McArthur, and JAXA astronaut Akihiko Hoshide. Although Expedition 66 starts in October 2021, the SpaceX Crew-2 joined and replaced Crew-1 in April 2021 as part of Expedition 65.

The Expedition 66 patch was designed by NASA graphic designer Blake Dumesnil. Blake decribes the background of the design, "Growing up around classic cars, collectibles, and Americana, I couldn't pass up the opportunity to use the Route 66 sign as a starting point for this design, but going beyond the obvious numerical tie, I loved the idea of a journey being just as important as the destination - the Space Station is an incredible stop along the road back to the Moon and on to Mars!"

"As an additional Easter Egg, astronaut Tom Marshburn and I are huge fans of the Marvel comics and movies and stylistically we both loved artist Jack Kirby's beautiful use of colour and shapes so we utilised his trademark 'Kirby Krackle' effect for the nebulous, starry texture of space and modelled the 'road' in the design after the Rainbow Bridge from the Thor comics and films," added Blake.

Thomas Pesquet commanded the first segment of Expedition 66 until 8 November, the fourth European astronaut and first French astronaut to command the orbital laboratory. ESA astronaut Matthias Maurer (DE) joined Expedition 66 as part of Crew-3 on 11 November 2011, where he will live and work on the Space Station for six months on his Cosmic Kiss mission.