STS-134 DAMA mission patch, 2011

ESA astronaut Roberto Vittori (IT) flew on Space Shuttle Endeavour STS-134 to the International Space Station in May 2011. STS-134 was the penultimate mission of the US Space Shuttle programme, and Vittori was the last non-American to fly aboard the Shuttle.

The mission name and patch were chosen in a competition organised by the Italian space agency ASI and the Italian air force. Elementary and middle school students all over Italy were challenged to come up with a name and logo for Vittori's mission, with the hint that this flight carried the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer AMS-02. More than 2000 suggestions from around 200 schools were received. The winning name 'DAMA' was suggested by Alessia Casasanta, from the Benedetto Croce school in Quadri, Chieti. She had proposed the name deriving from the initials of 'dark matter', DA and MA. The logo was designed by 11-year-old Elena Nadalini, from the Dante Alighieri elementary school in Nonantola, Modena. AMS-02 inspired her to sketch an antimatter particle emerging from the trail of the Space Shuttle, with the Italian flag in the background.