This is the official insignia for STS-9, the major  payload of which is Spacelab 1, depicted in the cargo bay of the  Columbia.  The nine stars and the path of the orbiter tell the flight's  numerical designation in the Space Transportation System's mission  sequence.  Astronaut John N. Young is crew commander, Brewster N. Shaw,  Jr., pilot.  NASA Astronauts Owen K. Garriott and Robert A. Parker are  mission specialists.  Byron K. Lichtenberg of the Massachusetts Institute  of Technology and Ulf Merbold of the Republic of West Germany are the  Spacelab 1 payload specialists.  Launch has been set for late 1983.   Merbold is a physicist representing the European Space Agency (ESA).
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