The man behind the Moon mission patches

The Apollo emblems of artist Al Stevens

by Ed Hengeveld

May 20, 2008 — Sometimes you have to be lucky as a space flight historian. A friend, Noah Bradley, purchased on eBay recently a collection of sketches, paintings and documents that had belonged to one 'Allen A. Stevens'. That name will probably not immediately mean much to space enthusiasts, but his artwork is widely recognized.

Born on June 16, 1915 in Colorado Springs, Colorado, Al Stevens worked during the 1960s and 70s as a graphic designer for the Space Division of Rockwell International in California. He retired in 1978 and, after suffering from several strokes over a period of 13 years, he died on May 21, 1994 in Orange, California.

The box that Noah bought contained Stevens' artistic legacy. His belongings included various original designs for the emblems from half a dozen Apollo missions.

More importantly, the papers that were included provided proof that Stevens was the artist behind the final designs for the Apollo 1, Apollo 7, Apollo 9 and Apollo 10 mission patches. The designer for these emblems had not been previously widely publicized.

Full article with early mission patch designs here:

http://www.collectspace.com/news/news-052008a.html