AI Creates SpaceX Crew-10 Patch in Historic First

For the first time in spaceflight history, an artificial intelligence (AI) system has played a key role in the creation of a mission patch for the next crew headed to the International Space Station (ISS).

While AI has long been an emerging force in various industries in space exploration — especially in creative tasks traditionally requiring human ingenuity — remains relatively new.

The Crew-10 mission patch, marking the 170th insignia for a NASA astronaut mission since 1965, was described as “a thoughtful collaboration between human creativity and AI inspiration.”

According to NASA’s Space Flight Awareness office, the initial concept was developed using AI, while the final design was refined and perfected by the crew.

“The SpaceX Crew-10 patch was thoughtfully designed by the 4-person crew. They used AI for initial inspiration, while the ever-irreplaceable human perfected the design and brought the patch to fruition,” read NASA’s official statement.

Led by Crew-10 pilot Nichole Ayers, the design process began with a brainstorming session using an AI image generator.

“I’m a mathematician, not an artist,” Ayers shared during a pre-launch press conference at NASA’s Kennedy Space Centre.

“AI is a really cool tool that helped us generate ideas. My husband and I typed in prompts, and we explored various concepts together.”

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The AI-produced designs included mythological dragons with outstretched wings, multi-sided polygons, and an “X” represented as glowing contrails over Earth.

Ultimately, Ayers and her crewmates — commander Anne McClain of NASA, mission specialist Takuya Onishi of JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency), and Kirill Peskov of Roscosmos — chose elements that emphasised their identities as professional pilots.

The patch prominently features wings and a Roman numeral “X” for Crew-10, along with a ten-sided shape to signify the mission number.

Once finalised, the concepts were brought to life by an artist with a history of designing patches for NASA crews.

The collaboration marks a milestone in the fusion of AI and human creativity, paving the way for future innovations in the world of space exploration.

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