Pin, Lapel, STS-63, "Magellan T. Bear"

This lapel pin, a souvenir from the flight of toy teddy bear Magellan T. Bear on the STS-63 mission, represents space shuttle mission STS-63 flown in February 1995 to rendezvous with the Russian space station Mir. It depicts both spacecraft, the United States and Russian flags, and the names of the shuttle crew. The teddy bear flew into space and made other journeys as part of an ambitious elementary school educational project to stimulate interest in geography, science, and social studies.

Magellan T. Bear flew as SPACEHAB's "education specialist" aboard Space Shuttle Discovery. Students and faculty of Elk Creek Elementary School in Pine, Colorado, worked with NASA and Spacehab to have the teddy bear certified for spaceflight. The school also arranged for the bear to fly around the world, visit the South Pole, fly on United Airlines' first Boeing 777 flight, and attend U.S. Space Camp.

Magellan T. Bear was presented to the National Air and Space Museum in May 1998 by librarian Penny Wiedeke and principal Jerry Williams.