Men Of Honor: Astronaut Traditional Cache

Astronaut:

Eligibility

To earn an astronaut badge, a military officer must complete all required training and participate in a space flight more than 62 miles above the Earth. This boundary comes from the Fédération Aéronautique Internationale which defines space flight as more than one hundred kilometres (62.137 miles) from Earth, a definition recognized by every country. However, in the 1960s, the United States Department of Defense awarded astronaut badges to military and civilian pilots who flew aircraft higher than 50 miles (80 kilometers).^[1] Seven USAF and NASA pilots qualified for the astronaut badge by flying the sub-orbital X-15 rocket spaceplane.^[1]

American test pilot Michael Melvill was awarded a Commercial Astronaut Badge by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) when he flew sub-orbital mission aboard the Scaled Composites SpaceShipOne rocket spaceplane.^[1] All other men and women awarded the astronaut badge earned it traveling to outer space in non-winged rockets or the space shuttle.

Military badges

Each of the military services issues its own version of the Astronaut Badge, which consists of a standard Aviation Badge with an Astronaut Device (shooting star through a halo) centered on the badge's shield, or escutcheon. The United States Army and Air Force Astronaut Badges are issued in three degrees: Basic, Senior, and Master/Command. The Senior Astronaut Badge is denoted by a star centered above the decoration, while the Master/Command level is indicated by a star and wreath.

United States Army

The Army Astronaut Badge is awarded in three levels

The Astronaut Badge issued by the U.S. Army is awarded in three levels: Army Astronaut, Senior Army Astronaut, and Master Army Astronaut.^[2] Astronauts that have yet to fly a mission and have not been awarded any aviation badge previously, will be awarded the Army Aviation Badge. The badge's design is similar to the Army Aviation Badge but it has a shooting star and elliptical orbit over the shield.^[2] The shooting star and orbit representation is meant to imply the astronaut's theater of operations, space.^[2] The Army Astronaut Badge was approved on 17 May 1983.^[2]

United States Air Force

U.S. Air Force Enlisted Mission Specialist Astronaut Badge^[3]

The U.S. Air Force issues its astronaut badge in three degrees: Basic, Senior, and Command. The Air Force Astronaut Badge consists of a standard USAF aviation badge, upon which is centered the Astronaut Device. The Air Force does not consider Astronaut to be a separate rating from its seven established aviation badges, but as a "qualifier" to them, and may only be awarded by the Air Force Chief of Staff after written application upon completion of an operational space mission. The rating of Observer is used for Mission Specialists who have completed training but not a mission. In 2007, the U.S. Air Force announced the opening of astronaut mission specialists positions to enlisted personnel who met certain eligibility requirements. No enlisted astronaut badges are yet known to have been issued^[4].

United States Navy

The Naval Astronaut insignia are issued in a single degree by the U.S. Navy and consists of a Naval Aviator insignia or Naval Flight Officer insignia with a centered astronaut emblem.

United States Marine Corps

United States Marine Corps astronauts are trained in the same pipeline as United States Navy astronauts, and awarded the same insignia.

United States Coast Guard

The United States Coast Guard astronauts are trained in the same pipeline as United States Navy astronauts, and awarded the same insignia.

You are looking for a micro.  Bring your own pen and possibly a tool to help retrieve the log.  Please replace cache as you found it.  This cache was placed on July 12th 2009 the day the Shuttle Endeavour mission STS-127 was set to take off from launch pad 39A at 7:19 pm after several previous delays.