Star Trek: 10 Secrets Of The Enterprise Uniforms

10. 5 Year Mission Patches

Harkening back to Robert Blackman's idea that 22nd-century Starfleet uniforms should hew closer to modern-day flight suits than the sleek, minimalist look of the 24th century, the iconic Combadge of the Star Trek: The Next Generation, Deep Space Nine, and Voyager-era was out.

And NASA-like mission patches were in.

Sewn to the left shoulder of the Enterprise crews' uniforms, the NX-01 mission patch was designed by scenic artist Wendy Drapanas. Featuring the recognizable silhouette of the first warp five starship, Enterprise's mission patch ostensibly replaced the familiar delta established all the way back in Star Trek: The Original Series. However, along with recalling NASA's tradition of creating unique patches for each mission, Enterprise's mission patch also referred back to TOS' occasional dalliance with unique Starfleet insignias for each ship in the 23rd century fleet.

While the Enterprise art department created numerous unique patches for the 22nd century – including patches for the NX-02 Columbia, Starship Intrepid, the MACOs, Starfleet Command, Starfleet Security, etc. – one mission patch was actually a subtle homage to real life space travel. In season one's "Silent Enemy", Starfleet Lieutenant Mark Latrelle can be seen wearing the diamond-shaped patch of NASA's modern day mission control, a sneaky nod to Enterprise's obvious inspirations.