The STS-84 emblem depicts the Space Shuttle Atlantis lanuching into
Earth orbit to join the Russian Space Station Mir as part of Phase
1 of the International Space Station Program.
The names of the eight astronauts who flew onboard Atlantis, including
the two who exchanged their positions onboard Mir for a long duration
flight, are shown along the border of the patch. The STS-84/Mir-23
team transfered 7000 pounds of experiments, Station hardware, food,
and clothing to or from Mir during the five-day docked period.
The Phase 1 Program is represented by the rising Sun and by the Greek
letter Phi followed by one star. This sixth Shuttle-Mir docking mission
is symbolized by the six stars surrounding the word Mir in Cyrillic
characters. Combined, the seven stars symbolize the current configuration
of Mir conposed of six modules launched by the Russians and one module
brought up by Atlantis on a previous docking flight.