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Steps to Cmdr
Cmdr Duties
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Each crew member of a space shuttle mission is allowed to bring personal
items on board with them. There is a Crew Options List from which
each member gets to select items. Some items on the Crew Options List
include watches, handkerchiefs, seat cushions, and safety helmets.
These items are usually placed in their personal belongings locker
on board the orbiter. Crew members have been known to bring along
pennants or hats with their college name or logo on them, shirts,
favorite books, audiotapes or compact discs of their favorite music,
musical instruments, stickers, ties or special items from a family
member, friend or deceased loved one.
Crew members each have a Personal Preference Kit (PPK) in which
they can fly up to 20 personal items. These items have to be very
small because the bag in which they are carried is only about 3"
x 3" in size. Most of the time, a crew member will fly family items
such as jewelry, photos and other small momentoes.
For bigger items, each mission flies the Official Flight Kit (OFK).
The list of items that are stored in this kit must be approved through
official NASA channels. These are usually items that are flown on
requests from foreign governments, schools and other institutions
like museums and professional organizations. Some of these larger
items flown in the Official Flight Kit have included flags of foreign
countries, patches or other special awards that would be presented
later to honorees of an organization. Also, small museum pieces
are flown and later displayed in that museum's exhibit. The items
that are flown in the Official Flight Kit must go through a strict
screening process before being approved for flight.
In some cases, crew members fly items of historical importance.
For example, on STS-90 for Neurolab, crew members included microscope
slides. These stained slides had been used during the neuro-research
of a Spanish scientist who was one of the first scientists to study
and catalog brain cells. The Smithsonian Institute requested that
for one mission a piece of fabric from the original 1903 Wright
Flyer be flown on a mission. Commander Eileen Collins brought with
her on STS-63 the pilot's license (Federation Aeronautique Internationale)
which had been granted in France to American female pilot Bobbi
Trout.
Of course, the items that most crew members seem to bring with
them on every mission are junk food and cameras. It will be interesting
to see what special items Commander Collins will fly for her next
mission (STS-93). Word has it that she will be taking along a scarf
and pilot's license that had belonged to the American female aviator
Amelia Earhart. So we see that between the Personal Preference Kit
(PPK) and the Official Flight Kit (OFK) many personal and unique
items are flown into space on every mission.
Student Worksheet: Personal
Preference Kit 
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