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When was the ISS's "SPEED LIMIT 17500 MPH" sign originally posted?

Astronaut Ellen Ochoa going 17,500 mph

above: "STS110-353-012 (8-19 April 2002) --- Astronaut Ellen Ochoa, STS-110 mission specialist, poses by the speed limit signs in the Unity node on the International Space Station (ISS)." from here.

I used this in this answer but I'd like to know more. It seems many astronauts "happened to have" had their picture or video taken in front of the sign over the years. I'm curious how far back it goes, and wondering if it counts as "original equipment".

uhoh
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1 Answers1

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Not original, but close.

If we view the original hi-res photo used in the question we can see the salmon color behind crew member Ellen Ochoa. This tells us that the hatch in question is the Node 1 aft hatch (it leads to the Russian module FGB).

We can see in this photo from STS-88, the first Shuttle ISS assembly flight, that the same hatch is not yet decorated with the signs.

enter image description here

The signs appear on the next mission, STS-96. They have not yet been affixed in this photo. I note that some of the signs are differently colored from the question in the photo (which was taken on STS-110), so they may have been replaced at a later date. A brief review of other missions does not show the signs permanently in place until STS-110, Ellen Ochoa's next mission to the ISS. Perhaps she was the creator of the signs.

enter image description here

Images from the old, mostly abandoned, NASA site nasa.spaceflight.gov.

Organic Marble
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