413th FLIGHT TEST SQ 

The 413th Test Squadron was designated and activated on October 2, 1992, when it was formed out of the disbanded 6513th Red Hats Test Squadron. The Red Hats had conducted flight testing of purloined Soviet MiGs and other aircraft at Groom Lake. In March 1994, the unit became the 413th Flight Test Squadron, nicknamed the "Bombcats."

Based at a restricted section of Edwards Air Force Base called "North Base," the mission of the 413th was to organize flight tests of Electronic Warfare systems around the world. A detachment of the 413th, called the "Nutcrackers," continued to operate out of Groom Lake and the Tonopah Test Range. Daily flights in unmarked Beech aircraft shuttled members of the 413th to the secret bases each day.

The 413th was responsible for a number of programs; code names included SUNDOWNER, ZIPPER, and IBIS DAWN. In May of 2004, the squadron was deactivated (although the unit designation was later transferred to a squadron formed from a detachment of the 46th Operations Group at Eglin Air Force Base in Florida). The remaining "Bombcats" assets became part of the Electronic Warfare Directorate, also headquartered at Edwards Air Force Base.

SOURCE: http://www.naderlibrary.com/icouldtellyou.27.htm

PROJECT ZIPPER 

This patch represents an unknown project undertaken by the 413th Flight Test Squadron The zipper seems to refer to the fact that the project cannot be discussed. The first part of the phrase "We make threats" might refer to making simulated (or real) electronic "threats" against aircraft.

SOURCE: http://www.naderlibrary.com/icouldtellyou.28.htm

NUTCRACKERS

"Nutcrackers" was an alter ego of the 413th Flight Test Squadron referring to detachments operating at classified locations that included Groom Lake and the Tonopah Test Range. The collection of 4+1+3 stars on the left side of the patch refers to the 413th Flight Test Squadron. The crow and the lightning bolts symbolize the unit's electronic warfare mission.

SOURCE: http://www.naderlibrary.com/icouldtellyou.29.htm

TSSAM

The acronym for the Tri-Service Standoff Attack Missile (TSSAM) recalled the "Tasmanian Devil" cartoon character, the tornado-like image of the character in motion came to represent the classified cruise missile

SOURCE: http://www.naderlibrary.com/icouldtellyou.34.htm

4477th TEST & EVALUATION SQUADRON —RED EAGLES

From its inception in 1975, the 4477th Test and Evaluation Squadron conducted tactical evaluations of a highly classified squadron of Soviet fighters in U.S. possession.

The unit was based at Groom Lake until the late 1970s and early 1980s, when the 4477th provided $24 million towards the initial construction of another classified operating location in Central Nevada: the Tonopah Test Range, also known as Area 52.

The 4477th seems to have been disbanded sometime in the early 1990s and its mission taken over by Detachment 2 of the 57th Fighter Wing. Eventually, this became Detachment 3 of the 53rd Test and Evaluation Group.

SOURCE: http://www.naderlibrary.com/icouldtellyou.35.htm

MELIOR DIABOLUS QUEM SCIES

Translates into english from latin as - "better than the devil, whom thou shalt know"

The patch for NRO Launch 49 depicts a phoenix rising from the flames. The patch also features fourteen stars, including one being carried in the bird’s beak. There also appears to be a fifteenth star obscured by the bird’s wing. There’s a long tradition in such patches for the stars to symbolize the number of payloads launched. Fourteen stars just happens to be the number of KH-11 type electro-optical satellites successfully launched by the United States over the years—including the one being carried into orbit by this bird. A fifteenth launch—the one obscured star—ended in failure.

The Latin words “melior diabolus quem scies” are inscribed on the patch. This roughly translates to mean “the devil you know,” as in the phrase “better the devil you know than the devil you don’t know.”

All of these symbols hint that this is the fifteenth launch of a KH-11 type electro-optical reconnaissance satellite. 

SOURCE: Space Review

Vandenberg AFB, Calif., (Jan. 20, 2011) - With the Moon beaming above, a United Launch Alliance Delta IV Heavy sits poised on its launch pad with a National Reconnaissance Office payload at Space Launch Complex-6.... The Delta IV Heavy, standing 235 feet tall, will be the largest rocket to ever launch from the west coast of the U.S. With its nearly 2 millions pounds of thrust, the Delta IV Heavy is America's most powerful liquid fueled rocket. Photos by Pat Corkery, United Launch Alliance.

SOURCE: comspacewatch.com

NRO 66

Translates into english from latin as - "better than the devil, whom thou shalt know"

NRO Luaunches: http://www.nro.gov/50thAnniv.html
List of NRO Launches: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_NRO_Launches

The Minotaur 1 rocket soars into the predawn sky over Lompoc, Calif., in this long exposure image. 

FEB 6th, 2011
The U.S. spy satellite agency hasn't revealed what techniques or sensors the craft will test in space. Its cost, contractor and size are also secret.

But the lightweight payload launched on a Minotaur 1 rocket, the smallest booster used by the NRO since the agency's existence was declassified in 1992. The Minotaur's nose cone can fit a spacecraft as large as a kitchen refrigerator, and the four-stage rocket can haul nearly 1,000 pounds into low-altitude polar orbits.

SOURCE: space.com

Mars Exploration Rovers

These two launch team patches were produced before Spirit and Opportunity were given their names. MER-A became Spirit and MER-B was Opportunity. 

SOURCE: http://jonathan-spacejunk.blogspot.com/2009_01_18_archive.html