The four stars in the lower blue field and two stars in the upper blue field of the insignia symbolize the flight 's numerical designation in the Space Transportation System 's mission sequence . The single gold star above the horizon on the right is in honor of astronaut Manley " Sonny " Carter , who was killed in the crash of Atlantic Southeast Airlines Flight 2311 in Brunswick , Georgia while on a commercial airplane traveling for NASA . Carter was originally assigned as a mission specialist on STS-42 at the time of his death
Flight 2311
Atlantic Southeast Airlines Flight 2311
STS-42