Among the items issued to astronauts are Velcro-backed name tags that can be attached to their flight suits and jackets. This name tag was a spare for Ellison S. (El) Onizuka, the first person of Asian-Pacific heritage to be selected into the astronaut corps. He flew as a mission specialist on the Space Shuttle in 1985 (Discovery, STS 51-C mission) and died in the Challenger launch accident in 1986 (STS 51-L mission) before reaching space a second time. Astronauts chose the version of their name on these tags; this one shows Onizuka's nickname El. NASA transferred a number of spare astronaut name tags to the Museum over the years.
This object is not on display at the National Air and Space Museum. It is either on loan or in storage.