STS-58 (Columbia)

During this 14-day flight, Columbia's crew performed numerous experiments to study how the human body adapts to microgravity.

The first reusable launch and landing spacecraft, the Space Shuttle began a new chapter of human space exploration. It launched like a rocket but landed on a runway like a plane. Shuttle crews deployed dozens of commercial satellites and two interplanetary probes to Venus and Jupiter. The Shuttle served as a mini space station and hosted hundreds of biomedical, psychological, physiological, materials science, and physics experiments that have directly benefited life on Earth. The five flight-worthy Shuttles -- Columbia, Challenger, Discovery, Atlantis, and Endeavour -- flew 135 missions over 30 years. The Shuttles helped construct the Russian Mir space station and brought nearly 80% of the International Space Station to orbit. Shuttles also deployed and serviced the Hubble Space Telescope.

Space Shuttle

Forty-eight Sprague-Dawley Rats

United States of America

NASA

This astronaut crossed the Kármán Line (100 km), the internationally accepted boundary of space.

Crossed Kármán Line

This astronaut has spent over a month in space.

Space Resident

STS-51-D (Discovery)

This mission deployed a Canadian communications satellite and tried to deploy a U.S. satellite, but an issue forced an unscheduled spacewalk to try to manually start the satellite's post-deployment sequence. The crew eventually had to bring the satellite back to Earth for repair. During landing Discovery blew a tire, leading NASA to suspend all Florida Space Shuttle landings until nose gear steering and improved braking could be added.

STS-40 (Columbia)

This mission was the fifth flight of Spacelab and the first one dedicated specifically to biological research. It marked the first time three women flew together on a single mission.

Margaret R. Seddon

STS-51-G (Discovery)

Discovery's crew deployed three satellites for Saudi Arabia, Mexico, and the U.S. They also released the Spartan 1 free-flying science platform for a few days of independent flight before re-capturing it and bringing it back to Earth. The mission marked the first time an Arab, Muslim, and member of a royal family flew to space.

STS-34 (Atlantis)

Atlantis' five-person crew deployed the Galileo spacecraft toward Jupiter and performed eight scientific experiments.

STS-43 (Atlantis)

This mission launched the fifth TDRS satellite for NASA, conducted radiator testing for use on a future space station, and performed numerous biological experiments.

STS-76 (Atlantis)

The third Space Shuttle docking to the Russian space station Mir delivered Mir's first woman resident, NASA astronaut Shannon Lucid.

Shannon W. Lucid

STS-29 (Discovery)

This mission deployed the fourth NASA TDRS satellite and conducted a variety of experiments.

STS-33 (Discovery)

STS-79 (Atlantis)

This fourth Space Shuttle docking to the Russian space station Mir delivered another NASA crewmember to the outpost.

John E. Blaha

STS-90 (Columbia)

This dedicated research flight of Columbia was Spacelab's final mission. It was called Neurolab and examined the effects of microgravity on the nervous system. The mission was a 26 experiment partnership between six space agencies and seven U.S. research institutes.

Richard A. Searfoss

This astronaut visited the International Space Station.

ISS Visitor

Soyuz TMA-7

Soyuz TMA-7 ferried the two-person Expedition 12 crew to and from the International Space Station. Space tourist Olsen joined for a short duration mission, returning to Earth on Soyuz TMA-6.

Soyuz is a human-carrying capsule built and operated by Russia, capable of transporting up to three people to the Space Station at a time. It has been upgraded numerous times since its first use in the 1960s for the Soviet lunar program and was the only crewed vehicle for the Station from 2011 to 2020.

Soyuz

STS-74 (Atlantis)

The second Shuttle-Mir docking saw Atlantis deliver a pair of solar arrays and the Russian-built Mir Docking Module to the station.

STS-92 (Discovery)

The 100th Space Shuttle flight brought a docking port, motion control system, communications system, and the Z1 truss structure to the International Space Station.

William S. McArthur Jr.

This astronaut is in the top 5% for total spacewalking time.

Elite Spacewalker

STS-86 (Atlantis)

The seventh Shuttle-Mir docking delivered a new NASA crewmember to the Russia station. This was Shuttle Atlantis' seventh and final back-to-back mission to Mir.

STS-112 (Atlantis)

Atlantis' crew delivered the S1 truss to the International Space Station. A piece of foam broke off the External Tank during launch and damaged a part of one of the Shuttle's Solid Rocket Boosters, foreshadowing the Columbia accident two missions later. NASA managers decided it was safe to keep flying.

STS-127 (Endeavour)

The third of three Space Shuttle construction flights to assemble the Japanese Kibo laboratory complex at the ISS delivered the exposed facility and Japanese robot arm. The 500th person reached space on this mission, with the crew giving the honor to Chris Cassidy. The flight rotated a single ISS crewmember.

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