STS-8 (Challenger)

On this mission, the crew deployed an Indian communications satellite and performed biomedical experiments. It was the first spaceflight to use the TDRS network and marked the first night launch and landing of the Space Shuttle. Challenger ferried the first African-American (second person of African descent) to space on this flight.

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

Six Wistar Rats

United States of America

NASA

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

Crossed Kármán Line

STS-2 (Columbia)

The second flight of the Space Shuttle marked the first time a human spacecraft that flew in space was reused on another crew mission. An electricity-producing fuel cell quit working shortly after launch, and the eight-day mission landed just two days after launch. While the crew were told not to test the Shuttle's robot arm due to the fuel cell failure, they tested it anyway -- accomplishing about 80% of the arm's test objectives.

Richard H. Truly

This astronaut has spent over a month in space.

Space Resident

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-49 (Endeavour)

Space Shuttle Endeavour's maiden voyage. The flight marked the first and to date only three-person spacewalk and saw the crew capture, repair, and re-release the Intelsat IV satellite.

STS-32 (Columbia)

This mission saw the deployment of a Defense communications satellite and the years-delayed retrieval of the Long Duration Exposure Facility launched on STS-41-C. Lasting 11 days, NASA used this mission to test a crew's ability to function and fly the Space Shuttle after a long mission.

Daniel C. Brandenstein

First African American Man in Space

STS-61-A (Challenger)

A Space Shuttle mission funded completely by West Germany. This marked the first time payload operations on a U.S. mission were not conducted from NASA centers but from West Germany instead. Challenger flew with the Spacelab module, containing 76 scientific experiments. With eight crewmembers, this mission holds the record for "most people on a single spacecraft for launch and landing."

STS-53 (Discovery)

Classified Department of Defense mission.

STS-39 (Discovery)

This was the first unclassified mission for the Department of Defense and saw the crew operate and perform numerous external and internal scientific experiments.

Guion S. Bluford Jr.

STS-51-A (Discovery)

This Space Shuttle Discovery mission deployed two communications satellites, one for Canada and one for the U.S., before rendezvousing with and retrieving two previously launched satellites that had been placed into incorrect orbits. This marked the first time that satellites were recovered from space and returned to Earth for repair and eventual re-launch.

Dale A. Gardner

STS-51-B (Challenger)

A co-sponsored ESA/NASA scientific research flight of Spacelab. This was Spacelab's second flight and hosted a range of 15 scientific experiments. During launch, a second significant burn through of the O-ring seal between the Solid Rocket Booster segments occurred as it had on STS-51-C. According to the mission's Commander, the flight came within 0.3 seconds of a Challenger-like burn through event. Morton Thiokol (who built the solid rockets) and NASA upper management again dismissed concerns. The Space Shuttle kept flying.

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