STS-66 (Atlantis)

This was the third Atmospheric Laboratory for Applications and Sciences mission.

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

Ten 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

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.

STS-54 (Endeavour)

This mission deployed the sixth TDRS satellite for NASA and tested various spacewalk techniques for future space station design.

Donald R. McMonagle

This astronaut is in the top 5% for number of missions.

Frequent Flyer

This astronaut has spent over a month in space.

Space Resident

STS-47 (Endeavour)

STS-47 was the 50th flight of the Space Shuttle and was co-sponsored by NASA and Japan. The crew performed 44 life and materials science experiments. The flight marked the first (and to date, only) time a married couple has flown in space together.

STS-85 (Discovery)

This Discovery science mission deployed and re-captured an Earth atmospheric observation satellite and tested potential International Space Station hardware and robotics.

STS-95 (Discovery)

NASA’s STS-95 mission launched aboard the Space Shuttle Discovery on October 29th, 1998, from Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The crew included Commander Curtis L. Brown Jr., Pilot Steven W. Lindsey, Mission Specialists Scott E. Parazynski, Stephen K. Robinson, and Pedro Duque, Payload Specialist Chiaki Mukai, and Payload Specialist John H. Glenn Jr., a U.S. senator and former Mercury astronaut returning to space. STS-95’s main objectives included scientific experiments on aging, life sciences, and materials science, while deploying and operating the Spartan solar-observing satellite. Notably, the mission studied the effects of space on the aging process, with John Glenn serving as the key participant. Discovery successfully landed back at Kennedy Space Center on November 7th, 1998, completing the mission.

STS-103 (Discovery)

The third servicing and upgrade mission to the Hubble Space Telescope.

STS-77 (Endeavour)

This multinational Space Shuttle mission saw Endeavour fly with a mix of NASA- and commercially-developed and procured payloads to test advanced biotechnology, electronics, and agriculture space products for the commercial market.

Curtis L. Brown Jr.

This astronaut visited the International Space Station.

ISS Visitor

This astronaut was the first Hispanic woman in space.

First Hispanic Women in Space

STS-96 (Discovery)

This flight was a resupply mission of Discovery to stockpile the International Space Station with equipment. The flight delivered parts of the Russian STRELA crane to the Station.

STS-110 (Atlantis)

Atlantis delivered the S0 truss to the International Space Station, the backbone of the international outpost. Jerry Ross became the first person to launch to space seven times.

STS-56 (Discovery)

This was the second flight of the Atmospheric Laboratory for Applications and Science pallet and focused on the relationship between the Sun and the Earth. The mission deployed and re-captured the SPARTAN-201 satellite.

Ellen Ochoa

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

Elite Spacewalker

STS-82 (Discovery)

The second Hubble Space Telescope upgrade mission. Discovery's crew improved Hubble's instruments and boosted its altitude to 620 km, the farthest from Earth a Space Shuttle ever traveled.

STS-97 (Endeavour)

The last human spaceflight launch of the 20th century delivered the P6 truss containing the first set of solar arrays and batteries for the International Space Station and outfitted a docking port for the following Space Shuttle assembly mission.

STS-115 (Atlantis)

Atlantis' crew resumed construction of the International Space Station with the delivery and installation of the P3/P4 truss, solar arrays, and batteries.

Joseph R. Tanner

CNES

STS-84 (Atlantis)

The sixth Space Shuttle docking to the Russian space station Mir delivered a new NASA crewmember to the outpost. During undocking, Atlantis tested a new European sensor that would be used on Europe's future International Space Station resupply vehicle.

Jean-François Clervoy

France

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-100 (Endeavour)

Endeavour delivered Canadarm2, the ISS's robotic arm, to the International Space Station.

STS-120 (Discovery)

Discovery's crew delivered the Harmony connection module to the International Space Station where the European and Japanese modules would later be attached, relocated the P6 solar array and battery truss, performed emergency solar array surgery (with charged current still flowing through the arrays), and rotated a U.S. ISS crewmember. Coincidentally, this mission became the first time two spacecraft (Space Shuttle and ISS) were simultaneously commanded by women, with Pam Melroy commanding Shuttle Discovery and Peggy Whitson commanding the ISS. This flight marked the third and last time a Space Shuttle mission was commanded by a woman.

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