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.

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

Twelve Sprague-Dawley Rats (#3)

United States of America

This astronaut visited the International Space Station.

ISS Visitor

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

Crossed Kármán Line

This astronaut is the first man from Canada to go to space.

First Man from Canada

STS-41-G (Challenger)

The 13th flight of the space shuttle program and the sixth of Challenger, STS-41G holds many distinctions. As the first mission focused almost entirely on studying the Earth, it deployed a satellite, employed multiple instruments, cameras, and crew observations to accomplish those goals. 

The STS-41G crew set several firsts, most notably as the first seven-member space crew. Other milestones included the first astronaut to make a fourth shuttle flight, the first and only astronaut to fly on Challenger three times and on back-to-back missions on any orbiter, the first crew to include two women, the first American woman to make two spaceflights, the first American woman to conduct a spacewalk, and the first Canadian and the first Australian-born American to make spaceflights.

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.

Marc Garneau

Canada

NASA

This astronaut has spent over a month in space.

Space Resident

STS-36 (Atlantis)

Classified Department of Defense mission. This mission holds the record for highest orbital inclination ever achieved by a U.S. human spaceflight at 62 degrees.

STS-62 (Columbia)

This microgravity science mission studied the effects of long duration spaceflight and carried engineering and technology demonstration payloads in the Space Shuttle's cargo bay.

STS-54 (Endeavour)

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

John H. Casper

STS-44 (Atlantis)

The second unclassified Department of Defense Space Shuttle mission deployed the Defense Support Program satellite and supported numerous experiments.

Mario Runco Jr.

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

Frequent Flyer

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-66 (Atlantis)

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

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.

Curtis L. Brown Jr.

STS-51 (Discovery)

This mission deployed NASA's Advanced Communications Technology Satellite, deployed and retrieved an ultraviolet telescope, conducted a spacewalk to test the tools that would be used for the upcoming Hubble repair mission, and marked the first time a Space Shuttle flew with a GPS receiver. A July launch attempt ended at T-3 seconds with an on-pad abort and emergency shutdown of Discovery's engines when a failure was detected.

STS-68 (Endeavour)

The Space Radar Laboratory-2 mission continued providing researchers with unique data on Earth's ecosystems. A launch attempt in August ended at T-1.9 seconds with an on-pad abort and emergency shutdown of Endeavour's engines when a failure was detected. It was the closest a Space Shuttle ever came to launching without actually leaving the pad.

STS-108 (Endeavour)

The first Space Shuttle mission after the September 11th attacks, this flight's launch time was classified for added security, a practice that would continue through January 2003. The flight resupplied the International Space Station and rotated the Expedition 3 and 4 crews.

Daniel W. Bursch

STS-89 (Endeavour)

This mission was the eighth time a Space Shuttle docked to Mir, and was Endeavour's only visit to the Russian space station, delivering a new NASA crewmember to the outpost.

STS-102 (Discovery)

This Space Shuttle logistics mission resupplied the International Space Station and served as a crew rotation flight between the Expedition 1 and 2 crews.

STS-114 (Discovery)

STS-114 was the first of two Return To Flight missions for the Space Shuttle after the STS-107/Columbia accident and the second time Discovery flew the program's Return To Flight mission. The flight coincidentally launched at the exact same local time at the launch site (10:39:00 am Eastern) as when Columbia had launched on STS-107. This was the second Shuttle flight commanded by a woman. Discovery's crew resupplied the International Space Station, demonstrated some safety upgrades/improvements, and performed the first in-space repair of a Shuttle's heat shield. A large foam shedding event during launch grounded the Shuttle and proved NASA had not completely solved the issue that brought down Columbia and her crew. This and Hurricane Katrina's impact on New Orleans (where the External Tanks were built) resulted in a year-long stop of Shuttle launches.

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