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.

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

Twenty-nine 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-58 (Columbia)

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

Margaret R. Seddon

STS-61-B (Atlantis)

This mission deployed three satellites for Australia, Mexico, and the U.S., and took the first Mexican citizen to space. Two spacewalks proved assembling large, pre-formed structures in space was possible, though their shape was crucial -- a key to the eventual construction of the International Space Station. At launch, this became the fastest turnaround between flights of any rocket or spacecraft to date; Atlantis launched for a second time just 54 days after her first mission.

Bryan D. O'Connor

STS-29 (Discovery)

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

James P. Bagian

STS-59 (Endeavour)

The Space Radar Laboratory-1 mission provided researchers an opportunity to study Earth's ecosystems from space.

Sidney M. Gutierrez

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-52 (Columbia)

Columbia's crew deployed the LAGEOS-II satellite for NASA & Italy and carried out a variety of experiments inside and outside of the Shuttle. Some of Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry's ashes were carried to space on this mission.

STS-67 (Endeavour)

Astro-2 was the second Space Shuttle flight dedicated to ultraviolet observations of astronomical objects.

STS-80 (Columbia)

This multifaceted science mission deployed and re-captured two satellites and tested the effects of spaceflight on the cardiovascular system. It was the longest Space Shuttle mission, lasting 17 days 15 hours.

Get the Supercluster App

Donate to Support Supercluster

Supercluster on Patreon

Fact of the Day

Want more space stories?

GET THE SUPERCLUSTER APP

THE SUPERCLUSTER PODCAST

Donate to support

The Supercluster App

Featuring our global Launch Tracker, interactive Astronaut Database, and Stations Dashboard.

Stay on top of everything leaving Earth; get mission info, countdowns, livestreams, and customized notifications that alert you when a rocket is launching or when a space station is in the skies overhead.

Download