STS-51-A (Discovery)
STS-51-A (Discovery)
Launch Date
November 8, 1984
Craft
Space Shuttle
Status
Past
Crew
5
STS-51-A (Discovery)
STS-51-A (Discovery)
Launch Date
November 8, 1984
Craft
Space Shuttle
Status
Past
Crew
5
Overview
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.
Nations
United States of America
United States of America
Agencies
NASA
NASA
Crafts
Space Shuttle
Space Shuttle
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.