STS-56 (Discovery)
STS-56 (Discovery)
Launch Date
April 8, 1993
Craft
Space Shuttle
Status
Past
Crew
5
STS-56 (Discovery)
STS-56 (Discovery)
Launch Date
April 8, 1993
Craft
Space Shuttle
Status
Past
Crew
5
Overview
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.
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.