The Most Memorable Space Shuttle Missions

Clara Moskowitz, SPACE.com Senior Writer | May 30, 2011 02:22am ET

NASA's Prolific Space Shuttles

NASA's storied space shuttle program has seen some amazing highs, and a couple devastating lows over the course of its 30-year history. Soon, the world's first reusable spacecraft will retire to make way for NASA's next phase. But for now, here's a look back at the most memorable missions of the space shuttle's tenure.

First Shuttle Flight: STS-1 (Columbia)

On April 12, 1981, NASA's maiden space shuttle Columbia lifted off for the first time 30 years ago, carrying astronauts John Young and Bob Crippen. That mission marked many firsts, including the first time solid rocket engines were used to propel a spaceship into orbit, and the first time a spaceship landed back on Earth by gliding down a runway, instead of splashing into the ocean like Apollo capsules or on land like Russia's spacecraft. Columbia's flight was also the first powered test flight of the space shuttle, and marked the first time a spacecraft's debut test flight was manned, rather than unmanned. Although the mission saw a few slight anomalies, overall the space shuttle performed exceptionally on its maiden voyage.

A Shuttle Lands at White Sands: STS-3 (Columbia)

This March 22, 1982 shuttle mission, the third flight of the fleet, was focused on further testing of the shuttle, including its robotic arm system, Canadarm, and its thermal protection shielding. Because of high winds at Columbia's planned landing site at Edwards Air Force Base in California, the shuttle was forced to glide down at the backup site of White Sands Test Facility near Las Cruces, N.M. While the site, now called the White Sands Space Harbor, still remains a backup landing facility for the shuttle, a shuttle never landed there following the STS-3 mission.

First American Woman in Space: STS-7 (Challenger)

The STS-7 crew of space shuttle Challenger included Sally Ride when it sailed into orbit on June 18, 1983, making Ride the first American woman in space. The flight came 20 years after the mission that launched the first woman pilot into space, Russian cosmonaut Valentina Tereshkova, during the former Soviet Union's June 1963 flight of Vostok 6. During the STS-7 mission, Ride and the other four astronauts onboard, led by Bob Crippen, deployed two telecommunications satellites—one for Canada and one for Indonesia. This was the seventh space shuttle mission, and was the second mission for the Challenger orbiter. At the time, the five spaceflyers on STS-7 were the largest single crew to fly together in space.

First African-American Astronaut Reaches Space: STS-8 (Challenger)

The very next shuttle mission after Ride's history-making launch saw the first flight of an African American in space. Guion Bluford launched aboard the shuttle Challenger on Aug. 30, 1983 along with four other astronauts led by commander Richard Truly. The crew released an Indian communications and weather satellite into orbit, and conducted a set of science experiments. They also tested the Canadarm on a dummy second payload. This mission was also the first time the space shuttle launched and landed at night.

Shuttle Fleet's Spacelab Debut: STS-9 (Columbia)

NASA's STS-9 flight of shuttle Columbia, the ninth shuttle flight, launched on Nov. 28, 1983 and was a mission dedicated entirely to science. It was the first mission to use the Spacelab module, a cylindrical laboratory of science experiments packed into the shuttle's cargo bay. The six crewmembers onboard spent 10 days on a joint NASA/European Space Agency program to demonstrate the usefulness of the shuttle to conduct advanced scientific research. Spacelab would go on to be used on 22 shuttle missions until April 1998.

First Untethered Spacewalk: STS-41B (Challenger)

The STS-41B flight of Challenger lifted off on Feb. 3, 1984 and marked the first time an astronaut spacewalked outside the shuttle without being tethered. Astronauts Bruce McCandless and Robert L. Stewart tested out the Manned Maneuvering Unit (MMU), a robotic backpack with its own thrusters that allowed the spaceflyers to move around, becoming the first human satellites to orbit the Earth. This mission also marked the first time a space shuttle landed back where it launched, at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Fla. While Kennedy is now the preferred landing site for shuttles, the first space shuttle missions landed at California's Edwards Air Force Base. Now Edwards is used as a backup landing site.

A Satellite Repair Shop: STS-41C (Challenger)

On April 6, 1984, the shuttle Challenger launched on a mission to rendezvous with the malfunctioning Solar Maximum Mission satellite (SolarMax) in what became the first in-space satellite repair. The spacecraft had been launched in 1980 to study solar flares, but was in need of some repairs. The shuttle astronauts used a combination of spacewalks and robotic arm maneuvers to grab Solar Max and replace its attitude control mechanism and electronics systems, significantly boosting the life of the satellite. The activities would pave the way for other spacecraft servicing missions, such as those to repair the Hubble Space Telescope.

First Space Shuttle Disaster: STS-51L (Challenger)

On Jan. 28, 1986, NASA's space shuttle program saw its darkest day at the time, when seven astronauts lost their lives as Challenger disintegrated shortly after launch. One of them was high school teacher Christa McAuliffe, who had been selected to be the first teacher in space. The problem began with exceptionally cold weather, which prevented a rubber O-ring on one of the shuttle's solid rocket boosters from maintaining its seal, allowing hot gas to leak and damage the shuttle's external fuel tank and the hardware attaching the booster to the vehicle. The right solid rocket booster separated from the shuttle, and the fuel tank broke apart, causing the orbiter to be torn apart by aerodynamic stresses. [<a href="http://www.space.com/10711-challenger-shuttle-disaster-25-years.html">Special Report: Space Shuttle Challenger Disaster – 25 Years Later</a>] It would take two years of investigations and modifications before a NASA space shuttle flew in space again.

Shuttle Fleet's Return-to-Flight Mission: STS-26 (Discovery)

It took NASA 2 1/2 years to regroup from the Challenger disaster and launch the first return-to-flight mission, the STS-26 voyage of Discovery, led by commander Frederick Hauck, on Sept. 29, 1988. After Challenger, the space agency conducted a thorough review of the program and put many fixes in place to prevent another such accident. The STS-26 mission deployed a communications satellite and included a series of science experiments performed by Discovery's crew. Unfortunately, Challenger wouldn't be the last shattering loss for the shuttle program, although NASA maintained a clean record for 15 years after Discovery's return-to-flight mission.

Launching Hubble: STS-31 (Discovery)

The space shuttle Discovery added another notable launch to its list when it launched what remains the world's most famous telescope, the Hubble Space Telescope, on April 24, 1990. Discovery's five-astronaut crew, led by commander Loren Shriver, spent five days in space deploying the observatory and conducting science experiments. Because of its vantage point in space, beyond Earth's blurring atmosphere, Hubble could take much more detailed photos than comparable ground telescopes. However, soon after the telescope started snapping pictures, scientists realized that an error in the construction of Hubble's main mirror was significantly compromising image quality, causing pictures to come out blurry. Luckily, Hubble is the only telescope designed to be serviced in space by astronauts.

First Three-Person Spacewalk: STS-49 (Endeavour)

On May 13, 1992, during the first mission of the space shuttle Endeavour, a trio of astronauts conducted the first spacewalk to involve more than two spacewalkers at once. STS-49 mission specialists Pierre Thuot, Richard Hieb, and Thomas Akers conducted the extravehicular activity (EVA) to capture and repair the broken Intelsat VI-F3 satellite. The communications satellite had been stranded in the wrong orbit since its launch two years earlier in March 1990. The astronauts successfully attached a new second stage rocket to boost the spacecraft into its intended geosynchronous orbit.

Fixing Hubble: STS-61 (Endeavour)

Three years after Hubble launched into space with faulty optics, NASA launched the shuttle Endeavour on the STS-61 mission on Dec. 2, 1993. The mission came about after engineers completed a set of corrective optics to fix the problem, allowing NASA to launch seven astronauts on the first Hubble servicing mission. The crew, led by commander Richard Covey spent 10 days performing five spacewalks to install the new hardware. The new optics proved to correct the blurring, and STS-61 was pronounced a triumphant success, opening the door for Hubble to revolutionize our understanding of the universe. [<a href="http://www.space.com/10689-hubble-space-telescope-photos.html">Spectacular Photos From The Revamped Hubble Telescope</a>] STS-61 would be followed by four more servicing missions to upgrade Hubble over the years.

Space Shuttle Docks at Russia's Mir: STS-71 (Atlantis)

While the United States and Russia began the space race as competitors, they evolved into collaborators. One of the brightest moments of the partnership came on June 27, 1995 when a U.S. space shuttle docked to the Russian space station Mir. Atlantis' STS-71 mission delivered two Russian cosmonauts to the station to begin their months-long stay on Mir. The mission also picked up a NASA astronaut and two other cosmonauts – who had been serving on the Mir crew – to give them a ride home.

Shuttle Launches Oldest Astronaut: STS-95 (Discovery)

Shuttle Discovery carried the oldest person to space to date on Oct. 29, 1998 when it lifted off with Mercury astronaut and United States Senator John Glenn aboard. [<a href="http://www.space.com/10947-photos-space-shuttle-discovery-final-launch.html">Photos: Shuttle Discovery Sets Sail On Final Voyage</a>] The 77-year old Glenn was making his second spaceflight, after launching on Friendship 7 on Feb. 20, 1962. Glenn was one of the original Mercury 7, the first group of United States astronauts ever selected. He was the fifth person in space and the first American to orbit the Earth.

Shuttle's First International Space Station Trek: STS-88 (Endeavour)

The now-complete International Space Station has been called one of the space shuttle's crowning achievements, because many of its large components were only possible to haul to space inside the shuttle's roomy cargo bay. But in 1998, construction of the space station was just getting under way. NASA's first shuttle to visit the space station was Endeavour, which launched on the STS-88 mission on Dec. 4, 1998 and carried the first American module, the Unity node to the station. Unity was connected to the first space station segment, the Russian Zarya module, which Russia had launched less than a month earlier on a Russian Proton rocket.

Columbia is Lost: STS-107 (Columbia)

The tragic loss of space shuttle Columbia – NASA's first shuttle to fly – on Feb. 1, 2003, dealt a withering blow to the space shuttle program. The seven-member crew, led by commander Rick Husband, launched on Jan. 16 of that year and was returning home after a successful 16-day mission filled with microgravity and Earth science experiments when the orbiter broke up during re-entry to Earth. The cause was eventually traced to a piece of foam insulation on the shuttle's external tank, which had flaked off during launch and impacted the orbiter's left wing. Though no one knew it at the time, subsequent analysis showed the debris likely punched a plate-sized hole in the wing, causing the vehicle to fail to withstand the strains of reentry.

NASA Shuttles Resume Spaceflights: STS-114 (Discovery)

On July 26, 2005, the space shuttle fleet once again resumed spaceflights following a fatal accident. Discovery's STS-114 mission came two years of investigation into the Columbia accident to identify improvements to enhance safety for the spaceflight program. Like the first return-to-flight mission, after Challenger, this voyage was flown by shuttle Discovery. The 13-day mission, led by commander Eileen Collins, tested out the new safety techniques that had been developed post-Columbia, including using a sensor system attached to a long pole to scan the orbiter after launch to make sure no catastrophic debris strikes have taken place. Discovery's crew also tested heat shield repair techniques during several spacewalks. Since then, heat shield inspections have become a standard part of every shuttle mission since the Columbia accident.

The Last Shuttle Mission: STS-135 (Atlantis)

In 2011, the space shuttle program flew its last flights. The final mission, slated to be flown by the shuttle Atlantis on June 28, 2011, will carry four astronauts and a cargo bay packed to the brim with spare supplies to the International Space Station. The shuttle Discovery launched on its last mission Feb. 24, 2011. The orbiter delivered the final major U.S. contribution to the space station – the Permanent Multipurpose Module Leonardo – effectively completing the American portion of the orbiting lab. The shuttle Endeavour is scheduled to lift off on its last space voyage June 29 to bring a cosmic ray-hunting astrophysics experiment and a load of extra hardware to the space station. After the final space shuttle flights, NASA's three orbiters are to be retired to American museums.

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The Most Memorable Space Shuttle Missions

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