STS-26 (Discovery)
STS-26 (Discovery)
Launch Date
September 28, 1988
Craft
Space Shuttle
Status
Past
Crew
5
STS-26 (Discovery)
STS-26 (Discovery)
Launch Date
September 28, 1988
Craft
Space Shuttle
Status
Past
Crew
5
Overview
The Space Shuttle's triumphant Return To Flight after the Challenger Disaster. Discovery's crew completed many tasks originally planned for STS-51-L/Challenger, verified all critical flight safety upgrades in the wake of the tragedy, and deployed the third TDRS 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.