STS-91 (Discovery)
STS-91 (Discovery)
Launch Date
June 2, 1998
Craft
Space Shuttle
Status
Past
Crew
6
STS-91 (Discovery)
STS-91 (Discovery)
Launch Date
June 2, 1998
Craft
Space Shuttle
Status
Past
Crew
6
Overview
This was the ninth and final Space Shuttle docking to Space Station Mir and Discovery's only trip to the Russian space station. Discovery's crew tested new robotic arm software and the Orbiter Space Vision System that would be needed during construction of the International Space Station. This flight returned the final long duration NASA astronaut from Mir.
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.