‘A Horrible Moment’: 30 Years Since the Shuttle’s Mission for Britain and Indonesia (Part 2)

Discovery rockets into orbit on STS-29 in March 1989, carrying more than half of the original crew of Mission 61H. Photo Credit: NASA The beginning of the end of Mission 61H came on 28 January 1986, when Challenger and her crew were lost, just 73 seconds after liftoff from the Kennedy Space Center (KSC) in Florida. As described in yesterday’s AmericaSpace history article, the flight was intended…

‘The Thing That Was Really Unique’: 25 Years Since the Secret Mission of STS-38 (Part 2)

As with her launch and the bulk of her on-orbit operations, Atlantis’ landing was also shrouded in gloom. She became the first orbiter to return to the Shuttle Landing Facility (SLF) at the Kennedy Space Center (KSC) in more than 5.5 years when she touched down on 20 November 1990. Photo Credit: NASA, via Joachim Becker/SpaceFacts.de Twenty-five years ago, tonight, fire and thunder rattled the…

‘Most Serious and Significant Work’: 25 Years Since the Secret Mission of STS-38 (Part 1)

Atlantis roars into the night on 15 November 1990, 25 years ago, tomorrow, to begin the secretive mission of STS-38. Photo Credit: NASA, via Joachim Becker/SpaceFacts.de A quarter-century ago, the world stood on the brink of outright conflict in the Middle East, following the August 1990 invasion of Kuwait by the Iraqi dictator, Saddam Hussein. Against this stormy backdrop of an impending war…