#sts-40

Space Shuttle Columbia in the Vehicle Assembly Building for mating to the external fuel tank in preparation for STS-40.

Original caption: "Two space planes pass inside the VAB as the orbiter Discovery is towed past its sister ship, Columbia."

Date: February 9, 1991

Millie Hughes-Fulford (December 21, 1945 – February 4, 2021) was an American astronaut, medical investigator, molecular biologist, and professor.

She was the first woman to launch into space who was not a professional astronaut but a working scientist. Originally selected by NASA in 1983 to train for a science-dedicated space shuttle mission, her launch was delayed by the 1986 Challenger tragedy. But finally lifting off on the space shuttle Columbia on June 5, 1991, she became the first female payload specialist to enter orbit and a member of the first crew to include three women.

Aboard STS-40 Spacelab Life Sciences (SLS 1), she was part of the first Spacelab mission dedicated to biomedical studies. The SLS-1 mission flew over 3.2 million miles in 146 orbits and its crew completed over 18 experiments during a nine-day period, bringing back more medical data than any previous NASA flight. 

arbitrary astronaut photosets (7/?): favorite shuttle crew gag photos

STS-32 (January 1990) || STS-61-C (January 1986)

STS-40 (June 1991) || STS-92 (October 2000)

STS-46 (July – August 1992) || STS-61-E (cancelled)

STS-54 (January 1993) || STS-111 (June 2002)

Planet Earth and the Space Shuttle Columbia during mission STS-40, June 1991.

"CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- This orbiter tribute of space shuttle Columbia, or OV-102, hangs in Firing Room 4 of the Launch Control Center at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The tribute features Columbia, the “first of the fleet," rising above Earth at the dawn of the Space Shuttle Program. Columbia's accomplishments include the launch and deployment of NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory on STS-93, the first shuttle landing at White Sands Space Harbor in New Mexico on STS-3, the first deployment of commercial satellites and the first four-member crew during STS-5, the first Spacelab mission and first six-member crew on STS-9, the first female commander, Eileen Collins, on STS-93, as well as several laboratory missions with international partners. Crew-designed patches for each of Columbia’s missions lead from Earth toward a remembrance of the STS-107 crew, which was lost during re-entry on Feb. 1, 2003. Five orbiter tributes are on display in the firing room, representing Atlantis, Challenger, Columbia, Endeavour and Discovery."

Date: July 29, 2010

The Space Shuttle Columbia began its 11th mission (STS-40) on 5 June 1991.

It was the first shuttle mission dedicated solely to biological studies, and the first mission to include 3 female crew members.