#sts-67

Endeavour lights up the night on 2 March 1995 during the launch of STS-67.

On-orbit crew portrait. Back row, from left to right: flight engineer Wendy Lawrence; payload specialists Ronald Parise and Samuel Durrance; mission specialist John Grunsfeld. Front row, payload commander Tamara Jernigan; mission commander Steven S. Oswald; pilot William Gregory.

Endeavour carried Spacelab for the Astro-2 mission, conducting astronomical observations in the ultraviolet spectral region. It housed three unique instruments: two ultraviolet telescopes and a photo-polarimeter experiment package. The crew was divided into two teams: the Red Team, composed of Oswald, Gregory, and Parise; and the Blue Team, composed of Lawrence, Jernigan, and Durrance. Each team worked 12-hour shifts, allowing round-the-clock operations.

Astro-2 would build on similar experiments carried out during Astro-1, which was flown on STS-35 in 1990.

Astro-2 payload during operation. The two telescopes and polarimeter experiment can be seen in the foreground.

STS-67 would come to an end on 18 March 1995 when Endeavour touched down at Edwards Air Force Base in California.

Endeavour landing at Runway 22, Edwards AFB.

"CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- This orbiter tribute of space shuttle Endeavour, or OV-105, hangs in Firing Room 4 of the Launch Control Center at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. It features Endeavour soaring into orbit above the sailing vessel HMS Endeavour for which it was named. The Cupola, delivered to the International Space Station by Endeavour on STS-130, frames various images that represent the processing and execution of the Space Shuttle Program. Clockwise from top, are the first-ever use of a drag chute during the STS-49 landing, rollout to a launch pad, a ferry flight return to Kennedy, rolling into an orbiter processing facility, docking to the International Space Station, and lifting operations before being mated to an external fuel tank and solid rocket boosters in the Vehicle Assembly Building. The background image was captured by the Hubble Space Telescope and signifies the first shuttle servicing mission, which was performed by Endeavour's STS-61 crew. Crew-designed patches from Endeavour’s maiden voyage through its final mission are shown ascending toward the stars. Five orbiter tributes are on display in the firing room, representing Atlantis, Challenger, Columbia, Endeavour and Discovery."

Date: July 29, 2010