page_title: Space Shuttle program
section_title: Accomplishments
hierarchical_section_title: Space Shuttle program / Accomplishments
caption_attribution_description: English: Full Description: This illustration depicts the configuration of the Spacelab-2 in the cargo bay of the orbiter. Spacelab was a versatile laboratory carried in the Space Shuttle's cargo bay for scientific research flights. Each Spacelab mission had a unique design appropriate to the mission's goals. A number of Spacelab configurations could be assembled from pressurized habitation modules and exposed platforms called pallets. Spacelab-2 was the first pallet-only mission. One of the goals of the mission was to verify that the pallets' configuration was satisfactory for observations and research. Except for two biological experiments and an experiment that used ground-based instruments, the Spacelab-2 scientific instruments needed direct exposure to space. On the first pallet, three solar instruments and one atmospheric instrument were mounted on the Instrument Pointing System, which was being tested on its first flight. The second Spacelab pallet held a large double x-ray telescope and three plasma physics detectors. The last pallet supported an infrared telescope, a superfluid helium technology experiment, and a small plasma diagnostics satellite. The Spacelab-2 mission was designed to capitalize on the Shuttle-Spacelab capabilities, to launch and retrieve satellites, and to point several instruments independently with accuracy and stability. Spacelab-2 (STS-51F, 19th Shuttle mission) was launched aboard Space Shuttle Orbiter Challenger on July 29, 1985. The Marshall Space Flight Center had overall management responsibilities of the Spacelab missions. Deutsch: Spacelab 2 im Space Shuttle Laderaum.
context_page_description: The Space Shuttle program was the fourth human spaceflight program carried out by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, which accomplished routine transportation for Earth-to-orbit crew and cargo from 1981 to 2011. Its official name, Space Transportation System, was taken from a 1969 plan for a system of reusable spacecraft of which it was the only item funded for development.
  The Space Shuttle—composed of an orbiter launched with two reusable solid rocket boosters and a disposable external fuel tank—carried up to eight astronauts and up to 50,000 lb of payload into low Earth orbit. When its mission was complete, the orbiter would reenter the Earth's atmosphere and land like a glider at either the Kennedy Space Center or Edwards Air Force Base.
  The Shuttle is the only winged crewed spacecraft to have achieved orbit and landing, and the only reusable crewed space vehicle that has ever made multiple flights into orbit. Its missions involved carrying large payloads to various orbits, providing crew rotation for the space station, and performing service missions on the Hubble Space Telescope.
context_section_description: Space Shuttle missions have included:
  Spacelab missions Including:
  Science
  Astronomy
  Crystal growth
  Space physics
  Construction of the International Space Station (ISS)
  Crew rotation and servicing of Mir and the International Space Station (ISS)
  Servicing missions, such as to repair the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) and orbiting satellites
  Human experiments in low Earth orbit (LEO)
  Carried to low Earth orbit (LEO):
  The Hubble Space Telescope (HST)
  Components of the International Space Station (ISS)
  Supplies in Spacehab modules or Multi-Purpose Logistics Modules
  The Long Duration Exposure Facility
  The Upper Atmosphere Research Satellite
  The Compton Gamma Ray Observatory
  The Earth Radiation Budget Satellite
  The Mir Shuttle Docking Node
  Carried satellites with a booster, such as the Payload Assist Module (PAM-D) or the Inertial Upper Stage (IUS), to the point where the booster sends the satellite to:
  A higher Earth orbit; these have included:
  Chandra X-ray Observatory
  The first six TDRS satellites
  Two DSCS-III (Defense Satellite Communications System) communications satellites in one mission
  A Defense Support Program satellite
  An interplanetary mission; these have included:
  Magellan
  Galileo
  Ulysses
caption: Space art for the Spacelab 2 mission, showing some of the various experiments in the payload bay. Spacelab was a major European contribution to the Space Shuttle Program
exif: {}