STS-44 Atlantis launched the night of November 24, 1991. The primary mission objective was the deployment of a Defense Support Program (DSP) satellite with an Inertial Upper Stage (IUS) rocket booster. The mission was concluded after 110 orbits of the Earth returning to a landing on the lakebed at
Edwards Air Force Base, California, on December 1, 1991.
STS-55, the German D-2 Spacelab mission, was launched on April 26, 1993, aboard
Columbia, and landed 10 days later on May 6, 1993, at Edwards AFB California. During the ambitious mission 89 experiments were performed in many disciplines such as materials processing, life sciences, robotics, technology, astronomy, and Earth mapping.
STS-70 launched from the
Kennedy Space Center, Florida, on July 13, 1995, and returned there July 22, 1995. During 142 orbits of the Earth, the crew performed a variety of experiments in addition to deploying the sixth and final NASA Tracking and Data Relay Satellite. STS-70, with an "all-Ohio" crew, was the first mission controlled from the new combined control center.
STS-78 launched June 20, 1996 and landed July 7, 1996, becoming the longest
Space Shuttle mission to date (later that year the STS-80 mission broke its record by 19 hours.) The 16-day mission included studies sponsored by 10 nations and five space agencies, and was the first mission to combine both a full microgravity studies agenda and a comprehensive life science investigation. The Life and Microgravity Spacelab mission served as a model for future studies on board the
International Space Station. ==References==