The Real Mission Impossible: Remembering STS-61C's Quest for Space

By Ben Evans, on January 12th, 2020

“Mission Impossible” finally launches as Columbia roars into the darkened Florida skies on 12 January 1986. Photo Credit: NASA

The opening weeks of each year are always tinged with sadness for America’s space program, as the nation observes a triplet of cruel anniversaries: the 1967 loss of Apollo 1 astronauts Virgil “Gus” Grissom, Ed […]

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'Dying All Tensed-Up': 30 Years Since the Troubled Secret Mission of STS-27

By Ben Evans, on December 9th, 2018

Atlantis roars to orbit on the morning of 2 December 1988, 30 years ago today. Photo Credit: NASA

Thirty years ago, at 9:30 a.m. EST on 2 December 1988, Atlantis rocketed into crystal-blue Florida skies to begin the second shuttle mission in the wake of the Challenger tragedy. Two months earlier, her sister […]

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'Sitting On A Controlled Explosion': 25 Years Since the Space Shuttle's Half-Century Mission

By Ben Evans, on September 10th, 2017

 

Endeavour roars aloft, 25 years ago, this week, for the Space Shuttle’s 50th flight. Photo Credit: NASA, via Joachim Becker/SpaceFacts.de

Twenty-five years ago, this week, Space Shuttle Endeavour—the youngest member of NASA’s fleet of orbiter vehicles, built to replace the ill-fated Challenger—rocketed away from the Kennedy Space Center (KSC) in Florida, on […]

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The Real Mission Impossible: 30 Years Since Mission 61C (Part 2)

By Ben Evans, on January 10th, 2016

Robert “Hoot” Gibson (right) and George “Pinky” Nelson lead the 61C crew out of the Operations & Checkout Building for launch. Following is crewmate Steve Hawley. Photo Credit: NASA

On Mission 61C, launched 30 years ago next week, on 12 January 1986, Space Shuttle Columbia was making her first orbital flight in over […]

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The Real Mission Impossible: 30 Years Since Mission 61C (Part 1)

By Ben Evans, on January 9th, 2016

“Mission Impossible” finally launches as Columbia roars into the darkened Florida skies on 12 January 1986. Photo Credit: NASA

Though three decades have passed, January 1986 has become entrenched in humanity’s popular consciousness as one of the darkest months in space history, for on its 28th day the crew of Challenger were lost […]

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'To Work Co-operatively': 20 Years Since the First Shuttle-Mir Docking Mission (Part 4)

By Ben Evans, on June 28th, 2015

Mir Commander Vladimir Dezhurov (left) and STS-71 Commander Robert “Hoot” Gibson shake hands after hatch opening on 29 June 1995. Photo Credit: NASA

Two decades have passed, this week, since one of the most remarkable instances of international co-operation ever seen in human history. For 10 days, between 27 June and 7 July […]

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'To Work Co-operatively': 20 Years Since the First Shuttle-Mir Docking Mission (Part 3)

By Ben Evans, on June 27th, 2015

Russia’s space station Mir, as pictured by the crew of STS-71. Photo Credit: NASA

Twenty years ago, today, on 27 June 1995, a new era began. Space Shuttle Atlantis rocketed into orbit from the Kennedy Space Center (KSC) in Florida, as she had done 13 times previously, over the course of almost a […]

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'Houston, Atlantis, We Have Capture': 20 Years Since the First Shuttle-Mir Docking Mission (Part 2)

By Ben Evans, on June 21st, 2015

By pure happenstance, Atlantis was about to enter a protracted period of modification when the Shuttle-Mir contracts were signed in 1992. As a result, she was the primary orbiter outfitted for the docking missions. Photo Credit: NASA

The coming days and weeks mark a pair of significant anniversaries in the history of co-operation […]

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'Houston, Atlantis, We Have Capture': 20 Years Since the First Shuttle-Mir Docking Mission (Part 1)

By Ben Evans, on June 20th, 2015

Space Shuttle Atlantis, as viewed through one of Mir’s windows, during the extraordinary docking mission in June 1995. Photo Credit: NASA

Twenty years after the remarkable flight of the Apollo-Soyuz Test Project (ASTP)—which saw U.S. astronauts Tom Stafford, Vance Brand, and Deke Slayton work together in orbit for a handful of days with […]

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Top Ten US EVA Missions of All Time: No. 4—'The Flights of Buck and Flash'

By Ben Evans, on June 7th, 2015

This iconic image, captured by astronaut Robert “Hoot” Gibson, shows Bruce McCandless participating in humanity’s first untethered EVA, aboard the Manned Maneuvering Unit (MMU). Photo Credit: NASA

When the crew of Mission 41B—the 10th shuttle flight and the fourth voyage by orbiter Challenger—released their official patch in the fall of 1983, it included […]

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