The Sun Kept Rising: Remembering Columbia's Unflown Mission, 35 Years On

By Ben Evans, on March 6th, 2021

OTD in 1986, shuttle Columbia might have launched into the night on a mission to survey Halley’s Comet. Tragically, the loss of Challenger a few weeks earlier changed all that. […]

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Like Night Flying: Remembering STS-35, OTD in 1990

By Ben Evans, on December 2nd, 2020

OTD in 1990 (after a summer of delays & with PLT Guy Gardner’s hair smoothly combed), #Columbia flew the long-delayed ASTRO-1 mission to study the Universe. […]

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‘What a Beautiful Universe’: Remembering STS-67’s Record-Setting Voyage, 25 Years On

By Ben Evans, on March 15th, 2020

The ASTRO-2 payload, pictured in Endeavour’s payload bay, during the STS-67 mission. Photo Credit: NASA

A quarter-century ago, this month, STS-67 set a new record for the longest Space Shuttle mission, an accomplishment which would later be eclipsed by only two other flights in the program’s 30-year history. For more than two weeks in March 1995, three military […]

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'You Need to Hear All the Notes': 25 Years Since STS-35 (Part 2)

By Ben Evans, on December 6th, 2015

Stunning perspective of Namibia, as viewed by the STS-35 crew, 25 years ago, in December 1990. Photo Credit: NASA, via Joachim Becker/SpaceFacts.de

Had history smiled with more favor, ASTRO-1 might have taken place almost three decades ago, but the space shuttle’s first mission totally dedicated to astrophysics was repeatedly delayed in the aftermath […]

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'Like Night Flying in an Airplane': 25 Years Since STS-35 (Part 1)

By Ben Evans, on December 5th, 2015

But for the tragic loss of Challenger, the ASTRO-1 mission might have flown just five weeks later, in March 1986. As circumstances transpired, it would be more than four years before the mission rose into orbit. Photo Credit: NASA, via Joachim Becker/SpaceFacts.de

A quarter-century ago, this week, four powerful ultraviolet and X-ray “eyes” […]

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'Since the Earth Cooled': 20 Years Since the Record-Setting Mission of STS-67 (Part 2)

By Ben Evans, on March 8th, 2015

Endeavour touches down at Edwards Air Force Base, Calif., on 18 March 1995, after almost 17 days in orbit. Photo Credit: NASA

Records are there to be broken, and in March 1995—20 years ago, this week—the crew of Endeavour was midway through what turned out to be the longest flight in shuttle program […]

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'Instant Daylight': 20 Years Since the Record-Setting Mission of STS-67 (Part 1)

By Ben Evans, on March 7th, 2015

Commander Steve Oswald leads the STS-67 crew out of the Operations and Checkout Building on the late evening of 1 March 1995, bound for a liftoff in the small hours of the following morning. Photo Credit: NASA

Twenty years ago, this week, seven astronauts, including four professional astronomers, were midway through what turned […]

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In the Shadow of Challenger: The Found Mission of STS-35 (Part 2)

By Ben Evans, on March 10th, 2013

Pictured in September 1990, the problem-plagued STS-35/Columbia stack is shown in the foreground, on Pad 39A, with the STS-41/Discovery stack in the background on Pad 39B. Discovery would be the only orbiter to escape the disconnect crisis in the summer of 1990, but would succumb to her own problems the following year. Photo […]

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In the Shadow of Challenger: The Lost Mission of STS-61E (Part 1)

By Ben Evans, on March 9th, 2013

Had Challenger not been lost, these seven men were the next scheduled shuttle crew. Seated from left to right are Pilot Dick Richards, Commander Jon McBride, and Mission Specialist Dave Leestma, the “orbiter” crew in charge of shuttle systems. Standing from left to right are the “science” crew: Payload Specialist Sam Durrance, Mission […]

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