STS-43

John E. Blaha

• Birthday: 08/26/1942
• Role: Commander
• Nationality: United States of America
• First Flight: 03/13/1989
• Last Flight: 09/16/1996

John Elmer Blaha is a retired United States Air Force colonel and a former NASA astronaut. He is a veteran of five space miss...

Michael A. Baker

• Birthday: 10/27/1953
• Role: Pilot
• Nationality: United States of America
• First Flight: 08/02/1991
• Last Flight: 01/12/1997

Michael Allen Baker is a retired captain in the United States Navy, former NASA astronaut, and the International Space Statio...

James C. Adamson

• Birthday: 03/03/1946
• Role: Mission Specialist
• Nationality: United States of America
• First Flight: 08/08/1989
• Last Flight: 08/02/1991

James Craig Adamson is a former NASA astronaut and retired Colonel of the United States Army. He is married with 3 children. ...

G. David Low

• Birthday: 02/19/1956
• Role: Mission Specialist
• Nationality: United States of America
• First Flight: 01/09/1990
• Last Flight: 06/21/1993

George David Low was an American aerospace executive and a NASA astronaut. He was born in 1956 to Dr. George Low, the Manager...

Shannon Lucid

• Birthday: 01/14/1943
• Role: Mission Specialist
• Nationality: United States of America
• First Flight: 06/17/1985
• Last Flight: 03/22/1996

Shannon Matilda Wells Lucid is an American biochemist and a retired NASA astronaut. At one time, she held the record for the ...

Mission

STS-43

• Type: Communications
• Orbit: Low Earth Orbit
• Launch Cost: $450,000,000

STS-43 was the ninth flight of the Space Shuttle Atlantis. The nine day mission had a primary goal of launching the fifth Tracking and Data Relay Satellite, TDRS-E.

Location

Launch Complex 39A

Kennedy Space Center, FL, USA

Find the best place to watch the launch from Florida

Launch Complex 39A has witnessed the launch of 199 rockets, including 198 orbital launch attempts. While Kennedy Space Center, FL, USA, has been the site for 257 rocket launches.

The John F. Kennedy Space Center, located on Merritt Island, Florida, is one of NASA's ten field centers. Since 1968, KSC has been NASA's primary launch center of American spaceflight, research, and technology. Launch operations for the Apollo, Skylab and Space Shuttle programs were carried out from Kennedy Space Center Launch Complex 39 and managed by KSC. Located on the east coast of Florida, KSC is adjacent to Cape Canaveral Space Force Station (CCSFS).

Rocket

National Aeronautics and Space Administration Space Shuttle

The Space Shuttle is a retired, partially reusable low Earth orbital spacecraft system operated from 1981 to 2011 by the U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) as part of the Space Shuttle program. Its official program name was Space Transportation System (STS). Five complete Space Shuttle orbiter vehicles were built and flown on a total of 135 missions from 1981 to 2011.

Learn more about the Space Shuttle