STS-40

Bryan D. O'Connor

• Birthday: 09/06/1946
• Role: Commander
• Nationality: United States of America
• First Flight: 11/27/1985
• Last Flight: 06/05/1991

Bryan Daniel O'Connor is a retired United States Marine Corps Colonel and former NASA astronaut.

Sidney M. Gutierrez

• Birthday: 06/27/1951
• Role: Pilot
• Nationality: United States of America
• First Flight: 06/05/1991
• Last Flight: 04/09/1994

Sidney McNeill Gutierrez is a former NASA astronaut.

F. Drew Gaffney

• Birthday: 06/09/1946
• Role: Payload Specialist
• Nationality: United States of America
• First Flight: 06/05/1991
• Last Flight: 06/05/1991

Francis Andrew "Drew" Gaffney is an American doctor. He previously worked for NASA and participated in the STS-40 S...

Millie Hughes-Fulford

• Birthday: 12/21/1945
• Role: Payload Specialist
• Nationality: United States of America
• First Flight: 06/05/1991
• Last Flight: 06/05/1991

Millie Elizabeth Hughes-Fulford was an American medical investigator, molecular biologist and former NASA astronaut who flew ...

James P. Bagian

• Birthday: 02/22/1952
• Role: Mission Specialist
• Nationality: United States of America
• First Flight: 03/13/1989
• Last Flight: 06/05/1991

James Philip Bagian, MD, PE is an American physician, engineer, and former NASA astronaut of Armenian descent. During his car...

Margaret Rhea Seddon

• Birthday: 11/08/1947
• Role: Mission Specialist
• Nationality: United States of America
• First Flight: 04/12/1985
• Last Flight: 10/18/1993

Margaret Rhea Seddon is a physician and retired NASA astronaut. After being selected as part of the first group of astronauts...

Tamara E. Jernigan

• Birthday: 05/07/1959
• Role: Mission Specialist
• Nationality: United States of America
• First Flight: 06/05/1991
• Last Flight: 05/27/1999

Tamara Elizabeth "Tammy" Jernigan, Ph.D. is an American scientist and former NASA astronaut and a veteran of five s...

Mission

STS-40

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

STS-40 was the eleventh launch of Columbia and carried the Spacelab module for Spacelab Life Sciences 1 (SLS-1), the fifth Spacelab mission and the first dedicated to biology. It was also the first mission to carry three women crew members.

Location

Launch Complex 39B

Kennedy Space Center, FL, USA

Find the best place to watch the launch from Florida

Launch Complex 39B has witnessed the launch of 58 rockets, including 57 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