STS-26

Frederick "Rick" Hauck

• Birthday: 04/11/1941
• Role: Commander
• Nationality: United States of America
• First Flight: 06/18/1983
• Last Flight: 09/29/1988

Frederick Hamilton "Rick" Hauck is a retired Captain in the United States Navy, a former fighter pilot and NASA ast...

Richard O. Covey

• Birthday: 08/01/1946
• Role: Pilot
• Nationality: United States of America
• First Flight: 08/27/1985
• Last Flight: 12/02/1993

Richard Oswalt Covey is a retired United States Air Force officer and former NASA astronaut.

George Nelson

• Birthday: 07/13/1950
• Role: Mission Specialist
• Nationality: United States of America
• First Flight: 04/06/1984
• Last Flight: 09/29/1988

George Driver "Pinky" Nelson is an American physicist, astronomer, science educator, and a former NASA astronaut.

John M. Lounge

• Birthday: 06/28/1946
• Role: Mission Specialist
• Nationality: United States of America
• First Flight: 08/27/1985
• Last Flight: 12/02/1990

ohn Michael "Mike" Lounge was an American engineer, a United States Navy officer, a Vietnam War veteran, and a NASA...

David Hilmers

• Birthday: 01/28/1950
• Role: Mission Specialist
• Nationality: United States of America
• First Flight: 10/03/1985
• Last Flight: 01/22/1992

David Carl Hilmers is a former NASA astronaut. Hilmers was selected a NASA astronaut in July 1980, and completed the initial ...

Mission

STS-26

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

STS-26 was the twenty-sixth space shuttle mission and the seventh flight of the orbiter Discovery. It was the return to flight mission after the Space Shuttle Challenger disaster. It was the first to have all of its crew members wear pressure suits for launch and landing since STS-4 and the first mission with bailout capability since STS-4. It was also the first all-veteran crew mission since Apollo-11 with all of its crew having flown at least on prior mission.

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 266 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