Twenty four years ago this month, a satellite rescue mission launched into space. NASA’s space shuttle Endeavour undertook its first mission on May 7th, 1992 and caught up with the stranded satellite.
The mission successfully captured the communication satellite that was stuck in an unstable orbit – INTELSAT VI. The satellite was spinning and presented a challenge to the three astronauts tasked with making contact. When they successfully captured it, a new motor was installed that sent the satellite higher into a geosynchronous orbit.
Endeavour was instrumental in several other national space objectives–Endeavour’s STS-88 began assembly of the International Space Station (ISS) – a platform that continues to advance our understanding of the microgravity environment. In missions that followed, Endeavour would carry payloads of experiments to the ISS.
For more about the ISS, click here.
This image of Endeavour on its way to the ISS was captured by a shuttle training aircraft.
Below: Endeavour lands in Los Angeles to go on display at the California Science Center.
For more history about NASA’s shuttle program, visit NASA.gov.