Lockheed Space Operations CompanyLaunch Successful
STS-40
Space Shuttle
Historical mission record
This page records Space Shuttle Columbia / OV-102 | STS-40 and its reported outcome: Launch Successful. The date above is a historical record.
Source record updated . This is a source update, not a confirmed launch time.
Check the source: Launch Library ↗
Mission status
Launch Successful
Status reported by the mission data provider.
LAUNCH SITEKennedy Space Center, FL, USA
Mission
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.
- Launch vehicle
- Space Shuttle
- Mission type
- Low Earth Orbit
- Destination orbit
- Low Earth Orbit
- Spacecraft
- Space Shuttle Columbia
- Destination
- Low Earth Orbit
- Launch pad
- Launch Complex 39B
- Provider
- Lockheed Space Operations Company
- Programs
- Space Shuttle
The people behind the mission
Meet the crew
Assignments reported in this mission's source record.
Launch, onboard and landing crews can differ.
Launch crew
Space Shuttle Columbia
Payload Specialist
Millie Hughes-Fulford
National Aeronautics and Space Administration
Astronaut profile
Mission Specialist
Margaret Rhea Seddon
National Aeronautics and Space Administration
Astronaut profile
Landing crew (7)Space Shuttle Columbia
Payload Specialist
Millie Hughes-Fulford
National Aeronautics and Space Administration
Astronaut profileMission Specialist
Margaret Rhea Seddon
National Aeronautics and Space Administration
Astronaut profileThe vehicle
Published configuration and flight history.
Launch vehicle
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.
- Height
- 56.1 m
- Diameter
- 8 m
- Stages
- 2
- Recorded launches
- 135
- First flight
- 1981-04-12
Recorded timing
This is a mission record, not an upcoming calendar appointment.
Instantaneous windowPublished target
SCHEDULED MOMENT
A single scheduled moment. The schedule may change before launch.
Launch site & orbit
Kennedy Space Center, FL, USA
The mission in perspective
Launch site & orbit
Explore the launch pad, then pull back to see the shape of the destination orbit.
Understand this orbit
Coverage & sources
Links supplied by the mission data provider.
Coverage and times may change.
Mission coverage
STS-40 launch & landing (6-5-91) ↗Further reading
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