STS-61-A was the 22nd mission of NASA's Space Shuttle program. It was a scientific Spacelab mission, funded and directed by West Germany – hence the non-NASA designation of D-1. STS-61-A was the ninth and last successful flight of Space Shuttle Challenger before the disaster. STS-61-A holds the current record for the largest crew—eight people—aboard any single spacecraft for the entire period from launch to landing.
Guion Bluford, Reinhard Furrer, and Ernst Messerschmid in Spacelab Module LM2, serving as the Spacelab D1 laboratory.
Back: Steven R. Nagel, Guion Bluford, Ernst Messerschmid, Wubbo Ockels Front: Reinhard Furrer, Bonnie J. Dunbar, James Buchli, Henry W. Hartsfield Jr.Space Shuttle program← STS-51-J (21)STS-61-B (23) →
The Grand Canyon from orbit
Clearwater Lakes in Quebec, Canada (meteorite impact craters) as seen during the mission.
Spacelab was a reusable laboratory developed by European Space Agency (ESA) and used on certain spaceflights flown by the Space Shuttle. The laboratory comprised multiple components, including a pressurized module, an unpressurized carrier, and other related hardware housed in the Shuttle's cargo bay. The components were arranged in various configurations to meet the needs of each spaceflight.
Spacelab art, with lab interior cutaway, 1981
Wubbo Ockels in the lab, 1985
Mercuric iodide crystals grown on Spacelab 3
Artist's impression of the Spacelab 2 mission, showing some of the various experiments in the payload bay
