US #3262 shows the space shuttle carrier aircraft taxiing to the runway to deliver the newly built Endeavour from Rockwell’s factory in Palmdale, California.īecause of the successes of the mission, STS-49 was extended by two days to give the crew time to complete more objectives and prepare to land. One of these was also the longest spacewalk in history, lasting over eight hours. During their mission, the astronauts also conducted four spacewalks, the first time that many had been done in a single mission. They also put together footage for a video comparing their mission to Captain Cook’s voyage. They performed medical tests to study how the human body performed in microgravity. In addition to that mission, the crew had several other objectives. It was retrieved, the motor replaced, and put back into orbit. In the end, a three-person spacewalk was staged to get the satellite. However, the shuttle hadn’t been designed to retrieve the satellite, so a plan had to be developed. It had been orbiting, but not functioning, and the crew was tasked with replacing its rocket motor. One of the major goals of this mission was to capture the INTELSAT VI satellite. Exactly one year later, the Endeavour embarked on its first mission, STS-49. US #3261 pictures the Endeavour landing with its parachute open at Kennedy Space Center in Florida.Īfter construction was complete, the Endeavour arrived Kennedy Space Center’s Shuttle Landing Facility on May 7, 1991. However, Endeavour is misspelled Endeavor. For instance, the Priority and Express Mail stamps above have hidden “scrambled indicia” of the names of six NASA space shuttles. Because they used the British spelling (rather than the American “Endeavor”) the shuttle’s name has often been misspelled. It was named after the ship that Captain James Cook took on his first voyage of discovery, the HMS Endeavour. Endeavour was the most popular entry by a wide margin. Children submitted essays about the name, the story behind it, and why it would be fitting for a NASA shuttle. On August 1, 1987, authorized the construction of a new shuttle to replace the Challenger.įor the first time, the shuttle’s name was decided through a national competition in elementary and secondary schools. On May 7, 1992, the Space Shuttle Endeavour embarked on its first mission, STS-49.įollowing the Challenger disaster in 1986, space shuttles were grounded for two years, but plans for a new shuttle began. First Flight of the Space Shuttle Endeavour US #2544a is based on a photograph of the Endeavour‘s liftoff for the STS-57 mission.
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