Missions: STS-60 Builds Upon Success of First Mission

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CREW:
Charles F. Bolden Jr., Commander; Kenneth F. Reightler Jr., Pilot; Franklin R. Chang-Diaz, Payload Commander; N. Jan Davis, Mission Specialist; Ronald M. Sega, Mission Specialist; Sergei K. Krikalev, Mission Specialist, RSA

LAUNCH INFO:
Date: Feb. 3, 1994
Time: 7:10 a.m. EST
Site: Kennedy Space Center, FL

SHUTTLE FLIGHT:
Orbiter: Discovery (OV-103)
Orbit Altitude: 190 nautical miles
Orbit Inclination: 57°
Mission Duration: 8 Days, 7 hours, 9 minutes

LANDING INFO:
Date: Feb. 11, 1994
Time: 2:19 p.m. EST
Site: Kennedy Space Center, FL

PAYLOAD(S):
SPACEHAB-SM Single Module (FU2)
Wake Shield Facility

The first flight of the Space Shuttle in 1994, designated as STS-60, was highlighted by the participation of a Russian cosmonaut serving as a crew member aboard Space Shuttle Discovery. The mission also deployed and retrieved a free-flying disk designed to generate new semiconductor films for advanced electronics and the second flight of a commercially developed research facility.

A new era of human space flight cooperative efforts between the United States and Russia was begun with the flight of Russian cosmonaut Sergei Krikalev as a member of the STS-60 crew. His flight aboard the Shuttle marked the beginning of a three-phased program. Phase one included 10 Space Shuttle-Mir missions including rendezvous, docking and crew transfers between 1995 and 1997. Phase two is the joint development of the core International Space Station Program. Phase three is the expansion of the space station to include all of the international partners.

The SPACEHAB Module made its second flight aboard the Space Shuttle during the STS-60 mission. Located in the forward end of the Shuttle payload bay, it was accessed from the orbiter middeck through a tunnel and provided 1100 cubic feet of working and storage space. Experiments carried in the SPACEHAB Module involved materials processing, biotechnology and hardware and technology development payloads.

STS-60 was the 18th flight of Space Shuttle Discovery and the 60th flight of the Space Shuttle system.

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