This week in 1992, the space shuttle Atlantis, mission STS-45, launched from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center. The mission carried the first Atmospheric Laboratory for Applications and Science, ATLAS-1, on Spacelab pallets mounted in the orbiter’s cargo bay. The non-deployable payload was equipped with 12 instruments from the United States, France, Germany, Belgium, Switzerland, the Netherlands and Japan, and conducted studies in atmospheric chemistry, solar radiation, space plasma physics and ultraviolet astronomy. Here, the forward portion of ATLAS-1 is visible in the open cargo bay of the orbiter. The ATLAS mission was part of the series of Spacelab missions managed by NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center. The NASA History Program is responsible for generating, disseminating and preserving NASA’s remarkable history and providing a comprehensive understanding of the institutional, cultural, social, political, economic, technological and scientific aspects of NASA’s activities in aeronautics and space. For more pictures like this one and to connect to NASA’s history, visit the Marshall History Program’s webpage. (NASA)