This week in 1992, the first International Microgravity Laboratory launched aboard space shuttle Discovery, mission STS-42 from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center. IML-1 was dedicated to the study of the fundamental materials and life sciences in the microgravity environment inside Spacelab, a laboratory carried in the cargo bay of the shuttle. The mission explored how lifeforms adapt to weightlessness and investigated how materials behave when processed in space. NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center managed IML-1. 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)