This week in 1991, the space shuttle Columbia and STS-40 landed at Edwards Air Force Base following a successful nine-day mission. This was the fifth dedicated Spacelab mission and the first solely dedicated to life sciences. Spacelab was a reusable laboratory flown on select shuttle flights. Here, the laboratory module is visible in the orbiter’s cargo bay. NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center managed the Spacelab program for NASA. Today, the Payload Operations Integration Center at Marshall serves as “science central” for the International Space Station, working 24/7, 365 days a year in support of the orbiting laboratory’s scientific experiments.
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.
Image Credit: (NASA)