This week in 1990, space shuttle Columbia, mission STS-35, launched from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center carrying Astronomy Laboratory 1 in its cargo bay.
NASA
This week in 1990, space shuttle Columbia, mission STS-35, launched from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center carrying Astronomy Laboratory 1 in its cargo bay. ASTRO-1 was developed as a system of telescopes that could fly multiple times on the space shuttle. It consisted of three ultraviolet telescopes and an X-ray telescope. The telescopes were mounted on a Spacelab pallet in the payload bay of the shuttle. NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center was responsible for managing the Spacelab missions. Here, the various components of the ASTRO-1 payload are seen above the backdrop of Earth. (NASA)