This week in 1996, space shuttle Endeavour, mission STS-77, launched from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center. Endeavour carried three primary payloads: the SPACEHAB-4 pressurized research module, the Inflatable Antenna Experiment mounted on the Spartan 207 free-flyer and a suite of four technology demonstration experiments known as Technology Experiments for Advancing Missions in Space. Here, the Spartan 207 free-flyer is held in a low-hover mode above its berth in the shuttle’s cargo bay in the grasp of the Remote Manipulator System. The free-flyer was recaptured by Endeavour’s crew on May 21, 1996. 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)