WIKIARCHIVES.SPACE

Clouds of smoke and steam spiral away from Space Shuttle Columbia as it shoots through the night sky on its successful liftoff from Launch Pad 39-B on mission STS-93. After two unsuccessful attempts on previous nights, liftoff occurred at 12:31 a.m. EDT. STS-93 is a five-day mission primarily to release the Chandra X-ray Observatory, which will allow scientists from around the world to study some of the most distant, powerful and dynamic objects in the universe. The crew numbers five: Commander Eileen M. Collins, Pilot Jeffrey S. Ashby, and Mission Specialists Stephen A. Hawley (Ph.D.), Catherine G. Coleman (Ph.D.) and Michel Tognini of France, with the Centre National d'Etudes Spatiales (CNES). The target landing date is July 27, 1999, at 11:20 p.m. EDT.