WIKIARCHIVES.SPACE

Reflected in the waters near Launch Pad 39-B, Space Shuttle Columbia rockets into the night sky 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.