41C-02-067 (6-13 April 1984) --- One of the first major accomplishments of Flight 41-C?s crew aboard the Challenger was to place this giant satellite into Earth orbit. Still attached to the remote manipulator system (RMS) end effector, the Long-Duration Exposure Facility (LDEF) is backdropped against Florida, the Bahama Bank, the Gulf of Mexico and Atlantic waters. The multi-colored cylinder carries 50-odd passive scientific experiments representing 194 investigators from around world. The LDEF program is directed by the Langley Research Center in Hampton, Virginia. The facility will be retrieved in a little less than a year by a Space Shuttle crew. This frame was one of the visuals used by the 41-C astronauts for their April 24, 1984 post-flight press conference. Cape Canaveral, where this seven-day mission got its start, and Lake Okeechobee, are easily recognized in the frame, photographed shortly before 11:30 a.m. (CST), April 7, 1984.

S83-42895 (19 Oct 1983) --- Astronauts George D. Nelson and James D. van Hoften, NASA Flight STS-41C mission specialists, offer an underwater version of a preview of their mission's extravehicular activity (EVA). The April 1984 flight includes as one of its primary objectives a two-person EVA and a visit to the damaged Solar Maximum Satellite (SMS). Van Hoften, left, and Nelson work here with the mobile foot restraint (MFR), which attaches to the remote manipulator system (RMS) arm to form a "cherry-picker" device. Van Hoften is standing on the MFR. The two are making use of the Johnson Space Center's (JSC) weightless environment training facility (WET-F). This photograph was taken by Otis Imboden.

41D-3277 (S14-3277) (4 Sept 1984) --- Having met the press for the first time as a group, members of the STS 41-G crew pose for photographs in the Shuttle mockup and integration laboratory at the Johnson Space Center. They are (bottom row, left, to right) Marc Garneau and Paul D. Scully-Power, both payload specialists; and Robert L. Crippen, crew commander; (second row, l.-r.) Astronauts Jon A. McBride, pilot; David C. Leestma and Sally K. Ride, both mission specialists; and Kathryn D. Sullivan, mission specialist. They are scheduled for an October 5, 1984 launch aboard the Space Shuttle Challenger.

41C-37-1711 (11 April 1984) --- The two mission specialist-EVA participants of Flight 41-C share a repair task at the "captured" Solar Maximum Mission Satellite (SMMS) in the aft end of the Challenger's cargo bay. Astronauts George D. Nelson, right, and James D. van Hoften uses the mobile foot restraint and the Remote Manipulator System (RMS) as a "cherry picker" device for moving about. Later, the RMS lifted the SMMS into space once more.

41C-52-2646 (11 April 1984) --- Astronaut James D. van Hoften and a repaired satellite are in a wide panorama recorded on film with a Linhof camera, making its initial flight aboard the Space Shuttle Challenger. Dr. van Hoften is getting in his first "field" test of the Manned Maneuvering Unit (MMU) after months of training in an underwater facility and in a simulator on Earth. The Solar Maximum Mission Satellite (SMMS), revived and almost ready for release into space once more, is docked at the Flight Support System (FSS). The Remote Manipulator System (RMS) is backdropped against the blue and white Earth at frame's edge. Outside of pictures made of the Earth from astronauts on the way to the Moon, this frame showing the planet from 285 nautical miles represents the highest orbital photography in the manned space program.

S84-41580 (3 Sept 1984) --- Assembled together publicly for the first time, the seven crewmembers for NASA's 41-G Space Shuttle mission field questions from the press corps at the Johnson Space Center. Pictured (foreground right to left) are Robert L. Crippen, crew commander ;Jon A. McBride, pilot; Kathryn D. Sullivan, Sally K. Ride and David C. Leestma--all mission specialists; Marc Garneau, representing the Canadian National Research Council, and Paul D. Scully-Power, U.S. Navy oceanographer, both payload specialists. Their flight is scheduled for early October.

41G-19-006 (5-13 Oct. 1984) --- The seven-member 41-G crew assembles for a group shot on the flight deck of the Earth-orbiting space shuttle Challenger. Robert L. Crippen, commander, is in center of the back row. Others pictured are (front row, l.-r.) Jon A. McBride, pilot; Sally K. Ride, Kathryn D. Sullivan and David C. Leestma, all mission specialists; and Paul D. Scully-Power (left) and Marc Garneau, both payload specialists, on the back row. Garneau represents the National Research Council of Canada and Scully-Power is a civilian oceanographer with the U.S. Navy. Photo credit: NASA

STS064-S-001 (July 1994) --- The patch depicts the space shuttle Discovery in a payload-bay-to-Earth attitude with its primary payload, Lidar In-Space Technology Experiment (LITE-1) operating in support of Mission to Planet Earth. LITE-1 is a lidar (light detection and ranging) system that uses a three-wavelength laser, symbolized by the three gold rays emanating from the star in the payload bay that form part of the astronaut symbol. The major objective of this first flight of LITE-1 is to validate its design and operating characteristics by gathering data about the Earth's troposphere and stratosphere, represented by the clouds and dual-colored Earth limb. A secondary payload on STS-64 is the free-flier SPARTAN-201 satellite shown on the Remote Manipulator System (RMS) arm post-retrieval. The objective of SPARTAN-201 is to investigate the physics of the solar wind and complement data being obtained from the ULYSSES satellite launched on STS-41. The RMS will also operate another secondary payload, Shuttle Plume Impingement Flight Experiment (SPIFEX), which will assess the plume effects from the Orbiter's Reaction Control System thrusters. Additionally, STS-64 will test a new extravehicular activity (EVA) maneuvering device, Simplified Aid for EVA Rescue (SAFER), represented symbolically by the two small nozzles on the backpacks of the two untethered EVA crew men. The names of the crew members encircle the patch: astronauts Richard N. Richards, commander; L. Blaine Hammond Jr., pilot; Jerry M. Linenger; Susan J. Helms, Carl J. Meade and Mark C. Lee, all mission specialists. The gold or silver stars by each name represent that person's parent service. The NASA insignia design for space shuttle flights is reserved for use by the astronauts and for other official use as the NASA Administrator may authorize. Public availability has been approved only in the forms of illustrations by the various news media. When and if there is any change in this policy, which is not anticipated, the change will be publicly announced. Photo credit: NASA