Portrait of STS 51-F Spacelab backup payload specialist George Simon, in blue flight suit

51F-S-160 (6 Aug 1985) --- The Space Shuttle Challenger is moments away from touchdown on the dry lake bed at Edwards Air Force Base in California in this ground-level view. The early afternoon landing brought to a successful close eight days in space for seven crewmembers and a battery of scientific experiments aboard.

S85-36655 (24 June 1985) --- The seven crewmembers for STS 51-F/Spacelab 2 pose for photographers following their pre-flight press conference in the Johnson Space Center's public affairs facility. Standing, l.-r., are Karl J. Henize, mission specialist; Roy D. Bridges, pilot; C. Gordon Fullerton, mission commander; F. Story Musgrave, mission specialist; John-David Bartoe, payload specialist; and Anthony W. England, mission specialist. Loren W. Acton, payload specialist, is seated. Launch is scheduled for July of this year.

51F-33-005 (29 July - 6 August 1985) --- Experiments and the instrument pointing system (IPS) for Spacelab 2 are backdropped against the Libya/Tunisia Mediterranean coast and black space in this 70mm view photographed through the aft flight deck windows of the Space Shuttle Challenger. Also partially visible among the cluster of Spacelab 2 hardware are the solar optical universal polarimeter (SOUP) experiment and the coronal helium abundance experiment (CHASE).

51F-32-024 (29 July - 6 August 1985) --- Italy's “boot heel" surrounded by waters of the Ionian Sea/Golfo di Taranto and the Adriatic Sea is very clearly visible in this scene made with a handheld 70mm camera. Spacelab 2's versatile instrument pointing system (IPS) protrudes from the cargo bay.

S85-34378 (4 June 1985) --- Payload specialists John-David Bartoe, left, and Loren W. Acton listen to a briefing by a crew trainer (out of frame) during emergency egress training for members of the Challenger's next crew. Later, the seven crewmembers used sky-genies to practice quick egress from a potentially troubled Space Shuttle craft. They are standing near the crew compartment trainer in the Shuttle mockup and integration lab at JSC.

51F-S-038 (29 July 1985) ---An air-to-air view of the Space Shuttle orbiter Challenger, its two solid rocket boosters and external fuel tank moments after launch from Pad 39A at Kennedy Space Center (KSC). Astronaut John W. Young, veteran of two Shuttle flights and four other NASA missions, took the photograph with a handheld camera while piloting the Shuttle training aircraft. Launch occured at 5:00:00:423 p.m. (EDT), July 29, 1985.

51F-S-162 (6 Aug 1985) ---Mission Operations Director George W.S. Abbey, right, shakes hands with Astronaut C. Gordon Fullerton, as the seven-member 51F crew descends from its "home" for eight days. Other Challenger crewmembers egressing the spacecraft are, left to right, F. Story Musgrave, mission specialist; John-David Bartoe, payload specialist; Roy D. Bridges, Jr., Karl J. Henize, mission specialist; Loren W. Acton, payload specialist; and Anthony W. England, mission specicalist. Fullerton, commander, earlier successfully landed Challenger on a Mojave desert dry lake bed. Three years ago, Fullerton was pilot of STS-3, on which the Columbia's scheduled Edwards landing was moved to New Mexico because of weather and runway conditions here.

51F-S-068 (29 July 1985) --- The Space Shuttle Challenger heads toward Earth-orbit with the Spacelab-2 experiment pallet and a team of astronauts and scientists onboard. This photograph was taken by Otis Imboden of the National Geographic Society for NASA from the press site at Kennedy Space Center (KSC).

51F-03-024 (29 July-6 Aug 1985) --- Astronauts Anthony W. England, left, and Roy D. Bridges are surrounded by some of the prolific teleprinter copy transmitted from ground controllers to the Earth-orbiting Challenger. Eventually the equivalent of several football fields' length of paper was filled with data from flight controllers.

51F-S-157 (29 July 1985) --- Just moments following ignition, the Space Shuttle Challenger, mated to its two solid rocket boosters and an external fuel tank, soars toward a week-long mission in Earth orbit. Note the diamond shock effect in the vicinity of the three main engines. Launch occurred at 5:00 p.m. (EDT), July 29, 1985.

STS 51-F crewmembers depart the Kennedy Space Center's operations and checkout building on their way to the launch pad for the launch of the Discovery. Leading the way are Gordon Fullerton, commander; Loren Acton, payload specialist, and Anthony England, mission specialist. The other crewmembers are not visible in this frame.

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. -- The Space Shuttle Discovery soars into the morning skies above Florida, carying a crew of five and the Hubble Space Telescope. Launch of Space Shuttle Mission STS-31from Pad 39B occurred at 8:33:51 a.m. EDT, April 24. Crew members are Commander Loren J. Shriver; Pilot Charles F. Bolden Jr.; and Mission Specialists Kathryn D. Sullivan, Steven A. Hawley, and Bruce McCandless II.

The crewmembers of Space Shuttle mission 51-F have chosen as their insignia this design by Houston artist Skip Bradley. The Space Shuttle Challenger is depicted ascending toward the heavens in search of new knowledge in the field of solar and steallar astronomy, with its Spacelab 2 payload. The constellations Leo and Orion are in the positions they will be in, relative to the sun during the flight. The nineteen stars signify that this will be the 19th STS flight.

STS051-S-002 (June 1993) --- These five NASA astronauts have been assigned to fly aboard the Space Shuttle Discovery for the STS-51 mission, scheduled for July, 1993. Left to right are astronauts Frank L. Culbertson, Jr., mission commander; Daniel W. Bursch and Carl E. Walz, mission specialists; William F. Readdy, pilot; and James H. Newman, mission specialist.

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. -- The Space Shuttle Discovery makes a smooth landing on the runway at Edwards Air Force Base to complete a highly successful five-day mission. It was an Earth-orbital flight during which the Hubble Space Telescope was sent toward its 15-year mission. Landing was completed at 6:51 a.m. (PDT), April 29, 1990. Inside the spacecraft for STS-31 were Astronauts Loren J. Shriver, Charles F. Bolden, Bruce McCandless II, Kathryn D. Sullivan and Steven A. Hawley.

STS051-S-109 (12 Sept 1993) --- Inside the White Room, three astronaut crew members for the STS-51 flight await their queues to ingress the Space Shuttle Discovery. Wearing the partial pressure launch and entry suits are, left to right, Carl E. Walz, mission specialist; Frank L. Culbertson Jr., mission commander; and William F. Readdy, pilot. Not pictured are astronauts James H. Newman and Daniel W. Bursch. Launch occurred at 7:45 a.m. (EDT), September 12, 1993.

The STS-51 crew portrait features (left to right): Frank L. Culbertson, commander; Daniel W. Bursch, mission specialist; Carl E. Walz, mission specialist; William F. Readdy, pilot; and James H. Newman, mission specialist. The crew of five launched aboard the Space Shuttle Discovery on September 12, 1993 at 7:45:00 am (EDT). Two primary payloads included the Advanced Communications Technology Satellite (ACTS), and the Orbiting and Retrievable Far and Extreme Ultraviolet Spectrograph Shuttle Pallet Satellite (OERFEUS-SPAS).

51F-42-069 (29 July-6 Aug 1985) --- The solar optical universal polarimeter (SOUP) experiment is visible among the cluster of Spacelab 2 hardware in the cargo bay of the Earth-orbiting Space Shuttle Challenger, backdropped against a curtain of white clouds over ocean waters. Various components of the instrument positioning system (IPS) are conspicuous at the center of the frame. Now resting, the remote manipulator system (RMS) was used at various points during the mission with the plasma diagnostics package (PDP) and as a support service structure for television cameras covering various activities of the busy science-oriented Spacelab 2 mission.

51F-17-011 (29 July-6 Aug 1985) --- Loren W. Acton, 51-F payload specialist, triggers a 35mm camera recording stellar imagery through the aft flight deck overhead windows aboard the Earth-orbiting Space Shuttle Challenger. The extension on the camera's lens is an image intensifier.

STS031-S-135 (29 April 1990) --- The Space Shuttle Discovery makes a smooth landing on the runway at Edwards Air Force Base to complete a highly successful five-day mission. It was an Earth orbital flight during which the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) was sent toward its 15-year mission. Landing was completed at 6:51 a.m. (PDT), April 29, 1990. Inside the spacecraft for STS-31 were Astronauts Loren J. Shriver, Charles F. Bolden, Bruce McCandless II, Kathryn D. Sullivan and Steven A. Hawley.

DRYDEN FLIGHT RESEARCH FACILITY, EDWARDS, CALIF. -- STS-31 POST-LANDING CREW PORTRAIT -- The astronauts of STS-31 pose for a quick photo near the Space Shuttle Discovery following a smooth landing on the runway at Edwards Air Force Base to complete a highly successful five day mission. Picture, left to right, are Astronauts Steven A. Hawley, Charles F. Bolden Jr., Kathryn D. Sullivan, Loren J. Shriver, and Bruce McCandless II. Theirs was an Earth-orbital flight during which the Hubble Space Telescope was sent toward its 15-year mission. Landing was completed at 6:51 a.m. (PDT), April 29, 1990.

STS031-S-131 (29 April 1990) --- Low angle view of the Space Shuttle Discovery as it approaches for landing on a concrete runway at Edwards Air Force Base to complete a highly successful five-day mission. It was a long awaited Earth orbital flight during which the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) was sent toward its 15-year mission. Discovery's wheels came to a complete stop at 6:51:00 a.m. (PDT), April 29, 1990. The landing gear was deployed just moments after this frame was exposed. Inside the spacecraft for STS-31 were astronauts Loren J. Shriver, Charles F. Bolden, Bruce McCandless II, Kathryn D. Sullivan and Steven A. Hawley.

61A-S-139 (6 Nov 1985) --- Eight persons returning from space at one time is a record which was set at 9:45:39 a.m. (PST) today when the Space Shuttle Challenger's wheels came to a stop on the runway at Edwards Air Force Base. The main gear is seen touching down at 9:44:51 a.m. Inside the spacecraft are astronauts Henry W. Hartsfield Jr., Steven R. Nagel, Bonnie J. Dunbar, James F. Buchli, Guion S. Bluford Jr., Reinard Furrer, Ernst Messerschmid and Wubbo J. Ockels. A number of West German and other European experiments were performed during the week-long Spacelab D-1 mission.