Venus Mapper (VM) Spacecraft artwork (Ref: 82-H-472, 82-HC-429)

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. -- At 1:30 a.m. EST the morning of the scheduled launch of Space Shuttle Mission STS-30 aboard Atlantis, astronaut Charles Bolden receives a call from the Vice President of the United States Dan Quayle. The Vice President called from the NASA tracking station in Australia while visiting the facility. STS-30 will launch the Magellan_Venus radar mapper spacecraft on a 15-month journey to Venus. This is the first U.S. planetary mission in 11 years and the first on Shuttle.

The STS-30 mission launched aboard the Space Shuttle Atlantis on May 4, 1989 at 2:46:59pm (EDT) carrying a crew of five. Aboard were Ronald J. Grabe, pilot; David M. Walker, commander; and mission specialists Norman E. Thagard, Mary L. Cleave, and Mark C. Lee. The primary payload for the mission was the Magellan/Venus Radar mapper spacecraft and attached Inertial Upper Stage (IUS).

The STS-30 mission launched aboard the Space Shuttle Atlantis on May 4, 1989 at 2:46:59pm (EDT) carrying a crew of five. Aboard were Ronald J. Grabe, pilot; David M. Walker, commander; and mission specialists Norman E. Thagard, Mary L. Cleave, and Mark C. Lee. The primary payload for the mission was the Magellan/Venus Radar mapper spacecraft and attached Inertial Upper Stage (IUS).

The STS-30 mission launched aboard the Space Shuttle Atlantis on May 4, 1989 at 2:46:59pm (EDT) carrying a crew of five. Aboard were Ronald J. Grabe, pilot; David M. Walker, commander; and mission specialists Norman E. Thagard, Mary L. Cleave, and Mark C. Lee. The primary payload for the mission was the Magellan/Venus Radar mapper spacecraft and attached Inertial Upper Stage (IUS).

Five astronauts composed the STS-30 crew. Pictured (left to right) are Ronald J. Grabe, pilot; David M. Walker, commander; and mission specialists Norman E. Thagard, Mary L. Cleave, and Mark C. Lee. The STS-30 mission launched aboard the Space Shuttle Atlantis on May 4, 1989 at 2:46:59pm (EDT). The primary payload was the Magellan/Venus Radar mapper spacecraft and attached Inertial Upper Stage (IUS).