Space Shuttle Project

Clear skies, tranquil winds, and a brilliant morning sun mark the ontime liftoff of Space Shuttle Columbia (STS-62) from Launch Pad 39B. Columbia began the 61st Space Shuttle flight, which was a 14-day extended duration flight. On board, five veteran crew members performed materials processing experiments on the United States Microgravity Payload 2 (USMP-2), and also conducted experiments designed to enable or extend space flight technology aboard the Office of Aeornautics and Space Technology 2 payload (OAST-2).