Launch of STS-68 Space Shuttle Endeavour

STS068-S-037 (30 September 1994) --- The Space Shuttle Endeavour lifts off from Launch Pad 39A in a halo of light. Aboard for an on time launch at 7:16:00:068 a.m. (EDT) are a crew of six NASA astronauts and the Space Radar Laboratory-2 (SRL-2). Mission commander for the 65th Space Shuttle flight is Michael A. Baker; the pilot is Terrence W. Wilcutt; Thomas D. Jones is the payload commander, and the three mission specialists are Daniel W. Bursch, Steven L. Smith and Peter J. K. "Jeff" Wisoff. During the planned ten-day flight of mission STS-68 around-the-clock operation of the SRL-2 will once again yield a wealth of data about Earth's global environment and the changes - both human-induced and natural - which are affecting it. This is the second flight this year of the SRL, and the second launch try for mission STS-68.