November 25, 2013 - Spacelab Spectacle
Spacelab Spectacle Enveloping the launch complex in a cloud of exhaust and a pillar of flame, the space shuttle Columbia lifts off on STS-9, its sixth mission, thirty years ago this week. It was the first launch of the European Space Agency’s Spacelab module, a laboratory mounted in the shuttle’s cargo bay in which up to six astronauts could work at one time. During STS-9, astronauts conducted seventy-one experiments in Spacelab spanning a wide range of disciplines, including astronomy, materials processing, atmospheric studies, and many other fields. This flight marked the first American launch of a non-American citizen astronaut, Ulf Merbold of Germany. It was also the largest crew (six) ever launched at that time, and the longest shuttle mission at that time, over ten days and 166 orbits.
Image credit: NASA
Weekly Calendar
November 25 - December 1, 2013
Holidays - Sky Events - Space History
Monday 25
Last Quarter Moon 2:28 PM ET
Mercury 0.3° south of Saturn
1970: First powered flight of M2-F3 lifting body
Tuesday 26
1965: France becomes third nation to launch a satellite
1975: Final X-24B lifting body flight
1985: STS-61B Atlantis launched
1989: Kvant 2 module launched
2011: Mars Science Laboratory rover Curiosity launched
Wednesday 27
Hanukkah begins at sunset
Mars 6° north of Moon
1885: First photo of a meteor shower
1971: Mars 2 probe becomes first artificial object to hit Mars
1997: Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission launched
Thursday 28
Thanksgiving Day
1964: Mariner 4 launched
1983: STS-9 Columbia launched
Friday 29
Spica 0.9° south of Moon
1967: First Australian satellite launched
Saturday 30
1954: Elizabeth Hodges bruised by a ten-pound meteorite in Alabama
2000: STS-97 Endeavour launched
Sunday 1
First Sunday in Advent
Saturn 1.3° north of Moon
1957: Ballistic shape of Mercury spacecraft proposed by Max Faget
2013: Chang'e-3 spacecraft launched to Moon