OTD…Aug. 7 and STS-85

Today in 1996…The launch of Columbia and the ill-fated Tethered Satellite System. Watch the liftoff:

Studying the atmosphere as part of NASA’s Mission to Planet Earth was the objective of shuttle Atlantis’ STS-45 mission in March 1992.

#OTD in 1989, Discovery launched a new Tracking and Data Relay Satellite