Atlantis was launched on an international mission at 9:57 a.m. on July 31, 1992. The European Retrievable Carrier was deployed from the shuttle for recovery on a later flight. The Tethered Satellite System was partially tested with the small craft reeled out only 860 feet instead of the planned 12.5 miles due to a tether jam. The crew consisted of commander Loren Shriver, pilot Andy Allen, mission specialists Jeff Hoffman, Franklin Chang-Diaz, Claude Nicollier and Marsha Ivins and payload specialist Franco Malerba.