Space Shuttle Atlantis: Difference between revisions - Wikipedia

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== Missions ==

Space Shuttle ''Atlantis'' lifted off on its maiden voyage [[STS-51-J]] on October 3, 1985. This was the second shuttle mission that was a dedicated Department of Defense mission.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.collectspace.com/news/news-042210a.html|title=Space shuttle Atlantis moves to launch pad for final planned flight|publisher=Collect SPACE|date=April 22, 2010|access-date=July 25, 2010}}</ref> It flew one other mission, [[STS-61-B]] (the second shuttle night launch) before the [[Space Shuttle Challenger disaster|''Challenger'' disaster]] temporarily grounded the shuttle fleet in 1986. Among the five Space Shuttles flown into space, ''Atlantis'' conducted a subsequent mission in the shortest time after the previous mission (turnaround time) when it launched in November 1985 on STS-61-B, only 50 days after its previous mission, STS-51-J in October 1985. ''Atlantis'' was then used for ten flights from 1988 to 1992. Two of these, both flown in 1989, deployed the planetary probes ''[[Magellan (spacecraft)|Magellan]]'' to [[Venus]] (on [[STS-30]]) and ''[[Galileo probe|Galileo]]'' to [[Jupiter]] (on [[STS-34]]). With STS-30 ''Atlantis'' became the first Space Shuttle to launch an interplanetary probe.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.space.com/news/7cool-things-space-shuttle-atlantis-100512.html|title=7 Cool Things You Didn't Know About Space Shuttle Atlantis|author=Karen Rowan|publisher=SPACE.com|date=May 12, 2010|access-date=May 13, 2010|archive-date=July 27, 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100727061824/http://www.space.com/news/7cool-things-space-shuttle-atlantis-100512.html|url-status=dead}}</ref>

[[File:STS-27metalmelt.jpg|thumb|upright=1.0|right|Melted aluminum plating on ''Atlantis''{{'}}s right wing underside ([[STS-27]])]]