STS-26

STS-26 was NASA's first Shuttle mission after the Challenger accident and Space Shuttle Discovery's seventh flight. The mission launched from Kennedy Space Center's Launch Complex 39B on September 29, 1988, with Frederick H. Hauck commanding, Richard O. Covey piloting, and John M. Lounge, David C. Hilmers, and George D. Nelson serving as mission specialists. Its primary payload was TDRS-C, later designated TDRS-3, which was deployed with an Inertial Upper Stage and moved toward geosynchronous orbit. The crew also operated middeck, materials, life-science, student, communications, lightning, radiance, and orbiter-environment experiments. Discovery landed at Edwards Air Force Base on October 3, 1988, after a mission lasting just over four days and marking the Shuttle program's return to crewed flight.