STS-32

STS-32 was a Columbia mission to deploy the SYNCOM IV-F5 defense communications satellite and retrieve NASA's Long Duration Exposure Facility (LDEF). Daniel C. Brandenstein commanded the flight, James D. Wetherbee served as pilot, and Bonnie J. Dunbar, Marsha S. Ivins, and G. David Low served as mission specialists. Columbia launched from Kennedy Space Center's Launch Complex 39A on January 9, 1990, and landed on Runway 22 at Edwards Air Force Base on January 20 after nearly eleven days. The crew deployed SYNCOM IV-F5, also known as Leasat 5, and used Columbia's robotic arm to retrieve LDEF, which had spent nearly six years exposing dozens of materials, technology, and science experiments to the orbital environment.