STS-44

STS-44 was a November-December 1991 Space Shuttle Atlantis mission for the U.S. Department of Defense. NASA describes the unclassified primary payload as a Defense Support Program satellite with an attached Inertial Upper Stage, deployed on the first flight day. The mission also carried secondary military, medical, radiation, and observation experiments, including the Terra Scout work flown by U.S. Army payload specialist Thomas Hennen. Atlantis launched from Kennedy Space Center's Launch Complex 39A on November 24, 1991, with Frederick Gregory commanding the six-person crew. Terence Henricks served as pilot, with Story Musgrave, James Voss, and Mario Runco Jr. as mission specialists and Hennen as payload specialist. The mission ended with a landing at Edwards Air Force Base on December 1 after 6 days and 22 hours in orbit. Adding this mission closes Frederick Gregory's STS-44 command link, restores Story Musgrave's missing STS-44 flight, and connects the full crew to Atlantis, the Space Shuttle family, Launch Complex 39A, Edwards Air Force Base, NASA, and the U.S. Army role represented by Hennen.