STS-47

STS-47 was the fiftieth Space Shuttle mission and Endeavour's second flight. NASA describes it as Spacelab-J, a joint NASA and National Space Development Agency of Japan mission using a crewed Spacelab module for microgravity investigations in materials science and life sciences. Endeavour launched from Kennedy Space Center's Pad 39B on September 12, 1992, and landed at Kennedy's Shuttle Landing Facility on September 20 after 7 days, 22 hours, 30 minutes, and 23 seconds in orbit. The seven-person crew was commanded by Robert L. Gibson, with Curtis L. Brown Jr. as pilot, Mark C. Lee as payload commander, N. Jan Davis, Jay Apt, and Mae C. Jemison as mission specialists, and Mamoru Mohri as payload specialist representing NASDA. The mission is historically notable for carrying the first Japanese astronaut to fly aboard the Shuttle, the first African American woman in space, and the first married couple assigned to the same Shuttle flight. Spacelab-J operated around the clock in red and blue teams, with experiments covering human health, cell and developmental biology, radiation, biological rhythms, biotechnology, fluids, ceramics, metals, and acceleration measurement.