STS-93

STS-93 was a Space Shuttle Columbia mission launched from Kennedy Space Center in July 1999 to deploy the Chandra X-ray Observatory. Commanded by Eileen Collins, it was the first Shuttle mission led by a woman commander and carried a five-person crew from the United States and France. After release from Columbia, Chandra and its inertial upper stage began raising the observatory toward the high orbit needed for X-ray astronomy. The crew also supported secondary payloads and Shuttle systems work during the five-day flight.