Long Duration Exposure Facility (LDEF)

The flown Long Duration Exposure Facility carried 57 science and technology experiments into orbit aboard Challenger on STS-41C in April 1984. Released on April 7, it remained a free-flying exposure platform for nearly six years as Shuttle scheduling delays and the Challenger accident postponed recovery. During STS-32, Bonnie Dunbar grappled LDEF with Columbia’s robotic arm on January 12, 1990. The crew photographed its exposed surfaces before stowing it in the payload bay. Columbia returned the spacecraft to Earth on January 20, enabling detailed examination of long-term changes to its experiments and structure.