On October 29th, 1998 the Space Shuttle Discovery launched from Pad 39A at Kennedy Space Center for a relatively typical 10-day mission in Earth orbit, save for one key element – onboard the vehicle was John Glenn, the first American to orbit the Earth.
To say this mission was a big deal at the time was an understatement – this was one of those few moments in my childhood where I actually recall the mass media and the public on a whole actually caring about the launch of a Space Shuttle. To paraphrase a scene out of the film Apollo 13, the public “regarded space flight as routine” and while this mission could have been seen as a publicity stunt, it had a valid purpose – to see what the effects of space flight on a relatively healthy but still elderly man would be. Useful enough data, I would imagine, but still, the attention gained from flying a senator and American hero returning to space shouldn’t be ignored.
Fun fact, I actually have a framed copy of this photo hanging in my room. It was a thrift store find that, obviously, had to come home with me the moment I saw it!
With the launch of this mission, Glenn, at age 77, became the oldest person to go into space, a record still held by him. Of course a primary goal of the crewed aspect of this flight was studying the effects of microgravity on that of a 77-year-old Glenn, but there was more research being done: The flight carried a Spacehab module, a SPARTAN solar observation satellite deployed from and recovered by the shuttle’s robotic arm, equipment to be tested as part of planned upgrades for the Hubble Space Telescope, and an array of additional smaller experimental packages.
STS-95 (Discovery) launched #now 20 years ago (1998)! Astronaut and U.S. Senator John Glenn returned to space as a payload specialist, becoming the oldest human to fly in space at 77 years old! This was 36 years, 8 months and 9 days after he made the 1st American orbital flight. pic.twitter.com/nDDEYgy2CF
— NASA History Office (@NASAhistory) October 29, 2018
Discovery would return to Earth safely on November 7th, 1998, bringing an end to the 10 day mission and also mark the end of John Glenn’s time in Space – two missions nearly 37 years apart!
It’s interesting to note that the launch of STS-95 was the first American HDTV broadcast. This was in the very early days of the technology, and so the only locations with equipment to view the launch would have been specialty science centers and the like, but what a fitting event to use for the beginning of the ATSC standard.
Aside from the presence of Glenn it was, again, a pretty by the books Space Shuttle mission, but it does hold a special place to me personally in that it was one of the rare chances I got to watch a Shuttle launch (on TV at least) but in this case in a slightly unusual location.
For now, though, video of the launch of STS-95
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/STS-95
https://www.nasa.gov/centers/glenn/about/bios/shuttle_mission.html