 The 26th mission of the space shuttle, the first after the Challenger accident. What was our main objective? A safe launch and a safe return. We used that as the dominant theme of our crew patch. The red vector from the NASA meatball indicates that we are still building upon the traditional strengths of NASA. The seven-star Big Dipper symbolized our seven friends lost on the Challenger. The sunrise represented a new beginning. On September 29, 1988, while we slept, discovery was being fueled on the launch pad. We got up at about 5 a.m., and after breakfast and our weather briefs, we suited up. I'm Captain Rick Hout, commander of the mission. The pilot was Colonel Dick Covey, mission specialist, Lieutenant Colonel Dave Hilmers, Dr. Pinky Nelson, and Mike Lounge. This flight was to be the culmination of the efforts of tens of thousands of people across the nation, NASA engineers, contractors, many advisory groups both within and outside government. This was to be in every sense a test flight. During the 30 months since the Challenger accident, there had been hundreds of hardware changes to not only the solid rocket booster, but also to the orbiter and the large liquid rocket fuel tank. Numerous software changes had been implemented. All had been tested exhaustively. We had trained as a crew for 20 months. When it came time to strap into this four and a half million pounds of hardware, we were convinced that the team was as ready as it could be. And if I see a merchant out the door now, they commanded Rick Hout, pilot Covey, Mike Lounge, Dave Hilmers, and Pinky Nelson, followed by John Putty. We're seen with this launch. Team quality, Director. Safety and quality has no constraints to launch. A goal for auto sequence start. Discovery's four redundant computers have assumed. T minus 23 seconds and counting. The SRB nozzle profile. T minus 15. 14. 13. 12. 11. 10. Go for main entrance start. 7. 6. Terms roll program used to now be controlling. Whether you have flown aboard the shuttle before or not, you are never really quite ready for the launch experience. Emotions, adrenaline, sight, sound and motion all well together in an overwhelming bond. Your body tells you that something very powerful is propelling you and leaves no doubt that you are going somewhere very fast. As we pass through the region of maximum dynamic pressure, the seconds seem to move ever so slowly. Discovery going throttle up. The solid rocket motors work superbly. The long hard work of the redesign and test teams had paid off in a perfect launch. Those motors burn for two minutes, but it takes another six and a half minutes to achieve orbital velocity. The Discovery's liquid fuel engines provided the additional push required to accelerate to a speed of five miles a second and an altitude of 160 nautical miles. In that orbit, we would see 16 sunrises and sunsets a day for the next four days, traveling over one and two-thirds million miles. One of our primary objectives for this flight was to deploy a large communication satellite for NASA, and once we got safely into orbit, we got busy preparing for that deployment. Rick and Dick up in the front seats of the flight deck got busy checking the orbiter and making sure it was healthy and ready to do the required set-up. They were ready to take off. We got busy checking the orbiter and making sure it was healthy and ready to do the required separation maneuver after the deployment of the TDRS satellite. Meanwhile, Dave and I were busy on the aft flight deck, checking the telemetry from the spacecraft and its booster, making sure it was healthy and ready for deployment. The satellite is a 5,000-pound, very complex communication satellite, the dark object here in the picture. It's carried to its 22,000-mile high orbit by the inertial upper stage, which is the white portion of this 40-foot stack. And my job here was upon getting a go from mission control to throw a switch that would separate this stack from the support structure. Here we see the TDRS-IUS combination shortly after deployment. And at the moment of deployment, push-off springs gave it a slow and majestic separation from the shuttle. Pinky was our chief photo-documenter for the deploy. Rick came back to the aft flight deck and maneuvered the orbiter about one minute after the deploy. The maneuver that he made gave additional separation from the satellite and positioned it in the overhead window so it could be tracked visually. This is really a pretty satellite. Really some gorgeous views out the window. About 60 minutes after the deploy, the first of two solid rocket motors fired on the upper stage. These rockets placed the satellite in an orbit above the equator. Such it will remain fixed relative to the ground. It will be used by NASA to increase shuttle communications with mission control and will also be utilized by spacecraft such as Landsat to relay telemetry to the ground. Many other private and government agencies will be using this extremely sophisticated satellite. Until the United States space station is on orbit, the mid-deck of the orbiter will be the free world's only microgravity laboratory. The mid-deck is a national resource that was well used during the flight of discovery. We carried 11 experiments on board from the Marshall Space Flight Center, JSC, industry, and university laboratories all across the country, ranging from biomedical investigations like protein crystal growth to material science to an engineering test of an infrared communication system. Two experiments designed by high school students were performed, both for their scientific value and to encourage young people to develop interest in space science and spaceflight. Both of these experiments were very visual. One heated titanium wires, the other grew crystals of lead iodide on a membrane. Even on a short four-day mission, the scientific return from our experiments is significant. Another mid-deck experiment we performed was the phase partition experiment. Here we see Pinky shaking up the experiment container while I was setting up the photo equipment. Phase partitioning is one method currently used for separating different types of biological cells. This process has been shown to be extremely valuable in developing new pharmaceuticals and also in performing biomedical research. After we had shaken the experiment, we photographed the chambers to study their demixing properties, which are not completely understood here on Earth. Discovery Houston, we're with you through Hawaii. We'd like to take just a few moments today to share with you some of the sights that we've been so privileged to view over the past several days. As we watch along with you, many emotions swell up in our hearts. Joy for America's return to space. Gratitude for our nation's support through difficult times. Thanksgiving for the safety of our crew. Reverence for those whose sacrifice made our journey possible. Gazing outside, we can understand why mankind has looked towards the heavens with awe and wonder since the dawn of human existence. We can comprehend why our countrymen have been driven to explore the vast expanse of space and we are convinced that this is the road to the future. The road that Americans must travel if we are to maintain the dream of our Constitution to secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity. As we, the crew of Discovery, witness this earthly splendor from America's spacecraft less than 200 miles separates us from the remainder of mankind. In a fraction of a second, our words reach your ears. But lest we ever forget that these few miles represent a great gulf that to ascend through this seemingly tranquil sea will always be brought with danger, let us remember the Challenger crew whose voyage was so tragically short. With them, we shared a common purpose. With them, we shared a common goal. At this moment, our place in the heavens makes us feel closer to them than ever before. Those on the Challenger who had flown before and seen these sites, they would know the meaning of our thoughts. Those who had gone to view them for the first time, they would know why we set forth. They were our fellow sojourners, they were our friends. Today, up here where the blue sky turns to black, we can say at long last to Dick, Mike, Judy, to Ron and Elle, and to Kristen and Greg. Dear friends, we have resumed the journey that we promised to continue for you. Dear friends, your loss has meant that we could confidently begin anew. Dear friends, your spirit and your dream are still alive in our hearts. Uh, Discovery, on behalf of the Challenger families and all of us down here, it sure does feel good to see the Challenger mission continue in America back in space. Discovery, rise and shine, boys. Time to start doing that shuttle shuffle. You know what I mean? Hey, here's a little song coming from the billions of us to the five of you. Rick, start them off, baby. The Hulkster to you. Just give her the gas and look at his baby go. Because it's time to eat breakfast from a toothpaste tube. And we're looking at some of the 380,000 people gathered for the landing of Discovery. Discovery handled beautifully. Even though it's a 200,000 pound lighter, it responds very well to control inputs. We came subsonic overhead the Edwards Lake bed at about 40,000 feet Dick Covey took control for about 10 or 15 seconds and passed it to me. Discovery Houston, on center line, on glide slope. Winds are calm. Looks real pretty. We flew the glide slope in the standard orbiter approach. About 300 miles an hour pointed down at the lake bed. Our sink rate's about 11,000 feet per minute. Then as we get to 1,800 feet, I pulled back gently on the stick both to shallow the descent rate and to start bleeding off airspeed. At about 300 feet, Dick Covey lowered the landing gear. The gear down and locked the report from Mission Control. Now rotating the nose down, standing by for nose gear and touchdown. With only moderate braking, we stopped after about 7,500 feet of ground roll. Roger, we'll stop Discovery. Welcome back. A great ending to the new beginning. Thanks a lot. After completing the post-landing checks, we were met at the bottom of the steps by Vice President Bush, NASA Administrator Dr. Jim Fletcher, and the head of the Office of Space Flight, Radinal Dick, truly. We knew that the smiles on their faces reflected the mood of the NASA team. We'd accomplished the mission's objectives. We'd returned Americans to space.