STS-93

NASA

25 Years Ago: STS-93, Launch of the Chandra X-Ray Observatory

On July 23, 1999, space shuttle Columbia took to the skies on its 26th trip into space, to deliver its heaviest payload ever – the Chandra X-ray Observatory. The STS-93 crew included Commander Eileen M. Collins, the first woman to command a space shuttle mission, Pilot Jeffrey S. Ashby, and Mission Specialists Catherine “Cady” G. Coleman, Steven A. Hawley, and Michel A. Tognini of the French Space Agency (CNES).…