IMAGE 800_899\861.Lbm,Atlantis leaps from the pad into cloudy skies on its maiden flight (STS-51J), a Department of Defence classified mission.
IMAGE 600_699\648.Lbm,In December 1988 Atlantis heads for space on the STS-27 mission dedicated to the Department of Defence.
IMAGE 1100_99\117.Lbm,Carrying the GRO, Atlantis begins its journey into space on April 5, 1991. (STS-37)
IMAGE 1100_99\172.Lbm,Atlantis powers its way into the heavens on August 2, 1991. (STS- 43)
IMAGE 1100_99\188.Lbm,Atlantis touches down at the Kennedy Space Center on August 11, 1991. (STS-43)
IMAGE 1200_99\209.Lbm,Atlantis heads for orbit in the early morning of November 24, 1991. The 'shock diamonds' in the main engine exhausts are particularly noticeable. (STS-44)
IMAGE 1200_99\222.Lbm,Atlantis glides in to land at the Edwards Air Force Base in California on December 1, 1991, after a near 7-day mission. (STS-44)
IMAGE 1200_99\249.Lbm,Atlantis and the STS-45 shuttle stack sit on the mobile launch platform at Pad 39A, waiting for lift-off.
IMAGE 1200_99\251.Lbm,Atlantis joins the birds as it powers off the launch pad to start the STS-45 ATLAS mission on March 24, 1992.
IMAGE 1200_99\268.Lbm,The main landing gear of Atlantis touches down on the runaway of the Kennedy Space Center in Florida on April 2, 1992, at the completion of the nine-day STS-45 ATLAS mission.
IMAGE 1300_99\312.Lbm,Carrying five NASA astronauts and two ESA scientists, Atlantis blasts off from the Kennedy Space Center on the last day of July, 1992. (STS-46)
IMAGE 200_299\210.Lbm,Riding on Atlantis's RMS arm, Sherwood Spring fixes a section of the growing ACCESS structure during STS-51B in November 1985.
IMAGE 500_599\595.Lbm,In Atlantis's payload bay on STS-61B Jerry Ross and Sherwood Spring assemble EASE components, practising techniques that will be used in the construction of space station Freedom.
IMAGE 1100_99\118.Lbm,On reaching orbit, Atlantis's payload bay doors begin to open. Sitting in the payload bay is the massive GRO, one of NASA's so- called great observatories. (STS-37)
IMAGE 1100_99\119.Lbm,With the desert region of the Middle East far below, Atlantis's RMS arm lifts the GRO out of the payload bay. (STS-37)
IMAGE 1100_99\128.Lbm,Jerry Ross in Atlantis's payload bay during his spacewalk with Jerome Apt to extend the high-gain antenna on the GRO, which had become jammed.
IMAGE 1100_99\178.Lbm,Shannon Lucid and John Blaha carry out an experiment to do with polymers, on Atlantis's mid-deck. (STS-43)
IMAGE 1200_99\210.Lbm,The Defence Support Payload in Atlantis's payload bay before deployment. (STS-44)
