On Sept. 7, 1995, the space shuttle Endeavour launched on mission STS-69. This was the 100th successful crew spaceflight mission for NASA.Endeavour lifted off from NASA's historic Pad 39A launch site at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. During the 11-day mission, five crewmembers did science experiments, deployed and retrieved a satellite called Spartan 201, and conducted a nearly seven-hour-long spacewalk to practice methods future astronauts would use to build the International Space Station.The astronauts also deployed the Wake Shield Facility, a saucer-shaped satellite that flew free of the shuttle for several days. This was the first time two different payloads were retrieved and deployed during the same mission.
NASA's space shuttle Endeavour lifts off on the space agency's 100th astronaut flight on Sept. 7, 1995. (Image credit: NASA)Why it matteredThe launch of STS-69 on space shuttle Endeavour was a milestone of sorts for NASA and U.S. space exploration. As the 100th crewed flight by NASA astronauts, it showed that flying humans in space was not a one-off or occasional feat.The five-astronaut crew was commanded by David Walker, with Kenneth Cockrell as pilot. Astronaut Jim Voss served as payload commander (remember, this was the first time two different payloads would be deployed in space), with astronauts Jim Newman and Michael Gernhardt rounding out the team as mission specialists.
