29 April 1985: Spacelab 3—The Space Shuttle Challenger OV-099 lifted off from Florida's K.S.C. with CDR Bob Overmyer, Pilot Fred Gregory, M.S.1 Don Lind, M.S.2/F.E. Norman Thagard, M.S.3 Bill Thornton, P.S.1 Lodewijk van den Berg, & P.S.2 Taylor Wang; "blow-by" damage to the Solid Rocket Booster O-rings prompted dire predictions of catastrophe within Morton-Thiokol, the S.R.B. maker.
The Challenger launched just ten days after Discovery landed at the conclusion of S.T.S.-51-D, presaging a new Space Shuttle cadance for 1985. No, you didn't miss a mission: Spacelab 3 flew before Spacelab 2. Also, as long as we have ordinal chaos, S.T.S.-51-B flew after both S.T.S.-51-C & S.T.S.-51-D.
Bonus! Space Age Song o' the Day: S.T.S.-51-B
They Might Be Giants, "Here Comes Science" from Here Comes Science (Space Cadet Mike Papa Whiskey)
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