There were two Space Shuttle flights in 1981, three in 1982, four in 1983, five in 1984, & then nine in 1985, the most in any year of the Space Shuttle's three decades. These were the salad days. With S.T.S.-51-D, the sixteenth flight of the Space Shuttle, the Orbiter spaceplane became America's most commonly used spacecraft, surpassing the fifteen flights of the Apollo Command & Service Module (Apollo 7 through Apollo 17, Skylab 2 through Skylab 4, & the Apollo-Soyuz Test Project; 1968-1975).
The Atlantis rolled out of the factory, completing the original fleet of four operational Orbiters, & because this was 1985, flew two missions, with a still-standing record turnaround of only fifty-four days between liftoffs. There were two classified Department of Defense missions & three Spacelab missions.
Crews became ever more diverse, with more female Americans, African-Americans, & Asian-Americans; a Saudi, a Frenchman, West Germans, a Dutchman, & a Mexican; & a siting U.S. Senator. S.T.S.-61-A flew the only eight-person crew in history, because why not?
The Wayback Machine Tour of the Space Shuttle (1985)
"The Explorers' Club," № MLXX: The 40th Anniversary of S.T.S.-51-C, Part I (№ 15)
"The Explorers' Club," № MLXXI: The 40th Anniversary of S.T.S.-51-C, Part II
"The Explorers' Club," № MLXXVII: The 40th Anniversary of the Space Shuttle Atlantis
"The Explorers' Club," № MLXXXIII: The 40th Anniversary of S.T.S.-51-D, Part I (№ 16)
"The Explorers' Club," № MLXXXIV: The 40th Anniversary of S.T.S.-51-D, Part II
"The Explorers' Club," № MLXXXVI: The 40th Anniversary of S.T.S.-51-B (Spacelab 3), Part I (№ 17)
"The Explorers' Club," № MLXXXVII: The 40th Anniversary of S.T.S.-51-B (Spacelab 3), Part II
"The Explorers' Club," № MXCIV: The 40th Anniversary of S.T.S.-51-G, Part I (№ 18)
"The Explorers' Club," № MXCV: The 40th Anniversary of S.T.S.-51-G, Part II
"The Explorers' Club," № MXCVII: The 40th Anniversary of S.T.S.-51-L, Prelude
"The Explorers' Club," № MCV: The 40th Anniversary of S.T.S.-51-L, Prelude
"The Explorers' Club," № MCII: The 40th Anniversary of S.T.S.-51-F (Spacelab 2), Part I (№ 19)
"The Explorers' Club," № MCIV: The 40th Anniversary of S.T.S.-51-F (Spacelab 2), Part II
"The Explorers' Club," № MCVIII: The 40th Anniversary of S.T.S.-51-I, Part I (№ 20)
"The Explorers' Club," № MCIX: The 40th Anniversary of S.T.S.-51-I, Part II
"The Explorers' Club," № MCXIV: The 40th Anniversary of S.T.S.-51-J, Part I (№ 21)
"The Explorers' Club," № MCXV: The 40th Anniversary of S.T.S.-51-J, Part II
"The Explorers' Club," № MCXIX: The 40th Anniversary of S.T.S.-61-A (Spacelab D1), Part I (№ 22)
"The Explorers' Club," № MCXXI: The 40th Anniversary of S.T.S.-61-A (Spacelab D1), Part II
"The Explorers' Club," № MCXXV: The 40th Anniversary of S.T.S.-61-B, Part I (№ 23)
"The Explorers' Club," № MCXXVI: The 40th Anniversary of S.T.S.-61-B, Part II
Ad astra per aspera.
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