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STS-93 Launch

(July 23, 1999) On July 23, 1999, the Space Shuttle Columbia launched from Kennedy Space Center to begin its five day trip into space. STS-93 was the first shuttle mission commanded by a woman, Col. Eilen M. Collins. The main goal of the mission was to deploy the Chandra X-Ray Observatory, a telescope designed to detect X-ray emission from extremely hot areas of the Universe, such as exploded stars. The astronauts also experimented on several plants, and took ultraviolet images of the Earth, the Moon, Mercury, Venus, and Jupiter.

 

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Credit: NASA

Image Number: KSC-99PP-0962

Date: July 23, 1999

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Uploaded on July 23, 2025
Taken on July 23, 1999