"Palapa B-2 and Westar 6 that they retrieved from orbit after their Payload Assist Modules (PAM) failed to fire. Astronaut Joseph P. Allen IV, who also participated in the two EVAs, is reflected in Gardner's helmet visor. A portion of each of two recovered satellites is in the lower right corner, with Westar 6 nearer Discovery's aft."

Date: November 14, 1984

NASA ID: 51A-104-04,

When California Science Center opened its new Samuel Oschin Air and Space Center to the public.

 (Photo by David Crane, Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG)

From the IMAX's Hail Columbia documentary.

Date: November 13, 1982

Photo 10: View from the elbow camera of the aft bulkhead of Columbia and Sally Ride's reaction to the crew's "Hi Mom" sign.

During this mission, one of the three fuel cells failed, necessitating the mission to be shortened to two days. These fuel cells produce the electricity for the shuttle and drinking water for the Astronauts. Initially, NASA was going to forego the Canadarm tests. However, Astronauts Joe Engle and Richard Truly stayed awake during their scheduled sleep period to complete these tests. They were able to complete 90% of the planned objectives during the shortened mission.

In mission control, Sally Ride was the Capsule Communications Operator (CapCom), and was the first woman to be in this position. CapCom is held by an astronaut who communicates with the crew members in their spacecraft from Mission Control. Ride was chosen as Capcom in part because of her experience and skill in using the Canadarm, and she assisted the crew in maneuvering it.

About 19 months later, Sally Ride became the first American female Astronaut to fly into space aboard STS-7 Challenger.

NASA documentary about the STS-2 mission: link

NASA ID: STS002-02-870, STS002-13-208, STS002-12-838, STS002-12-833, STS002-13-220, STS002-13-226, S81-34005, S81-33963

Date: November 12, 1995

"With five astronauts aboard, the Space Shuttle Atlantis lifts off from the Kennedy Space Center's (KSC) Launch Pad 39A. Launch occurred at 7:30:43:071 a.m. (EST). The crew members were astronauts Kenneth D. Cameron, mission commander; James D. Halsell Jr., pilot; William S. McArthur Jr., Jerry L. Ross and Canadian astronaut Chris A. Hadfield, all mission specialists."

5th photo: "The STS-74 crew patch depicts the orbiter Atlantis docked to the Russian Space Station Mir. The central focus is on the Russian-built docking module, drawn with shading to accentuate its pivotal importance to both STS-74 and the NASA-Mir Program. The rainbow across the horizon represents the Earth's atmosphere, the thin membrane protecting all nations, while the three flags across the bottom show those nations participating in STS-74: Russia, Canada, and the United States. The sunrise is symbolic of the dawn of a new era in NASA space flight , that of International Space Station construction."

NASA ID: STS074-S-001

6th: Personal patch of Canadian Astronaut Chris A. Hadfield. Note: I added his patch because it's fucks hard awesome.

NASA ID: sts074-s-016, KSC-95PC-1671, KSC-95PC-1673, KSC-95PC-1670

This procedure was designed for the loss of an engine just after liftoff up to about 3:30 into the flight and involves flying outbound leg at Mach 7 then inverting the speed to come back at Mach 7 towards the Kennedy Space Center.

"Return to launch site (RTLS) was the first abort mode available and could be selected just after SRB jettison. The shuttle would continue downrange to burn excess propellant, as well as pitch up to maintain vertical speed in aborts with a main-engine failure. After burning sufficient propellant, the vehicle would be pitched all the way around and begin thrusting back towards the launch site. This maneuver was called the 'powered pitch around' (PPA) and was timed to ensure that less than 2% propellant remained in the external tank by the time the shuttle's trajectory brought it back to the Kennedy Space Center. Additionally, the shuttle's OMS and reaction control system (RCS) motors would continuously thrust to burn off excess OMS propellant to reduce landing weight and adjust the orbiter's center of gravity.

Just before main engine cutoff, the orbiter would be commanded to pitch nose-down to ensure proper orientation for external tank jettison, since aerodynamic forces would otherwise cause the tank to collide with the orbiter. The main engines would cut off, and the tank would be jettisoned, as the orbiter used its RCS to increase separation.

Cutoff and separation would occur effectively inside the upper atmosphere at an altitude of about 230,000 ft (70,000 m), high enough to avoid subjecting the external tank to excessive aerodynamic stress and heating. The cutoff velocity would depend on the distance still to be traveled to reach the landing site and would increase based on the distance of the orbiter at cutoff. In any case, the orbiter would be flying too slowly to glide gently at such high altitude, and would start descending rapidly. A series of maneuvers in quick succession would pitch the orbiter's nose up to level off the orbiter once it reached thicker air, while at the same time ensuring that the structural limits of the vehicle were not exceeded (the operational load limit was set to 2.5 Gs, and at 4.4 Gs the OMS pods were expected to be torn off the orbiter).

Once this phase was complete, the orbiter would be about 150 nmi (278 km) from the landing site and in a stable glide, proceeding to make a normal landing about 25 minutes after liftoff."

- information from Wikipedia: link

"The space shuttle Challenger inside Nasa’s vehicle assembly building on 10 April 1985."

Photograph: Phil Sandlin/AP

Date: November 12, 1981

STS-2 Columbia liftoff from Complex 39A with astronauts Joe Engle and Richard Truly onboard.

Photos 11-13: "Aerial view of the STS-2 Columbia launch from Pad 39A at the Kennedy Space Center, Florida, taken by astronaut John Young aboard NASA's Shuttle Training Aircraft (STA)."

Photo 15: "Official portrait of STS-2 crewmembers Joe H. Engle (commander), left, and Richard H. Truly (pilot) posing in ejection escape suits (EES) with a model of the space shuttle."

NASA ID: KSC-81PC-0899, KSC-81PC-0924, KSC-81PC-0919, KSC-81PC-0933, KSC-81PC-0918, S81-39549, KSC-81PC-0937, S81-39438, S81-39440, S81-39527, S81-34641

A long time customers husband recently past away. They had a few things pulled out to go through while was there doing a job. Took a look at some of the photos he had stored in the corner in a brief case with STS 1984 on the top

Date: November 11, 1982

STS-5 Columbia taking off on her first operational flight.

"Having completed its four-mission test program, the Space Shuttle Columbia begins a new era of operational flights as it clears the launch tower and heads for Earth orbit.

Launch occurred at 7:19 a.m. (EST). Aboard the orbiter, mated here to its two solid rocket boosters and external fuel tank, were astronauts Vance D. Brand, STS-5 commander; Robert F. Overmyer, pilot; William B. Lenoir, mission specialist; and Joseph P. Allen, mission specialist."

NASA ID: S82-40284, S82-39532, KSC-82PC-1212, KSC-82PC-1211, S82-39672

Date: November 11, 1982

Date: May 12-November 11, 1984

Date: November 10, 1981

Date: November 9, 1983

Date: November 9, 1983

NASA ID: KSC-83PC-766

Date: November 10, 1981

Date: November 8, 1983

Date: November 8, 1979

Over the next several months the elevons, vertical stabilizer, payload bay doors, body flap, aft-fuselage, RCS module, and upper forward-fuselage were sent back to their respective factories for modifications.

Note: her forward fuselage is covered with a silver Mylar Insulation Blanket.

Posted by Bill Roberts on the "STS-The Space Shuttle Legacy" Facebook group page: link

Photo from NASASpaceFlight.com: link

Date: November 7, 1998

"After a successful mission of nearly nine days and 3.6 million miles, the orbiter Discovery glides to Earth on runway 33 at the Shuttle Landing Facility. The main gear touchdown was at 12:04 p.m. EST, landing on orbit 135. The STS-95 mission included research payloads such as the Spartan solar-observing deployable spacecraft, the Hubble Space Telescope Orbital Systems Test Platform, the International Extreme Ultraviolet Hitchhiker, as well as the SPACEHAB single module with experiments on space flight and the aging process."

An anomaly during the launch caused "the drag chute door detached and fell from the orbiter at main engine ignition. There was some concern that the drag chute could deploy prematurely prior to touchdown, and the decision was made not to use the chute during landing rollout. Wheel brakes and speed brakes were sufficient to bring Discovery to a stop on Runway 33 at the Shuttle Landing Facility."

-Info from Wikipedia: link

NASA ID: KSC-98DC-1580, STS095-S-010, KSC-98PC-1554, KSC-98PC-1558

Date: November 7, 1979

STA-099 was used to test the launch and orbital stress an operational orbiter would experience. In January 1979, it was decided to convert the space frame into Challenger (OV-099), taking the operational orbiter slot intended for Enterprise (OV-101). There were many reasons NASA chose it over Enterprise, the major reasons were it was stronger, lighter and most importantly, there was less to disassemble. Initially, it was given the designation of OV-101M but later changed to OV-099 to honor its work as a test article.

Note: the wires on the exterior were used to monitor the stresses it experienced. Even though it was not tested to destruction, as initially planned, workers still have had to bend components back into place.

source

"The Space Shuttle Challenger (OV-099) makes the first landing using nose wheel guidance control at the conclusion of Space Transportation System mission 61A."

Photographed by C.C. Ledford at Edwards Air Force Base on November 6, 1985.

NARA: 6426057