Image: NASA
STS-47
Mission Profile
| Launch date | 1992-09-12 |
|---|---|
| Launch site | Kennedy Space Center, Launch Complex 39B, Florida |
| Launch vehicle | Space Shuttle |
| Spacecraft | Space Shuttle Endeavour (OV-105) |
| Target | Low Earth Orbit |
| Type | Crewed |
| End date | 1992-09-20 |
| Recovery | Runway landing — Kennedy Space Center Shuttle Landing Facility, Runway 33, Florida |
| Duration | 7 days, 22 hours, 30 minutes, 24 seconds |
| Partners | NASDA (Japan) |
Overview
Endeavour's second flight — the 50th Space Shuttle mission — was a landmark for representation in space. Mission specialist Mae Jemison, a physician and engineer, became the first African American woman to fly in space; payload specialist Mamoru Mohri became the first NASDA astronaut and the first Japanese national to fly aboard the Shuttle; and Mark Lee and N. Jan Davis became the only married couple ever to fly a space mission together. Launched from Pad 39B on September 12, 1992, the mission centered on Spacelab-J, a pressurized laboratory in the payload bay developed jointly by NASA and Japan's National Space Development Agency. Working around the clock in two shifts, the crew executed 44 experiments — 24 in materials science, spanning crystal and semiconductor growth in microgravity, and 20 in life sciences, including frog embryology, bone-cell research and studies of human adaptation to weightlessness. Jemison, serving as the science mission specialist, famously opened her shifts with Star Trek's line 'hailing frequencies open,' a nod to Lieutenant Uhura. After nearly eight days of orbital laboratory work, Endeavour returned to the Kennedy Space Center's Runway 33 on September 20, 1992, having cemented the U.S.–Japan partnership that would later build the International Space Station's Kibo laboratory.
Crew
Robert L. 'Hoot' Gibson
Commander
Fourth of his five Shuttle flights; later commanded the first Mir docking mission, STS-71
Curtis Brown
Pilot
First of six Shuttle flights; later commanded STS-95 with John Glenn
Mark Lee
Payload Commander
Led Spacelab-J science operations; married to crewmate N. Jan Davis
Jay Apt
Mission Specialist
N. Jan Davis
Mission Specialist
Flew with husband Mark Lee — the only married couple to share a space mission
Mae Jemison
Mission Specialist
Science mission specialist; physician and engineer; first African American woman in space
Mamoru Mohri
Payload Specialist
First NASDA astronaut and first Japanese national to fly aboard the Space Shuttle
Key Milestones
1992-09-12
Launch from LC-39B — the 50th Shuttle mission; Mae Jemison becomes the first African American woman in space
1992-09-12
Mamoru Mohri becomes the first NASDA astronaut in orbit; Mark Lee and N. Jan Davis become the first married couple to fly in space together
1992-09-12
Spacelab-J laboratory activated; dual-shift, round-the-clock science operations begin
1992-09-20
Endeavour lands at Kennedy Space Center Runway 33 after 44 Spacelab-J experiments and 7 days, 22 hours in orbit
Key Achievements
Mae Jemison became the first African American woman in space
Mamoru Mohri became the first NASDA astronaut and first Japanese national to fly on the Shuttle
Mark Lee and N. Jan Davis became the only married couple to fly a space mission together
Completed all 44 Spacelab-J experiments in materials and life sciences
Marked the 50th flight of the Space Shuttle program
Legacy & Significance
STS-47 stands as one of the Shuttle program's great barrier-breaking flights. Mae Jemison's mission, thirty years after the first American crewed flights, finally put a Black woman in orbit and made her an enduring icon of STEM inclusion; she famously danced to 'hailing frequencies open' in tribute to the Star Trek character who had inspired her. Spacelab-J was also a diplomatic milestone — the deepest U.S.–Japan cooperation in human spaceflight to that point — building the working relationship and the Japanese astronaut corps that would deliver the Kibo module, Japan's cornerstone contribution to the International Space Station.
