Compiled by
Gregory P. Kennedy

Manned Space Flight Chronology 1985 to 1990

January 24 - 27, 1985 -- STS 51-C; Discovery; crewed by Thomas K. Mattingly, Loren J. Shriver, Ellison S. Onizuka, James F. Buchli, and Gary E. Payton; carried classified DoD payload. (USA)

April 12 - 19, 1985 -- STS 51-D; Discovery; crewed by Karol J. Bobko, Donald E. Williams, M. Rhea Seddon, Jeffrey A. Hoffman, S. David Griggs, Charles D. Walker, and Senator E. J. "Jake" Garn; carried Leasat-3 (Syncom IV-3) and Anik C-1. (USA)

April 17, 1985 -- Suborbital launch of BOR-5 from Kapustin Yar; 1:8 scale test model of Buran Space Shuttle. (USSR)

April 29 - May 6, 1985 - STS 51-B; Challenger; crewed by Robert F. Overmeyer, Frederick D. Gregory, Don L. Lind, Norman E. Thagard, William E. Thornton, Lodewijk van den Berg, and Taylor G. Wang; carried Spacelab-3. (USA)

June 6 - September 25, 1985 -- Soyuz T-13; crewed by Vladimir Dzhanibekov and Viktor Savinykh; resurrected Salyut-7; Dzhanibekov and Grechko returned in Soyuz T-13. (USSR)

June 17 - 24, 1985 - STS 51-G; Discovery; crewed by Daniel C. Brandenstein, John O. Creighton, Shannon W. Lucid, John M. Fabian, Steven R. Nagel, Patrick Baudry, and Sultan Salman Abdelazize Al-Saud; carried Arabsat A, Morelos A, Telstar 3D and Spartan J retrievable satellite; first French astronaut aboard Shuttle (Baudry); Saudi astronaut (Al-Saud). (USA)

June 21, 1985 -- Progress 24; unmanned resupply mission to Salyut-7. (USSR)

July 19, 1985 -- Kosmos 1669; unmanned resupply mission to Salyut-7; test of new Progress variant. (USSR)

July 29 - August 6, 1985 - STS 51-F; Challenger; crewed by Charles G. Fullerton, Roy D. Bridges, F. Story Musgrave, Anthony W. Englund, Karl J. Henize, Loren W. Acton, and John-David Bartoe; carried Spacelab-2. (USA)

August 27 - September 3, 1985 - STS 51-I; Discovery; crewed by Joseph H. Engle, Richard O. Covey, James D. A. Van Hoften, John M. Lounge, and William F. Fisher; carried Ausat-1, ASC-1 and Leasat-4 (Syncom IV-4); Leasat-3 retrieval, repair and redeployment. (USA)

September 17 - November 23, 1985 -- Soyuz T-14; crewed by Vladimir Vasyutin, Georgi Grechko, and Alexander Volkov; mission to Salyut-7; Dzhanibekov and Grechko returned in Soyuz T-13 on September 25; Vasyutin, Savinykh and Volkov returned in Soyuz T-14. (USSR)

September 27, 1985 -- Kosmos 1686; unmanned mission resupplied and enlarged Salyut-7. (USSR)

October 3 - 7, 1985 -- STS 51-J; Atlantis; crewed by Karol J. Bobko, Ronald J. Grabe, Robert L. Stewart, David C. Hilmers, and William D. Pailes; carried classified DoD payload; first flight of Orbiter Atlantis. (USA)

October 30 - November 6, 1985 -- STS 61-A; Challenger; crewed by Henry W. Hartsfield, Steven R. Nagel, James F. Buchli, Bonnie J. Dunbar, Guion S. Bluford, Jr., Reinhard Furrer, Ernst Messerschmid, and Wubbo Ockels; carried Spacelab D-1 materials processing laboratory; German and ESA astronauts (Furrer, Messerschmid and Ockels). (USA)

November 10, 1985 - First flight of jet-powered, full size mock-up of Buran Space Shuttle; piloted by Igor Volk and Rimas Stankyavichyus. (USSR)

November 26 - December 3, 1985 -- STS 61-B; Atlantis; crewed by Brewster H. Shaw, Bryan D. O'Conner, Mary L. Cleave, Sherwood C. Spring, Jerry L. Ross, Rudolfo Neri-Vela, and Charles D. Walker; carried Morelos B, Aussat 2, RCA Satcom K-2 and EASE/ACCESS EVA construction experiments; Mexican astronaut (Neri-Vela); demonstrated assembly of large structures in space. (USA)

January 3, 1986 -- Flight of jet-powered, full size mock-up of Buran Space Shuttle. (USSR)

January 12 - 18, 1986 -- STS 61-C; Columbia; crewed by Robert L. "Hoot" Gibson, Charles F. Bolden, Jr., Franklin R. Chang-Diaz, Steven A. Hawley, and George D. Nelson; carried RCA Satcom K-1, Hitchhiker 1 and Materials Science Laboratory (MSL) - 2. (USA)

January 28, 1986 -- STS 51L; Challenger; crewed by Francis R. Scobee, Michael J. Smith, Judith A. Resnik, Ellison S. Onizuka, Ronald E. McNair, Gregory B. Jarvis, and Sharon Christa McAuliffe; carried TDRS-B and Spartan-Halley retrievable satellite; first teacher in space mission; vehicle exploded 73 seconds after launch; all seven on board killed. (USA)

February 20, 1986 -- Launch of Mir space station core module. (USSR)

March 13 - July 16, 1986 -- Soyuz T-15; crewed by Leonid Kizim and Vladimir Solovyov; first manned mission to Mir; first station-to-station transfer (between Mir to Salyut-7 then back to Mir); 125-day mission. (USSR)

March 19, 1986 -- Progress 25; unmanned resupply mission to Mir. (USSR)

April 23, 1986 -- Progress 26; unmanned resupply mission to Mir. (USSR)

May 21 - 30, 1986 -- Soyuz TM-1; unmanned test of new variant of Soyuz spacecraft; automated docking with Mir. (USSR)

May 11, 1986 -- Flight of jet-powered, full size mock-up of Buran Space Shuttle. (USSR)

June 11, 1986 -- Flight of jet-powered, full size mock-up of Buran Space Shuttle. (USSR)

June 28, 1986 -- Flight of jet-powered, full size mock-up of Buran Space Shuttle. (USSR)

December 10, 1986 - Flight of jet-powered, full size mock-up of Buran Space Shuttle; first automatic landing. (USSR)

December 23, 1986 - Flight of jet-powered, full size mock-up of Buran Space Shuttle. (USSR)

December 27, 1986 - Suborbital launch of BOR-5 from Kapustin Yar; 1:8 scale test model of Buran Space Shuttle. (USSR)

December 29, 1986 - Flight of jet-powered, full size mock-up of Buran Space Shuttle. (USSR)

January 16, 1987 -- Progress 27; unmanned resupply mission to Mir. (USSR)

February 5 - December 29, 1987 -- Soyuz TM-2; crewed by Yuri Romanenko and Alexander Laveykin; mission to Mir; Laveykin, Viktorenko and Faris returned in Soyuz TM-2 on July 30, 1987; Romanenko, Alexandrov and Levchenko returned in Soyuz TM-3 spacecraft on December 29. (USSR)

February 16, 1987 -- Flight of jet-powered, full size mock-up of Buran Space Shuttle. (USSR)

February 25, 1987 -- Flight of jet-powered, full size mock-up of Buran Space Shuttle. (USSR)

March 3, 1987 -- Progress 28; unmanned resupply mission to Mir. (USSR)

March 31, 1987 -- Launch of Kvant-1 astrophysics module to Mir space station. (USSR)

April 21, 1987 -- Progress 29; unmanned resupply mission to Mir. (USSR)

May 15, 1987 -- First launch of Soviet Energia booster. (USSR)

May 19, 1987 -- Progress 30; unmanned resupply mission to Mir. (USSR)

May 21, 1987 -- Flight of jet-powered, full size mock-up of Buran Space Shuttle. (USSR)

June 25, 1987 -- Flight of jet-powered, full size mock-up of Buran Space Shuttle. (USSR)

July 22 - 30, 1987 -- Soyuz TM-3; crewed by Alexander Viktorenko, Alexander Alexandrov, and Mohammed Faris; Intercosmos mission to Mir with Syrian cosmonaut (Faris); Viktorenko, Laveykin and Faris returned in Soyuz TM-2 spacecraft. (USSR)

August 3, 1987 - Progress 31; unmanned resupply mission to Mir. (USSR)

August 27, 1987 - Suborbital launch of BOR-5 from Kapustin Yar; 1:8 scale test model of Buran Space Shuttle. (USSR)

September 23, 1987 -- Progress 32; unmanned resupply mission to Mir. (USSR)

October 5, 1987 -- Flight of jet-powered, full size mock-up of Buran Space Shuttle; automatic landing. (USSR)

October 15, 1987 - Flight of jet-powered, full size mock-up of Buran Space Shuttle. (USSR)

November 20, 1987 - Progress 33; unmanned resupply mission to Mir. (USSR)

December 21, 1987 - December 21, 1988 - Soyuz TM-4; crewed by Vladimir Titov, Musa Manarov, and Anatoly Levchenko; year-long mission to Mir; flight of test pilot (Levchenko) to test his ability to fly Soviet Shuttle after 10 days in space; Levchenko returned in Soyuz TM-3 on December 29, 1987; Titov, Manarov and Chretien returned in Soyuz TM-6. (USSR)

January 16, 1988 -- Flight of jet-powered, full size mock-up of Buran Space Shuttle. (USSR)

January 20, 1988 -- Progress 34; unmanned resupply mission to Mir. (USSR)

January 24, 1988 -- Flight of jet-powered, full size mock-up of Buran Space Shuttle. (USSR)

February 23, 1988 -- Flight of jet-powered, full size mock-up of Buran Space Shuttle. (USSR)

March 4, 1988 -- Flight of jet-powered, full size mock-up of Buran Space Shuttle. (USSR)

March 12, 1988 -- Flight of jet-powered, full size mock-up of Buran Space Shuttle. (USSR)

March 23, 1988 -- Flight of jet-powered, full size mock-up of Buran Space Shuttle. (USSR)

March 23, 1988 -- Progress 35; unmanned resupply mission to Mir. (USSR)

March 28, 1988 -- Flight of jet-powered, full size mock-up of Buran Space Shuttle. (USSR)

April 2, 1988 -- Flight of jet-powered, full size mock-up of Buran Space Shuttle. (USSR)

April 8, 1988 -- Flight of jet-powered, full size mock-up of Buran Space Shuttle. (USSR)

April 15, 1988 -- Flight of jet-powered, full size mock-up of Buran Space Shuttle. (USSR)

May 13, 1988 -- Progress 36; unmanned resupply mission to Mir. (USSR)

June 7 - 17, 1988 - Soyuz TM-5; crewed by Anatoli Solovyov, Viktor Savinykh, and Alexander Alexandrov; Intercosmos mission to Mir with Bulgarian cosmonaut (Alexandrov); crew returned in Soyuz TM-4 spacecraft. (USSR)

June 27, 1988 -- Suborbital launch of BOR-5 from Kapustin Yar; 1:8 scale test model of Buran Space Shuttle. (USSR)

July 18, 1988 -- Progress 37; unmanned resupply mission to Mir. (USSR)

August 29 - September 7, 1988 - Soyuz TM-6; Vladimir Lyakov, Valeri Polyakov, and Abdul Ahad Mohmand; Intercosmos mission to Mir with Afghan cosmonaut (Mohmand); Lyakov and Mohmand returned in Soyuz TM-5; reentry problems. (USSR)

September 9, 1988 -- Progress 38; unmanned resupply mission to Mir. (USSR)

September 29 - October 3, 1988 - STS-26; Discovery; crewed by Frederick H. Hauck, Richard O. Covey, John M. Lounge, David C. Hilmers, and George D. Nelson; carried TDRS-C; resumption of Shuttle flights after Challenger loss. (USA)

November 15, 1988 - Launch of Buran, unmanned test flight of Soviet Space Shuttle with Energia booster. (USSR)

November 26, 1988 - April 27, 1989 - Soyuz TM-7; crewed by Alexander Volkov, Sergei Krikalev, and Jean-Loup Chretien; Intercosmos mission to Mir; French astronaut (Chretien); Chretien returned with Manarov and Titov in Soyuz TM-6 on December 21, 1988; Volkov, Krikalev and Polyakov returned in Soyuz TM-7 on April 27, 1989. (USSR)

December 2 - 6, 1988 -- STS-27; Atlantis; crewed by Robert L. "Hoot" Gibson, Guy S. Gardner, Richard M. Mullane, Jerry L. Ross, and William N. Shepard; carried classified DoD payload. (USA)

December 25, 1988 - Progress 39; unmanned resupply mission to Mir. (USSR)

December 28, 1988 - Flight of jet-powered, full size mock-up of Buran Space Shuttle. (USSR)

February 10, 1989 -- Progress 40; unmanned resupply mission to Mir. (USSR)

March 13 - 18, 1989 -- STS-29; Discovery; crewed by Michael L. Coates, John E. Blaha, James F. Buchli, Robert C. Springer, and James P. Bagian; carried TDRS-4. (USA)

March 16, 1989 -- Progress 41; unmanned resupply mission to Mir. (USSR)

May 4 - 8, 1989 -- STS-30; Atlantis; crewed by David M. Walker, Ronald J. Grabe, Norman E. Thagard, and Mary L. Cleave; launched Magellan probe to Venus. (USA)

August 8 - 13, 1989 -- STS-28; Columbia; crewed by Brewster H. Shaw, Richard N. Richards, David C. Leestma, James C. Adamson, and Mark N. Brown; carried classified DoD payload. (USA)

August 23, 1989 - Progress M-1; unmanned resupply mission to Mir; first flight of improved resupply craft. (USSR)

September 5, 1989 - February 19, 1990 -- Soyuz TM-8; crewed by Alexander Viktorenko and Alexander Serebrov; 167-day mission to Mir; Serebrov tested Ikar astronaut maneuvering unit, or "space motorcycle", during EVA. (USSR)

October 18 - 23, 1989 -- STS-34; Atlantis; crewed by Donald E. Williams, Michael J. McCulley, Shannon W. Lucid, Ellen S. Baker, and Franklin R. Chang-Diaz; launched Galileo probe to Jupiter. (USA)

November 22 - 27, 1989 - STS-33; Discovery; crewed by Frederick D. Gregory, John E. Blaha, F. Story Musgrave, Kathryn C. Thornton, and Manley L. Carter; carried DoD payload. (USA)

November 26, 1989 -Launch of Kvant-2 expansion module to Mir; contained airlock, technology equipment, personal shower. (USSR)

December 20, 1989 - Progress M-2; unmanned resupply mission to Mir. (USSR)

January 9 - 20, 1990 -- STS-32; Columbia; crewed by Daniel C. Brandenstein, James D. Wetherbee, Bonnie J. Dunbar, Marsha S. Ivins, and G. David Low; carried Leasat-5 (Syncom IV-5); retrieved Long Duration Exposure Facility (LDEF) which had been released in 1984. (USA)

February 11 - August 9, 1990 -- Soyuz TM-9; crewed by Anatoli Solovyov and Alexander Balandin; 179-day mission to Mir. (USSR)

February 28, 1990 -- Progress M-3; unmanned resupply mission to Mir. (USSR)

February 28 - March 4, 1990 -- STS-36; Atlantis; crewed by John O. Creighton, John H. Casper, Richard M. Mullane, David C. Hilmers, and Pierre J. Thuot; carried classified DoD payload. (USA)

April 24 - 29, 1990 -- STS-31; Discovery; crewed by Loren J. Shriver, Charles F. Bolden, Steven A. Hawley, Kathryn D. Sullivan, and Bruce McCandless II; deployed Hubble Space Telescope. (USA)

May 5, 1990 -- Progress 42; unmanned resupply mission to Mir; last use of original Progress variant. (USSR)

May 31, 1990 -- Launch of Kristall expansion module to Mir; contained materials processing equipment. (USSR)

August 1 - December 10, 1990 -- Soyuz TM-10; crewed by Gennady Manakov and Gennady Strekalov; 130-day mission to Mir. (USSR)

August 15, 1990 - Progress M-4; unmanned resupply mission to Mir. (USSR)

September 27, 1990 -- Progress M-5; unmanned resupply mission to Mir. (USSR)

October 6 - 10, 1990 -- STS-41; Discovery; crewed by Richard N. Richards, Robert D. Cabana, William M. Shepherd, Bruce E. Melnick, and Thomas D. Akers; launched Ulysses solar polar orbiting probe. (USA)

November 15 - 30, 1990 - STS-38; Atlantis; crewed by Richard O. Covey, Frank L. Culbertson, Charles D. Gemar, Robert C. Springer, and Carl J. Meade; carried classified DoD payload. (USA)

December 2 - 10, 1990 -- STS-35; Columbia; crewed by Vance D. Brand, Guy S. Gardner, John M. Lounge, Jeffrey A. Hoffman, Robert A. R. Parker, Ronald A. Parise, and Samuel T. Durrance; carried Astro-1 astronomical observatory. (USA)

NOTE: This chronology contains manned space missions; unmanned test flights of manned spacecraft; significant launch vehicle tests; unmanned lunar probes; select space biology flights; piloted stratospheric balloon flights; flights above 50 miles (264,000 feet) by the X-15 rocket plane; and other significant events in the development of manned space programs.

Biological satellites are listed only when they directly supported a manned space project. In the case of missions where crewmembers were launched in one spacecraft and returned in another, the crew names are with the launch spacecraft and explanations of their return to Earth are in the flight description.

A three- or four-letter country designation is given at the end of each entry. The country designations used are as follows:
BEL Belgium
CIS Post 1990 Russia (Commonwealth of Independent States)
FRA France
GER Germany
POL Poland
PRC People's Republic of China
RUS Pre-1917 Russia
USA United States
USSR Soviet Union

This chronology lists events through the second flight of Space Ship One on October 4, 2004.