Lockheed Space Operations CompanySpace ShuttleLaunch Complex 39B, Kennedy Space Center, FL, USA
Space Shuttle Discovery / OV-103 | STS-31 (Hubble)
Launch window
No countdown — this launch time is not yet known to the minute.April 24, 1990Add to calendar
Lockheed Space Operations Company's 26th launch · 3rd this year · humanity's 3,515th orbital launch attempt
The launch vehicle successfully inserted its payload(s) into the target orbit(s).
Window: Apr 24, 12:33 – Apr 24, 12:33 UTC
Flight preview
STS-31 (Hubble)
STS-31 was the thirty-fifth mission of the space shuttle program. Discovery's tenth mission deployed the Hubble Space Telescope.
Astrophysics · Low Earth Orbit (LEO)
Crew
Steven HawleyMission Specialist · NASA
Bruce McCandless IIMission Specialist · NASA
Loren ShriverCommander · NASA
Kathryn D. SullivanMission Specialist · NASA
Charles BoldenPilot · NASA
Booster
No booster details available.
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- STS-31 launch & landing (4-24-90) — 3210andLiftoff
News
NASA’s Hubble Spies Superbubble Scene
This Hubble Space Telescope image features a sprawling cosmic vista called N44.
Hubble's superbubble scene
This sprawling cosmic vista and subject of today’s ESA/Hubble Picture of the Month comes from the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC). The LMC is the largest of the small galaxies that orbit our Milky Way galaxy. At just 160 000 light-years away, the LMC offers a close look at highly active stellar birthsites like the nebula shown here. This nebula is named LHA 120-N44, or N44 for short, and it’s located in the constellation Dorado.
NASA’s Hubble Tracks New Decagon Encircling Saturn’s South Pole
NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope observes a giant, evolving, 10-sided atmospheric wave encircling Saturn’s south pole.
Hubble tracks new decagon encircling Saturn’s south pole
Recent observations with the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope have revealed a giant, evolving 10-sided atmospheric wave encircling Saturn’s south pole. This discovery marks the first time a large regular-sided jet pattern has been observed in the planet’s southern hemisphere. The feature appears remarkably similar to Saturn’s famous hexagon at its northern pole, but is also distinctly different, suggesting scientists may be witnessing a new atmospheric phenomenon develop on the iconic gas giant.
Colorful Collage of Tarantula Nebula
Data from NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory, NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope, and NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope combine to reveal a vibrant view of 30 Doradus, or the Tarantula Nebula, in this Aug. 11, 2026, image. Located in the Large Magellanic Cloud, a small neighbor galaxy to the Milky Way about 160,000 light-years from Earth, the […]
Hubble Solves Merger Mystery From Milky Way’s Early Years
New Hubble data shows definitive evidence of a dwarf galaxy merging with the young Milky Way in the earliest phases of its evolution.
