<Tr> <Th> Period </Th> <Td> 90.6 min </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Td_colspan="2"> <P> </P> Back row, L-R: Lounge, Hilmers, Nelson . Front row, L-R: Covey and Hauck . Space Shuttle program ← STS - 51 - L STS - 27 → </Td> </Tr> <P> STS - 26 was the 26th NASA Space Shuttle mission and the seventh flight of the orbiter Discovery . The mission launched from Kennedy Space Center, Florida, on 29 September 1988, and landed four days later on 3 October . STS - 26 was declared the "Return to Flight" mission, being the first mission after the Space Shuttle Challenger disaster of 28 January 1986 . It was the first mission since STS - 9 to use the original STS numbering system, the first to have all its crew members wear pressure suits for launch and landing since STS - 4, and the first mission with bailout capacity since STS - 4 . STS - 26 was also the first all - veteran crew mission since Apollo 11, with all of its crew members having flown at least one prior mission . </P> <Table> <Tr> <Th> Position </Th> <Th_colspan="2"> Astronaut </Th> </Tr> <Tr> <Th> Commander </Th> <Td_colspan="2"> Frederick H. Hauck Third and last spaceflight </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Th> Pilot </Th> <Td_colspan="2"> Richard O. Covey Second spaceflight </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Th> Mission Specialist 1 </Th> <Td_colspan="2"> John M. Lounge Second spaceflight </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Th> Mission Specialist 2 </Th> <Td_colspan="2"> David C. Hilmers Second spaceflight </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Th> Mission Specialist 3 </Th> <Td_colspan="2"> George D. Nelson Third and last spaceflight </Td> </Tr> </Table>

When did us space program resumes after challenger tragedy