STS-49 Astronaut By Mission Peculiar Equipment Support Structure (MPESS)

STS-49, the first flight of the Space Shuttle Orbiter Endeavour, lifted off from launch pad 39B on May 7, 1992 at 6:40 pm CDT. The STS-49 mission was the first U.S. orbital flight to feature 4 extravehicular activities (EVAs), and the first flight to involve 3 crew members working simultaneously outside of the spacecraft. The primary objective was the capture and redeployment of the INTELSAT VI (F-3), a communication satellite for the International Telecommunication Satellite organization, which was stranded in an unusable orbit since its launch aboard the Titan rocket in March 1990. In this onboard photo, astronaut Thomas Akers is positioned near the Mission Peculiar Equipment Support Structure (MPESS) in the cargo bay. The MPESS, developed by Marshall Space Flight Center, was used to support experiments.
NASA Identifier: MSFC-9257750