Do you remember the space shuttle Atlantis?
The launch of STS-46 space shuttle Atlantis in July 1992 marked a number of European firsts. The crew of seven included ESA’s Claude Nicollier and Franco Malerba of the Italian space agency ASI. Nicollier became the first Swiss national in space, Malerba became the first Italian national in space.
The mission saw the first deployment of the European Retrievable Carrier (EURECA), an ESA-sponsored free-flying science platform, and the first demonstration of the Tethered Satellite System (TSS), a joint project between NASA and ASI.
Via European Space Agency, ESA and NASA
http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/shuttle/shuttlemissions/archives/sts-46.html
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