Launch from Cape Canaveral (KSC); landing on Edwards AFB.

The launch was originally targeted for October 12, 1989. Liftoff was rescheduled for October 17, 1989 to replace a faulty main engine controller for Space Shuttle Main Engine No. 2. It was postponed again until October 18, 1989 because of rainshowers at Cape Canaveral (Return To Launch Site (RTLS)).

Primary payload was the Galileo/Jupiter spacecraft (start of a very succesful Galileo mission). Experiments in the areas of geophysics, chemistry, medicine and technical-optics were performed.

Five middeck experiments were onboard, including the Polymer Morphology (PM) experiment, sponsored by the 3M Company. Other experiments in the areas of geophysics, chemistry, medicine and technical optics were done. In the cabin, the crew operated the IMAX (70-millimeter) camera, last flown on STS-29 in March. The movie "The Wild Blue Yonder" by director Werner Herzog features footage recorded on the flight.