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

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: Galileo/Jupiter spacecraft (start of a very succesful Galileo mission); experiments in the areas of geophysics, chemistry, medicine and technical-optics.

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