Launch from Cape Canaveral (KSC); landing on Cape Canaveral (KSC). Columbia landed at the Kennedy Space Center for the first time ever due to bad weather at the Edwards AFB caused by the remnants of Hurricane Darby

The U.S. Microgravity Laboratory 1 was a spacelab mission, with experiments in material science, fluid physics and biotechnology. It was the first flight of a Space Shuttle with the Extended Duration Orbiter (EDO) hardware, allowing longer flight durations.

Primary payload, U.S. Microgravity Laboratory-1 (USML- 1), made its first flight; featured pressurized Spacelab module. USML-1 first in planned series of flights to advance U.S. microgravity research effort in several disciplines. Experiments conducted were: Crystal Growth Furnace (CGF); Drop Physics Module (DPM), that permitted the study of liquids without the interference of a container; Surface Tension Driven Convection Experiments (STDCE); Zeolite Crystal Growth (ZCG); Protein Crystal Growth (PCG); Glovebox Facility (GBX); Space Acceleration Measurement System (SAMS); Generic Bioprocessing Apparatus (GBA); Astroculture-1 (ASC); Extended Duration Orbiter Medical Project (EDOMP); Solid Surface Combustion Experiment (SSCE). The Zeolite Crystal Growth (ZCG) processed 38 separate samples which were mixed in the Glovebox. Zeolite crystals are used to purify biological fluids, as additives in laundry detergents, and in waste clean-up applications.

Secondary experiments were: Investigations into Polymer Membrane Processing (IPMP); Shuttle Amateur Radio Experiment II (SAREX II); and Ultraviolet Plume Instrument (UVPI).

It was the longest Shuttle flight to date.