Space Shuttle Columbia facility beginning in January 1984, undergoing modifications that removed the Orbiter Flight Test hardware and bringing it up to similar specifications as those of its sister orbiters. At that time the shuttle fleet was expanded to include "Discovery" and "Atlantis". "Columbia" returned to space on January 12, 1986, with the launch of STS-61-C. The mission's crew included Dr. Franklin Chang-Diaz, as well as the first sitting member of the House of Representatives to venture into space, Bill Nelson. The next shuttle mission, STS-51-L, was undertaken by "Challenger". It was launched on January 28, 1986, ten days after STS-61-C had landed,
Advisory Committee on the Future of the United States Space Program Challenger disaster the executive summary of the committee's report recommended, "saving the Space Shuttle for those missions requiring human presence." The committee had twelve members in total, with one chairman and one vice chairman. Advisory Committee on the Future of the United States Space Program The Advisory Committee on the Future of the United States Space Program (also known as the Augustine Commission) was a 1990 space policy group requested by Vice President Dan Quayle, chairman of the National Space Council. The objective of the committee was to evaluate the long-term future of NASA and the United States civilian space