STS-61-B marked the quickest turnaround of a Shuttle orbiter from launch to launch in history – just 54 days elapsed between "Atlantis"' launch on STS-51-J and launch on STS-61-B. This record for turn around between two flights of the same orbital space vehicle was only beaten in July 2020 by SpaceX. The mission was also notable for carrying the first Mexican astronaut, Rodolfo Neri Vela. This was also "Atlantis"' second and final mission to launch before the Space Shuttle "Challenger" disaster in 1986, which would ground the shuttle fleet for two and a half years; "Atlantis" would not fly again until STS-27, which launched on December 2, 1988, roughly three years later.