STS-49 was the
maiden flight of the
Space Shuttle Endeavour. The primary goal of its nine-day mission was to retrieve an
Intelsat VI satellite (
Intelsat 603, which failed to leave low earth orbit two years before), attach it to a new upper stage, and relaunch it to its intended
geosynchronous orbit. After several attempts, the capture was completed with a three-person
extra-vehicular activity (EVA). This was the first time that three people from the same spacecraft walked in space at the same time, and it was the only such EVA. It would also stand until
STS-102 in 2001 as the longest EVA ever undertaken.