Space Shuttle Columbia is launched on the 72nd shuttle mission, and Columbia’s 18th visit to Earth orbit. Over a 16-day period, the Spacelab module mounted in the cargo bay hosts the second U.S. Microgravity Laboratory mission, with experiments conducted around the clock. The first pitch of the fifth game of the 1995 World Series is thrown aboard Columbia and broadcast live – the first time that the first pitch of a game took place somewhere other than the ballpark in question. Columbia is manned by Commander Kenneth Bowersox, Pilot Kent Rominger, Payload Commander Kathryn Thornton, mission specialists Catherine Coleman and Michael Lopez-Alegria, and payload specialists Fred Leslie and Albert Sacco.
