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On November 22, 1989, the space shuttle Discovery launched on mission STS-33.

It lifted off from Kennedy Space Center and up into the dark of night. This was the third nighttime launch of the shuttle program and the 32nd shuttle mission overall. Discovery had five astronauts on board. Their mission was to deploy a classified payload for the U.S. Department of Defense. NASA and the military launched several secretive shuttle missions to deploy military satellites. The satellite that launched with STS-33 is believed to be a type of spy satellite called Magnum. But exactly what Magnum was doing in orbit remains classified. The astronauts also spent Thanksgiving in space during this mission. But the holiday was off to a crappy start when the shuttle's toilet broke first thing in the morning. After spending most of the day fixing it, they got to enjoy their Thanksgiving turkey together.
Transcript
00:00On this day in space.
00:03On November 22, 1989, the space shuttle Discovery launched on mission STS-33.
00:09It lifted off from Kennedy Space Center at night.
00:12It was the third nighttime launch of the shuttle program and the 32nd shuttle mission overall.
00:17Discovery had five astronauts on board.
00:20Their mission was to deploy a classified payload for the U.S. Department of Defense.
00:24NASA and the military launched several secretive shuttle missions to deploy military satellites.
00:29The satellite that launched with STS-33 is believed to be a type of spy satellite called Magnum.
00:35But exactly what Magnum was doing in orbit remains classified.
00:39The astronauts also spent Thanksgiving in space during this mission.
00:42But the holiday was off to a crappy start when the shuttle's toilet broke first thing in the morning.
00:48After spending most of the day fixing it, they got to enjoy their Thanksgiving turkey together.
00:52And that's what happened on this day in space.
00:55NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology

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