DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: But first, here's CNN 20.</s>ANDREA ARCENEAUX, CNN ANCHOR: It was a perfect liftoff for the space shuttle Endeavor, NASA's 50th shuttle mission, and the crew of the golden trip included the first married couple, the first black woman astronaut and the first Japanese scientist in space.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Solid rocket ignition.</s>TONY CLARK, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): No sooner had the shuttle Endeavor soared into the blue Florida sky, than its seven member crew divided into two teams and set up shop for round-the-clock space lab operations. Astronauts Mamoru Mori and Mark Lee floated through the 23-foot- long space lab module, turning on the banks of equipment and preparing for the week of experiments. The experiments look at the effects of weightlessness on fish, tadpoles, fruit flies, and other animals. Fluid dynamics will be studied and crystals will be grown in a near-weightless environment. The mission is particularly exciting for the Japanese. It is the first joint U.S.-Japanese space flight and the first time a professional astronaut from Japan has gone into space.</s>JAN DAVIS, MISSION SPECIALIST: It's like the Alan Shepard of the Japanese space program. You know, they are just all really excited about it.</s>CLARK: NASA is excited about the partnership as well, for Japan is expected to play an important role in the eventual development and operation of an orbiting space station. Tony Clark, CNN, reporting.
CNN 20: NASA's 50th Space Shuttle Mission, September 12, 1992