Two stickers Original NASA Space Shuttle Atlantis Mission STS-27 3-3/4 inch diameter STS-27 was the 27th NASA Space Shuttle mission, and the third flight of Space Shuttle Atlantis. Launching on 2 December 1988 on a four-day mission, it was the second shuttle flight after the Space Shuttle Challenger disaster of January 1986. STS-27 carried a classified payload for the U.S. Department of Defense, ultimately determined to be a Lacrosse surveillance satellite. The vessel's heat shielding was substantially damaged during lift-off, impacting the right wing, and crew members thought that they would die during reentry.[1][2] This was a situation that was similar to the one that would prove fatal 15 years later on STS-107, but compared to the damage that Columbia had sustained on STS-107, despite Atlantis experiencing more extensive damage than Columbia had sustained, the damage was over less critical areas and the missing tile was over an antenna which gave extra protection to the wing. The mission landed successfully, although intense heat damage needed to be repaired.