STS-34 Galileo spacecraft / IUS deployment sequence in OV-104's payload bay

STS034-71-000AK (18 Oct 1989) --- Backdropped against the blackness of space, the Galileo spacecraft and its inertial upper stage (IUS) have just detached from a cradle-like device aboard the Earth-orbiting Space Shuttle Atlantis to begin a six-year journey to Jupiter. The five-member STS-34 crew deployed the satellite within six hours of achieving Earth orbit on Oct. 18, 1989. The scene was exposed with a 70mm handheld Hasselblad camera. Earth's horizon and a thin line representing its airglow and atmosphere are visible on the left side of the frame.