On the 13th space shuttle mission, Challenger lifts off for the first time with a crew of seven. Mission 41-G is the first to have two female astronauts (Sally K. Ride and Kathryn D. Sullivan, who will become the first American woman to make a spacewalk) and the first to have a Canadian astronaut aboard (Marc Garneau). Commander Robert L. Crippen becomes the first to fly on the shuttle four times. Aloft, the crew refuels a satellite in orbit for the first time.
An important U.S. Air Force E-3 Sentry AWACS command and control plane was among the aircraft damaged in a March 27 Iranian missile and drone attack on Prince Sultan Air Base, Saudi Arabia, people familiar with the matter told Air & Space Forces Magazine.