STS-36 was the sixth dedicated Department of Defense mission. Primary payloads on this flight were classified.
Life Sciences experiments performed on this mission included multiple Detailed Supplementary Objectives (DSOs). A DSO is a NASA-sponsored investigation performed by Space Shuttle crewmembers, who serve as the test subjects. These studies required minimal crew time, power and stowage. Biomedical DSOs focus on operational concerns, including space motion sickness, cardiovascular deconditioning, muscle loss, changes in coordination and balance strategies, radiation exposure, pharmacokinetics and changes in the body's biochemistry.
The Shuttle Atlantis touched down at Edwards Air Force Base in California on March 4, 1990. The total duration of the mission was four days, ten hours, eighteen minutes, and 22 seconds.