Launch from Cape Canaveral (KSC); landing on Cape Canaveral (KSC). The launch was originally scheduled for March 23, 1992 but was delayed one day because of higher-than-allowable concentrations of liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen in the orbiter's aft compartment during tanking operations.

Atlantis carried the first Atmospheric Laboratory for Applications and Science (ATLAS-01) on Spacelab pallets mounted in orbiter's cargo bay. The non-deployable payload, equipped with 12 instruments from the United States, France, Germany, Belgium, Switzerland, The Netherlands and Japan, conducted studies in atmospheric chemistry, solar radiation, space plasma physics and ultraviolet astronomy. ATLAS-01 instruments were: Atmospheric Trace Molecule Spectroscopy (ATMOS); Grille Spectrometer; Millimeter Wave Atmospheric Sounder (MAS); Imaging Spectrometric Observatory (ISO); Atmospheric Lyman-Alpha Emissions (ALAE); Atmospheric Emissions Photometric Imager (AEPI); Space Experiments with Particle Accelerators (SEPAC); Active Cavity Radiometer (ACR); Measurement of Solar Constant (SOLCON); Solar Spectrum (SOLSPEC); Solar Ultraviolet Spectral Irradiance Monitor (SUSIM); and Far Ultraviolet Space Telescope (FAUST). Other payloads included Shuttle Solar Backscatter Ultraviolet (SSBUV) experiment, one Get Away Special (GAS) experiment and six mid-deck experiments. Again, the international crew was divided into Red (David Leestma, Michael Foale and Byron Lichtenberg) and Blue (Charles Bolden, Brian Duffy, Kathryn Sullivan and Dirk Frimout) teams to conduct the work in two shifts.

Charles Bolden and Brian Duffy had to fly more than 250 manoeuvres to bring Atlantis in the right position for the different experiments. The mission was extended one day to continue science experiments.