SPARTAN-201 astronomy package. The Shuttle Pointed Autonomous Research Tool for Astronomy (SPARTAN- 201) seen over a heavily cloud-covered Earth prior to its recapture during shuttle mission STS-69. SPARTAN is a free-flying module that is used to study the solar wind - the stream of charged particles ejected by the Sun's outer atmosphere that continuously flows past the Earth. The module was deployed at the start of the flight and retrieved several days later to be taken back to Earth and used on later missions. Mission STS-69 flew on 7-18 September 1994.