STS-5 was the fifth NASA Space Shuttle mission and the fifth flight of the Space Shuttle Columbia. It launched on 11 November 1982 and landed five days later on 16 November. STS-5 was the first shuttle mission to deploy communications satellites into orbit, and the first officially "operational" shuttle mission.

Mrs. Ples is the popular nickname for the most complete skull of an Australopithecus africanus ever found in South Africa. Many Australopithecus fossils have been found near Sterkfontein, about 40 kilometres northwest of Johannesburg, in a region of the Transvaal now designated as the Cradle of Humankind World Heritage Site. Mrs. Ples was discovered by Robert Broom and John T. Robinson on April 18, 1947. Because of Broom's use of dynamite and pickaxe while excavating, Mrs. Ples’ skull was blown into two pieces and some fragments are missing. Nonetheless, Mrs./Mr. Ples is one of the most perfect pre-human skulls ever found.