STS 41-G was the 13th flight of NASA's Space Shuttle program and the sixth flight of Space Shuttle Challenger. Challenger launched on 5 October 1984, and conducted the second shuttle landing at Kennedy Space Center on 13 October. It was the first shuttle mission to carry a crew of seven, including the first crew with two women (Sally Ride and Kathryn Sullivan), the first American EVA involving a woman (Sullivan), and the first Canadian astronaut (Marc Garneau).

STS-41-G was the third shuttle mission to carry an IMAX camera on board to document the flight. Film footage from the mission (including Sullivan and Leestma's EVA) appeared in the IMAX movie The Dream is Alive.

On 5 October 1984, Challenger launched from Kennedy Space Center at 7:03 am EDT, marking the start of the STS 41-G mission. It was Challenger's sixth mission, and the 13th liftoff in the Space Shuttle program.

On board were seven crew members—the largest flight crew ever to fly on a single spacecraft at that time. They included commander Robert L. Crippen, making his fourth Shuttle flight and second in six months; pilot Jon A. McBride; three mission specialists – David C. Leestma, Sally K. Ride and Kathryn D. Sullivan – (the first time two female astronauts had flown together); and two payload specialists, Paul Scully-Power and Marc Garneau, the first Canadian citizen to serve as a Shuttle crew member, as well as the first Canadian in space.