Launch from Cape Canaveral (KSC); landing on Edwards AFB.

Deploying of the ESA built Ulysses spacecraft to explore polar regions of the sun was the main goal of the mission. It was the heaviest payload to date. Launch Weight: 259,593 lb (117.749 Mg).

Several secondary payloads and experiments as a bone loss experiment with rats were onboard. Other payloads and experiments were: Shuttle Solar Backscatter Ultraviolet (SSBUV) experiment; INTELSAT Solar Array Coupon (ISAC); Chromosome and Plant Cell Division Experiment (CHROMEX), in which flowering plant samples were grown; Voice Command System (VCS); Solid Surface Combustion Experiment (SSCE), Investigations into Polymer Membrane Processing (IPMP); Physiological Systems Experiment (PSE); Radiation Monitoring Experiment III (RME III); Shuttle Student involvement Program (SSIP) and Air Force Maui Optical Site (AMOS) experiment.

During open periods in the STS-41 crew schedule, the astronauts video taped a number of demonstrations as part of an effort to create an educational video tape for the middle school level students. The tape was later distributed nationwide through NASA's Teacher Resource Center network.

Additional crew activities included experimenting with a voice command system to control onboard television cameras and monitoring ionizing radiation exposure to the crew within the orbiter cabin.