[2] The primary payload was the European Space Agency (ESA)-built Ulysses spacecraft to explore the polar regions of Sun.

Ulysses, a joint project between the European Space Agency and NASA, was the first spacecraft to study the Sun's polar regions.

By the time Discovery touched down at Edwards Air Force Base, California, Ulysses had already traversed 1,600,000 km (990,000 mi) on its five-year mission.

Flowering plant samples were grown in the CHROMEX-2 module in a Kennedy Space Center and Stony Brook University experiment.

By studying plant samples carried on Discovery, researchers hoped to determine how the genetic material in the root cells respond to microgravity.

In a specially designed chamber called the Solid Surface Combustion Experiment (SSCE), a strip of paper was burned and filmed to gain an understanding of the development of flame and its movement in the absence of convection currents.

In preparation for this rescue, solar arrays, similar to those on the satellite, were exposed to the conditions of low orbit to determine if they were in any way altered by the atomic oxygen present.

Until STS-41, previous research had shown that during the process of adapting to microgravity, animals and humans experienced loss of bone mass, cardiac deconditioning, and after prolonged periods (over 30 days), developed symptoms similar to that of terrestrial disuse osteoporosis.

This experiment was sponsored in part by the Battelle Advanced Materials Center for the Commercial Development of Space in Columbus, Ohio.

During open periods in the STS-41 crew schedule, the astronauts videotaped a number of demonstrations in an effort to create an educational video tape for middle school students.