STS-41-C

STS-41-C

Mission Specialists George Nelson and James van Hoften repair the captured Solar Maximum Mission Satellite.
Mission type	Satellite deployment Satellite repair
Operator	NASA
COSPAR ID	1984-034A
SATCAT №	14897
Mission duration	6 days, 23 hours, 40 minutes, 7 seconds
Distance travelled	4,620,000 kilometres (2,870,000 mi)
Orbits completed	108
Spacecraft properties
Spacecraft	Space Shuttle Challenger
Launch mass	115,328 kilograms (254,254 lb)
Landing mass	89,346 kilograms (196,975 lb)
Payload mass	25,981 kilograms (57,279 lb)
Crew
Crew size	5
Members	Robert L. Crippen Francis R. Scobee Terry J. Hart James D. A. van Hoften George D. Nelson
Start of mission
Launch date	6 April 1984, 13:58:00 (1984-04-06UTC13:58Z) UTC
Launch site	Kennedy LC-39A
End of mission
Landing date	13 April 1984, 13:38:07 (1984-04-13UTC13:38:08Z) UTC
Landing site	Edwards Runway 17
Orbital parameters
Reference system	Geocentric
Regime	Low Earth
Perigee	222 kilometres (138 mi)
Apogee	468 kilometres (291 mi)
Inclination	28.5 degrees
Period	91.4 min
Left to right: Crippen, Hart, van Hoften, Nelson, Scobee Space Shuttle program ← STS-41-B STS-41-D →

STS-41-C was NASA's 11th Space Shuttle mission, and the fifth mission of Space Shuttle Challenger. The launch, which took place on 6 April 1984, was the first direct ascent trajectory for a shuttle mission. STS-41-C was extended one day due to problems capturing the Solar Maximum Mission ("Solar Max") satellite, and the landing on 13 April took place at Edwards Air Force Base instead of at Kennedy Space Center as had been planned. The flight was originally numbered STS-13.

Crew

Position	Astronaut
Commander	Robert L. Crippen Third spaceflight
Pilot	Francis R. Scobee First spaceflight
Mission Specialist 1	Terry J. Hart Only spaceflight
Mission Specialist 2	James D. A. van Hoften First spaceflight
Mission Specialist 3	George D. Nelson First spaceflight

Spacewalks

• Nelson and van Hoften – EVA 1
• EVA 1 Start: 8 April 1984 – 14:18 UTC
• EVA 1 End: 8 April 1984 – 16:56 UTC
• Duration: 2 hours, 38 minutes

• Nelson and van Hoften – EVA 2
• EVA 2 Start: 11 April 1984 – 08:58 UTC
• EVA 2 End: 11 April 1984 – 15:42 UTC
• Duration: 6 hours, 44 minutes

Mission summary

 

Space Shuttle Flight 11 (STS-41C) Post Flight Presentation, narrated by the astronauts (19 minutes).

Liftoff took place at 8:58 am EST on 6 April 1984. The mission marked the first direct ascent trajectory for the Space Shuttle, which reached its 288-nautical-mile-(533-km)-high orbit using its Orbiter Maneuvering System (OMS) engines only once, to circularize its orbit.

The flight had two primary objectives. The first was to deploy the Long Duration Exposure Facility (LDEF), a passive, retrievable, 21,300 pounds (9,700 kg), 12-sided cylinder, 14 feet (4.3 m) in diameter and 30 feet (9.1 m) long, carrying 57 scientific experiments. The second objective was to capture, repair and redeploy the malfunctioning Solar Maximum Mission satellite – "Solar Max" – that had been launched in 1980.

The five-man crew included Robert L. Crippen, commander, on his third shuttle flight; pilot Francis R. Scobee; and mission specialists James D. A. van Hoften, Terry J. Hart and George D. Nelson.

During the launch phase (ascent) the main computer in Mission Control failed, as did the backup computer. For about an hour the controllers had no data on the space shuttle.

On the second day of the flight, the LDEF was grappled by the "Canadarm" Remote Manipulator System (RMS) arm and successfully released into orbit. Its 57 experiments, mounted in 86 removable trays, were contributed by 200 researchers from eight countries. Retrieval of the passive LDEF had been scheduled during 1985, but schedule delays and the Challenger disaster of 1986 postponed the return until 12 January 1990, when Columbia retrieved LDEF on mission STS-32.

On the third day of the mission, Challenger's orbit was raised to about 300 nautical miles (560 km), and it maneuvered to within 200 feet (61 m) of Solar Max. Astronauts Nelson and van Hoften, wearing spacesuits, entered the payload bay. Nelson, using the Manned Maneuvering Unit (MMU), flew out to the satellite and attempted to grasp it with a special capture tool, called the Trunnion Pin Acquisition Device (TPAD). Three attempts to clamp the TPAD onto the satellite failed. The Solar Max began tumbling on multiple axes when Nelson attempted to grab it by hand, by a solar array, and the effort was called off. CDR Crippen had to perform excessive maneuvers of the shuttle to keep up with Nelson and SMM and nearly ran out of fuel.

During the night, the Solar Max POCC, at Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Maryland, was able to establish control over the satellite by sending commands ordering the magnetic torque bars to stabilize the tumbling action. This was successful, and the Solar Max went into a slow, regular spin.

The next day, Crippen maneuvered Challenger back to Solar Max, and Hart was able to grapple the satellite with the RMS. They placed Solar Max on a special cradle in the payload bay using the RMS. They then began the repair operation, replacing the satellite's attitude control mechanism and the main electronics system of the coronagraph instrument. The ultimately successful repair effort took two separate spacewalks. Solar Max was deployed back into orbit the next day. After a 30-day checkout by the Goddard POCC, the satellite resumed full operation.

Other STS-41-C mission activities included a student experiment located in a middeck locker to determine how honeybees make honeycomb cells in a microgravity environment. They did so successfully, just as on Earth.

Highlights of the mission, including the LDEF deployment and the Solar Max repair, were filmed using an IMAX movie camera, and the results appeared in the IMAX movie The Dream is Alive.

The 6-day, 23-hour, 40-minute, 7-second mission ended on 13 April 1984, at 5:38 am PST, when Challenger landed on Runway 17, at Edwards AFB, having completed 108 orbits over the course of STS-41-C. Challenger was returned to KSC on 18 April 1984.

• 

  STS-41-C lifts off two minutes before nine in the morning.

• 

  The deployed Long Duration Exposure Facility (LDEF) was an important source of information on the small particle space debris environment.

• 

  George Nelson attempts to capture the Solar Maximum Mission satellite.

• 

  STS-41-C touches down at lakebed runway 17, Edwards Air Force Base, 16 minutes after sunrise.

Wake-up calls

NASA began a tradition of playing music to astronauts during the Gemini program, and first used music to wake up a flight crew during Apollo 15. Each track is specially chosen, often by the astronauts' families, and usually has a special meaning to an individual member of the crew, or is applicable to their daily activities.

Flight Day	Song	Artist/Composer
Day 2	"A Boy Named Sue"	Johnny Cash
Day 3	"Lehigh University Fight Song"
Day 4	Unidentified
Day 5	"Theme from Rocky"
Day 6	Unidentified
Day 7	None
Day 8	"University of Texas Fight Song"

Alternate mission patch, referencing the Friday the 13th landing date.

See also

• List of space shuttle missions
• List of human spaceflights chronologically

References

 This article incorporates public domain material from websites or documents of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration.

External links

• NASA mission summary
• STS-41C Video Highlights
• The Dream is Alive IMAX film with footage from STS-41-C
• STS-41C NST Program Mission Report