STS-51-C
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| STS-51-C | |||||
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Mission insignia |
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| Mission statistics | |||||
| Mission name | STS-51-C | ||||
| Space shuttle | Discovery | ||||
| Launch pad | 39-A | ||||
| Launch date | 24 January 1985, 19:50:00 UTC | ||||
| Landing | 27 January 1985, 21:23:23 UTC KSC, Runway 15 |
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| Mission duration | 3 days, 1 hour, 33 minutes, 23 seconds | ||||
| Number of orbits | 49 | ||||
| Orbital altitude | 220 nautical miles (410 km) | ||||
| Orbital inclination | 28.5° | ||||
| Distance traveled | 1,250,000 miles (2,010,000 km) | ||||
| Crew photo | |||||
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| Back row: L-R: Payton, Buchli, Onizuka Front row L-R: Shriver, Mattingly |
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| Related missions | |||||
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STS-51-C was the 15th flight of NASA's Space Shuttle program, and the third flight of Space Shuttle Discovery. It was also the first shuttle mission to deploy a dedicated United States Department of Defense (DoD) payload, and as such many mission details remain classified. STS-51-C launched on 24 January 1985, and made the fourth shuttle landing at Kennedy Space Center, Florida, on 27 January.
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[edit] Crew
| Position | Astronaut | |
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| Commander | Thomas K. Mattingly II Third spaceflight |
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| Pilot | Loren J. Shriver First spaceflight |
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| Mission Specialist 1 | Ellison S. Onizuka First spaceflight |
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| Mission Specialist 2 | James F. Buchli First spaceflight |
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| Payload Specialist 1 | Gary E. Payton, MSE Only spaceflight |
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[edit] Backup crew
| Position | Astronaut | |
|---|---|---|
| Payload Specialist 1 | Keith C. Wright | |
[edit] Mission parameters
- Mass:
- Orbiter Liftoff: 250,891 pounds (113,802 kg)
- Orbiter Landing weight is classified
- Perigee: 206 miles (332 km)
- Apogee: 212 miles (341 km)
- Inclination: 28.4°
- Period: 91.3 min
[edit] Mission summary
STS-51-C launched from Kennedy Space Center (KSC) on 24 January 1985 at 14:50 EST, and was the first of nine shuttle missions that year. It was originally scheduled for 23 January 1985, but was delayed because of freezing weather conditions. Challenger had been scheduled for this flight, but Discovery was substituted when problems were encountered with Challenger's thermal protection tiles. STS-51-C marked the 100th human spaceflight to achieve orbit.
The mission was the first shuttle flight dedicated to the Department of Defense (DoD), and as such STS-51-C's accomplishments are classified for national security reasons. For the first time, NASA did not provide pre-launch commentary to the public until nine minutes before liftoff. The Air Force only stated that the shuttle successfully launched its payload with an Inertial Upper Stage. Experts believe that the payload was an Magnum/ORION ELINT satellite into geosynchronous orbit, and that STS-33 and STS-38 launched others. Payton stated two decades later that STS-52-C's payload is "still up there, and still operating."[1]
Also according to Aviation Week, the shuttle initially entered a 204 kilometres (127 mi) x 519 kilometres (322 mi) orbit, at an inclination of 28.45 degrees to the equator. It then executed three Orbital Maneuvering System (OMS) burns, the last being executed on the fourth orbit. The first burn was conducted to circularize the shuttle's orbit at 519 kilometres (322 mi).
The DoD satellite was deployed on the mission's seventh orbit, and successfully boosted into its operating orbit by a U.S. Air Force Inertial Upper Stage (IUS) booster.
The mission's duration was 3 days, 1 hour, and 33 minutes. Discovery touched down on Runway 15 at KSC on 27 January 1985, at 16:23 EST.
Video footage of the STS-51-C launch was used in the 1986 movie SpaceCamp.
[edit] Connection to the Challenger disaster
Almost exactly a year after STS-51-C, Space Shuttle Challenger was destroyed with all hands on board during the STS-51-L mission including Ellison Onizuka, a crew member on both flights. During the investigation into the disaster, it was reported to the Rogers Commission that during the launch of STS-51-C, the worst solid rocket booster (SRB) blow-by effects of any mission prior to STS-51-L occurred, indicating conclusively that the Viton O-rings were not sufficiently sealing the hot gases inside the combustion chambers of the SRBs while firing. After they were recovered post-flight, the O-rings in both the right and left SRBs showed some degree of charring, but analysis of the center field joint of the right SRB showed an unprecedented penetration of the primary O-ring and heavy charring on the secondary O-ring.[2]
This information was significant to the established consensus that low air temperature was a major factor in Challenger's destruction because the temperature at STS-51-C's launch was also, up to its time, the coldest recorded during a shuttle launch, at only 53 degrees Fahrenheit.[2]
[edit] Notes
- ^ Cassutt, Michael (2009-08). "Secret Space Shuttles". Air & Space. http://www.printthis.clickability.com/pt/cpt?expire=&title=Secret+Space+Shuttles+%7C+Space+Exploration+%7C+Air+%26+Space+Magazine&urlID=406883157&action=cpt&partnerID=285367&cid=50779477&fb=Y&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.airspacemag.com%2Fspace-exploration%2FSecret-Space-Shuttles.html%3Fc%3Dy%26page%3D1. Retrieved February 17, 2012.
- ^ a b Rogers Commission Report (1986). "Report of the Presidential Commission on the Space Shuttle Challenger Accident, Volume 1, Chapter 6". http://history.nasa.gov/rogersrep/v1ch6.htm.
[edit] See also
[edit] External links
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