STS-51-G
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| STS-51-G | |||||
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Mission insignia |
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| Mission statistics | |||||
| Mission name | STS-51-G | ||||
| Space shuttle | Discovery | ||||
| Launch pad | LC-39A, Kennedy Space Center | ||||
| Launch date | 17 June 1985, 11:33:00 UTC | ||||
| Landing | 24 June 1985, 13:11:52 UTC Runway 23, Edwards AFB |
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| Mission duration | 7 days, 1 hour, 38 minutes, 52 seconds | ||||
| Number of orbits | 112 | ||||
| Orbital altitude | 209 nautical miles (387 km) | ||||
| Orbital inclination | 28.45° | ||||
| Distance traveled | 2,916,127 miles (4,693,051 km) | ||||
| Crew photo | |||||
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Back L-R: Nagel, Lucid, Fabian, Al-Saud, Baudry, |
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STS-51-G was the eighteenth flight of NASA's Space Shuttle program, and the fifth flight of Space Shuttle Discovery. The mission launched from Kennedy Space Center, Florida, on 17 June 1985. Sultan Salman Al Saud of Saudi Arabia was on board as a payload specialist; Al Saud became the first Arab, the first Muslim, and the first member of a royal family to fly into space.[1]
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[edit] Crew
| Position | Astronaut | |
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| Commander | Daniel C. Brandenstein Second spaceflight |
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| Pilot | John O. Creighton First spaceflight |
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| Mission Specialist 1 | Shannon W. Lucid First spaceflight |
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| Mission Specialist 2 | John M. Fabian Second spaceflight |
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| Mission Specialist 3 | Steven R. Nagel First spaceflight |
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| Payload Specialist 1 | Patrick Baudry, CNES Only spaceflight |
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| Payload Specialist 2 | His Royal Highness Prince Sultan Salman Al Saud Only spaceflight |
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| Al Saud became the first member of royalty to fly into space, as well as the first Arab and the first Muslim. |
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[edit] Backup crew
| Position | Astronaut | |
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| Payload Specialist 1 | Jean-Loup Chrétien, CNES | |
| Payload Specialist 2 | Abdulmohsen Al-Bassam | |
[edit] Mission parameters
- Mass:
- Orbiter Liftoff: 256,524 pounds (116,357 kg)
- Orbiter Landing: 204,169 pounds (92,610 kg)
- Payload: 38,096 pounds (17,280 kg)
- Perigee: 219.5 miles (353.3 km)
- Apogee: 220.5 miles (354.9 km)
- Inclination: 28.5°
- Period: 91.8 min
[edit] Mission summary
Discovery lifted off from Pad A, Launch Complex 39, Kennedy Space Center (KSC), at 7:33 am EDT on 17 June 1985. The mission's crew members included Daniel C. Brandenstein, commander; John O. Creighton, pilot; Shannon W. Lucid, Steven R. Nagel, and John M. Fabian, mission specialists; and Patrick Baudry, of France, and Prince Sultan Salman Al Saud, of Saudi Arabia, both payload specialists.
STS-51-G carried three communications satellites as its primary cargo. These were Arabsat 1-B (Arab Satellite Communications Organization); Morelos I (Mexico); and Telstar 3-D (AT&T). All three successfully utilized PAM-D booster stages to achieve geosynchronous transfer orbits after being deployed from Discovery.
Also carried was the Spartan 1 carrier module, designed to be deployed from the orbiter and fly free in space before being retrieved. Spartan 1 included 300 pounds (140 kg) of astronomy experiments. It was deployed and operated successfully, independent of the orbiter, before being retrieved. Discovery furthermore carried an experimental materials-processing furnace, several French biomedical experiments, and six Getaway Special experiments, which were all successfully performed, although the GO34 Getaway Special shut down prematurely.
The mission's final payload element was a High Precision Tracking Experiment (HPTE) for the Strategic Defense Initiative (nicknamed "Star Wars"); the HTPE failed to deploy properly during its first try on the mission's 37th orbit, because the orbiter was not at the correct attitude. It was successfully deployed on orbit 64.
Discovery landed at Edwards Air Force Base at 9:12 am EDT on 24 June 1985, after a mission duration of 7 days, one hour, 38 minutes and 52 seconds.
[edit] 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.[2]
| Flight Day | Song | Artist/Composer |
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| Day 2 | "I Feel the Earth Move" | Carole King |
| Day 3 | "Proud Mary" | Creedence Clearwater Revival |
| Day 4 | "Sailing" | Christopher Cross |
| Day 5 | "Jonathan Livingston Seagull" | Neil Diamond |
| Day 6 | "Wedding March" | Felix Mendelssohn |
[edit] Gallery
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Arabsat 1-B deployment
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Morelos 1 deployment
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Telstar 3-D deployment
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Spartan 1
[edit] See also
- Space exploration
- Space Shuttle program
- List of space shuttle missions
- List of human spaceflights chronologically
[edit] References
- ^ A prince in space at Saudi Aramco World, January/February 1986, p20-29
- ^ Fries, Colin (25 June 2007). "Chronology of Wakeup Calls" (PDF). NASA. http://history.nasa.gov/wakeup%20calls.pdf. Retrieved 13 August 2007.
[edit] External links
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