STS-6

STS-6

Challenger begins her maiden flight
Mission type	Satellite deployment
Operator	NASA
COSPAR ID	1983-026A
SATCAT №	13968
Mission duration	5 days, 23 minutes, 42 seconds
Distance travelled	3,370,437 kilometres (2,094,292 mi)
Orbits completed	81
Spacecraft properties
Spacecraft	Space Shuttle Challenger
Launch mass	116,457 kilograms (256,740 lb)
Landing mass	86,330 kilograms (190,300 lb)
Payload mass	21,305 kilograms (46,970 lb)
Crew
Crew size	4
Members	Paul J. Weitz Karol J. Bobko Donald H. Peterson Story Musgrave
EVAs	1
EVA duration	4 hours, 10 minutes
Start of mission
Launch date	4 April 1983, 18:30:00 (1983-04-04UTC18:30Z) UTC
Launch site	Kennedy LC-39A
End of mission
Landing date	9 April 1983, 18:53:42 (1983-04-09UTC18:53:43Z) UTC
Landing site	Edwards Runway 22
Orbital parameters
Reference system	Geocentric
Regime	Low Earth
Perigee	288 kilometres (179 mi)
Apogee	295 kilometres (183 mi)
Inclination	28.5 degrees
Period	90.4 min
L-R Peterson, Weitz, Musgrave, Bobko Space Shuttle program ← STS-5 STS-7 →

STS-6 was a NASA Space Shuttle mission conducted using Space Shuttle Challenger, carrying the first Tracking and Data Relay Satellite, TDRS-1, into orbit. Launched on 4 April 1983, STS-6 was the sixth shuttle mission and the first of the ten missions flown by Challenger. The mission took off from Kennedy Space Center's launch pad 39A, and landed at Edwards Air Force Base on 9 April. This was the first Space Shuttle mission during which a spacewalk was conducted, and the first in which the Extravehicular Mobility Unit (EMU) was used.

Crew

Position	Astronaut
Commander	Paul J. Weitz Second and last spaceflight
Pilot	Karol J. Bobko First spaceflight
Mission Specialist 1	Donald H. Peterson Only spaceflight
Mission Specialist 2	Story Musgrave First spaceflight

STS-6 was the last shuttle mission with a four-person crew until STS-135, the final shuttle mission, which launched on 8 July 2011. Commander Paul Weitz had previously served as Pilot on the first Skylab mission, where he lived and worked in Skylab for nearly a month from May to June 1973. After Skylab, Weitz became the Deputy Chief of the Astronaut Office under Chief Astronaut John Young. Bobko originally became an astronaut for the Air Force's Manned Orbiting Laboratory program but later joined NASA in 1969 after the MOL program's cancellation. Prior to STS-6 he participated in the Skylab Medical Experiment Altitude Test and worked as a member of the support crew for the Apollo-Soyuz Test Project.

Peterson was also a transfer from the MOL program, and was a member of the support crew for Apollo 16. Musgrave joined NASA in 1967 as part of the second scientist-astronaut group, and was the backup Science Pilot for the first Skylab mission. He also participated in the design of the equipment that he and Peterson used during their EVA on the STS-6 mission.

Support crew

• Dick Covey (ascent CAPCOM)
• Jon McBride
• Bryan D. O'Connor
• Mary Cleave
• Roy D. Bridges (entry CAPCOM)

Spacewalk

• Musgrave and Peterson – EVA 1
• EVA 1 Start: 7 April 1983, 21:05 UTC
• EVA 1 End: 8 April 1983, 1:15 UTC
• Duration: 4 hours, 10 minutes

Mission background

The mission was originally scheduled to launch on 20 January 1983. However, a hydrogen leak in one of the orbiter's main engines was discovered. Later, after a flight readiness firing of the main engines on 25 January 1983, fuel line cracks were found in the other two engines. A spare engine replaced the engine with the hydrogen leak, and the other two engines were removed, repaired and reinstalled.

While the engine repairs were underway, a severe storm caused contamination of the mission's primary cargo, the first Tracking and Data Relay Satellite, TDRS-1, while it was in the Payload Change-out Room on the Rotating Service Structure at the launch pad. Consequently, the satellite had to be taken back to its checkout facility, where it was cleaned and rechecked. The Payload Change-out Room and the payload bay also had to be cleaned.

Mission summary

On 4 April 1983, STS-6, the first Challenger mission, lifted off at 13:30 EST. It marked the first use of a new lightweight external tank and lightweight SRB casings.

STS-6 carried a crew of four – Paul J. Weitz, commander; Karol J. Bobko, pilot; Donald H. Peterson and Story Musgrave, both mission specialists. Using new spacesuits designed specifically for the Space Shuttle program, Peterson and Musgrave successfully accomplished the program's first extravehicular activity (EVA), performing various tests in the orbiter's payload bay. Their spacewalk lasted 4 hours and 17 minutes.

Although the 2,300-kilogram (5,000 lb) TDRS was successfully deployed from Challenger, its two-stage booster rocket, the Inertial Upper Stage (IUS), tumbled out of control, placing the satellite into a low elliptical orbit. But the satellite contained extra propellant beyond what was needed for its attitude control thrusters, and during the next several months the thrusters were fired at carefully planned intervals, gradually moving TDRS-1 into its geosynchronous operating orbit, thus saving the $100-million satellite.

Other STS-6 cargo included three GAS canisters, and the continuation of the Mono-disperse Latex Reactor and Continuous Flow Electrophoresis experiments.

Challenger returned to Earth on 9 April 1983 at 10:53 am PST, landing on Runway 22 at Edwards AFB. During the mission, it completed 80 orbits, traveling 2 million miles in 5 days, 23 minutes and 42 seconds. It was flown back to KSC on 16 April 1983.

• 

  The TDRS is deployed.

• 

  Musgrave during the EVA.

• 

  Musgrave, left, and Peterson float in Challenger's cargo bay during the EVA.

• 

  Challenger returns to Earth for the first time

Mission insignia

The six white stars in the upper blue field of the mission patch indicate the flight's numerical designation in the Space Transportation System's mission sequence.

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	"Cadets on Parade"	Air Force Academy Band
Day 3	"Teach Me Tiger"	April Stevens
Day 4	"Theme from F-Troop"
Day 5	"The Poor Co-pilot"	Oscar Brand
Day 6	"Ode to the Lions"	Rusty Gordon

See also

• List of space shuttle missions
• List of spacewalks and moonwalks
• 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

• STS-6 Mission Data
• STS-6 Mission Chronology
• STS-6 Video Highlights