STS-61-C

STS-61-C
Mission insignia
Mission statistics
Mission name	STS-61-C
Space shuttle	Columbia
Launch pad	39-A
Launch date	12 January 1986, 6:55:00 am EST
Landing	18 January 1986, 5:58:51 am PST, Edwards AFB
Mission duration	6 days, 2 hours, 3 minutes, 51 seconds
Number of orbits	98
Orbital altitude	393 kilometres (212 nmi)
Orbital inclination	28.5 degrees
Distance traveled	4,069,481 kilometres (2,528,658 mi)
Crew photo
Back row L–R: Bill Nelson, Hawley, George Nelson, Front row L–R: Cenker, Bolden, Gibson, Chang-Diaz
Related missions
Previous mission Subsequent mission STS-61-B STS-51-L

STS-61-C was the twenty-fourth mission of NASA's Space Shuttle program, and the seventh mission of Space Shuttle Columbia. It was the first time that Columbia, the first operational orbiter to be constructed, had flown since STS-9. The mission launched on from Florida's Kennedy Space Center on 12 January 1986, and landed six days later on 18 January. STS-61-C's seven-person crew included the second African-American shuttle pilot, future NASA Administrator Charles Bolden, the first Costa Rican-born astronaut, Franklin Chang-Diaz, and the second sitting politician to fly in space, Rep. Bill Nelson. It was the last shuttle mission before the Space Shuttle Challenger disaster, which occurred just ten days after STS-61-C's landing.

Crew

Position	Astronaut
Commander	Robert L. Gibson Second spaceflight
Pilot	Charles F. Bolden First spaceflight
Mission Specialist 1	Franklin R. Chang-Diaz First spaceflight
Mission Specialist 2	Steven A. Hawley Second spaceflight
Mission Specialist 3	George D. Nelson Second spaceflight
Payload Specialist 1	Robert J. Cenker Only spaceflight RCA Electronics
Payload Specialist 2	Bill Nelson Only spaceflight US Congressman (D-FL)

Mission parameters

• Mass:
  • Orbiter liftoff: 116,121 kilograms (256,000 lb)
  • Orbiter landing: 95,325 kilograms (210,160 lb)
  • Payload: 14,724 kilograms (32,460 lb)
• Perigee: 331 kilometres (206 mi)
• Apogee: 338 kilometres (210 mi)
• Inclination: 28.5°
• Period: 91.2 min

Mission background

STS-61-C saw Columbia return to flight for the first time since the STS-9 mission in November 1983, after having undergone major modifications by Rockwell International in California.

The launch was originally scheduled for 18 December 1985, but the closeout of an aft orbiter compartment was delayed, and the mission was rescheduled for the following day. However, on 19 December, the countdown was stopped at T-14 seconds because of an out-of-tolerance turbine reading on the right SRBs hydraulic system.

Another launch attempt, on 6 January 1986, was terminated at T-31 seconds because of a problem in a valve in the liquid oxygen system. The countdown was recycled to T-20 minutes for a second launch attempt on the same day, but was held at T-9 minutes, and then scrubbed as the launch window expired. Another attempt was made on 7 January, but was scrubbed because of bad weather at contingency landing sites at Dakar, Senegal, and Morón, Spain; yet another attempt, on 9 January, was delayed because of a problem with a main engine prevalve, and on 10 January, heavy rainfall in the launch area led to another scrub.

Mission summary

Deployment of the Satcom Ku-1 satellite.

The launch of Space Shuttle Columbia on the STS-61-C mission, 12 January 1986.

Columbia finally launched successfully from Kennedy Space Center at 6:55 am EST on 12 January 1986. There were no significant problems reported during the launch.

The primary objective of the mission was to deploy the Satcom Ku-1 communications satellite, second in a planned series of geosynchronous satellites owned and operated by RCA Americom; the deployment was successful. Columbia also carried a large number of small scientific experiments, including 13 Getaway Special (GAS) canisters devoted to investigations involving the effect of microgravity on materials processing, seed germination, chemical reactions, egg hatching, astronomy, atmospheric physics, and the effects of the space environment on artistic materials. Also carried was a Materials Science Laboratory-2 structure for experiments involving liquid bubble suspension by sound waves, melting and resolidification of metallic samples and container-less melting and solidification of electrically conductive specimens. Another small experiment carrier located in the payload bay was the Hitchiker G-1 (HHG-1), which carried three experiments to study film particles in the orbiter environment, test a new heat transfer system and determine the effects of contamination and atomic oxygen on ultraviolet optics materials, respectively. There were also four in-cabin experiments, three of them part of the Shuttle Student Involvement Program.

Additionally, the shuttle carried an experiment called the Comet Halley Active Monitoring Program (CHAMP), consisting of a 35 mm camera intended to photograph Halley's Comet through the aft flight deck overhead window. This experiment proved unsuccessful because of battery problems.

STS-61-C encountered problems returning to Earth. It was originally scheduled to land on 17 January, but this was brought forward by one day because the delays of STS-61-C were causing the next flight, STS-51-L, to be delayed. However, the landing attempt on 16 January was cancelled because of unfavorable weather at Edwards Air Force Base. Continued bad weather forced another wave-off the following day. The flight was extended one more day to provide for a landing opportunity at Kennedy Space Center on 18 January – this was in order to avoid time lost in an Edwards AFB landing and turnaround. However, bad weather at the KSC landing site resulted in yet another wave-off.

Columbia finally landed at Edwards AFB at 5:59 am PST, on 18 January. The mission lasted a total of 6 days, 2 hours, 3 minutes, and 51 seconds.

STS-61-C was the last successful Space Shuttle flight before the Challenger disaster, which occurred only 10 days after Columbia's return.

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	"Liberty Bell March"	John Philip Sousa
Day 3	"Heart of Gold"	Neil Young
Day 4	"Stars and Stripes Forever"	John Philip Sousa

Gag photo

During the same session as the official crew photo, the NASA photographer took a gag photo of the STS-61-C crew with their heads and faces obscured by their helmets and visors.

Gag photo of the STS-61-C crew.

See also

• Spaceflight
• Space Shuttle program
• Space Shuttle Columbia
• Space Shuttle Columbia disaster
• Space Shuttle Challenger disaster
• List of space shuttle missions
• List of human spaceflights chronologically

External links

• NASA mission summary
• STS-61C Video Highlights