 Guion Bluford,Reinhard Furrer, andErnst Messerschmid inSpacelab Module LM2, serving as the Spacelab D1 laboratory. | |
| Names | Space Transportation System-22 Spacelab D-1 |
|---|---|
| Mission type | Microgravity research |
| Operator | NASA,West Germany andESA |
| COSPAR ID | 1985-104A |
| SATCATno. | 16230 |
| Mission duration | 7 days, 44 minutes, 51 seconds |
| Distance travelled | 4,682,148 km (2,909,352 mi) |
| Orbits completed | 112 |
| Spacecraft properties | |
| Spacecraft | Space Shuttle Challenger |
| Launch mass | 110,568 kg (243,761 lb) |
| Landing mass | 97,144 kg (214,166 lb) |
| Payload mass | 14,451 kg (31,859 lb) |
| Crew | |
| Crew size | 8 |
| Members | |
| Start of mission | |
| Launch date | October 30, 1985, 17:00:00 (1985-10-30UTC17Z) UTC (12:00 pm EST) |
| Launch site | Kennedy,LC-39A |
| Contractor | Rockwell International |
| End of mission | |
| Landing date | November 6, 1985, 17:44:51 (1985-11-06UTC17:44:52Z) UTC (9:44:51 am PST) |
| Landing site | Edwards, Runway 17 |
| Orbital parameters | |
| Reference system | Geocentric orbit |
| Regime | Low Earth orbit |
| Perigee altitude | 319 km (198 mi) |
| Apogee altitude | 331 km (206 mi) |
| Inclination | 57.00° |
| Period | 91.00 minutes |
 STS-61-A mission patch  Back:Nagel,Bluford,Messerschmid andOckels Front:Furrer,Dunbar,Buchli andHartsfield | |
STS-61-A (also known asSpacelab D-1) was the 22nd mission ofNASA'sSpace Shuttle program. It was a scientificSpacelab mission, funded and directed byWest Germany – hence the non-NASA designation of D-1 (forDeutschland-1). STS-61-A was the ninth and last successful flight ofSpace ShuttleChallenger before theSTS-51-Ldisaster. STS-61-A holds the currentrecord for the largest crew—eight people—aboard any single spacecraft for the entire period from launch to landing.
The mission carried the NASA/European Space Agency (ESA) Spacelab module into orbit with 76 scientific experiments on board, and was declared a success.[1] Payload operations were controlled from theGerman Space Operations Center inOberpfaffenhofen, West Germany, instead of from the regular NASA control center.[2] This was the first spaceflight to include multiple crewmembers from any single country other than theUnited States orSoviet Union. The crew also included the first Dutch citizen astronaut, payload specialistWubbo Ockels.
| Position | Astronaut | |
|---|---|---|
| Commander |  Henry W. Hartsfield Jr. Third and last spaceflight | |
| Pilot | Steven R. Nagel Second spaceflight | |
| Mission Specialist 1 RMS Operator | Bonnie J. Dunbar First spaceflight | |
| Mission Specialist 2 Flight Engineer | James Buchli Second spaceflight | |
| Mission Specialist 3 | Guion Bluford Second spaceflight | |
| Payload Specialist 1 |  Reinhard Furrer,DLROnly spaceflight | |
| Payload Specialist 2 | Ernst Messerschmid,DLR Only spaceflight | |
| Payload Specialist 3 |  Wubbo Ockels,ESAOnly spaceflight | |
| Member of Blue Team Member of Red Team This was the first and only time a Space Shuttle launched with eight crew members and one of two missions (the other beingSTS-71), to land with eight crew members. STS-61A was also the first Space Shuttle mission in which the pilot was a veteran astronaut. | ||
| Position | Astronaut | |
|---|---|---|
| Payload Specialist 3 | Ulf Merbold,ESA | |
| Seat[3] | Launch | Landing |  Seats 1–4 are on the flight deck. Seats 5–8 are on the mid-deck. Seat 8 is located directly ahead of Seat 5.[3] |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Hartsfield | ||
| 2 | Nagel | ||
| 3 | Dunbar | Bluford | |
| 4 | Buchli | ||
| 5 | Bluford | Dunbar | |
| 6 | Furrer | ||
| 7 | Messerschmid | ||
| 8 | Ockels | ||
Space ShuttleChallenger lifted off fromLaunch Complex 39A at Kennedy Space Center, Florida, at 12:00 p.m.EST on October 30, 1985. This was the first Space Shuttle mission largely financed and operated by another nation, West Germany. It was also the only Shuttle flight to launch with a crew of eight. The crew members included Henry W. Hartsfield Jr., commander; Steven R. Nagel, pilot; Bonnie J. Dunbar, James F. Buchli and Guion S. Bluford, mission specialists; and Ernst Messerschmid and Reinhard Furrer of West Germany, along with first Dutch astronaut Wubbo J. Ockels of the European Space Agency (ESA), all payload specialists.
The primary task of STS-61-A was to conduct a series of experiments, almost all related to functions inmicrogravity, in Spacelab D-1, the third flight of a Spacelab orbital laboratory module. Two other mission assignments were to deploy the Global Low Orbiting Message Relay Satellite (GLOMR) out of aGetaway Special (GAS) canister in the cargo bay, and to operate five materials processing experiments, which were mounted in the orbiter's payload bay on a separate device called the German Unique Support Structure. The experiments included investigations intofluid physics, with experiments incapillarity,Marangoni convection, diffusion phenomena, and critical points; solidification experiments; singlecrystal growth; composites; biological studies, including cell functions, developmental processes, and the ability of plants to perceive gravity; medical experiments, including the gravitational perceptions of humans, and their adaptation processes in space; and speed-time interaction studies of people working in space.
One equipment item of unusual interest was theVestibular Sled, an ESA contribution consisting of a seat for a test subject that could be moved backward and forward with precisely controlled accelerations and stops, along rails fixed to the floor of the Spacelab aisle. By taking detailed measurements on a human strapped into the seat, scientists gained data on the functional organization of the human vestibular and orientation systems, and the vestibular adaptation processes under microgravity. The acceleration experiments by the sled riders were combined with thermal stimulations of the inner ear and optokinetic stimulations of the eye.
NASA operated the Space Shuttle, and was responsible for overall safety and control functions throughout the flight. West Germany was responsible for the scientific research carried out during the seven-day mission. To fulfill this function, German scientific controllers on the ground worked closely with the personnel in orbit, operating out of theGerman Space Operations Center atOberpfaffenhofen, nearMunich, West Germany. The orbiting crew was divided into two teams, working in shifts to ensure laboratory work was performed 24 hours a day. Communications were optimal throughout the mission and the ground and orbital crews were able to interact regularly. The overall system of one control center controlling spacecraft operations and a second controlling experiment functions worked smoothly in practice.
The GLOMR satellite was successfully deployed during the mission, and the five experiments mounted on the separate structure behind the Spacelab module obtained useful data.Challenger landed, for what was to be the last time, on Runway 17 atEdwards Air Force Base on November 6, 1985. The wheels stopped rolling at 12:45 p.m. EST, after a mission duration of 7 days, 0 hour, 44 minutes, and 51 seconds.
STS-61-A marked the last successful mission of Space ShuttleChallenger, which would bedestroyed with all hands on board during the launch of theSTS-51-L mission on January 28, 1986.
STS-61-A with its crew of 8 set a record as the highest number of people in space on a single spacecraft.[4] The first seven-person Shuttle mission had beenSTS-41-G in October 1984.[4]
STS-61-A was not the first Space Shuttle flight of an ESA astronaut or a West German citizen, asUlf Merbold, who also served as the backup on this mission, had previously flown on theSTS-9 mission in 1983,[5] but Wubbo Ockels became the firstDutch citizen in space.
Guion S. Bluford at the time was already the firstAfrican-American in space, having previously flown onSTS-8. With STS-61-A he became the first African-American to fly in space twice.[6] He would later go on to fly onSTS-39 in 1991 and onSTS-53 in 1992. Bluford was a member of the U.S. astronaut class of 1978.[6]
The insignia was chosen by the eight members of the STS-61A/D1 Spacelab mission to represent the record-sized Space Shuttle crew. Crewmembers surnames surround the colorful patch scene depictingChallenger carrying a long science module and an international crew fromEurope and the United States, and as the module is primarily part of the German contribution to the mission, the German flag and the mission suffix D-1 are prominently depicted. As to further distinguish Ockels, being the first Dutch citizen to fly into space, gets attributed an ESA logo to his name, instead of the more traditional addition of the respective non-US members being attributed with their respective nation's flags, as the patch already was that elaborately showing such.
This article incorporates text from this source, which is in thepublic domain.
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