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STS-51-C

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
1985 American crewed spaceflight for the Department of Defense

STS-51-C
Discovery in orbit; in-flight photography of theDepartment of Defense support mission is limited.
NamesSpace Transportation System-15
Mission typeDoD satellite deployment
OperatorNASA
COSPAR ID1985-010AEdit this at Wikidata
SATCATno.15496Edit this on Wikidata
Mission duration3 days, 1 hour, 33 minutes, 23 seconds
Distance travelled2,010,000 km (1,250,000 mi)
Orbits completed49
Spacecraft properties
SpacecraftSpace Shuttle Discovery
Launch mass113,802 kg (250,890 lb)
Landing mass(Classified)
Payload mass(Classified)
Crew
Crew size5
Members
Start of mission
Launch dateJanuary 24, 1985, 19:50:00 (1985-01-24UTC19:50Z) UTC (2:50 pm EST)
Launch siteKennedy,LC-39A
ContractorRockwell International
End of mission
Landing dateJanuary 27, 1985, 21:23:23 (1985-01-27UTC21:23:24Z) UTC (4:23:23 am EST)
Landing siteKennedy,SLF Runway 15
Orbital parameters
Reference systemGeocentric orbit[1]
RegimeLow Earth orbit
Perigee altitude332 km (206 mi)
Apogee altitude341 km (212 mi)
Inclination28.45°
Period91.30 minutes

STS-51-C mission patch

Back row:Payton,Buchli andOnizuka
Front row:Shriver andMattingly
← STS-51-A (14)
STS-51-D (16) →

STS-51-C (formerly STS-10) was the 15th flight ofNASA'sSpace Shuttle program, and the third flight ofSpace ShuttleDiscovery. It launched on January 24, 1985, and made the fourth shuttle landing at theShuttle Landing Facility at theKennedy Space Center inFlorida on January 27, 1985. STS-51-C was the first shuttle mission dedicated to theUnited States Department of Defense (DoD), and consequently many details remain classified. NASA reported that a satellite (USA-8) was deployed during the mission using anInertial Upper Stage booster was deployed and met mission objectives. At just over three days, the mission was shorter in duration than most civilian missions and was the shortest ofDiscovery's career.

Crew

[edit]
PositionAstronaut
CommanderKen Mattingly
Third and last spaceflight
PilotLoren Shriver
First spaceflight
Mission Specialist 1Ellison Onizuka
Only spaceflight
Mission Specialist 2
Flight Engineer
James Buchli
First spaceflight
Payload Specialist 1Gary Payton,MSE
Only spaceflight

Backup crew

[edit]
PositionAstronaut
Payload Specialist 1Keith Wright,MSE

Crew seat assignments

[edit]
Seat[2]LaunchLanding
Seats 1–4 are on the flight deck.
Seats 5–7 are on the mid-deck.
1Mattingly
2Shriver
3Onizuka
4Buchli
5Payton
6Unused
7Unused

Mission summary

[edit]
Launch of STS-51-C as seen from an IMAX camera attached to the Fixed Service Structure

STS-51-C launched from Kennedy Space Center (KSC) on January 24, 1985, at 19:50:00UTC, and was the first of nine shuttle missions in 1985. It was originally scheduled for January 23, 1985, but was delayed because of freezing weather.Challenger had been scheduled for this flight, butDiscovery was substituted when problems were encountered withChallenger'sthermal protection tiles. STS-51-C marked the 100thhuman spaceflight to achieve orbit.

The mission's length of three days was shorter than the week or longer of most civilian shuttle flights. It was the first dedicated to theU.S. Department of Defense (DoD),[3] and most information about it remains classified. For the first time, NASA did not provide pre-launch commentary to the public until nine minutes before liftoff.[4] TheU.S. Air Force only stated that the shuttle successfully launched its payload with anInertial Upper Stage (IUS) on the mission's seventh orbit. It is believed that the payload was aMagnumSIGINT satellite intogeosynchronous orbit.[5] Other DoD flightsSTS-33 andSTS-38 could have carried similar payloads. Payton stated in 2009 that STS-51-C's payload is "still up there, and still operating".[6] Payton was a USAFManned Spaceflight Engineer (MSE); the USAF declined a NASA offer to fly another MSE on the mission.[7]

Also, according toAviation Week, the shuttle initially entered a 204 × 519 km (127 × 322 mi) orbit, at aninclination of 28.45° to theequator. It then executed threeOrbital 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 km (322 mi).

The mission lasted 3 days, 1 hour, 33 minutes, and 23 seconds.Discovery touched down onSLF Runway 15 at KSC on January 27, 1985, at 21:23:23 UTC. IMAX footage of the STS-51-C launch was used in the 1985 movieThe Dream is Alive.

Mission insignia

[edit]

The crew insignia for STS Flight 51-C includes the names of its five crewmembers. The STS 51-C mission marked the third trip of the Space ShuttleDiscovery into space, which is referenced by the three colored trailing strips behind the orbiter in the United States red, white and blue. It was the first Space Shuttle mission totally dedicated to the U.S. Department of Defense, hence the DoD central eagle on the mission patch. The five stars on the upper part of the golden band of the DoD insignia represent the five astronauts. As this mission was classified, the patch includes no further detail as to the mission's payload or nature. For similar reasons, the name of the used orbiter was omitted from the patch.

Connection to theChallenger disaster

[edit]

Almost exactly a year after STS-51-C,Space ShuttleChallenger was destroyed with all hands on board during theSTS-51-L mission includingEllison Onizuka, a crew member on both flights. As part of the investigation into the disaster, it was reported to theRogers Commission that during the launch of STS-51-C, the worstSpace Shuttle Solid Rocket Booster (SRB) blow-by effects of any mission prior to STS-51-L occurred, indicating conclusively that theVitonO-rings were not sufficiently sealing the hot gases inside thecombustion 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.[8]

This information is significant to the established consensus that low air temperature was a major factor inChallenger'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 12 °C (54 °F).[8]

See also

[edit]

References

[edit]
  1. ^"SATCAT". Jonathan's Space Report. RetrievedMarch 24, 2014.
  2. ^"STS-51C". Spacefacts. RetrievedFebruary 26, 2014.
  3. ^Blakeslee, Sandra (October 8, 1985)."Astronauts return from secret".The New York Times.ISSN 0362-4331.
  4. ^"40 Years Ago: STS-51C, the First Dedicated Department of Defense Shuttle Mission".NASA. January 24, 2025. RetrievedJanuary 24, 2025.
  5. ^Vick, Charles (June 27–28, 2007)."MAGNUM-ORION NRO/CIA/NSA, SIGINT spacecraft". Global Security. RetrievedJanuary 17, 2021.
  6. ^Cassutt, Michael (August 2009)."Secret Space Shuttles". Air & Space magazine. RetrievedApril 18, 2015.
  7. ^Cassutt, Michael (January 1989)."The Manned Space Flight Engineer Programme".Spaceflight. Archived fromthe original on December 30, 2008.
  8. ^abRogers Commission Report (1986)."Report of the Presidential Commission on the Space ShuttleChallenger Accident, Volume 1, Chapter 6". NASA.Public Domain This article incorporates text from this source, which is in thepublic domain.

External links

[edit]
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