 Challenger as photographed by the SPAS-1 satellite on June 22, 1983 | |
| Names | Space Transportation System-7 |
|---|---|
| Mission type | |
| Operator | NASA |
| COSPAR ID | 1983-059A |
| SATCATno. | 14132 |
| Mission duration | 6 days, 2 hours, 23 minutes, 59 seconds |
| Distance travelled | 3,570,000 km (2,220,000 mi) |
| Orbits completed | 97 |
| Spacecraft properties | |
| Spacecraft | Space Shuttle Challenger |
| Launch mass | 113,025 kg (249,177 lb) |
| Landing mass | 92,550 kg (204,040 lb) |
| Payload mass | 16,839 kg (37,124 lb) |
| Crew | |
| Crew size | 5 |
| Members | |
| Start of mission | |
| Launch date | June 18, 1983, 11:33:00 (1983-06-18UTC11:33Z) UTC (7:33 am EDT) |
| Launch site | Kennedy,LC-39A |
| Contractor | Rockwell International |
| End of mission | |
| Landing date | June 24, 1983, 13:56:59 (1983-06-24UTC13:57:00Z) UTC (6:56:59 am PDT) |
| Landing site | Edwards, Runway 15 |
| Orbital parameters | |
| Reference system | Geocentric orbit |
| Regime | Low Earth orbit |
| Perigee altitude | 299 km (186 mi) |
| Apogee altitude | 307 km (191 mi) |
| Inclination | 28.30° |
| Period | 90.60 minutes |
| Instruments | |
| |
 STS-7 mission patch  From left:Ride,Fabian,Crippen,Thagard andHauck | |
STS-7 wasNASA's seventhSpace Shuttle mission, and the second mission for theSpace ShuttleChallenger. During the mission,Challenger deployed several satellites into orbit. The shuttle launched fromKennedy Space Center on June 18, 1983, and landed atEdwards Air Force Base on June 24, 1983. STS-7 carriedSally Ride, America's firstfemale astronaut.
| Position | Astronaut | |
|---|---|---|
| Commander | Robert Crippen Second spaceflight | |
| Pilot | Frederick Hauck First spaceflight | |
| Mission Specialist 1 | John M. Fabian First spaceflight | |
| Mission Specialist 2 Flight Engineer | Sally Ride First spaceflight | |
| Mission Specialist 3 | Norman Thagard First spaceflight | |
| Seat[1] | Launch | Landing |  Seats 1–4 are on the flight deck. Seats 5–7 are on the mid-deck. |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Crippen | ||
| 2 | Hauck | ||
| 3 | Fabian | Thagard | |
| 4 | Ride | ||
| 5 | Thagard | Fabian | |
| 6 | Unused | ||
| 7 | Unused | ||
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STS-7 began on June 18, 1983, with an on-time liftoff at 7:33:00 a.m. EDT. It was the first spaceflight of an American woman (Ride), the largest crew to fly in a single spacecraft up to that time (five people), and the first flight that included members of NASA'sGroup 8 astronaut class, which had been selected in 1978 to fly the Space Shuttle.President Ronald Reagan also sent his personal favoriteJelly Bellyjelly beans with the astronauts, making them the first jelly beans in space. The crew had already eaten lunch with the president at theWhite House on June 1, the first time that a crew did so before launch rather than after.[2][page needed]
The crew of STS-7 included Robert Crippen, commander, making his second Shuttle flight; Frederick Hauck, pilot; and Sally Ride, John M. Fabian and Norman Thagard, all mission specialists. Thagard conducted medical tests concerningSpace adaptation syndrome, a bout ofnausea frequently experienced by astronauts during the early phase of a space flight.
Twocommunications satellites –Anik C2 forTelesat ofCanada, andPalapa B1 forIndonesia – were successfully deployed during the first two days of the mission; both were Hughes-built HS-376-series satellites. The mission also carried the firstShuttle pallet satellite (SPAS-1), which was built by theWest German aerospace firmMesserschmitt-Bölkow-Blohm (MBB). SPAS-1 was unique in that it was designed to operate in the payload bay or be deployed by the Remote Manipulator System (Canadarm) as a free-flying satellite. It carried 10 experiments to study formation ofmetal alloys inmicrogravity, the operation of heat pipes, instruments forremote sensing observations, and amass spectrometer to identify various gases in the payload bay. It was deployed by the Canadarm and flew alongside and overChallenger for several hours, performing various maneuvers, while a U.S.-supplied camera mounted on SPAS-1 took pictures of the orbiter. The Canadarm later grappled the pallet and returned it to the payload bay.
STS-7 also carried sevenGetaway Special (GAS) canisters, which contained a wide variety of experiments, as well as the OSTA-2 payload, a joint U.S.-West Germany scientific pallet payload. Finally, the orbiter'sKu-band antenna was able to relay data through theU.S. tracking and data relay satellite (TDRS) to a ground terminal for the first time.
STS-7 was scheduled to make the first orbiter landing at Kennedy Space Center's then-newShuttle Landing Facility (SLF).[3] Unacceptable weather forced a change to Runway 15 at Edwards Air Force Base. The landing took place on June 24, 1983, at 06:56:59 a.m.PDT. The mission lasted 6 days, 2 hours, 23 minutes, and 59 seconds, and covered about 3,570,000 km (2,220,000 mi) during 97 orbits of theEarth.Challenger was returned to KSC on June 29, 1983.
STS-7 experienced the first knownSpace Shuttle external tank (ET) bipod ramp foam shedding event during launch. This was the root cause of the eventual loss ofColumbia duringSTS-107 almost two decades later. WhileChallenger was on-orbit, one of its windows was damaged non-critically byspace debris.[4]
The seven white stars in the black field of the mission patch, as well as the arm extending from the orbiter in the shape of a 7, indicate the flight's numerical designation in theSpace Transportation System's mission sequence. The five-armed symbol on the right side illustrates the four male/one female crew.
NASA began a tradition of playing music to astronauts during theProject Gemini, and first used music to wake up a flight crew duringApollo 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.[5]
This article incorporates text from this source, which is in thepublic domain. This article incorporates text from this source, which is in thepublic domain.
Space ShuttleChallenger (OV-099) | ||
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