WIKIARCHIVES.SPACE

The seventh launch of the NASA Space Transportation System and the second lift-off of the space shuttle Challenger occurred at 7:33 a.m. (EDT) today from the Pad 39A launch site, at the Kennedy Space Center (KSC). The six-day mission will be highlighted by the first direct landing from space by an orbiter to the Shuttle Landing Facility (SLF). The crew consists of astronauts Robert Crippen, commander, the first two-time space shuttle astronaut; Frederick H. Hauck, pilot; and three mission specialists -- Sally K. Ride, John M. Fabian and Norman E. Thagard. During the mission the crew will deploy the Indonesian PALAPA-B and the Canadian ANIK-C communications satellites. They will also use the Remote Manipulator System (RMS) arm to deploy and retrieve a platform for space experiments called the Shuttle Pallet Satellite (SPAS), and serve as a spaceborne laboratory for OSTA-2, a scientific payload. Getaway Special canisters and materials processing experiments will fill out the complement of payloads on the mission.