5 October 1984 10:48 GMT. Landing Date: 1984-10-13 16:11:33. Flight Time: 8.22 days. Flight Up: STS-41-G. Flight Back: STS-41-G. Call Sign: Challenger. Crew: Crippen, Garneau, Leestma, McBride, Ride, Scully-Power, Sullivan. Program: STS. Of note: First spaceflight to include two women. First American woman to walk in space. First Canadian astronaut. Record crew size aboard a single spacecraft. On the lighter side: An article was circulated in the astronaut office showing that female astronauts would be more vulnerable on long space missions as they aged since their natural tendency to lose bone mass would be accelerated. A female astronaut had annotated the article with the note "This is why women should be first in line to fly the shuttle". To which a male colleague responded "This is why NASA should hire younger women".Manned seven crew. Deployed ERBS; performed high resolution Earth imagery. Payloads: Earth Radiation Budget Satellite (ERBS) deployment, Office of Space and Terrestrial Applications (OSTA)-3 experiments, Large Format Camera (LFC). First use of Orbital Refueling System (ORS) with extravehicular activity (EVA) astronauts, IMAX camera. In response to the American Strategic Defence Initiative and continued military use of the shuttle, the Soviet Union fired a 'warning shot' from the Terra-3 laser complex at Sary Shagan. The facility tracked Challenger with a low power laser on 10 October 1984. This caused malfunctions to on-board equipment and discomfort / temporary blinding of the crew, leading to a US diplomatic protest. Orbits of Earth: 132. Distance traveled: 5,527,201 km. Orbiter Liftoff Mass: 110,127 kg. Orbiter Mass at Landing: 91,744 kg. Payload to Orbit: 10,643 kg. Payload Returned: 8,398 kg. Landed at: Runway 33 at Kennedy Space Center, Florida. Landing Speed: 385 kph. Touchdown miss distance: 292 m. Landing Rollout: 3,240 m. EVA: Kathryn Sullivan and David Leestma. EVA duration 3 hours, 29 minutes.
NASA Official Mission NarrativeMission Name: 41-G (13)
CHALLENGER (6)
Pad 39-A (25)
13th Shuttle mission
6th Flight OV-99
2nd KSC landing Crew:
Robert L. Crippen (4), Commander
Jon A. McBride (1), Pilot
Kathryn D. Sullivan (1), Mission Specialist 1
Sally K. Ride (2), Mission Specialist 2
David C. Leestma (1), Mission Specialist 3
Marc Garneau (1), Payload Specialist 1
Paul D. Scully-Power (1), Payload Specialist 2 Milestones:
OPF - April 18, 1984
VAB - Sept. 8, 1984
PAD - Sept 13, 1984 Payload:
OSTA-3,ERBS,LFC/ORS,RME(4),TLD,APE,CANEX,IMAX-CAMERA(3)
Mission Objectives: Launch:
October 5, 1984, 7:03:00 a.m. EDT. Launch proceeded as scheduled with no delays. Launch Weight: 242,780 lbs
Orbit:
Altitude: 218nm
Inclination: 57.0 degrees
Orbits: 133
Duration: Eight days, five hours, 23 minutes, 33 seconds.
Distance: 3,289,444 miles Hardware:
SRB: BI-013
SRM: 012LW(HPM)
ET : 15/LWT-8
MLP : 1
SSME-1: SN-2023
SSME-2: SN-2020
SSME-3: SN-2021 Landing:
October 13, 1984, 12:26:33 p.m. EDT, Runway 33, Kennedy Space Center, Fla. Rollout distance: 10,633 feet. Rollout time: 59 seconds. Landing Weight: 202,266 lbs. Mission Highlights:
First flight to include two women, Ride and Sullivan. Sullivan first American woman to walk in space. Earth Radiation Budget Satellite (ERBS) deployed less than nine hours into flight. Office of Space and Terrestrial Applications-3 (OSTA-3) carried three experiments in payload bay. Components of Orbital Refueling System (ORS) connected, demonstrating it is possible to refuel satellites in orbit. Other Payloads: Large Format Camera (LFC); IMAX Camera, flying for third time; package of Canadian Experiments (CANEX); Auroral Photography Experiment (APE); Radiation Monitoring Equipment (RME); Thermoluminiscent Dosimeter (TLD); and eight Get Away Specials.
STS-41-G Chronology - 1984 Oct 5 - STS-41-G Crew: Crippen, Garneau, Leestma, McBride, Ride, Scully-Power, Sullivan. Spacecraft: Challenger. Payload: Challenger F06 / ERBS / LFC / ORS. Mass: 10,643 kg (23,463 lb). Launch Site: Cape Canaveral. Launch Vehicle: Shuttle. Duration: 8.22 days. Perigee: 350 km (210 mi). Apogee: 390 km (240 mi). Inclination: 51.70 deg. Period: 92.00 min.
Manned seven crew. Deployed ERBS; performed high resolution Earth imagery. Payloads: Earth Radiation Budget Satellite (ERBS) deployment, Office of Space and Terrestrial Applications (OSTA)-3 experiments, Large Format Camera (LFC). First use of Orbital Refueling System (ORS) with extravehicular activity (EVA) astronauts, IMAX camera. In response to the American Strategic Defence Initiative and continued military use of the shuttle, the Soviet Union fired a 'warning shot' from the Terra-3 laser complex at Sary Shagan. The facility tracked Challenger with a low power laser on 10 October 1984. This caused malfunctions to on-board equipment and discomfort / temporary blinding of the crew, leading to a US diplomatic protest.
Bibliography and Further Reading
- Wilson, Keith T., Spaceflight, "EVA Log 1965-1997", 1998, Volume 40, page 85.
- Furniss, Tim, Manned Spaceflight Log, Jane's, London, 1986. ISBN: 0710604025. Summary of all manned spaceflights up to 1986. Pre-Glasnost, so many 'war stories' of Soviet manned spaceflight are not included. More at amazon.com...
- McDowell, Jonathan, Jonathan's Space Home Page, Harvard University, 1997-present. Jonathan McDowell's complete on-line listing of all objects orbited and over 20,000 rocket launches Accessed at: http://www.planet4589.org/jsr.html.
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