Bolden

Cenker

Chang-Diaz

Gibson

Hawley

Nelson

Nelson Bill

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STS-61-C Credit - NASA

12 January 1986 11:55 GMT. Landing Date: 1986-01-18 13:59:09. Flight Time: 6.09 days. Flight Up: STS-61-C. Flight Back: STS-61-C. Call Sign: Columbia. Crew: Bolden, Cenker, Chang-Diaz, Gibson, Hawley, Nelson, Nelson Bill. Program: STS.

What went wrong: On a 6 January 1986 launch attempt, a temperature probe inside a propellant line broke off and went into a fluid control valve in one of the SSME's, jamming it in the open position. Had the launch not been scrubbed for other reasons, the valve probably would have caused a turbopump engine overspeed at engine shutdown, resulting in disintegration, and loss of both nearby hydraulic systems. Columbia would have made it to orbit, but been unable to return to earth. This would have been compound by a massive undetected loss of liquid oxygen propellant before the launch. This would have meant Columbia would have run out of propellant, not reached orbit, then lost its hydraulic systems, and then burned up on reentry.

Congressman Nelson was another politician-astronaut, and his assignment to the flight condemned Jarvis, who he bumped, to death aboard Challenger. Nelson insisted that he wanted to do something 'important' on the flight. Wags in the astronaut office soon were joking that Nelson would operate some minor experiment in order to "find the cure to cancer" or take photos of Ethiopia in order to "end famine in Africa". Finally Nelson asked for a communications link-up with the Salyut space station. Astronauts joked that his mission was now to "bring about world peace". When the crew of Salyut 7 abruptly returned home, the astronauts joked that even the Commies didn't want to help Nelson on his quest.

STS-61-C Credit- www.spacefacts.de

Experienced nozzle joint O-ring erosion and blow-by and field joint O-ring erosion. Manned seven crew. Launched Satcom K1. Payloads: Deploy SATCOM (RCA-Satellite Communi-cations) Ku-1 with Payload Assist Module (PAM)-D II. Materials Science Laboratory, Comet Halley Active Monitoring Experiment (CHAMP), Hitchhiker (HH) Goddard (G)-1, thirteen getaway specials (GAS), student experiment, Initial Blood Storage Equipment (lBSE), Characterization of Space Motion Sickness (SMS).

Orbits of Earth: 97. Distance traveled: 4,069,480 km. Orbiter Liftoff Mass: 116,121 kg. Orbiter Mass at Landing: 95,325 kg. Payload to Orbit: 14,724 kg. Payload Returned: 9,122 kg. Landed at: Concrete runway 22 at Edwards Air Force Base, Cali. Landing Speed: 402 kph. Touchdown miss distance: 464 m. Landing Rollout: 3,109 m.

Mission Name: 61-C (24)
COLUMBIA (7)
Pad 39-A (36)
24th Shuttle mission
7th Flight OV-102
RSLS Abort (3)
Extended mission
Diverted landing
2nd Night landing

Crew:
Robert L. Gibson (2), Commander
Charles F. Bolden (1), Jr., Pilot
Franklin R. Chang-Diaz (1), Mission Specialist 1
Steven A. Hawley (2), Mission Specialist 1
George D. Nelson (2), Mission Specialist 2
Robert J. Cenker (1), Payload Specialist 1
Congressman Bill Nelson (1), Payload Specialist 2

Milestones:
OPF - July 18, 1985
VAB - Sept.6, 1985
(storage)
OPF - Sept. 26, 1985
VAB - Nov. 22, 1985
PAD - Dec. 2, 1985

Payload:
SATCOM-KU2,LEASAT-5,MSL-2,CHAMP,IR-IE,SSIP(x3),GAS(x13)
Mission Objectives:

Launch:
January 12, 1986, 6:55:00 a.m. EST. Launch set for Dec. 18, 1985 delayed one day when additional time needed to close out orbiter aft compartment. Launch attempt Dec. 19 scrubbed at T- 14 seconds due to indication that right solid rocket booster hydraulic power unit exceeding RPM redline speed limits. (Later determined as false reading.) After 18-day delay, launch attempt Jan. 6, 1986 halted at T-31 seconds due to accidental draining of approximately 4,000 pounds of liquid oxygen from external tank. Launch attempt Jan. 7 scrubbed at T-9 minutes due to bad weather at both transoceanic abort landing sites (Moron, Spain and Dakar, Senegal). After two-day delay, launch set for Jan. 9 delayed due to launch pad liquid oxygen sensor breaking off and lodging in number two main engine prevalve. Launch set for Jan. 10 delayed two days due to heavy rains. Launch countdown Jan. 12 proceeded with no delays. Launch Weight: 256,003 lbs.
Orbit:
Altitude: 212nm
Inclination: 28.5 degrees
Orbits: 98
Duration: Six days, two hours, three minutes, 51 seconds.
Distance: 2,528,658 miles

STS-61-C Representative Bill Nelson prepares to eat a peeled grapefruit... Credit- NASA

Hardware:
SRB: BI-024
SRM: L024(HPM)
ET : 30/LWT-23
MLP : 1
SSME-1: SN-2015
SSME-2: SN-2018
SSME-3: SN-2109

Landing:
January 18,1986, 5:58:51 a.m, PST, Runway 22, Edwards Air Force Base, Calif. Rollout distance: 10,202 feet. Rollout time: 59 seconds. Planned landing at KSC, originally scheduled for Jan. 17, moved to Jan. 16 to save orbiter turnaround time. Landing attempts on Jan. 16 and 17 abandoned due to unacceptable weather at KSC. Landing set for Jan. 18 at KSC but persisting bad weather forced a one revolution extension of mission and landing at Edwards. Orbiter returned to KSC Jan. 23, 1986. Landing Weight: 210,161 lbs.

Mission Highlights:
SATCOM KU-I (RCA Americom) satellite, attached to Payload Assist Module-D2 (PAM-D2) motor, was deployed. Comet Halley Active Monitoring Program (CHAMP) experiment, a 35mm camera to photograph Comet Halley, did not function properly due to battery problems. Other payloads: Materials Science Laboratory-2 (MSL-2); Hitchhiker G-1; Infrared Imaging Experiment (IR-IE); Initial Blood Storage Experiment (IBSE); Hand-held Protein Crystal Growth (HPCG) experiment; three Shuttle Student Involvement Program (SSIP) experiments and 13 Get Away Specials (GAS), 12 of them mounted on a special GAS Bridge Assembly.

• 1986 Jan 12 - STS-61-C  Crew: Bolden, Cenker, Chang-Diaz, Gibson, Hawley, Nelson, Nelson Bill. Spacecraft: Columbia. Payload: Columbia F07 Satcom-K 1 [PAM-D2]. Mass: 14,724 kg (32,460 lb). Launch Site: Cape Canaveral. Launch Vehicle: Shuttle. Duration: 6.09 days. Perigee: 331 km (205 mi). Apogee: 338 km (210 mi). Inclination: 28.50 deg. Period: 91.20 min.

  Manned seven crew. Launched Satcom K1. Payloads: Deploy SATCOM (RCA-Satellite Communi-cations) Ku-1 with Payload Assist Module (PAM)-D II. Materials Science Laboratory, Comet Halley Active Monitoring Experiment (CHAMP), Hitchhiker (HH) Goddard (G)-1, thirteen getaway specials (GAS), student experiment, Initial Blood Storage Equipment (lBSE), Characterization of Space Motion Sickness (SMS).

• 1986 Jan 18 - Landing of STS-61-C 

  STS-61-C landed at 13:59 GMT.