STS-9

Spacelab 1. First West German to fly in space. First Spacelab mission. Record six crew size in a single spacecraft. Suspect exhaust nozzle on right solid rocket booster. Landing delayed when two computers failed. Landed on fire when hydraulic pump leaked.

Carried ESA Spacelab. Payloads: Payload: Spacelab-1 experiments, habitable Spacelab and pallet, carried 71 experiments. The six-man crew was divided into two 12-hour-day red and blue teams to operate experiments. First high-inclination orbit of 57 degrees.

NASA Official Mission Narrative

Mission Name: STS-9 (9)
COLUMBIA (6)
Pad 39-A (21)
9th Shuttle mission
6th Flight OV-102
1st rollback
Extended mission

Crew:
John W. Young (6), Commander
Brewster H. Shaw (1), Jr., Pilot
Owen K. Garriott (2), Mission Specialist
Dr. Robert A. Parker (1), Mission Specialist
Dr. Byron K. Lichtenberg (1), Payload Specialist
Dr. Ulf Merbold (1), Payload Specialist (ESA)

Milestones:
Flow A:
OPF - Nov. 23, 1982
VAB - Sept. 24, 1983
PAD - Sept. 28, 1983
Flow B:
OPF - Oct. 20, 1983
VAB - Nov. 3, 1983
PAD - Nov. 8,1983

Payload:
SPACELAB-1
Mission Objectives:

Launch:
November 28, 1983, 11:00:00 a.m. EST. Launch set for Sept. 30 delayed 28 days due to suspect exhaust nozzle on right solid rocket booster. Problem discovered while Shuttle was on pad. Shuttle returned to VAB and demated. Suspect nozzle replaced and vehicle restacked. Countdown Nov. 28 proceeded as scheduled. Launch Weight: 247,619 lbs.
Orbit:
Altitude: 155nm
Inclination: 57.0 degrees
Orbits: 167
Duration: 10 days, seven hours, 47 minutes, 24 seconds.
Distance: 4,295,853 miles

Hardware:
SRB: BI-009
SRM: 009SW(HPM)
ET : 11/LWT-4
MLP : 1
SSME-1: SN-2011
SSME-2: SN-2018
SSME-3: SN-2019

Landing:
December 8, 1983, 3:47:24 p.m. PST, Runway 17, Edwards Air Force Base, Calif. Rollout distance: 8,456 feet. Rollout time: 53 seconds. Landing delayed approximately eight hours to analyze problems when general purpose computers one and two failed and inertial measurement unit one failed. During landing, two of three auxiliary power units caught fire. Orbiter returned to KSC Dec. 15, 1983. Landing Weight: 220,027 lbs.

Mission Highlights:
Flight carried first Spacelab mission and first astronaut to represent European Space Agency (ESA), Ulf Merbold of Germany. ESA and NASA jointly sponsored Spacelab-1 and conducted investigations which demonstrated capability for advanced research in space. Spacelab is an orbital laboratory and observations platform composed of cylindrical pressurized modules and U-shaped unpressurized pallets which remain in orbiter's cargo bay during flight. Altogether 73 separate investigations carried out in astronomy and physics, atmospheric physics, Earth observations, life sciences, materials sciences, space plasma physics and technology. First time six persons carried into space on a single vehicle.