STS-41-G
|
| Mission insignia |
|---|
 | STS-41-G_patch.png |
|
| Mission statistics |
|---|
| Mission: | STS 41-G |
| Shuttle: | Challenger |
| Launch pad: | 39-A |
| Launch: | October 5, 1984, 7:03:00 a.m. EDT |
| Landing: | October 13, 1984, 12:26:33 p.m. EDT, Kennedy Space Center |
| Duration: | 8 days, five hours, 23 minutes, 33 seconds |
| Orbit altitude: | 218 nautical miles (404 km) |
| Orbit inclination: | 57.0 degrees |
| Total orbits: | 133 |
| Distance traveled: | 3,289,444 miles (5 293 847 km) |
| Crew photo |
|---|
 | STS-41-G_crew.jpg |
(front, l to r) Astronauts Jon A. McBride, pilot; and Sally K. Ride, Kathryn D. Sullivan and David C. Leestma, all mission specialists. Top row from left to right are Paul D. Scully-Power, payload specialist; Robert L. Crippen, crew commander; and Marc Garneau, Canadian payload specialist. The replica of a gold astronaut pin near McBride signifies unity. |
Previous mission:
STS-41-D | Next mission:
STS-51-A |
STS 41-G marked the 13th flight of a
Space Shuttle and the sixth flight of the
Challenger. It conducted the second landing at
Kennedy Space Center.
*
Robert Crippen (flew on
STS-1,
STS-7,
STS-41-C &
STS-41-G), Commander
*
Jon A. McBride (flew on
STS-41-G), Pilot
*
Kathryn D. Sullivan (flew on
STS-41-G,
STS-31 &
STS-45), Mission Specialist 1
*
Sally K. Ride (flew on
STS-7 &
STS-41-G), Mission Specialist 2
*
David C. Leestma (flew on
STS-41-G,
STS-28 &
STS-45), Mission Specialist 3
*
Marc Garneau (flew on
STS-41-G,
STS-77 &
STS-97), Payload Specialist 1 - Canada
*
Paul D. Scully-Power (flew on
STS-41-G), Payload Specialist 2
*
Robert Thirsk was the Backup Payload Specialist.
*
Mass:*
Orbiter Liftoff: 110,127 kg
*
Orbiter Landing: 91,744 kg
*
Payload: 10,643 kg
*
Perigee: 350 km
*
Apogee: 390 km
*
Inclination: 51.7°
*
Period: 92.0 min
Space walk
*
Leestma and Sullivan - EVA 1
*
EVA 1 Start:
October 11,
1984*
EVA 1 End: October 11, 1984
*
Duration: 3 hours, 29 minutes
On Oct. 5, 1984, Challenger returned to flight with its launch at 7:03 a.m. EDT, marking the start of the STS 41-G mission. It wasChallenger's sixth mission and the 13th liftoff in the Space Shuttle program.
On board were seven crew members David C. Leestma, Sally K. Ride and Kathryn D. Sullivan -- (the first time two female astronauts had flown together); and two payload specialists, Paul Scully-Power and Marc Garneau, the first Canadian citizen to serve as a Shuttle crew member.
Astronaut Sullivan became the first woman to walk in space when she and David C. Leestma performed a 3 hour
EVA on Oct. ll demonstrating the
Orbital Refueling System (ORS) and proving the feasibility of refueling satellites in orbit.
Nine hours after liftoff, the 5,087 lb (2307 kg),
Earth Radiation Budget Satellite (ERBS) was deployed from the payload bay by the
RMS arm, and its on-board thrusters boosted it into an
orbit 350 miles (563 km) abovethe Earth. ERBS was the first of three planned satellites designedto measure the amount of
energy received from the
sun and reradiatedinto space. It also studied the seasonal movement of energy from thetropics to the polar regions.
Another major mission activity, operation of the
Shuttle Imaging Radar-B (SIR-B) was conducted. SIR-B was part of the OSTA-3experiment package in the payload bay, which also included the LargeFormat Camera (LFC) to photograph Earth, another camera called
MAPSwhich measured air pollution, and a feature identification andlocation experiment called FILE which consisted of two TV cameras andtwo 70 mm still cameras.
The SIR-B effort was an improved version of a similar device flownon the OSTA-l package during STS-2. It had an eight-panel antennaarray measuring 35 by 7 feet (11 by 2 m). It operated throughout the flight butproblems were encountered with the Challenger's
Ku-band antenna andtherefore much of the data had to be recorded on board the orbiterrather than transmitted to Earth in real-time as originally planned.
Payload Specialist Scully-Powers, an employee of the U.S. NavalResearch Laboratory, performed a series of oceanography observationsduring the mission. Garneau conducted experiments sponsored by theCanadian government, called
CANEX, which were related to medical,atmospheric, climatic, materials and robotic sciences. A number of
GAS canisters covering a wide variety of materials testing andphysics were also flown.
The Soviet
Terra-3 laser testing centre was used to track Challenger with a low power
laser on 10 October 1984. This caused malfunction of on-board equipment andtemporary blinding of the crew, leading to a US diplomatic protest.
STS 41-G was an 8 day, 5 hour, 23 minute, 33 second mission whichtraveled 4.3 million miles (6,900,000 km) and completed 132 orbits. It landed atthe Shuttle Landing Facility at
KSC -- the second Shuttle landingthere -- on Oct. 13, at 12:26 p.m. EDT.
*
Space science*
Space shuttle*
List of space shuttle missions*
List of human spaceflights chronologically*
NASA mission summary*
Additional information
