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  STS-51F/Challenger Abort-to-Orbit (ATO)

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Author Topic:   STS-51F/Challenger Abort-to-Orbit (ATO)
Paul78zephyr
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Posts: 675
From: Hudson, MA
Registered: Jul 2005

posted 11-01-2013 01:06 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for Paul78zephyr     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
I'm reading some details about the STS-51F Abort-to-Orbit (ATO) in this old NASA article.

I was wondering if anyone knew of a detailed transcript of this event with mission elapsed times (MET) for specific flight controller calls for various key events during the ATO. Id like to find out when the 'limits to enable' and 'limits to inhibit' calls were made and what other data the flight controller (Howard) was looking at to determine when to make these calls.

Greggy_D
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Posts: 977
From: Michigan
Registered: Jul 2006

posted 11-01-2013 02:05 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for Greggy_D   Click Here to Email Greggy_D     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
I haven't found a text transcript, but there is a YouTube video out there with the ATO and some elapsed time calls just before the abort.

Paul78zephyr
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Posts: 675
From: Hudson, MA
Registered: Jul 2005

posted 11-02-2013 04:05 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for Paul78zephyr     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
Thank you.

Yes, I've seen the YouTube video but I was hoping to find some real NASA technical archived data — either a detailed air-ground transcript with MET or similar.

Headshot
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Posts: 864
From: Vancouver, WA, USA
Registered: Feb 2012

posted 11-02-2013 06:23 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for Headshot   Click Here to Email Headshot     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
There is a fairly detailed account of Mission 51-F's ATO incident on pages 17-18 of the 5 August 1985 issue of Aviation Week & Space Technology.

astro-nut
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Posts: 946
From: Washington, IL
Registered: Jan 2006

posted 11-03-2013 11:16 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for astro-nut   Click Here to Email astro-nut     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
From my notes that I found, I believe the Abort-to-Orbit (ATO) point was at 5 minutes and 12 seconds and the Main Engine #1 shutdown was at 5 minutes 45 seconds which resulted in the ATO trajectory.

Also, last week I had the chance to meet and listen to Roy Bridges talk about the STS 51-F flight and he did discuss the incident with us all. He said that they would of have had the fastest time going from Cape Canaveral to the transatlantic landing site (TAL).

I hope that the information is helpful. Thank you.

Paul78zephyr
Member

Posts: 675
From: Hudson, MA
Registered: Jul 2005

posted 11-04-2013 12:57 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for Paul78zephyr     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
quote:
Originally posted by astro-nut:
He said that they would of have had the fastest time going from Cape Canaveral to the transatlantic landing site (TAL).

I'm not sure I understand what you mean. And which TAL would they have used?

Paul78zephyr
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Posts: 675
From: Hudson, MA
Registered: Jul 2005

posted 11-04-2013 12:59 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for Paul78zephyr     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
quote:
Originally posted by Headshot:
There is a fairly detailed account of Mission 51-F's ATO incident on pages 17-18 of the 5 August 1985 issue of Aviation Week & Space Technology.
Is that available in an online archive or such?

Headshot
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Posts: 864
From: Vancouver, WA, USA
Registered: Feb 2012

posted 11-04-2013 03:08 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for Headshot   Click Here to Email Headshot     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
Sorry, but I do not know.

The copy I read was in a private collection.

Tom
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Posts: 1597
From: New York
Registered: Nov 2000

posted 11-04-2013 05:19 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for Tom   Click Here to Email Tom     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
quote:
Originally posted by Paul78zephyr:
And which TAL would they have used?
With a launch azimuth of 50 degrees, I believe the TAL site would have been Rota, Spain.

Skylon
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Posts: 274
From:
Registered: Sep 2010

posted 11-04-2013 07:06 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for Skylon     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
quote:
Originally posted by Paul78zephyr:
I'm not sure I understand what you mean.
He means that had the TAL Abort occurred, the 51-F crew would have held a trans-Atlantic flight record from Florida to Spain.

Heckuva way to set a record though.

All times are CT (US)

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