posted 06-13-2010 01:55 PM               

So to start things of here is still one of the greatest even after 29 years.

• Flight: STS-1
  
• Orbiter: Columbia
  
• Crew: CDR John Young and PLT Bob Crippen
  
• Launch Date: April 12th 1981
  
• Mission: First Shuttle test flight

posted 06-14-2010 03:24 AM               

• Flight: STS 2
  
• Orbiter: Columbia
  
• Crew: CDR Joe Engle and Pilot Dick Truly

• Launch Date: November 12th 1981.
  
• Mission: Second test flight with first flight of RMS.

  Last time an all rookie crew would fly & first time a STS flight had to return early due to a fuel cell failure

posted 06-15-2010 01:01 AM               

• Flight: STS 3
  Orbiter: Columbia
  
• Crew: CDR Jack Lousma & PLT Gordon Fullerton
  
• Launch Date: March 22nd 1982
  
• Mission: Third test flight and Spacelab Pallet

  First and to date only landing at white sands and as Edwards AFB runway was flooded.
  

posted 06-15-2010 01:01 PM               

quote:

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Originally posted by AstroAutos:
Gareth, for what it's worth I think this is a fantastic project - good luck with it!

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posted 06-16-2010 01:56 AM               

• Flight: STS 4
  Orbiter: Columbia
  
• Crew: Ken Mattingly & Hank Hartsfield
  
• Launch Date: June 27th 1982 11.00
  
• Mission: Last test flight and first get away special payload with test satellite.

"Now I can put in a swimming pool..." -- Pinky Nelson

posted 06-17-2010 02:58 AM               

• Flight: STS 5
  Orbiter: Columbia
  
• Crew: CDR Vance Brand, PLT Bob Overmyer, MS1 Joe Allen and MS2 Bill Lenior
  
• Launch Date: November 11th 1982 (first after I was born)
  
• Mission: First time four people even launched into space at same time and two communication satellites deployed.

  Was planned as first orbiter EVA but was canceled after EMU problems.

posted 06-18-2010 01:34 AM               

• Flight: STS 6
  Orbiter: Challenger
  
• Crew: CDR Paul Weitz, PLT Bo Bobko, MS1: Don Peterson, MS2 Story Musgrave
  
• Launch Date: April 4th 1983
  
• Mission: First Launch of Orbiter Challenger, TDRS 1 and First EVA of the Shuttle era.

  First time lightweight external tank used

posted 06-19-2010 02:56 AM               

• Flight: STS-7
  Orbiter: Challenger
  
• Crew: CDR Bob Crippen, PLT Rick Hauck, MS1 John Fabian, MS2 Sally Ride, MS3 Norm Thagard
  
• Launch Date: June 18th 1983
  
• Mission: Anik C-2 and Palapa B1 Satelites deployed and release and retrieval of SPAS 1 science platform. First flight by a woman and largest crew flown to date of five people.

  SPAS carried a camera onboard which gave the first views of an orbiter from space. Meant to be the first flight to land at the new KSC runway but due to weather issues landed at Edwards instead.

posted 06-20-2010 07:26 AM               

quote:

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Originally posted by ringo67:
Wow! The video of the STS-3 landing really shows how steep the shuttle's glide slope is during landing.

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posted 06-20-2010 11:10 AM               

• Flight: STS 8
  
• Orbiter: Challenger
  
• Crew: CDR Richard Truly, Pilot Dan Brandenstein, MS1 Dale Gardner, MS2 Guy Bluford and MS3 Bill Thorton
  
• Launch Date: August 30th 1983
  
• Mission: Insat 1B deploy, Payload test article and four get away specials.

  First Night Launch and Landing

posted 06-21-2010 03:13 AM               

• Flight: STS-9
  
• Orbiter: Columbia
  
• Crew: CDR John Young, PLT Brewster Shaw, MS1 Owen Garriott, MS2 Bob Parker, PS1 Ulf Merbold and PS2 Byron Lichtenburg
  
• Launch Date: November 28th 1983
  
• Mission: Science experiments through Spacelab and first flight of payload specialists.

  First flight of non-astronauts in an American space vehicle, First flight of Spacelab and last flight of John Young who at that time held the record for spaceflights. First time crew split into two shifts. Two guidance computers failed just before reentry which resulted in a delay of landing and before landing two of the APUs caught fire due to a Hydrazine leak. Last flight of Columbia until STS-61C January 1986

posted 06-21-2010 03:52 AM               

• Flight: STS-41B
  
• Orbiter: Challenger
  
• Crew: CDR Vance Brand, PLT Hoot Gibson, MS1 Bruce McCandless, MS2 Ron McNair, MS3 Bob Stewart
  
• Launch Date: February 3rd 1984
  
• Mission: First flight of MMU. Westar and Palapa B2 deploy. First test of RMS foot restraint.

  Both satellites' IUS malfunctioned and satellites had to be retrieved by STS-51A. One of the most famous photos in spaceflight taken by Hoot Gibson of Bruce McCandless. EVA to practice procedures for capture and repair of Solar max on next flight, STS-41C. First landing at Shuttle Landing Facility. First flight to use new mission designation which would last up until STS-51L, when it would return to the normal STS-8 etc. Rumors persist that NASA did this to avoid flying an STS-13 (which became STS-41G) after the events of Apollo 13. (On a personal note I don't believe this is true.) It was to facilitate the launches expected in 1986 from Vandenberg Air Force Base.

posted 06-21-2010 04:04 AM               

• Flight: STS-41C
  
• Orbiter: Challenger
  
• Crew: CDR Bob Crippen, PLT Dick Scobee, MS1 Pinky Nelson, MS 2 Ox Van Hoften, MS3 TJ Hart.
  
• Launch Date: April 6th 1984
  
• Mission: Deploy Long Duration Exposure Facility (LDEF), Capture, repair and re deploy of Solar Max

  First of three flights to use the IMAX camera for the movie "The Dream Is Alive." Flight extended one day due to problems capturing Solar Max as after failed attempt with MMU had to be captured using RMS.

posted 06-21-2010 04:17 AM               

• Flight: STS-41D
  
• Orbiter: Discovery
  
• Crew: CDR Hank Hartsfield, PLT Mike Coats, MS1 Mike Mullane, MS2 Steve Hawley, MS3 Judy Resnik, PS1 Charlie Walker.
  
• Launch Date: August 30th 1984
  
• Mission: Deploy of SBS D, Telstar 3C, Syncom IV-2. Test of large solar array.

  Flight delayed two months after first on pad abort of the shuttle era. First flight of orbiter Discovery and only second US flight by a woman (Judy Resnik). Covered in Mike Mullane's amazing book "Riding Rockets." "Gee, I thought we'd be a lot higher at MECO."

posted 06-21-2010 04:59 AM               

• Flight: STS-41G
  
• Orbiter: Challenger
  
• Crew: CDR Bob Crippen, PLT Jon McBride, MS1 Kathy Sullivan, MS2 Sally Ride, MS3 Dave Leestma, PS1 Marc Garneau, PS2 Paul Scully Power
  
• Launch Date: October 5th 1984
  
• Mission ERBS deploy, SIR (Space Imaging Radar) B test and first EVA by a woman (Sullivan) to test refueling of satellites in orbit feasibility.

  First flight by an Australian and a Canadian and two women in space at the same time. Third and final flight to be filmed for "The Dream Is Alive." 13th flight.

posted 06-21-2010 02:41 PM               

quote:

---

Originally posted by ASCAN1984:
First flight to use new mission designation which would last up until STS-51L, when it would return to the normal STS-8 etc. Rumors persist that NASA did this to avoid flying an STS-13 (which became STS-41G) after the events of Apollo 13. (On a personal note I don't believe this is true.)

---

The other explanation, which is more plausible, is that with the cancelation of STS-10 and -12, payload problems, the on-pad abort and subsequent reshuffling, the flight schedule would look like: STS-9, STS-11, STS-13, STS-14, STS-17... so NASA adopted the alphanumeric nomenclature to avoid confusion, only to create more. Particularly since shuttle flights kept their STS number, and the alphanumerics, for the most part, referred to their payload.

For example, Cleave was announced as part of the 51D crew, which was to deploy SYNCOM, but more importantly to retrieve LDEF. That retrieval was still part of 51D when Brandenstein's crew was named to the mission, then dropped altogether when Bobko got the "new" 51D.

posted 06-22-2010 04:13 AM               

• Flight: STS-51A
  
• Orbiter: Discovery
  
• Crew: CDR Rick Hauck, PLT Dave Walker, MS1 Anna Fisher, MS2 Dale Gardner and MS3 Joe Allen
  
• Launch Date: November 8th 1984
  
• Mission: Deployment of Leasat l and Anik D2. Recovery of Palapa B-2 and Westar 6

posted 06-22-2010 05:40 AM               

• Flight: STS-51C
  
• Orbiter: Discovery
  
• Crew: CDR Ken Mattingly, PLT Loren Shriver, MS1 Ellison Onizuka, MS2 Jim Buchli and PS1 Gary Payton
  
• Launch Date: January 24th 1985
  
• Mission: First dedicated DOD Mission

  Coldest launch prior to STS-51L which resulted in severe blow by and the worst before STS 51L.

posted 06-22-2010 05:47 AM               

• Flight: STS-51D
  
• Orbiter: Discovery
  
• Crew: CDR Bo Bobko, PLT Don Williams, MS1 Rhea Seddon, MS2 Jeff Hoffman, MS3 Daveid Griggs, PS1 Charlie Walker, PS2 Jake Garn
  
• Launch Date: April 12th 1985
  
• Mission: Deployment of ANIK C-1 and LEASAT-3. Toys in space project and EVA by Griggs and Hoffman.

posted 06-22-2010 05:55 AM               

• Flight: STS-51B
  
• Orbiter: Challenger
  
• Crew: CDR Bob Overmyer, PLT Fred Gregory, MS1 Don Lind, MS2 Norm Thagard, MS3 Bill Thorton, PS1 Lodewijk van den Berg and PS2 Taylor Wang.
  
• Launch Date April 29th 1985
  
• Mission: Spacelab 2

  Don Lind was told after STS-51L by a Morton Thiokol engineer that his flight had similar O-ring problems than Challenger. The engineer said "you came within three-tenths of one second of dying."

posted 06-22-2010 06:01 AM               

• Flight: STS-51G
  
• Orbiter: Discovery
  
• Crew: CDR Dan Brandenstein, PLT John Creighton, MS1 Shannon Lucid, MS2 John Fabian, MS3 Steve Nagel, PS1 Patrick Baudry and PS2 Sultan bin Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud (first Saudi person in space)
  
• Launch Date: June 17th 1985
  
• Mission: Deploy three communication satellites, several get away specials and SPARTAN 1.

posted 06-23-2010 05:00 AM               

• Flight: STS-51F
  
• Orbiter: Challenger
  
• Crew: CDR Gordon Fullerton, PLT Roy Bridges, MS1 Story Musgrave, MS2 Tony England, MS3 Karl Henize, PS1 Loren Acton and PS2 John Bartoe
  
• Launch Date: July 29th 1985
  
• Mission: Spacelab 2, IPS (instument pointing system) Coke and Pepsi test containers.

  First and only time to date one of the four abort scenarios was used during an actual flight, Abort To Orbit.