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Author
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Topic: Two space shuttle launches within 5 days?
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Cozmosis22
Member Posts: 968
From: Texas * Earth
Registered: Apr 2011
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posted 02-23-2019 01:22 PM
  
Yes indeed, NASA had ambitious plans for the space shuttle back in the early days. This Kennedy Space Center schedule card printed in December of 1985 shows back to back launches proposed from Pad 39B and then Pad A.STS-35 (61-F) had a planned launch date of Challenger on Thursday May 15, 1986. That was to be followed by Atlantis on mission STS-36 (61-G) on the following Tuesday, May 20th.  |
OV-105
Member Posts: 816
From: Ridgecrest, CA
Registered: Sep 2000
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posted 02-23-2019 02:38 PM
That was going to be the launches for Galileo and Ulysses probes. There was a tight launch window to send them out to Jupiter. I have read that they had plans to be able to have both shuttles in orbit at the same time if it was needed. |
Jim Behling
Member Posts: 1463
From: Cape Canaveral, FL
Registered: Mar 2010
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posted 02-23-2019 02:39 PM
That was common knowledge. Those two launches were for the Galileo and Ulysses missions on Shuttle Centaurs that had the same launch periods.
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Tom
Member Posts: 1597
From: New York
Registered: Nov 2000
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posted 02-23-2019 10:39 PM
In addition to the back to back flights in May, 1986 had a schedule of 14 shuttle missions... two which were scheduled from Vandenberg in California. |
Ronpur
Member Posts: 1211
From: Brandon, Fl
Registered: May 2012
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posted 02-24-2019 06:23 AM
How could both those flights be processed in OPF bay 2 and VAB High Bay 1 for flights that were a few days apart? Was one of them planned to be rolled out a month early to make room for the second? |
Jim Behling
Member Posts: 1463
From: Cape Canaveral, FL
Registered: Mar 2010
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posted 02-24-2019 07:38 AM
There were two OPF bays, the OMRF and VAB High bay 4 for orbiters. VAB Highbays 1 and 3 could stack shuttle vehicles. |
Hart Sastrowardoyo
Member Posts: 3445
From: Toms River, NJ
Registered: Aug 2000
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posted 02-24-2019 10:27 AM
61I had a scheduled launch date of Sept. 27, 1986 and 62B was scheduled to launch from VAFB two days later.That was to be repeated in 1987 with the launch of 71E (March 16) and 72A (March 18). And then 71F was going to launch on March 24, a day after 71E and 72A landed! Further out: 81B, launching Nov. 9, 1987, on a seven-day mission and 81C launching Nov. 16; 82A, launching April 1, 1988 and 81I, launching April 6, 1988; 81K, launching June 8, 1988 for seven days and then 81L, launching June 14, 1988; and then 82B, launching July 15, 1988, and 81M, launching July 20, 1988. All according to the Nov. 1985 baseline shuttle flight assignments for payloads manifest. |
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