- STS-7
Infobox Space mission
mission_name = STS-7
insignia = STS-7 patch.svg
shuttle = Challenger
launch_pad = 39-A
launch =June 18 ,1983 , 11:33:00UTC
landing =June 24 ,1983 , 14:56:59 UTCEdwards Airforce Base
duration = 6d/02:23:59
altitude = 296 to 315 km
inclination = 28.5°
orbits = 97
distance = 4,072,553 km)
crew_photo = Sts-7-crew.jpg
crew_caption = L-R: Ride, Fabian, Crippen, Thagard, Hauck
previous =STS-6
next =STS-8 STS-7 was a
space shuttle mission byNASA using the Space Shuttle "Challenger", launchedJune 18 ,1983 . This was the seventhspace shuttle mission, and was the second mission for the Space Shuttle "Challenger". It was also the first American mission to have a femaleastronaut .Crew
Number in parentheses indicates number of spaceflights by each individual prior to and including this mission.
*
Robert L. Crippen (2) - Commander
*Frederick H. Hauck (1) - Pilot
*John M. Fabian (1) - Mission Specialist
*Sally K. Ride (1) - Mission Specialist
*Norman E. Thagard (1) - Mission SpecialistMission parameters
*
Mass :
**"Orbiter Liftoff:" 113,025 kg
**"Orbiter Landing:" 92,550 kg
**"Payload:" 16,839 kg
*Perigee : 299 km
*Apogee : 307 km
*Inclination : 28.3°
*Period: 90.6 minMission highlights
The "Challenger"’s second flight began at 7:33 a.m. EST,
June 18 ,1983 , with another on-time liftoff. It was the first flight of an American woman in space -- Sally K. Ride -- and also the largest crew to fly in a single spacecraft up to that time, five people.Crew members included
Robert L. Crippen , commander, making his second Shuttle flight;Frederick H. Hauck , pilot; Ride,John M. Fabian andNorman Thagard , all mission specialists. Thagard conducted medical tests of theSpace Adaptation Syndrome nausea and sickness frequently experienced by astronauts during the early phase of a space flight.Two
communications satellite s -- Anik C-2 for Telesat ofCanada , andPalapa B-l forIndonesia -- were successfully deployed during the first 2 days of the mission. The mission also carried the first Shuttle Pallet Satellite (SPAS-l) built by Messerschmitt-Bolkow-Blohm, a West German aerospace firm. SPAS-l wasunique in that it was designed to operate in the payload bay or be deployed by the RMS as a free-flying satellite. It carried 10 experiments to study formation of metal alloys in microgravity, the operation ofheat pipe s, instruments for remote sensing observations, and a mass spectrometer to identify various gases in the payload bay. It was deployed by the RMS and flew alongside and over "Challenger" for several hours while a U.S.-supplied camera took pictures from the SPAS-1 of the orbiter performing various maneuvers. The RMS later grappled the pallet and returned it to the payload bay.This mission also carried seven GAS canisters which contained a wide variety of experiments, as well as the OSTA-2 payload, a joint U.S.-West German scientific pallet payload. Finally, the orbiter's Ku-band antenna was able to relay data through the Tracking and Data Relay Satellite to a ground terminal for the first time.
STS-7 was scheduled to make the first Shuttle landing at the
Kennedy Space Center 's Shuttle Landing Facility. However, unacceptable weather forced a change to Runway 23 atEdwards AFB . The landing took placeJune 24 , 1983, at 6:57 a.m. PDT. The mission lasted 6 days, 2 hours, 23 minutes, 59 seconds. It covered about 2.2 million miles during 97 orbits of the Earth. "Challenger" was returned to KSC on June 29.Mission insignia
The seven white stars in the black field of the mission patch, as well as the arm extending from the shuttle in the shape of a 7, tell the flight's numerical designation in the Space Transportation System's mission sequence. The five-armed symbol on the right side illustrates the four male/one female crew.
ee also
*
Space science
*Space shuttle
*Space Shuttle Challenger
*List of space shuttle missions
*List of human spaceflights chronologically External links
* [http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/shuttle/shuttlemissions/archives/sts-7.html STS-7 Mission Data]
* [http://www-pao.ksc.nasa.gov/kscpao/chron/sts-7.htm STS-7 Mission Chronology]
* [http://www.nss.org/resources/library/shuttlevideos/shuttle07.htm STS-7 Video Highlights]
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