STS-41-C

Infobox Space mission
mission_name = STS-41-C
insignia = STS-41-C_patch.png shuttle = Challenger
launch_pad = 39-A
launch = April 6, 1984, 13:58:00 UTC
landing = April 13, 1984, 13:38:07 UTC
Edwards AFB
duration = 6d/23:40:07
altitude = 580 km
inclination = 28.5°
orbits = 108
distance = 4,619,000 km
crew_photo = STS-41-C-crew-small.jpg
crew_caption = Robert L. Crippen, right, Commander; and Francis R. Scobee, left, Pilot, flank the mission specialists -- (L-R) George D. Nelson, James D. van Hoften, and Terry J. Hart.
previous = STS-41-B
next = STS-41-D

STS-41-C was the 11th space shuttle mission and the fifth for "Challenger". The launch was the first direct ascent trajectory for a Shuttle mission. The mission was extended one day due to problems capturing the Solar Max satellite, and the landing was at Edwards Air Force Base instead of Kennedy Space Center as planned.

Crew

Number in parentheses indicates number of spaceflights by each individual prior to and including this mission.

* Robert L. Crippen (3) - Commander
* Francis R. Scobee (1) - Pilot
* George D. Nelson (1) - Mission Specialist
* James D. A. van Hoften (1) - Mission Specialist
* Terry J. Hart (1) - Mission Specialist

Mission parameters

*Mass:
**"Orbiter liftoff:" 115,361 kg
**"Orbiter landing:" 89,344 kg
**"Payload:" 17,357 kg
*Perigee: 222 km
*Apogee: 468 km
*Inclination: 28.5°
*Period: 91.4 min

pace walks

* " Nelson and van Hoften " - EVA 1
*EVA 1 Start: April 8, 1984 - 14:18 UTC
*EVA 1 End: April 8, - 16:56
*Duration: 2 hours, 38 minutes

* " Nelson and van Hoften " - EVA 2
*EVA 2 Start: April 11, 1984 - 08:58 UTC
*EVA 2 End: April 11, 1984 - 15:42 UTC
*Duration: 6 hours, 44 minutes

Mission highlights

In April 1984, "Challenger" was once again flying in space, this time on the STS 41-C mission. Liftoff took place at 8:58 a.m. EDT, on April 6, 1984. It marked the first direct ascent trajectory for the Shuttle which reached its 288 nautical miles (533 km) high orbit using the Orbiter Maneuvering System engines only once -- to circularize its orbit.

The flight had two primary objectives. The first was to deploy the huge Long Duration Exposure Facility (LDEF), a passive, retrievable, 21,300 lb (9,660 kg), 12-sided cylinder, 14 feet (4.3 m) in diameter and 30 feet (9 m) long carrying 57 experiments. The second objective was to capture, repair and redeploy the malfunctioning Solar Maximum Mission satellite -- "Solar Max" -- launched in 1980.

The five-man crew included Robert L. Crippen, commander, on his third Shuttle flight; pilot Francis R. Scobee; and mission specialists, James D. A. van Hoften, Terry J. Hart and George D. Nelson.

On the second day of the flight, the LDEF was grappled by the RMS arm and successfully released into orbit. Its 57 experiments, mounted in 86 removable trays were contributed by 200 researchers from eight countries. Retrieval of the passive LDEF had been scheduled during 1985, but schedule delays and the Challenger accident postponed the return until January 12, 1990 when "Columbia" retrieved LDEF on mission STS-32.

On the third day of the mission, "Challenger"'s orbit was raised to about 300 nautical miles (556 km), and it maneuvered to within 200 feet (60 m) of Solar Max. Astronauts Nelson and van Hoften, wearing space suits, entered the payload bay. Nelson, using the Manned Maneuvering Unit (MMU), flew out to the satellite and attempted to grasp it with a special capture tool called the Trunnion Pin Acquisition Device (TPAD). Three attempts to clamp the TPAD onto the satellite failed. It began tumbling on multiple axes when Nelson attempted to grab Solar Max by hand, by a solar array, and the effort was called off.

During the night, the Solar Max POCC, at Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Maryland, was able to establish control over the satellite by sending commands ordering the magnetic torque bars to stabilize the tumbling action. This was successful and the Solar Max went into a slow, regular spin.

The next day, Crippen maneuvered Challenger back to Solar Max and Hart was able to grapple Solar Max with the RMS. They placed Solar Max on a special cradle in the payload bay using the RMS. They then began the repair operation, replacing the satellite's attitude control mechanism and the main electronics system of the coronagraph instrument. The ultimately successful repair effort took two separate space walks. Solar Max was deployed back into orbit the next day, thus concluding one of the most unusual rescue and repair missions in the history of the space program.

After a 30 day checkout by the Goddard POCC, Solar Max resumed full operation.

Other STS 41-C mission activities included a student experiment located; in a middeck locker to determine how honeybees make honeycomb cells in a microgravity environment. They did so successfully, just as on Earth.

Highlights of the mission, including the LDEF deployment and the Solar Max repair were filmed using an IMAX movie camera, and the results appeared in the IMAX movie The Dream is Alive.

The 6-day, 23-hour, 40-minute, 7-second mission ended on April 13, at 5:38 a.m. PST, with "Challenger" landing on Runway 17, at Edwards AFB. It had completed 108 orbits. "Challenger" was returned to KSC on April 18.

ee also

* Space science
* Space shuttle
* List of space shuttle missions
* List of human spaceflights chronologically

External links

* [http://science.ksc.nasa.gov/shuttle/missions/41-c/mission-41-c.html NASA mission summary]
* [http://www.nss.org/resources/library/shuttlevideos/shuttle11.htm STS-41C Video Highlights]
* [http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0089050/ The Dream is Alive] IMAX film with footage from STS-41-C