naut Bruce McCandless II flew it nearly one hun-
dred meters from the space shuttle. Each satellite’s
PAM failed, stranding these satellites in useless or-
bits. Engineers began devising rescue plans for these
expensive communications satellites.Challenger
achieved the first landing at KSC on February 11.
STS 41-C was the first satellite repair mission. The
Solar Max observatory had malfunctioned, but its
problems were understood.Challengerlaunched on
April 6, and, after rendezvousing, astronaut George
D. Nelson flew the MMU to Solar Max but could not
dock. Commander Crippen then maneuveredChal-
lengerwithin thirty-five feet of the observatory, and
the RMS arm grappled it. Solar Max was secured to a
work platform where astronauts repaired it. The ob-
servatory was released to continue its research.Dis-
covery’s first flight (STS 41-D) occurred on August
- The space shuttle carried three satellites and a
large folded solar array designed for a space station.
The latter contained no functional solar cells, as this
was an array deployment dynamics test.Discover y
landed at Edwards Air Force Base after six days.Chal-
lengerlaunched on October 5. STS 41-G included
deployment of an Earth resources satellite, the first
time that seven people were simultaneously launched
into space, and the first space walk performed by an
American woman, Kathryn D. Sullivan. Astronauts
Sullivan and David Leetsma demonstrated satellite re-
fueling methods.Challengerlanded at KSC after eight
days.Discover ylaunched on November 8. STS 51-A de-
ployed two satellites like those on STS 41-B and cap-
tured the wayward STS 41-B satellites, Westar 6 and
Palapa B-2. Astronauts Dale Gardner and Joseph P.
Allen used the MMU to dock and capture the satel-
lites, strapping them inDiscover y’s payload bay for
return to Earth at KSC after eight days.
1985 Missions The STS 51-C mission was the first
fully classified DOD shuttle flight. InsideDiscover y
on January 24, 1985, was a classified electronic intel-
ligence (ELINT) payload. After deployment, it suf-
fered an IUS malfunction, but the ELINT satellite
did collect reconnaissance data. After three days,
Discover yreturned to KSC.
Senator Jake Garn of Utah was an observer on
STS 51-D, which launched on April 12. Two satellites
were deployed fromDiscover y’s payload bay. How-
ever, the Syncom IV satellite failed to activate after
deployment. Astronauts attached a makeshift device
to the RMS arm’s end effector during an unsched-
uled space walk. They dragged this device against a
satellite lever designed to start a timer for solid-
fueled rocket ignition; the attempt failed.Discover y
landed at KSC after six days.Challenger’s STS 51-B/
Spacelab 3 mission began with an April 29 liftoff and
lasted seven days. Scientists inside Spacelab per-
formed fifteen primary experiments in materials sci-
ence, life sciences, fluid physics, atmospheric phys-
ics, and astronomy.
On July 17, Discover yflew its fifth mission, STS 51-G.
NASA’s crew hosted a Saudi prince, Sultan Salman Al-
Saud, as Saudi Arabia had partially paid for the mis-
sion. During the mission, astronauts deployed three
satellites, including an Arabsat communications
satellite.Challenger’s STS 51-F/Spacelab 2 mission
experienced an ascent mishap on July 29. One main
engine shut down prematurely. The space shuttle ex-
ecuted an abort-to-orbit profile, entering a lower
altitude than preferred.Challenger’s payload bay
carried a sophisticated pointing system for a suite
of four solar astrophysics telescopes. The shuttle’s
thrusters raised the orbit slightly, and research was
carried out despite nagging pointing system prob-
lems.Discover yflew STS 51-I, launching on August- Three satellites were deployed during the seven-
day mission. A spacewalking repair of the Syncom IV
satellite succeeded, and the satellite’s solid rocket
motor fired to boost it into an operational position.
Discover ylanded at Edwards Air Force Base.
STS 51-J saw the first flight ofAtlantis, launched
on October 3. During the four-day classified DOD
mission, a military communications satellite was de-
ployed.Atlantisreturned to Earth at Edwards Air
Force Base.
The seven-day-long STS 61-A/Spacelab D-1 re-
search mission was the first to involve control from
an international (German) control center. Three
ESA payload specialists flew among the first eight-
person crew.Challengerreturned to Earth at Edwards
Air Force Base.Atlantis’s STS 61-B mission launched
on November 26. Three satellites were deployed,
and astronauts tested orbital construction tech-
niques.Atlantislanded at Edwards Air Force Base af-
ter seven days.
Robust 1985 space shuttle operations stretched
program assets thin. Pressure existed to increase
flight rates to make the shuttle financially self-
sufficient, but problems surfaced during the early
years of operations. One recurring, serious problem
involved SRB joint O-ring erosion. Joint design re-
900 Space shuttle program The Eighties in America