Covey

Engle

Fisher William

Lounge

van Hoften

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STS-51-I Credit - NASA

27 August 1985 11:16 GMT. Landing Date: 1985-09-03 13:34:30 PM. Flight Time: 7.10 days. Flight Up: STS-51-I. Flight Back: STS-51-I. Call Sign: Discovery. Crew: Covey, Engle, Fisher William, Lounge, van Hoften. Program: STS.

Of note: First retrieval, repair, and relaunch of a satellite in orbit.

What went wrong: Suffered primary O-ring erosion in two locations on the left-hand SRM nozzle joint. There was no blow-by. Manned five crew. Launched Aussat 1, ASC 1, Leasat 4; repaired Leasat 3. Payloads: Deploy ASC (American Satellite Company)-1 with Payload Assist Modue (PAM)-D. Deploy AUSSAT (Australian communications satellite)-1 with PAM-D. Deploy Syncom IV-4 communications satellite with its unique stage. Retrieve Leasat-3 communications satellite, repair and deploy by extravehicular activity (EVA) astronauts. Physical Vapor Transport Organic Solids (PVTOS) experiment.

Orbits of Earth: 111. Distance traveled: 4,698,602 km. Orbiter Liftoff Mass: 118,981 kg. Orbiter Mass at Landing: 89,208 kg. Payload to Orbit: 19,952 kg. Payload Returned: 6,101 kg. Landed at: Runway 23 dry lake bed at Edwards Air Force Base, . Landing Speed: 353 kph. Touchdown miss distance: 640 m. Landing Rollout: 1,859 m. EVA: James van Hoften and William Fisher. EVA 1 duration 7 hours, 20 minutes, EVA 2 duration 4 hours, 31 minutes.

STS-51-I Credit- www.spacefacts.de

Mission Name: 51-I (20)
DISCOVERY (6)
Pad 39-A (32)
20th Shuttle mission
6th Flight OV-103
Shortened mission

Crew:
Joseph H. Engle (2), Commander
Richard O. Covey (1), Pilot
James D. A. van Hoften (2), Mission Specialist 1
John M. Lounge (1), Mission Specialist 2
William F. Fisher (1), Mission Specialist 3

Milestones:
OPF - June 29, 1985
VAB - July 30, 1985
PAD - Aug. 6, 1985

Payload:
ASC-1,AUSSAT-1,LEASAT-4,PVTOS
Mission Objectives:

Launch:
August 27, 1985, 6:58:01 a.m. EDT. Launch Aug. 24 scrubbed at T-5 minutes due to thunderstorms in vicinity. Launch Aug. 25 delayed when orbiter's number five on-board general purpose computer failed. Launch Aug. 27 delayed three minutes, one second due to combination of weather and unauthorized ship entering restricted solid rocket booster recovery area. Launch Weight: 262,309 lbs.
Orbit:
Altitude: 242nm
Inclination: 28.45 degrees
Orbits: 112
Duration: 7 days, 2 hours, 17 minutes, 42 seconds.
Distance: 2,919,576 miles

Hardware:
SRB: BI-020
SRM: L020(HPM)
ET : 21/LWT-14
MLP : 1
SSME-1: SN-2109
SSME-2: SN-2018
SSME-3: SN-2012

Landing:
September 3, 1985, 6:15:43 a.m. PDT, Runway 23, Edwards Air Force Base, Calif. Rollout distance: 6,100 feet. Rollout time: 47 seconds. Mission shortened one day when AUSSAT sunshield hung up on remote manipulator system camera and AUSSAT had to be deployed before scheduled. Orbiter returned to KSC Sept. 8, 1985. Landing Weight: 196,674 lbs.

Mission Highlights:
Three communications satellites deployed: ASC-1 , for American Satellite Company; AUSSAT-1, an Australian Communications Satellite; and SYNCOM IV-4, the Synchronous Communications Satellite. ASC-1 and AUSSAT-1 both attached to Payload Assist Module-D (PAM-D) motors. SYNCOM IV-4 (also known as LEASAT-4) failed to function after reaching correct geosynchronous orbit. Fisher and van Hoften performed 11 hours, 27 minutes of space walk. Part of time spent retrieving, repairing and redeploying LEASAT-3, deployed on Mission 51-D. Middeck

Payload: Physical Vapor Transport Organic Solid Experiment (PVTOS).

• 1985 Aug 27 - STS-51-I  Crew: Covey, Engle, Fisher William, Lounge, van Hoften. Spacecraft: Discovery. Payload: Discovery F06 / Syncom-4 4 [Orbus-7S] / Aussat A1. Mass: 19,952 kg (43,986 lb). Launch Site: Cape Canaveral. Launch Vehicle: Shuttle. Duration: 7.10 days. Perigee: 351 km (218 mi). Apogee: 364 km (226 mi). Inclination: 28.50 deg. Period: 91.70 min.

  STS-51-I Astronaut James van Hoften on RMS tracking Syncom IV-3 after deployment... Credit- NASA

  Manned five crew. Launched Aussat 1, ASC 1, Leasat 4; repaired Leasat 3. Payloads: Deploy ASC (American Satellite Company)-1 with Payload Assist Modue (PAM)-D. Deploy AUSSAT (Australian communications satellite)-1 with PAM-D. Deploy Syncom IV-4 communications satellite with its unique stage. Retrieve Leasat-3 communications satellite, repair and deploy by extravehicular activity (EVA) astronauts. Physical Vapor Transport Organic Solids (PVTOS) experiment.

• 1985 Aug 31 - EVA STS-51-I-1  Crew: van Hoften, Fisher William. EVA Type: Extra-Vehicular Activity. EVA Duration: 0.31 days. Spacecraft: Discovery.

  Captured Syncom F3 and began repairs.

• 1985 Sep 1 - EVA STS-51-I-2  Crew: van Hoften, Fisher William. EVA Type: Extra-Vehicular Activity. EVA Duration: 0.19 days. Spacecraft: Discovery.

  Completed Syncom F3 repairs and redeployed satellite.

• 1985 Sep 3 - Landing of STS-51-I 

  STS-51-I landed at 13:34 GMT.