Manned Flight n°: 103 |
Earth orbit Flight n°: 100 |
USA manned Flight n°: 46 |
Launch, orbit & landing data:
| Designation | 15496 / 85010A |
| Launch date - time | 24 Jan 1985 - 19:50:00 UT |
| Launch site | KSC, LC39A |
| Launch vehicle |
Space Shuttle |
| Orbiter | Discovery OV-103 (#3) |
| Primary payload | DoD (USA-8) |
| Mass (kg) | |
| Call Sign | |
| Earth orbit on : |
| - Perigee / Apogee | km |
| - Inclination | 29.5° |
| - Period | min |
| Landing date - time | 27 Jan 1985 - 21:23:23 UT |
| Landing location | KSC, Runway 15 |
| Flight Duration (d:hr:min) | 3d 01h 33m |
| Nbr orbits | 49 |
|
|
100 th orbital mission.
Flight Crew
| Nr. |
Surname |
Giben name |
Job |
Duration |
| 1 |
Mattingly |
Thomas Kenneth II |
CDR |
3d 01h 33m |
| 2 |
Shriver |
Loren James |
PLT |
3d 01h 33m |
| 3 |
Onizuka |
Ellison Shoji |
MSP |
3d 01h 33m |
| 4 |
Buchli |
James Frederick |
MSP |
3d 01h 33m |
| 5 |
Payton |
Gary Eugene |
MSE |
3d 01h 33m |
Mission details:
Launch from Cape Canaveral (KSC); landing in Cape
Canaveral (KSC); first Shuttle-mission dedicated to Department of Defense;
U.S. Air Force Inertial Upper Stage (IUS/SIGINT) booster deployed and met
mission objectives; Payton first military astronaut.
24 January 1985
19:55 GMT. Duration: 3.06 days.LV Configuration: STS-20 (51-C). Payload: Discovery F03 / Magnum 1 [IUS]. Perigee: 332 km. Apogee: 341 km. Inclination: 28.4 deg. Period: 91.3 min.
 | STS-51-C - Launch of Shuttle Discovery and the STS 51-C mission - Credit: NASA. 47,891 bytes. 608 x 608 pixels. |
Manned five crew. Deployed USA 8 (Aquacade ELINT spacecraft). Orbits of Earth: 48. Landed at: Runway 15 at Kennedy Space Center, Florida. Landing Speed: 342 kph. Touchdown miss distance: 839.00 m. Landing Rollout: 2,240.00 m. Payloads: Department of Defence classified payloads.
 | STS-51-C - Astronaut Ellison Onizuka eating with chopsticks on the middeck - Credit: NASA. 47,070 bytes. 527 x 527 pixels. |
NASA Official Mission NarrativeMission Name: 51-C (15)
DISCOVERY (3)
Pad 39-A (27)
15th Shuttle mission
3rd Flight OV-103
4th KSC landing
Crew:
Thomas K. Mattingly II (3), Commander
Loren J. Shriver (1), Pilot
Ellison S. Onizuka (1), Mission Specialist 1
James F. Buchli (1), Mission Specialist 2
Gary E. Payton (1), Payload Specialist 1
 | STS-51-C - Astronauts Onizuka and Shriver pose in middeck - Credit: NASA. 50,223 bytes. 623 x 623 pixels. |
Milestones:
OPF - Nov. 16,1984
VAB - Dec. 21, 1984
PAD - Jan. 5,1985 Payload:
DoD 85-1
Mission Objectives:
Launch:
January 24, 1985, 2:50:00 p.m. EST. Launch Jan. 23 scrubbed due to freezing weather conditions. (Orbiter CHALLENGER scheduled for Mission 51-C, but thermal tile problems forced substitution of Discovery.) Launch Weight: 250,891 lbs
Orbit:
Altitude: 220nm
Inclination: 28.5 degrees
Orbits: 49
Duration: 3 days, 1 hour, 33 minutes, 23 seconds.
Distance: 1,250,000 miles
 | STS-51-C - Mission Specialist Ellison Onizuka seated at commander's station - Credit: NASA. 35,981 bytes. 346 x 346 pixels. |
Hardware:
SRB: BI-015
SRM: 015LW(HPM)
ET : 14/LWT-7
MLP : 1
SSME-1: SN-2109
SSME-2: SN-2018
SSME-3: SN-2012 Landing:
January 27, 1985, 4:23:23 p.m. EST, Runway 15, Kennedy Space Center, Fla. Rollout distance: 7,352 feet. Rollout time: 50 seconds. Landing Weight: classified.
 | STS-51-C - Landing of the shuttle Discovery at end of STS 51-C mission - Credit: NASA. 16,557 bytes. 552 x 552 pixels. |
Mission Highlights:
First mission dedicated to Department of Defense. U.S. Air Force Inertial Upper Stage (IUS) booster deployed and met mission objectives.
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Ref.: #1, #6, #7, #8, #16 - update: 16.03.06
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