Aug 8 1989
From The Space Library
An ESA Ariane 4 launch vehicle carrying a communications satellite and an orbital observatory was successfully launched from the Kourou space center in French Guiana. The payload consisted of a West German TVSAT-2 communications satellite and the Hipparcos orbiting star mapper. (SSR 1989 062A-D; LA Times, Aug 9/89)
An attempted launch of a Japanese H-1 launch vehicle was aborted after one of the rocket's main engines failed to ignite. (FBIS-Eas-89-151, Aug 8/89; WSJ, Aug 9/89; C Trib, Aug 9/89)
August 8-13: The Space Shuttle Columbia was successfully launched from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, on mission STS-28 to deploy a classified Department of Defense payload. This was the first launch of the Columbia orbiter in the three and a half years since the explosion of the Space Shuttle Challenger. Various media sources reported that Columbia had deployed an advanced military reconnaissance satellite and performed tests of Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI) hardware. Columbia landed at Edwards Air Force Base, California, on Sunday, August 13. (SSR 1989 061A; NASA PFOR, M-989-89-28; NASA MOR, E-199-89-28; UPI, Aug 8/89; AP Aug 8/89; NY Times, Aug 9/89; W Post, Aug 9/89; W Times, Aug 9/89; USA Today, Aug 9/89; LA Times, Aug 9/89; C Trib, Aug 9/89; P Inq, Aug 9/89; B Sun, Aug 9/89)
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