Feb 3 1984
From The Space Library
February 3-10: NASA launched at 8:00 a.m. EST from Kennedy Space Center (KSC) the Space Shuttle Challenger on mission 51-D, what space observers called the most dangerous Space Shuttle mission to date. Commander of the flight was Vance D. Brand, 52, a former Marine pilot and veteran of two spaceflights, and the pilot was Navy Cmdr. Robert L. Gibson, 37, who flew combat missions in Vietnam. The mission specialists were Navy Capt. Bruce McCandless, 46; Lt. Col. Robert L. Stewart, 41, the first Army officer to make a spaceflight; and Dr. Ronald McNair, a physicist.
Seven hours after launch, the astronauts pushed Westar VI, Western Union's $30 million satellite, out of the cargo bay to join two identical satellites already serving North America. However, NASA officials said that the satellite could not be contacted by radio and was considered lost in space. Officials said that the satellite's on-board rocket engine, which was to propel it into higher orbit, either misfired or never fired. Radars operated by the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NAADC) later found the satellite in an erratic orbit above and behind Challenger. The radars found two large pieces in an orbit more than 800 miles high at its peak and just over 200 miles high at its lowest point above Earth.
On February 5, a large balloon that the astronauts were to chase through space exploded just after it had begun to inflate. Plans called for the astronauts to back up to 120 miles away from the balloon, then move in over the next eight hours to contact it. Instead, the crew spent 90 minutes tracking pieces of the balloon and never got farther than 20 or 30 miles from the debris. The astronauts tracked the balloon's largest piece with radar for almost 20 miles and used special binoculars and an optical sextant to follow the same piece more than 20 miles by watching sunlight reflected off the balloon's aluminum surface.
The Indonesian satellite Palapa-B2, launched February 6, went into a useless orbit, believed to be caused by the same technical problem that Westar VI suffered. The NAADC located Palapa-B2 about seven hours after its ejection from the Challenger's cargo bay, but it was in an orbit so low that it "can-not perform its mission," said Richard Brandes of Hughes Aircraft Company, builder of the satellite. He added that both satellites' rocket motors apparently shut down 15 seconds early; they were intended to burn for 80 seconds.
On February 7, astronauts Bruce McCandless and Robert Stewart left Challenger and flew unrestrained for the first time., adding another milepost to man's conquest of space. They unhooked their lifelines and rose up more than 100 yards away from the Space Shuttle. Propelled by $10 million jet-powered backpacks, they traveled at 4.8 miles a second, although they had no sensation of speed. The two reentered Challenger after 5 hours and 55 minutes. The exercise was a rehearsal for the next Shuttle flight, when other astronauts would try to retrieve an ailing satellite, bring it into the cargo bay for repair, and release it to orbit again. On February 9 the two took a second walk in space, which lasted 6 hours and 17 minutes.
The Space Shuttle made its first landing at KSC on February 11, when it touched down at 7:16 a.m. EST. The Florida landing had been a Shuttle program goal because it would save money and time by eliminating sending maintenance crews to California to prepare the vehicle for a return flight to Florida on the back of a Boeing 747. It was the first Florida landing in two attempts and the first of six planned for the year. Challenger was in relatively good shape following the landing, although its windshield, fuselage, and landing gear were damaged. The windows were hazed and pitted; and 31 of its 33,000 protective tiles, two brake assemblies, and all four tires on the main landing wheels would have to replaced. Repairs should not slow the preparation of Challenger for its next flight in April. (NASA MOR M-989-41-B [prelaunch] Jan 30/84; NASA Dly Acty Rept, Feb 6/84; W Post, Feb 2/84, A-2, Feb 4/84, A-1, Feb 5/84, A-1, Feb 5/84, A-1, Feb 8/84, A-1, Feb 9/84, A-12, Feb 11/84, A-2, Feb 12/84, A-1, Feb 13/84, A-3; W Times, Feb 6/84, 2A, Feb 7/84, IA, Feb 8/84, IA; USA Today, Feb 6/84, A-1)
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