STS-41-D facts for kids

Quick facts for kids
STS-41-D

The launch of Space Shuttle Discovery on its first mission on 30 August 1984.
Names	Space Transportation System-12
Mission type	Satellites deployment
Operator	NASA
Mission duration	6 days, 0 hour, 56 minutes, 4 seconds (achieved)
Distance travelled	4,010,000 km (2,490,000 mi)
Orbits completed	97
Spacecraft properties
Spacecraft	Space Shuttle Discovery
Launch mass	119,511 kg (263,477 lb)
Landing mass	91,418 kg (201,542 lb)
Payload mass	18,681 kg (41,185 lb)
Crew
Crew size	6
Members	Henry W. Hartsfield Jr. Michael L. Coats Richard M. Mullane Steven A. Hawley Judith A. Resnik Charles D. Walker
Start of mission
Launch date	30 August 1984, 12:41:50 UTC
Rocket	Space Shuttle Discovery
Launch site	Kennedy Space Center, LC-39A
Contractor	Rockwell International
End of mission
Landing date	5 September 1984, 13:37:54 UTC
Landing site	Edwards Air Force Base, Runway 17
Orbital parameters
Reference system	Geocentric orbit
Regime	Low Earth orbit
Perigee	346 km (215 mi)
Apogee	354 km (220 mi)
Inclination	28.50°
Period	90.60 minutes
STS-41-D mission patch Back row: Charles D. Walker, Judith A. Resnik Front row: Richard M. Mullane, Steven A. Hawley, Henry W. Hartsfield Jr., Michael L. Coats Space Shuttle program ← STS-41-C (11) STS-41-G (13) →

STS-41-D (formerly STS-14) was the 12th flight of NASA's Space Shuttle program, and the first mission of Space Shuttle Discovery. It was launched from Kennedy Space Center, Florida, on 30 August 1984, and landed at Edwards Air Force Base, California, on 5 September 1984. Three commercial communications satellites were deployed into orbit during the six-day mission, and a number of scientific experiments were conducted, including a prototype extendable solar array that would eventually form the basis of the main solar arrays on the International Space Station (ISS).

The mission was delayed by more than two months from its original planned launch date, having experienced the Space Shuttle program's first launch abort at T-6 seconds on 26 June 1984.

Crew

Crew seat assignments

Seat	Launch	Landing	Seats 1–4 are on the Flight Deck. Seats 5–7 are on the Middeck.
S1	Hartsfield	Hartsfield
S2	Coats	Coats
S3	Mullane	Resnik
S4	Hawley	Hawley
S5	Resnik	Mullane
S6	Walker	Walker

Mission background

The launch was originally planned for 25 June 1984, but because of a variety of technical problems, including rollback to the Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB) to replace a faulty Space Shuttle Main Engine (SSME), the launch was delayed by over two months. The 26 June 1984 launch attempt marked the first time since Gemini 6A that a crewed spacecraft had experienced a shutdown of its engines just prior to launch.

June 1984 launch attempt

During the 26 June 1984 launch attempt, there was a launch abort at T-6 seconds, followed by a pad fire about ten minutes later. Because the center engine had not started when the abort was triggered, confusion ensued as the flight controllers were unable to verify its state:

Commentary: "We have a cut off".
"NTD we have a RSLS (Redundant Set Launch Sequencer) abort".

Commentary: "We have an abort by the onboard computers of the orbiter Discovery".
"Break break, break break, GLS shows engine one not shut down".
"OK, PLT?"
"CSME verify engine one".
"You want me to shut down engine one?"
"We do not show engine start on one".
"OTC I can verify shutdown on verify on engine one, we haven't start prepped engine one".
"All engines shut down I can verify that".

Commentary: "We can now verify all three engines have been shut down".
"We have red lights on engines two and three in the cockpit, not on one".
"All right, CSME verify engine one safe for APU shutdown".
"If I can verify that?"
"OTC GPC go for APU shutdown".

Mission Specialist Steve Hawley was reported as saying following the abort: "Gee, I thought we'd be a lot higher at MECO (Main Engine Cut-Off)!". About ten minutes later, the following was heard on live TV coverage:

"We have indication two of our fire detectors on the zero level; no response. They're side by side right next to the engine area. The engineer requested that we turn on the heat shield fire water which is what could be seen spraying up in the vicinity of the engine bells of Discovery's three main engines".

While evacuating the shuttle, the crew was doused with water from the pad deluge system, which was activated due to a hydrogen fire on the launch pad caused by the free hydrogen (fuel) that had collected around the engine nozzles following the shutdown and engine anomaly. Because the fire was invisible to humans, had the astronauts used the normal emergency escape procedure across the service arm to the slidewire escape baskets, they would have run into the fire.

Changes to procedures resulting from the abort included more practicing of "safing" the orbiter following aborts at various points, the use of the fire suppression system in all pad aborts, and the testing of the slidewire escape system with a real person (Charles F. Bolden Jr.). It emerged that launch controllers were reluctant to order the crew to evacuate during the STS-41-D abort, as the slidewire had not been ridden by a human.

Examination of telemetry data indicated that the engine malfunction had been caused by a stuck valve that prevented proper flow of LOX into the combustion chamber.

Mission summary

STS-41-D launched on 08:41:50 a.m. EDT on 30 August 1984 after a six-minute, fifty-second delay when a private aircraft flew into the restricted airspace near the launch pad. It was the fourth launch attempt for Discovery. Because of the two-month delay, the STS-41-F mission was canceled (STS-41-E had already been canceled), and its primary payloads were included on the STS-41-D flight. The combined cargo weighed over 18,681 kg (41,185 lb), a record for a Space Shuttle payload up to that time.

The six-person flight crew consisted of Henry W. Hartsfield Jr., commander, making his second shuttle mission; pilot Michael L. Coats; three mission specialists – Judith A. Resnik, Richard M. Mullane and Steven A. Hawley; and a payload specialist, Charles D. Walker, an employee of McDonnell Douglas. Walker was the first commercially sponsored payload specialist to fly aboard the Space Shuttle. Resnik became the second American woman to fly any NASA space mission, after Sally K. Ride.

Primary cargo of Discovery consisted of three commercial communications satellites: SBS-4 for Satellite Business Systems, Telstar 302 for Telesat of Canada, and Syncom IV-2, or Leasat-2, a Hughes-built satellite leased to the U.S. Navy; all three were Hughes-built satellites. Leasat-2 was the first large communications satellite designed specifically to be deployed from the Space Shuttle. All three satellites were deployed successfully and became operational.

Another payload was the OAST-1 solar array, a device 4 m (13 ft) wide and 31 m (102 ft) high, which folded into a package 18 cm (7.1 in) deep. The array carried a number of different types of experimental solar cells and was extended to its full height several times during the mission. At the time, it was the largest structure ever extended from a crewed spacecraft, and it demonstrated the feasibility of large lightweight solar arrays for use on future orbital installations, such as the International Space Station (ISS).

The McDonnell Douglas-sponsored Continuous Flow Electrophoresis System (CFES) experiment, using living cells, was more elaborate than the one flown on previous missions, and payload specialist Walker operated it for more than 100 hours during the flight. A student experiment to study crystal growth in microgravity was also carried out. The highlights of the mission were filmed using an IMAX motion picture camera, and later appeared in the 1985 documentary film The Dream is Alive. Because of an obstruction in the shuttle's external wastewater dumping system, a 61 cm (24 in) "pee-sicle" formed during the mission; Hartsfield removed it with the Remote Manipulator System (Canadarm).

On 3 September 1984, concern arose over the formation of ice on the waste dump nozzle of the shuttle. The next day, Hartsfield used the shuttle's robotic arm to dislodge the large chunk of ice.

The mission lasted 6 days, 0 hour, 56 minutes, and 4 seconds, with landing taking place on Runway 17 at Edwards Air Force Base at 06:37:54 a.m. PDT on 5 September 1984. During STS-41-D, Discovery traveled a total of 4,010,000 km (2,490,000 mi) and made 97 orbits. The orbiter was transported back to KSC on 10 September 1984. Ominously, STS-41-D was the first Shuttle mission in which blow-by damage to the SRB O-rings was discovered, with a small amount of soot found beyond the primary O-ring. Following the Challenger tragedy, Morton Thiokol engineer Brian Russell called this finding the first "big red flag" on SRB Joint and O-ring safety.

Launch attempts

Mission insignia

The 12 stars within the blue field indicate the flight's original numerical designation as STS-12 in the Space Transportation System's mission sequence. A representation of Discovery's namesake is manifested in a sailing ship, which is linked to the Shuttle (with the OAST solar array in the payload bay) via a red, white, and blue path, signifying its maiden voyage.

Wake-up calls

NASA began a tradition of playing music to astronauts during the Project Gemini, and first used music to wake up a flight crew during Apollo 15. Each track is specially chosen, often by the astronauts' families, and usually has a special meaning to an individual member of the crew, or is applicable to their daily activities.

Gallery

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  SBS-D deployment

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  Syncom IV-2 deployment

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  Telstar 3C deployment

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  The extended OAST-1 solar array

See also

In Spanish: STS-41-D para niños