STS-7 facts for kids

Quick facts for kids
STS-7

Challenger as photographed by the SPAS-1 satellite on 22 June 1983
Names	Space Transportation System-7
Mission type	Communications satellites deployment Microgravity research
Operator	NASA
Mission duration	6 days, 2 hours, 23 minutes, 59 seconds (achieved)
Distance travelled	3,570,000 km (2,220,000 mi)
Orbits completed	97
Spacecraft properties
Spacecraft	Space Shuttle Challenger
Launch mass	113,025 kg (249,177 lb)
Landing mass	92,550 kg (204,040 lb)
Payload mass	16,839 kg (37,124 lb)
Crew
Crew size	5
Members	Robert Crippen Frederick Hauck John M. Fabian Sally Ride Norman Thagard
Start of mission
Launch date	June 18, 1983, 11:33:00 UTC
Rocket	Space Shuttle Challenger
Launch site	Kennedy Space Center, LC-39A
Contractor	Rockwell International
End of mission
Landing date	June 24, 1983, 13:56:59 UTC
Landing site	Edwards Air Force Base, Runway 15
Orbital parameters
Reference system	Geocentric orbit
Regime	Low Earth orbit
Perigee	299 km (186 mi)
Apogee	307 km (191 mi)
Inclination	28.30°
Period	90.60 minutes
STS-7 mission patch Ride, Fabian, Crippen, Thagard, Hauck Space Shuttle program ← STS-6 STS-8 →

STS-7 was the seventh Space Shuttle mission by NASA. It was also the second flight for the Space Shuttle Challenger. This mission was very important because it deployed several satellites into orbit. It also carried Sally Ride, who became the first American woman to travel into space. The Challenger launched from Kennedy Space Center on June 18, 1983. It landed at Edwards Air Force Base on June 24, 1983.

Meet the STS-7 Crew

The STS-7 mission had a crew of five astronauts. This was the largest crew to fly in a single spacecraft at that time.

Who Supported the Crew?

A team of support astronauts helped the main crew. They were:

• John E. Blaha
• Roy D. Bridges Jr. (ascent CAPCOM)
• Guy Gardner
• Terry Hart
• Jon McBride
• Bryan D. O'Connor (entry CAPCOM)

Where Did They Sit?

The astronauts had specific seats for launch and landing.

Seat	Launch	Landing	This diagram shows where astronauts sit. Seats 1-4 are on the Flight Deck, and seats 5-7 are on the Middeck.
S1	Crippen	Crippen
S2	Hauck	Hauck
S3	Fabian	Fabian
S4	Ride	Ride
S5	Thagard	Thagard

Mission Highlights

The STS-7 mission began on June 18, 1983. The Challenger lifted off right on time. This flight was historic for several reasons.

Firsts on This Mission

• It was the first time an American woman, Sally Ride, flew into space.
• It was the first time five astronauts flew together in one spacecraft.
• It was the first flight for astronauts from NASA's Group 8, chosen in 1978.
• President Ronald Reagan even sent his favorite Jelly Belly jelly beans into space with the crew. This made them the first jelly beans in space! The crew had also eaten lunch with the president at the White House before their launch.

Science and Experiments in Space

The crew had many tasks during their mission.

• Norman Thagard performed medical tests. He studied Space adaptation syndrome, which is like motion sickness astronauts can get in space.
• Two communications satellites were successfully launched. These were Anik C2 for Canada and Palapa B1 for Indonesia. Both were built by Hughes.
• The mission also carried the first Shuttle pallet satellite (SPAS-1). This satellite was built by a West German company.
• SPAS-1 was special because it could fly freely outside the shuttle. It was deployed by the Canadarm, a robotic arm.
• SPAS-1 carried 10 experiments. These experiments studied how metal alloys form in microgravity. They also looked at how heat pipes work and used instruments for remote sensing. A mass spectrometer identified gases in the shuttle's cargo bay.
• While SPAS-1 flew near Challenger, a camera on SPAS-1 took pictures of the shuttle. Later, the Canadarm grabbed SPAS-1 and put it back into the shuttle's cargo bay.
• STS-7 also carried seven Getaway Special (GAS) canisters. These held many different experiments.
• Another payload was OSTA-2, a science project from the U.S. and West Germany.
• For the first time, the shuttle's Ku-band antenna sent data through a U.S. tracking satellite (TDRS) to the ground.

Landing and Mission End

The STS-7 mission was supposed to land at the new Shuttle Landing Facility at Kennedy Space Center. However, bad weather forced a change. The Challenger landed at Edwards Air Force Base instead. The landing happened on June 24, 1983. The mission lasted for 6 days, 2 hours, 23 minutes, and 59 seconds. The shuttle traveled about 3.57 million kilometers (2.2 million miles) during 97 orbits around the Earth. Challenger was then flown back to Kennedy Space Center on June 29, 1983.

Mission Patch Symbolism

The STS-7 mission patch shows seven stars and a robotic arm shaped like the number 7.

The mission patch for STS-7 has special meanings.

• The seven white stars in the black background show that this was the seventh mission in the Space Transportation System.
• The robotic arm extending from the orbiter is shaped like the number 7.
• The five-armed symbol on the right side represents the crew: four male astronauts and one female astronaut.

Wake-Up Calls from Space

NASA started a fun tradition of playing music to astronauts. This began during the Project Gemini missions. The first time music was used to wake up a crew was during Apollo 15. Each song is chosen carefully, often by the astronauts' families. The songs usually have a special meaning to an astronaut or relate to their daily activities.

Images for kids

• 

  The second launch of Challenger

• 

  Deployment of Palapa B1

• 

  Deployment of Anik C2

• 

  Window pit caused by impact of space debris

• 

  SPAS-1 grappled by the Canadarm

See also

In Spanish: STS-7 para niños