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STS-41-B

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Overview

Destination: Low Earth Orbit
Mission: Communications

Low Earth Orbit Launch Complex 39A Kennedy Space Center, FL, USA

STS-41-B was the tenth Space Shuttle mission and the fourth of the Space Shuttle Challenger. It deployed 2 communication satellites and inluded the first untethered spacewalk. It was also the first shuttle mission to land at Kennedy Space Center.

Space Shuttle

Family:
Configuration:

The Space Shuttle is a retired, partially reusable low Earth orbital spacecraft system operated from 1981 to 2011 by the U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) as part of the Space Shuttle program. Its official program name was Space Transportation System (STS). Five complete Space Shuttle orbiter vehicles were built and flown on a total of 135 missions from 1981 to 2011.

Specifications
  • Stages
    2
  • Length
    56.1 m
  • Diameter
    8.0 m
  • Fairing Diameter
  • Launch Mass
    2030.0 T
  • Thrust
    28200.0 kN
Family
  • Name
    Space Shuttle
  • Family
  • Variant
  • Alias
  • Full Name
    Space Shuttle
Payload Capacity
  • Launch Cost
    $450000000
  • Low Earth Orbit
    27500.0 kg
  • Geostationary Transfer Orbit
  • Direct Geostationary
  • Sun-Synchronous Capacity

Space Shuttle Challenger


In-active Human Rated Crew On-board: 5 Crew Capacity: 7 Payload Capacity: 27500 kg
Destination: Low Earth Orbit
Serial Number: OV-099

Space Shuttle Challenger (Orbiter Vehicle Designation: OV-099) was the second orbiter of NASA's space shuttle program to be put into service, after Columbia. Challenger was built by Rockwell International's Space Transportation Systems Division, in Downey, California. Its maiden flight, STS-6, began on April 4, 1983. The orbiter was launched and landed nine times before breaking apart 73 seconds into its tenth mission, STS-51-L, on January 28, 1986, resulting in the death of all seven crew members, including a civilian school teacher. It was the first of two shuttles to be destroyed in flight, the other being Columbia, in 2003. The accident led to a two-and-a-half-year grounding of the shuttle fleet; flights resumed in 1988, with STS-26 flown by Discovery. Challenger was replaced by Endeavour, which was built from structural spares ordered by NASA in the construction contracts for Discovery and Atlantis.

Space Shuttle Details

Crew


Vance D. Brand

Commander - configurations.Country.None - ( NASA )

Status: Retired

Date of Birth: May 9, 1931
Age: 93

Robert L. Gibson

Pilot - configurations.Country.None - ( NASA )

Status: Retired

Date of Birth: Oct. 30, 1946
Age: 78

Bruce McCandless II

Mission Specialist - configurations.Country.None - ( NASA )

Status: Deceased

Date of Birth: June 8, 1937
Date of Death: Dec. 21, 2017

Robert L. Stewart

Mission Specialist - configurations.Country.None - ( NASA )

Status: Retired

Date of Birth: May 10, 1942
Age: 82

Ronald McNair

Mission Specialist - configurations.Country.None - ( NASA )

Status: Lost In Flight

Date of Birth: Oct. 21, 1950
Date of Death: Jan. 28, 1986

National Aeronautics and Space Administration

National Aeronautics and Space Administration

(NASA)

Acting Administrator: James Free Founded: 1958 Successes: 121 Failures: 20 Pending: 6

Agency Type:

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration is an independent agency of the executive branch of the United States federal government responsible for the civilian space program, as well as aeronautics and aerospace research. NASA have many launch facilities but most are inactive. The most commonly used pad will be LC-39B at Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

INFO WIKI

Kennedy Space Center, FL, USA

Launch Complex 39A


Long March 2D
Success
1 day, 15 hours ago
4 x SatNet test satellites
Launch Area 4 (SLS-2 / 603) - Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center, People's Republic of China

Officially described as "Satellite-Internet Technology Demonstration Satellites". Probable 4 test satellites for the Chinese state-owned LEO communic…


Falcon 9
Success
1 day, 18 hours ago
Fram2
Launch Complex 39A - Kennedy Space Center, FL, USA

Fram2 is the world’s first astronaut mission to polar orbit. Named after the Norwegian polar research ship Fram, the Crew Dragon spacecraft will laun…


Falcon 9
Success
2 days ago
Starlink Group 6-80
Space Launch Complex 40 - Cape Canaveral SFS, FL, USA

A batch of 28 satellites for the Starlink mega-constellation - SpaceX's project for space-based Internet communication system.


Spectrum
Failure
3 days, 9 hours ago
Maiden Flight
Orbital Launch Pad - Andøya Spaceport

First flight of the Isar Spectrum launch vehicle.


Long March 7A
Success
4 days, 3 hours ago
TJSW-16
201 - Wenchang Space Launch Site, People's Republic of China

Chinese classified satellite claimed to be for communication technology test purposes. Actual mission not known.


Falcon 9
Success
6 days, 21 hours ago
Starlink Group 11-7
Space Launch Complex 4E - Vandenberg SFB, CA, USA

A batch of 27 satellites for the Starlink mega-constellation - SpaceX's project for space-based Internet communication system.


Long March 3
Success
1 week ago
Tianlian 2-04
Launch Complex 2 (LC-2) - Xichang Satellite Launch Center, People's Republic of China

Tianlian is a Chinese data tracking and relay communications geostationary satellite series. The TL 2 (Tian Lian 2) satellites represent the second g…


Electron
Success
1 week ago
Finding Hot Wildfires Near You (OroraTech OTC-P1)
Rocket Lab Launch Complex 1B - Rocket Lab Launch Complex 1, Mahia Peninsula, New Zealand

8 satellites for a constellation of satellites developed by Orora Technologies (OroraTech) of Germany, with thermal infrared cameras that can provide…


Falcon 9
Success
1 week, 2 days ago
NROL-69
Space Launch Complex 40 - Cape Canaveral SFS, FL, USA

Classified payload for the US National Reconnaissance Office


Ceres-1
Success
1 week, 5 days ago
Yunyao-1 43-48
Launch Area 95A - Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center, People's Republic of China

6 weather satellites performing atmospheric measurements using GNSS Radio Occultation for a Tianjin based company. Constellation is planned to have a…