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STS-6 Countdown & Launch - 2 (Challenger)

The coutdown and launch of STS-6 - the first flight of the orbiter Challenger - 4th April 1983 - Onboard are astronauts Paul Weitz (CDR) Karol Bobko (PLT) St...

STS-6

Circle Image

Overview

Destination: Low Earth Orbit
Mission: Communications

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

STS-6 was the maiden flight of the Space Shuttle Challenger. It deployed the first Tracking and Data Relay Satellite into orbit for NASA, forming an integral part of NASAs in-space 10. It was also the first Space Shuttle mission involving a spacewalk. It was the first mission in which the Extravehicular Mobility Unit (EMU) was used.

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: 4 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


Paul J. Weitz

Commander - configurations.Country.None - ( NASA )

Status: Deceased

Date of Birth: July 25, 1932
Date of Death: Oct. 22, 2017

Karol J. Bobko

Pilot - configurations.Country.None - ( NASA )

Status: Deceased

Date of Birth: Dec. 23, 1937
Date of Death: Aug. 17, 2023

Donald H. Peterson

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

Status: Deceased

Date of Birth: Oct. 22, 1933
Date of Death: May 27, 2018

Story Musgrave

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

Status: Retired

Date of Birth: Aug. 19, 1935
Age: 89

National Aeronautics and Space Administration

National Aeronautics and Space Administration

(NASA)

Administrator: Bill Nelson 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


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Falcon 9
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Long March 7
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Falcon 9
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1 week ago
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A batch of 24 satellites for the Starlink mega-constellation - SpaceX's project for space-based Internet communication system.


Falcon 9
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1 week ago
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Space Launch Complex 4E - Vandenberg SFB, CA, USA

A batch of 20 satellites for the Starlink mega-constellation - SpaceX's project for space-based Internet communication system.


Long March 4B
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1 week ago
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Falcon 9
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1 week, 2 days ago
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Space Launch Complex 40 - Cape Canaveral SFS, FL, USA

A batch of 24 satellites for the Starlink mega-constellation - SpaceX's project for space-based Internet communication system.