The Dream Is Alive: Recreating the Space Shuttle Program

[ShuttleHugger]

STS-62A Discovery Mission Report

Quick Summary:

Crew: Zachary Albrecht (CDR), Evan Abana (PLT), Chelsea Glen (MS1), Marcus Moschella (MS2), Matthew Kellog (PS1), Herman Machado (PS2)

Payload: KSA-036, KSA-037, KSA-038 (CLASSIFIED)

Payload Mass: 1,785 kg

Launch: July 9, 1986 0:30:00 from Space Launch Complex 6 at Dessert Air Force Base

Mission Duration: 5d5h52m12s

Landing: July 15, 1986 0:22:12

Statistics & Milestones: 40th Space Shuttle mission; 9th flight of Discovery; 1st launch from and 1st landing at Dessert Air Force Base; 6th dedicated shuttle mission for the KSA DOD.

Mission Summary:

Before launching on STS-62A, Discovery completed a Flight Readiness Test Firing on June 33, 1986 to verify that all systems at the new launch pad at Dessert Air Force Base were ready to support launch. Discovery's engines were lit for 23 seconds at 0:29:57. Everything proceeded smoothly, clearing the way for launch. Overall launch preparations went much faster than expected.

The crew of Discovery included General Herman Machado, Secretary of the Air Force, making an observation flight similar to those of Senator Everly on STS-41F and Representative Lapointe on STS-51I.

The weather in the California desert was picture-perfect leading up to launch, and Discovery lifted off on the first launch opportunity on July 9, 1986. The shuttle climbed into the blue sky and then turned southward, flying over the coast and out over the ocean. At MET 4m01s the alternator on Discovery's center engine failed, the only blemish on an otherwise smooth ascent. Unlike previous classified missions television coverage continued until just after orbit insertion, as Discovery's crew became the first kerbals to fly in a polar orbit.

Six days later Discovery returned from orbit, making a north-to-south pass across Canada and the Kerbal States towards Dessert Air Force Base. The orbiter made a hard landing with wheel stop at MET 5d5h52m12s.

Classified Summary:

Spoiler

CLASSIFIED SUMMARY - AUTHORIZED PERSONNEL ONLY

The payload for this mission was three Sapphire satellites, a signals intelligence constellation to locate radars and other installations using triangulation between the three satellites flying in similar orbits a few tens of kilometers apart.

After launch, the orbiter was inserted into a 51x120km initial orbit. An OMS burn at MET 15m placed Discovery into a 73x120km orbit, inclination 89.6 degrees, period 32m23s.

An OMS burn at MET 4h37m raised the orbit to 97x120km, and a second at MET 4h50m circularized the orbit to 94x97km, period 32m20s.

Sapphire 2A was deployed from the payload bay at MET 1d4h49m32s during a pass over the KSC ground station. The payload deployed its boom antennas soon after deployment. At MET 1d5h56m the crew completed a short RCS burn to match orbital periods with Sapphire 2A, at 32m25s.

Sapphire 2B was deployed from the payload bay at MET 2d4h47m12s, again during a pass over KSC; it was deployed in a direction normal to the orbit so as to not affect its orbital period.

The crew completed an OMS burn at MET 3d4h36m to change the plane of its orbit by 1 degree and set itself up for the deployment of Sapphire 2C the next day. It then performed a small RCS maneuver to increase its orbital period to 32m27s and allow Sapphire 2A and 2B to catch up to it. After most of the day of catch-up, they performed a second maneuver at MET 4d1h57m to re-sync the orbit with Sapphire 2A and 2B, mid-way between the two other satellites but with an orbit one degree off from them for optimal signal triangulation. At MET 4d1h59m01s the #8 liquid fuel tank in the orbiter aft compartment began leaking.

The orbiter had drifted behind the other satellites during the crew night, so at MET 4d4h04m the crew completed another maneuver to lower its orbit to a 32m23s period to catch up, and a second an orbit later at 4d4h39m to re-sync with the rest of the constellation. At MET 4d4h41m55s Sapphire 2C was deployed from the payload bay. At MET 4d4h47m the crew completed an OMS burn to raise the orbit to 99x100km, period 32m37s, to prepare for re-entry the next day and move away from Sapphire 2C. The three satellites of the constellation were thereafter renamed to KSA-036, KSA-037, and KSA-038, respectively.

The crew completed the deorbit burn at MET 5d5h30m. Entry interface occurred at MET 5h5h37m43s while Discovery was flying over Kerbin's north polar ice cap.

In Other News: The SSSR has named the two cosmonauts who will become the first Russians to fly aboard the shuttle. Modest Nikolaev will launch aboard Atlantis and be ferried to Svoboda, while Tamara Popov will return on the shuttle after having launched aboard a Soyuz spacecraft in May 1987. Nikolaev and Popov will be splitting their time in training between KSC and Star City near the SSSR capital city Zakaznikov.

Next Up: Atlantis is scheduled to launch on STS-61M carrying the Hubble Space Telescope on July 34. The launch of the next crew to Svoboda is also expected soon but no launch date has yet been announced.

[ShuttleHugger]

Soyuz TM-3 Kanopus Launch Report

Quick Summary:

Crew: Aleksandr Vasilyev (CDR), Ilya Voronin (FE), Nikolai Nazaretyan (RC)

Backup Crew: Filipp Sokolovsky (CDR), Anastasilya Chayka (FE), Anna Ignatova (RC)

Launch: July 22, 1986 5:14:03 from Site 33 at Woomerang Cosmodrome

Docking: July 23, 1986 3:00:06 to Svoboda's aft port

Narrative Summary:

The Mishchenie 25 freighter undocked from Svoboda on July 20, 1986 at 3:06:30 and backed away in order to free a docking port for Soyuz TM-3. Its total docked time was 121d5h53m51s. At 5:30 the spacecraft began a long burn to drop it into the southern Pacific Ocean for disposal. Nine minutes later the surviving debris landed in the ocean east of New Zealand.

Two days later the three-kerbal crew climbed aboard the Soyuz TM-3 capsule and lifted off from Woomerang Cosmodrome. The Soyuz booster placed the capsule into a 83x129km orbit, inclination 45.4 degrees (or 0.6 degrees with respect to that of Svoboda), period 33m01s. At 5:32 the crew completed a burn to align their orbit with that of Svoboda, and a second burn at 5:42 to raise the orbit to 83x155km to intersect with that of Svoboda. At 1:40 on July 23 the crew completed a maneuver to lower the orbit to 72x155km and set up a pass 79 km from Svoboda. At 2:14 they completed another maneuver to set up a pass at 500 m from Svoboda at a relative velocity of 22 m/s one orbit later. Soyuz TM-3 commenced terminal approach at 2:51. Soyuz TM-3 docked to Svoboda's aft port at 3:00:06. One orbit later the crew opened the hatches and Vasilyev, Voronin, and Nazaretyan joined Eduard Zelenko and Grigori Sobol aboard Svoboda.

Soyuz TM-2 Orel Landing Report

Quick Summary:

Crew: Eduard Zelenko (CDR), Grigori Sobol (FE)

Undocking: July 29, 1986 1:29:00 from Svoboda's forward port

Landing: July 29, 1986 4:22:41 in the Indian Ocean

Mission Duration: 123d3h29m58s

Narrative Summary:

At 0:59 on July 29, Zelenko and Sobol climbed into Soyuz TM-2 and closed the hatches to Svoboda, bidding goodbye to their replacements of Vasilyev, Voronin, and Nazaretyan after a week of joint operations. At 1:29:00 they undocked and began backing away, after 120d5h26m11s docked to the station. They completed the deorbit burn at 4:07. Module separation occurred at 4:15:20, and entry interface at 4:16:46. Soyuz TM-2 splashed down at 4:22:41 in the Indian Ocean south of the SSSR mainland. Although the capsule splashed down at night, it was quickly located by helicopters' searchlights and the cosmonauts and capsule were recovered and brought aboard the recovery ship Akademik N. I. Lobachevsky. The splashdown location was 22d33m41s N, 121d01m37s E.

[ShuttleHugger]

STS-61M Atlantis Mission Report

Quick Summary:

Crew: Jebediah Kerman (CDR), Arienne Abrams (PLT), Arlie Holgersen (MS1), Olivia Vukoja (MS2), Jeremy Enns (MS3), Alberta Breiner (PS1)

Backup Crew: Roselle Devine (PS1)

Payload: Hubble Space Telescope, Kerballed Maneuvering Units x2, Canadarm

Payload Mass: 9,339 kg

Launch: July 36, 1986 5:30:00 from Pad 39A at Kerbal Space Center

Mission Duration: 4d5h39m13s

Landing: August 5, 1986 5:09:13 at Kerbal Space Center

Statistics & Milestones: 41st Space Shuttle mission; 5th flight of Atlantis; 21st landing at KSC. The 20th spacewalk of the Space Shuttle Program was conducted on this mission. Commander Jebediah Kerman became the first kerbal to fly in space eight times.

Narrative Summary:

Atlantis lifted off on the second opportunity on July 36, 1986, following a one-day delay due to rain. This much-anticipated mission carried the Hubble Space Telescope, the first flagship mission of KSP's Great Observatories program and the heaviest civilian payload carried on the shuttle to date. The orbiter was placed into an initial 35x251km orbit. The crew completed an OMS burn at MET 18m to insert Atlantis into a 72x251km orbit, inclination 1.8 degrees, period 37m01s.

At MET 4h37m the crew completed an OMS burn to raise the orbit to 224x252km, and a second at MET 4h56m to circularize the orbit to 221x224km, period 41m33s.

While Holgersen and Vukoja prepared for their EVA the next day, Abrams and Enns began activating Canadarm at MET 1d4h24m; the robot arm had been launched stowed in an unusual crooked position due to space limitations. They grappled the main structure of Hubble at MET 1d4h43m, and then decoupled the ties holding Hubble in place for launch. At MET 1d5h07m they undocked Hubble from the payload bay, and began slowly and carefully lifting it out of the bay. During this process, at MET 1d5h15m43s, the internal battery in the #1 fuel cell short-circuited. At MET 1d5h56m40s the #11 liquid fuel tank in the shuttle aft compartment began leaking. At MET 2d0h01m, after raising Hubble into a vertical orientation over the payload bay, Abrams and Enns locked Canadarm in place for the next two days.

After breakfast and final preparations, Arlie Holgersen exited the airlock at MET 2d4h36m30s, followed by Olivia Vukoja at MET 2d4h37m15s. They then boarded the two KMUs. Holgersen undocked the #1 KMU, and then redocked to the #1 Hubble Solar Array Assembly. He then relocated it to the port solar array attachment on Hubble, and finally redocked to the KMU stowage position on the floor of the payload bay. Vukoja then performed the same sequence of steps for the #2 HSAA and the starboard attachment. Vukoja experienced some difficulty stowing her KMU due to tight clearances with the #1 KMU, but ultimately was successfully. The two spacewalkers then retreated inside. Total EVA time was 24m23s for Holgersen and 23m06s for Vukoja.

At MET 3d4h52m the crew began the deployment sequence for Hubble. They first deployed the telescope's two high-gain antennas, then rotated the solar array assemblies into a position parallel to the long axis of the shuttle, and finally deployed Hubble's solar panels. All of this proceeded successfully. After waiting one more orbit to confirm that Hubble was power positive and all systems go, the crew released the Canadarm end effector at MET 3d5h36m00s and, with a quick RCS burst, Hubble began drifting slowly away. In order to avoid the possibility of contamination to the telescope's optical surfaces, Hubble was allowed to simply drift away to a distance of 500 m, and then Atlantis conducted further RCS burns to begin moving away more quickly. 43 minutes after release, when Atlantis had retreated to a distance of more than 4.5 km, Hubble opened the cover protecting its aperture (contingency procedures called for a re-rendezvous and repair spacewalk if the cover had failed to open). At MET 4d0h23m Abrams and Enns began stowing Canadarm, a process they completed 8 minutes later.

Although Flight Day 6 was planned to be the penultimate day in orbit, flight controllers elected to bring the shuttle home one day early due to a 96% chance of rain at KSC the following day. At MET 4d4h07m the crew completed an RCS-assisted OMS burn to lower the orbit to 98x223km, followed by a second at MET 4d4h26m to circularize the orbit to 94x104km, period 32m33s. A long RCS-assisted deorbit burn concluding at MET 4d5h18m was only able to lower the apoapsis to 9 km. Entry interface occurred at MET 4d5h23m05s. Atlantis made a smooth touchdown at KSC with wheel stop at MET 4d5h39m13s.

In Other News: The Mishchenie 26 freighter launched from Woomerang Cosmodrome at 5:10:24 on August 1. It docked to Svoboda's forward port at 0:51:53 the next day.

Next Up: Challenger is scheduled on launch on August 9 on mission STS-61J, carrying a classified payload.

[ShuttleHugger]

STS-61J Challenger Mission Report

Quick Summary:

Crew: Carver Paulis (CDR), Carmina Barta (PLT), Timothy Swenhaugen (MS1), Oswald Andreas (MS2), Anantha Bronson (PS1), Argus Phelps (PS2)

Payload: KSA-039 (CLASSIFIED)

Payload Mass: 5,971 kg

Launch: August 9, 1986 5:34:00 from Pad 39B at Kerbal Space Center

Mission Duration: 4d0h01m52s

Landing: August 13, 1986 5:35:52 at Edwards Air Force Range

Statistics & Milestones: 42nd Space Shuttle mission; 14th flight of Challenger; 5th launch from Pad 39B; 20th landing at Edwards Air Force Range. The 21st spacewalk of the Space Shuttle Program occurred on this flight. Payload Specialist Anantha Bronson became the first KSA DOD Kerballed Spaceflight Engineer to fly twice.

Mission Summary:

After emerging from its Double Downtime maintenance period refreshed, Challenger lifted off on the first launch opportunity on August 9, 1986. Press coverage blacked out five minutes after liftoff.

Four days later Challenger dropped out of the early morning sky for a smooth touchdown at Edwards Air Force Range, due to rain at KSC.

Classified Summary:

Spoiler

CLASSIFIED SUMMARY - AUTHORIZED PERSONNEL ONLY

The payload for this flight was Defense Support Program (DSP) III-2, an early warning satellite and twin to the payload launched on STS-51M (a mission that was also commanded by Carver Paulis).

At MET 4m24s one of the batteries on the payload failed. After an otherwise smooth liftoff Challenger was placed into a 45x139km preliminary orbit. An OMS burn at MET 16m placed the orbiter into a 73x138km orbit, inclination 0.9 degrees, period 33m01s. Mission managers elected to push back the payload deployment and conduct a spacewalk on Flight Day 3 to fix the battery.

The crew completed an OMS burn at MET 4h23m to lower the orbit to 72x101km. At MET 4h24m27s the #3 battery in the orbiter aft compartment short-circuited. The crew then completed a second burn at MET 4h38m to circularize the orbit to 100x102km, period 32m41s.

Timothy Swenhaugen exited the airlock at MET 1d4h19m40s, followed by Oswald Andreas one minute later. Swenhaugen fixed the failed battery on the payload, and then the astronauts reentered the airlock. Total EVA time was 2m23s for Andreas and 3m58s for Swenhaugen.

At MET 2d4h56m24s the crew released the ties holding DSP III-2 into the payload bay, and then raised it into the deployment position. The spacecraft was deployed at MET 2d5h29m31s. The IUS burn and a short burn of the spacecraft's own engine placed it into a 101x2,867km transfer orbit. A subsequent single burn at apoapsis placed the spacecraft into its operational geosynchronous orbit. It was then renamed KSA-039.

Due to anticipated poor weather at KSC on August 13 and 14, mission managers opted to set Edwards Air Force Range as the prime landing site. At MET 3d5h21m17s the #3 monopropellant tank in the orbiter aft compartment began leaking. The crew completed the deorbit burn at MET 3d5h40m. Entry interface occurred at MET 3d5h46m50s. Paulis and Barta brought Challenger in for a smooth landing at Edwards Air Force Range with wheel stop at MET 4d0h01m52s.

In Other News: After the recent flights of Atlantis and Challenger, KSP leadership has elected to delay the next planned flights of these orbiters (STS-61K and STS-61N, respectively), until after the highly time-critical launches of Galileo and Ulysses towards Jool on STS-71A and STS-71B. Schedule delays left far insufficient time to complete both missions before the Jool launch window closed.

Next Up: Columbia is scheduled to lift off on STS-61G on August 23, carrying the third in the new generation of GOES geostationary weather satellites.

[KerballingSmasher]

Okay so this is a little late, but I actually have a book written by one of the astronauts who was going to fly on 62A before it was scrapped, Mike Mullane! Just an odd little tidbit, nothing to add to your story, but I just thought it was funny.

[ShuttleHugger]

2 hours ago, Kerballing (Got Dunked On) said:

Okay so this is a little late, but I actually have a book written by one of the astronauts who was going to fly on 62A before it was scrapped, Mike Mullane! Just an odd little tidbit, nothing to add to your story, but I just thought it was funny.

Oh nice, I should read that book. I'd love to learn some more about the IRL plans to launch the shuttle from Vandenburg.

[ShuttleHugger]

STS-61G Columbia Mission Report

Quick Summary:

Crew: Jasper Smith (CDR), Leto Lundquist (PLT), Jared Matousek (MS1), Gabriel Marti (MS2), Julia Lister (MS3)

Payload: GOES-G; 4x GAS Cannisters

Payload Mass: 6,106 kg

Launch: August 23, 1986 3:50:00 from Pad 39A at Kerbal Space Center

Mission Duration: 4d1h17m01s

Landing: August 27,1986 5:07:01 at Kerbal Space Center

Statistics & Milestones: 43rd Space Shuttle mission; 15th flight of Columbia; 8th night launch of the Space Shuttle program; 22nd landing at KSC.

Narrative Summary:

Columbia lifted off into the predawn darkness on August 23, 1986 and climbed into the sunrise as it ascended to orbit with the third new-generation geostationary weather satellite to complete the global coverage of the GOES network. The orbiter was placed into an initial 50x207km orbit. The crew conducted an OMS burn at MET 18m to place Columbia into a 72x207km orbit, inclination 0.7 degrees, period 35m27s.

At MET 4h27m the crew completed an OMS burn to raise the orbit to 201x215km, and a second at MET 4h36m to circularize the orbit to 200x201km, period 39m54s.

At MET 1d5h38m27s the crew released the ties holding GOES-G into the payload bay, and then raised the payload into the deployment position. The payload was deployed at MET 2d0h23m19s. The IUS lower stage burn one orbit later placed the spacecraft into a 200x2,803km transfer orbit. While the payload was approaching apoapsis one of the onboard batteries short-circuited. After attaining its final orbit it was renamed GOES-6.

At MET 2d5h27m the crew completed an OMS burn to lower the orbit to 102x204km, and a second at MET 2d5h46m to circularize the orbit to 94x104km.

The crew completed the deorbit burn at MET 4d0h56m. Entry interface occurred at MET 4d1h02m31s, and Smith and Lundquist brought Columbia in for landing at KSC with wheel stop at MET 4d1h17m01s.

Next Up: Discovery is scheduled to launch on October 3 on STS-62B, the second polar orbit mission from Dessert Air Force Base.

[KerballingSmasher]

On 6/8/2020 at 10:47 AM, ShuttleHugger said:

Oh nice, I should read that book. I'd love to learn some more about the IRL plans to launch the shuttle from Vandenburg.

Yeah, in it he talks a little about the different coating that would be needed for the SRBs, a more fabric-like material. Work on it was scrapped, of course, after Challenger.

[HansonKerman]

I like it

 

not sure what else to say...

nice?

anyway I like it and I’m waiting for more. I usually stay away from ultra-realism things, it’s a: too complicated for my smol brian, and b: KERBALS ARE NOT HUMANS YOU CANNOT MAKE THEM HUNANS, but this isn’t ultra realism, it’s great compromise and... truly awesome missions.

 

make moar~

[Venturer2Space]

@ShuttleHugger I love the design for your mission patches and payloads. Amazing work dude!

[ShuttleHugger]

Thanks @HansonKerman & @Venturer2Space!

More coming soon, I've been a little busy this week and the current mission is rather more complicated that the last two single-satellite-deployment flights so it's taking a little longer.

On 6/10/2020 at 1:19 AM, Kerballing (Got Dunked On) said:

Yeah, in it he talks a little about the different coating that would be needed for the SRBs, a more fabric-like material. Work on it was scrapped, of course, after Challenger.

Pity, it would have been cool if they'd got that working.

[HansonKerman]

2 hours ago, ShuttleHugger said:

Thanks @HansonKerman & @Venturer2Space!

More coming soon, I've been a little busy this week and the current mission is rather more complicated that the last two single-satellite-deployment flights so it's taking a little longer.

Pity, it would have been cool if they'd got that working.

sounds cool~

[ShuttleHugger]

STS-62B Discovery Mission Report

Quick Summary:

Crew: Timothy Vela (CDR), Sally Castell (PLT), Wesley Vann (MS1), Bob Kerman (MS2), Hezikiah Poole (PS1), Cordelia Anson (PS2)

Payload: KSA-040 (CLASSIFIED)

Payload Mass: 8,975 kg

Launch: October 6, 1986 0:30:00 from Space Launch Complex 6 at Dessert Air Force Base

Mission Duration: 6d0h11m47s

Landing: October 12, 1986 0:41:47 at Dessert Air Force Base

Statistics & Milestones: 44th Space Shuttle mission; 10th flight of Discovery; 2nd launch from and 2nd landing at Dessert Air Force Base. The first polar-orbit EVA in history, as well as the 22nd EVA of the Space Shuttle Program, occurred on this flight.

Narrative Summary:

Most of the crew of this mission had flown together before; Vela, Vann, and Kerman made up 3/4 of the crew of STS-6, while Castell and Poole had flown together on STS-51M. Vann and Kerman were not only the first kerbals to conduct a spacewalk from the Space Shuttle on STS-6, but on this mission also became the first kerbals to conduct an EVA in polar orbit.

Discovery lifted off on October 6, 1986, on the first launch attempt, climbing into a clear blue sky above the California desert. Five minutes after launch all media coverage was blacked out for this classified mission.

Six days later Discovery dropped out of another sunny sky to touch down again at Dessert AFB.

Classified Summary:

Spoiler

CLASSIFIED SUMMARY - AUTHORIZED PERSONNEL ONLY

This mission carried Keystone 3, a large optical reconnaissance satellite. It was to be placed in an unusually low orbit for the Space Shuttle, in order to be as close to its targets as possible. The launch was delayed five days for engineering reviews to ensure that Keystone did not suffer from the same primary mirror issue discovered to affect the Hubble Space Telescope, which was built by the same company as Keystone and shared significant engineering heritage. The review ultimately cleared the Keystone 3 launch to proceed.

After launch, the orbiter was placed into a 47x147km orbit. At MET 5m46s the internal battery in one of Keystone's probe cores short-circuited; an item to repair this battery was added to the schedule for the planned EVA. An OMS burn at MET 16m placed Discovery into a 73x147km orbit, inclination 72.5 degrees, period 33m19s.

At MET 4h26m the crew completed an OMS burn to lower the orbit to 72x80km, and a second at MET 4h39m to circularize the orbit to 80x81km, period 31m16s. At MET 1d2h02m05s the battery in Discovery's #2 fuel cell short-circuited.

At MET 1d4h20m00s the crew released the ties holding the payload securely in place in the payload bay, and then Castell and Vela began activating Canadarm while Vann and Kerman prepared for their EVA the next day. Castell and Vela grappled the payload at MET 1d4h49m, and, a minute later released it from its aft attachment. They then slowly and carefully removed the payload from the payload bay. During this process they realized that due to a compounded series of engineering and oversight failures, the solar array attachment points had never been attached to the payload. NRO engineers put together an emergency plan to attach one of the solar arrays to the port on the base of the telescope and return the other to Kerbin. The NRO promptly placed an order for a new Keystone satellite to replace the now-underpowered Keystone 3. At MET 1d5h27m the crew locked Canadarm in place for the next two days.

Wesley Vann exited the airlock at MET 2d4h57m00s, followed by Bob Kerman at MET 2d4h59m15s. Vann boarded the #1 KMU, while Kerman prepared the equipment for the wiring patch that would be necessary for the improvised solar array attachment. Vann undocked the KMU, docked to the #1 solar array assembly, and then removed it from the payload bay. He then docked it to the rear port of Keystone that had been used to hold it in the payload bay, and finally stowed the KMU in the payload bay. The crew then commanded Keystone's service bays open to allow repair of the short-circuited battery. The spacewalkers were forced to suspend their work during orbital night, as Keystone was out of reach of the payload bay lights and their helmet lighting proved insufficient for the task. Upon further review it became apparent that the failed battery was inaccessible by spacewalkers and that repair task was called off and the bay doors closed. After completing the wiring of the improvised solar array mount, the spacewalkers retreated inside the airlock. The total EVA time was 30m55s for Kerman and 33m55s for Vann. At MET 2d2h00m44s the #7 oxidizer tank in the orbiter aft compartment began leaking, but this was the prime tank for fuel cell use had had already been nearly depleted when the leak occurred.

At MET 3d4h35m the crew started the sequence to deploy Keystone's high gain antennas and solar array, but due to the impingement of the improvised solar array location the spacecraft's low gain antennas could not be deployed as originally planned. After waiting one more orbit for final checks, the crew ungrappled Keystone at MET 5d4h14m00s and initiated a quick burst on the thrusters to back away. At MET 3d5h44m, when Keystone had drifted to a distance of 350m, Discovery fired its thrusters again to move further away. After further on-orbit check-outs, Keystone 3 was re-named KSA-040.

At MET 4d4h21m the crew began stowing Canadarm, a process they completed seven minutes later. At MET 4d4h43m they completed an OMS burn to raise the orbit to 85x103km, and a second at MET 4d4h59m to circularize the orbit to 102x103km in preparation for landing the next day.

The crew completed the deorbit burn at MET 5d5h51m. Entry interface occurred at MET 5d5h57m26s. Vela and Castell brought Discovery in for landing at Dessert AFB with wheel stop at MET 6d0h11m47s.

In Other News: More than a month after the Hubble Space Telescope was released into orbit on STS-61M, grave news was announced at a KSP press conference: the telescope was severely out of focus, to the extent that its images were no better than those from ground-based telescopes. It appears that the telescope's primary mirror was ground slightly out of shape, resulting in a poor focus. KSP engineers believe that they can design new instrumentation for the telescope to correct for the problem; KSP will fly a repair mission to Hubble in the next 2-3 years to correct this problem.

Next Up: Columbia is scheduled to lift off on October 24 on STS-61H, carrying three commsats and the first Indonesian and British astronauts.

[HansonKerman]

3 hours ago, ShuttleHugger said:

Spoiler

47x147km orbit

classified

How does this work in KSP? Or is it not below the orbit deletion line of doom?

Edited June 13, 2020 by HansonKerman

[ShuttleHugger]

57 minutes ago, HansonKerman said:

How does this work in KSP?

I just mean that at that point the shuttle is on a suborbital trajectory. Like the IRL Space Shuttle, I shut down the main engines when the vehicle is slightly suborbital, ditch the external tank so that it burns up in the atmosphere, and ignite the shuttle's smaller engines at apoapsis to make it the rest of the way to orbit.

[HansonKerman]

3 minutes ago, ShuttleHugger said:

I just mean that at that point the shuttle is on a suborbital trajectory. Like the IRL Space Shuttle, I shut down the main engines when the vehicle is slightly suborbital, ditch the external tank so that it burns up in the atmosphere, and ignite the shuttle's smaller engines at apoapsis to make it the rest of the way to orbit.

how does an orbit become that lopsided then?  Anyway I was under the impression that either the satellite was released that way or the orbiter stayed that way. Thx.

 

 

 

but still are you like bad at circularization or smthin 

[ShuttleHugger]

43 minutes ago, HansonKerman said:

how does an orbit become that lopsided then?

That's because this is my initial orbit, right after launch. All I care about at that point is that my apoapsis is far enough above the atmosphere that I have enough time in vacuum to burn the engines and get the periapsis out of the atmosphere too. The second day of the mission is always taken up by maneuvering to get to a circular(ish) orbit at the desired altitude. (I am admittedly not always super careful about my tolerances on the orbit; it really depends on what I'm trying to do, but within a few percent of circular is usually good enough for me.)

[HansonKerman]

18 hours ago, ShuttleHugger said:

That's because this is my initial orbit, right after launch. All I care about at that point is that my apoapsis is far enough above the atmosphere that I have enough time in vacuum to burn the engines and get the periapsis out of the atmosphere too. The second day of the mission is always taken up by maneuvering to get to a circular(ish) orbit at the desired altitude. (I am admittedly not always super careful about my tolerances on the orbit; it really depends on what I'm trying to do, but within a few percent of circular is usually good enough for me.)

I see

[ShuttleHugger]

STS-61H Columbia Mission Report

Quick Summary:

Crew: Linwood Nedved (CDR), Alexa Herczeg (PLT), Emilia Agani (MS1), Edith Pasternak (MS2), Gerhard O'Hara (MS3), Julianna Norman, United Kingdom (PS1), Cahya Mohammad Erdino, Indonesia (PS2)

Backup Crew: High Simmons, United Kingdom (PS1), Agung Hamdani, Indonesia (PS2)

Payload: Skynet B commsat, Palapa 2C commsat, BellStar 9-I commsat

Payload Mass: 6,822 kg

Launch: November 1, 1986 3:31:30 from Pad 39B at Kerbal Space Center

Mission Duration: 5d0h59m19s

Landing: November 6, 1986 4:30:49 at Kerbal Space Center

Statistics & Milestones: 45th Space Shuttle mission; 16th flight of Columbia; 9th night launch of the Space Shuttle Program; 6th launch from Pad 39B; 23rd landing at KSC. Payload Specialists Julianna Norman and Cahya Mohammad Erdino became the first British and Indonesian kerbals to fly in space, respectively.

Narrative Summary:

Columbia was fueled and ready for the first launch attempt on October 24. The crew was aboard and ready for launch when, at T-19 seconds, one of the monopropellant tanks aboard BellStar 9-I began leaking. The orbiter access arm was swiftly moved back into position and the crew performed an emergency evacuation of the launch pad in order to avoid any possibility of hydrazine contamination, fire, or explosion. Technicians were able to repair the damage and clean the contamination at the launch pad in less than two weeks.

While Columbia still waited on Pad 39A, Challenger was rolled out to Pad 39B on October 30, the first time that both pads had been occupied by Shuttles. On October 34 Atlantis also rolled over from the OPF to the VAB, leaving the OPF completely empty for the first time since September 6, 1983.

After the hydrazine contamination was cleaned up and the propellant tank repaired, a second launch attempt on October 36 was scrubbed due to near-freezing overnight temperatures at Edwards Air Force Range. Columbia successfully lifted off into the night the next day. Columbia was placed into an initial 49x191km orbit. The crew conducted an OMS burn at MET 18m to place the orbiter into a 72x191km orbit, inclination 0.7 degrees, period 34m50s.

The crew completed an OMS burn at MET 4h21m to raise the orbit to 101x191km, and a second at MET 4h39m to circularize the orbit to 95x103km, period 32m33s. At MET 5h25m the crew activated the two GAS Cannisters in the payload bay.

Skynet B was deployed from the payload bay at MET 1d5h55m40s. When the command was given to fire the PAM one orbit later, a programming mistake in the onboard command sequencer resulted in the separation of the unspent PAM lower stage instead, stranding the payload in LKO. The satellite owner, the British Ministry of Defense, elected to have the payload retrieved by a future shuttle mission and then re-launched with a new PAM.

After ground controllers uploaded a software patch to rectify the sequencer error that stranded Skynet B the previous day, Palapa 2C was deployed from the payload bay at MET 3d0h26m51s. Its PAM first stage burn proceeded nominally, placing it into a 98x2,868km transfer orbit. The PAM burns were sufficiently accurate that only a single RCS burn was needed to place the payload into its final geosynchronous orbit.

BellStar 9-I was deployed from the payload bay at MET 3d4h48m44s. The first PAM burn one orbit later placed it into a 97x2,751km transfer orbit, and the second PAM burn and two RCS burns placed the satellite into its operational geosynchronous orbit.

The crew completed the deorbit burn at MET 5d0h38m. Entry interface occurred at MET 5d0h44m17s. Nedved and Herczeg brought Columbia in for a hard landing at KSC with wheel stop at MET 5d0h59m19s.

Next Up: Challenger is scheduled to lift off on November 23 on the first day of a narrow Jool launch window. Its much-anticipated mission STS-71A will carry the Galileo orbiter and the first Centaur-G heavy liquid-fueled upper stage, the heaviest payload ever to be launched on the Shuttle. The launch of the next crew to Svoboda is also expected in the next few weeks.

[ShuttleHugger]

Soyuz TM-4 Almaz Launch Report

Quick Summary:

Crew: Filipp Sokolovsky (CDR), Anastasiya Chayka (FE), Anna Ignatova (RC)

Backup Crew: Kirill Giorgadze (CDR), Maksim Yakolev (FE), Tamara Popov (RC)

Launch: November 15, 1986 3:19:21 from Site 33 at Woomerang Cosmodrome

Docking: November 16, 1986 5:05:34 to Svoboda's forward port

Narrative Summary:

The Mishchenie 26 freighter undocked from Svoboda's forward port at 1:05:00 on November 12, after a docked time of 117d0h13m07s. It completed its deorbit burn at 4:33 to drop into the southern Pacific Ocean. The deorbit burn was slightly delayed as the spacecraft's batteries depleted during orbital night and the burn had to wait until the spacecraft orbited into sunlight and recharged the batteries.

Three days later, Soyuz TM-4 lifted off from Woomerang Cosmodrome with the new crew for Svoboda. The Soyuz booster placed the capsule into a 84x133km orbit, inclined 0.4 degrees with respect to that of Svoboda. A burn at 3:36 aligned Soyuz' orbit with that of Svoboda. At 3:49 they conducted a second burn to raise the orbit to 84x155km and intersect with the orbit of Svoboda to set up the rendezvous. At 3:45 on November 16 they conducted another brief burn to set up the next intersect to within79 km of Svoboda. One orbit later, at 4:19, the crew conducted another burn to set up a 500m pass by Svoboda at a Delta v of 27.1 m/s. It docked with Svoboda at 5:05:34. One orbit later the crew opened the hatches and boarded Svoboda, joining Aleksandr Vasilyev, Ilya Voronin, and Nikolai Nazaretyan aboard the station.

Soyuz TM-3 Kanopus Landing Report

Quick Summary:

Crew: Aleksandr Vasilyev (CDR), Ilya Voronin (FE), Nikolai Nazaretyan (RC)

Undocking: November 22, 1986 0:43:00 from Svoboda's aft port

Landing: November 22, 1986 2:10:07 in the Indian Ocean

Mission Duration: 142d2h55m56s

Narrative Summary:

The outgoing crew boarded their Soyuz capsule on November 22, 1986, and closed the hatches to Svoboda, bidding farewell to the next crew of Sokolosky, Chayka, and Ignatova. They undocked at 0:43:00 and backed away, having spent 141d3h42m54s aboard the station. The crew completed the deorbit burn at 1:55. They splashed down in the Indian Ocean at 2:10:07 and were taken aboard the recovery ship shortly thereafter.

[ShuttleHugger]

STS-71A Challenger Mission Report

Quick Summary:

Crew: Valentina Kerman (CDR), Rosaleen Pulnik (PLT), Stephanie Van Can (MS1), Harriett Hartmann (MS2)

Payload: Galileo

Payload Mass: 13,167 kg

Launch: November 23, 1986 0:30:00 from Pad 39A at Kerbal Space Center

Mission Duration: 1d5h16m11s

Landing: November 24, 1986 5:46:11 at Kerbal Space Center

Statistics & Milestones: 46th Space Shuttle mission; 15th flight of Challenger; 24th landing at KSC. First flight of the Centaur-G liquid fueled upper stage, first launch of a payload beyond Kerbin's sphere of influence from the Shuttle, and first launch of a significant amount of radioactive material on the shuttle. First all-female crew of any space mission with more than one crew member.

Narrative Summary:

The weather was perfect and no technical issues were reported as the countdown clock ticked down to the most highly-anticipated Shuttle mission of the year, carrying the first major planetary mission to be launched by the Shuttle and the first American launch beyond Kerbin's moons since 1977. This was the first launch of the heavy Centaur-G upper stage that would greatly increase the Shuttle's capabilities beyond the solid-fuled Inertial Upper Stages, both in terms of capability and control. Designed to carry the heaviest scientific, military, and commercial payloads, the Centaur-G is key to enabling the Shuttle to achieve its full capabilities. This was also the heaviest payload ever carried by the Shuttle, tipping the scales at over 13 tonnes; to help compensate, Challenger was launched with less life support supplies and spare parts than usual, saving 316 kg on the launch weight. This was additionally the most dangerous shuttle launch since STS-1; the payload is so heavy that engineers expect that the shuttle would be incapable of landing safely while carrying the payload. The Centaur therefore included emergency valves to dump the propellants overboard in case of a launch abort.

Challenger blasted off from Pad 39A on the first opportunity on the afternoon of November 23, 1986. It was placed into an initial 38x118km orbit; as it turned out the orbiter's maximum payload capacity was higher than expected and there was still nearly 400 m/s of Delta-v left in the external tank at MECO, clearing the way for even heavier payloads in the future.

At MET 5m23s one of Galileo's three liquid fuel tanks began leaking. At MET 13m the crew completed an OMS burn to place the orbiter into a 81x118km orbit, inclination 0.9 degrees, period 32m34s. Despite the fuel leak, the Galileo engineering team determined that it still had more than enough fuel to complete its mission, and moreover even if the crew could repair the tank on EVA there was no way to reload the fuel, so mission managers ordered the deployment to go ahead as planned. At MET 29m the crew completed a second OMS burn to circularize the orbit to 77x81km, period 31m11s.

At MET 37m00s during a pass over KSC the crew released the restraints holding Galileo and the Centaur-G in the payload bay, and then raised them into the deployment attitude. Galileo was deployed from the payload bay at MET 1h06m05s, while Challenger was passing over Edwards Air Force Range near the end of its second orbit.

11 minutes after deployment the Centaur-G ignited for a burn lasting approximately 40 seconds, which accelerated Galileo by more than 2000 m/s and achieved a kerbocentric velocity of more than 4 km/s.

11 minutes later, when Galileo was already at an altitude of more than 2000 km, the Centaur was re-lighted for a plane change maneuver which set up a pass by Jool with a periapsis of 1.2 million km, rather higher than planned due to inefficiencies during the trajectory planning computations. The encounter will take place on March 33, 1989, at which time Galileo will burn its engines to brake itself into orbit. As Galileo proceeded outward from Kerbin it unfurled its antennas and deployed its twin RTGs and radiators to their extended positions, but left the magnetometer boom furled for now. Galileo passed the Mun's orbit just an hour and a half after the first Centaur-G burn.

By the time the astronauts awoke for Flight Day 2, Galileo was already more than 31,000 km away. At MET 4h54m the crew completed an OMS burn to raise the orbit to 78x102km, and a second at MET 5h11m to circularize the orbit to 99x103km in preparation for re-entry the next day. Galileo left Kerbin's sphere of influence less than two and a half days after the Centaur burn.

The crew completed the deorbit burn at MET 1d4h54m. Entry interface occurred at MET 1d5h00m49s. Kerman and Pulnik brought Challenger in for landing at KSC with wheel stop at MET 1d5h16m11s.

In Other News: The launch was attended by Kerbal States President Ellis Trueman, the first time a sitting president had viewed a Shuttle launch. Afterwards, in a speech to the nation, he layed out an ambitious new goal to guide the Kerbal States' planetary exploration programs: by the year 2000, the Kerbal States will make robotic soft landings on every solid body in the Kerbolar system. The funding for the Mariner Mark II Program will therefore be increased as KSP pursues this goal, and 2-3 planetary launches per year are anticipated.

The Mishchenie 27 freighter lifted off from Woomerang Cosmodrome at 3:12:36 on November 24. At the time that Challenger landed, Mishchenie 27 was still catching up to Svoboda for rendezvous and docking.

Next Up: Atlantis is already standing upon Pad 39B with the Ulysses spacecraft, which will follow Galileo towards Jool on mission STS-71B after a record turn-around between shuttle launches of just four days. Launch is scheduled for November 27.

In Meta: Even though I've been playing KSP on and off for 7 years now and am approaching 1000 hours in-game, Galileo is the first spacecraft I've ever launched to Jool, as well as the first spacecraft I've ever launched to orbit another planet (although because of the long transit time to Jool, the Viking 3 mission I plan to launch to Duna in December 1987 will probably be my first probe to actually attain orbit of another planet). I've only ever flown by Duna and Eve, never actually made orbit of another planet before, so this was an exciting launch for me!

[billbobjebkirk]

Wow, this looks really cool, can't wait to go through the whole thread. I love those mission patches!

[ShuttleHugger]

STS-71B Atlantis Mission Report

Quick Summary:

Crew: Orson Sauvageon (CDR), Colin Khoroushi (PLT), Jeffrey Van Rompuy (MS1), Adam Donne (MS2)

Payload: Ulysses

Payload Mass: 12,476 kg

Launch: November 27, 1986 0:30:00 from Pad 39B at Kerbal Space Center

Mission Duration: 1d0h32m49s

Landing: November 28, 1986 1:02:49 at KSC

Statistics & Milestones: 47th Space Shuttle mission; 6th flight of Atlantis; 7th Space Shuttle launch from Pad 39B; 25th landing at KSC. Second launch beyond Kerbin's SOI from the Shuttle, second flight of the Centaur-G upper stage, and second launch with radioactive material aboard the Shuttle. Commander Orson Sauvageon became the first kerbal to fly on all four Space Shuttle orbiters, having commanded Columbia on STS-3, Discovery on STS-51B, Challenger on STS-61D, and now Atlantis on STS-71B. Shortest Space Shuttle mission to date.

Narrative Summary:

Only four days after Challenger blasted off with the Galileo probe, a record turn-around due to the short launch window to Jool, Atlantis lifted off on the first launch opportunity with the Ulysses probe. A joint ESA-KSP project, Ulysses would swing by Jool and use the giant planet's gravity to slingshot it onto an inclined orbit where it could study Kerbol's poles and the solar wind out of the plane of the kerbolar system.

Atlantis was inserted into an initial 39x158km orbit. During external tank separation CDR Sauvageon inadvertently burned the wrong way on the RCS thrusters, nearly re-contacting the external tank, but managed to avoid this at the last second. At MET 5m36s the #3 monopropellant tank in the orbiter aft compartment began leaking. The crew conducted an OMS burn at MET 15m to place the orbiter into a 81x158km orbit, inclination 1.4 degrees, period 34m01s, and a second at MET 32m to circularize the orbit to 79x83km, period 31m19s.

At MET 38m40s the crew released the restraints holding Ulysses and the Centaur-G in the payload bay and raised them into the deployment position. Ulysses was deployed from the payload bay at MET 58m30s. 19 minutes after deployment, the Centaur-G burned for approximately 40 seconds to increase Ulysses' velocity by nearly 2000 m/s, and setting up a 1.9 million km pass by Jool, with periapsis on October 19, 1989. However, a plane change maneuver is planned around September 2, 1987 to set up a close pass by Jool to increase Ulysses' orbital inclination so that it can view the sun's poles.

Spoiler

I was trying to recreate this IRL artist's conception from when Ulysses was supposed to launch on a Shuttle-Centaur:

At MET 4h34m the crew completed an OMS burn to raise the orbit to 80x99km, and a second at MET 4h50m to circularize to 98x100km, period 32m33s, in preparation for landing. Mission managers elected to bring Atlantis home one day early due to a forecast of poor weather at KSC on November 29 and 30; this would make STS-71B the shortest mission to date. The crew completed the deorbit burn at MET 1d0h10m. Entry interface occurred at MET 1d0h16m30s. Despite some instability while under RCS control shortly after entry interface, Sauvageon and Khoroushi were able to bring the orbiter in for a smooth landing at KSC just before sunset with wheel stop at MET 1d0h32m49s. Ulysses exited Kerbin's SOI about 3 hours after Atlantis landed.

In Other News: The Mishchenie 27 freighter docked to the aft port of Svoboda at 1:04:17 on November 25.

Next Up: Discovery is slated to take off from Dessert AFB on New Year's Day 1987 carrying a classified payload on STS-62C. However, there is some possibility that it could be brought up to the end of December if processing proceeds fast enough, or that it might slip to after STS-61P on Columbia (also carrying a classified payload but from KSC), which could be ready to launch as early as January 2.

Year-End Summary: During 1986 the Kerbal Space Shuttle Program launched 15 flights, bringing the total to 47. Columbia, Challenger, and Atlantis flew four times each, and Discovery thrice. The orbiters logged 88d3h11m45s of flight time, and carried 91 kerbals from nine nations (three flew twice) and 100,132 kg of payload into orbit.

[ShuttleHugger]

STS-62C Discovery Mission Report

Quick Summary:

Crew: Arlene O'Brian (CDR), Simona Thorsen (PLT), David Houtkooper (MS1), Maria Koch (MS2), Dalia O'Rurain (PS1), Linus Chmela (PS2)

Payload: KSA-041 (CLASSIFIED)

Payload Mass: 7,296 kg

Launch: January 1, 1987 1:10:00 from SLC-6 at Dessert Air Force Base

Mission Duration: 3d5h56m54s

Landing: January 5, 1987 1:06:54 at Edwards Air Force Range

Statistics & Milestones: 48th Space Shuttle mission; 11th flight of Discovery; 3rd launch from Dessert AFB; 21st landing at Edwards AFR; 1st landing from polar orbit at EAFR.

Narrative Summary:

Discovery lifted off on the first launch attempt on New Year's Day 1987, carrying a classified payload for the Kerbal States Navy. Mission coverage blacked out five minutes after launch due to the classified nature of the mission.

Originally intended to land back at the Dessert AFB launch site, the prime landing site was switched to Edwards Air Force Range due to three forecast days of rain at DAFB. O'Brian and Thorsen brought Discovery in for a slightly bumpy landing at Edwards (the first polar landing there) with wheel stop at MET 3d5h56m54s.

Classified Summary:

Spoiler

CLASSIFIED SUMMARY - AUTHORIZED PERSONNEL ONLY

The payload for this mission was Aquamarine 1, a powerful radar satellite for the Kerbal States Navy primarily designed to track ships. Due to the nature of radar, it is desirable to have radar satellites orbiting as low as possible; consequently, Aquamarine was targeted for an atmosphere-scraping orbit at 73 km altitude. Radar is also power-hungry, and in order to avoid excessive drag that would be caused by large solar arrays, Aquamarine is nuclear-powered. The nuclear-power and cooling assembly is designed to be detached and returned to Kerbin on a future shuttle mission when the satellite reaches the end of its service life.

The ascent was somewhat unsteady, with Discovery displaying large amounts of roll, but it was nonetheless placed into an initial 40x158km orbit. The crew completed an OMS burn at MET 16m to place Discovery into a 73x158km orbit, inclination 80.6 degrees, period 33m44s.

At MET 4h30m the crew completed an OMS burn to lower the orbit to 70x77km. The crew completed a second burn at MET 4h53m to lower it further to 70x73km, and a third at 5h05m to adjust the orbit to 73x74km, period 30m47s, within the tolerances set by the Navy for the payload.

At MET 1d4h16m15s the crew cut loose the ties holding Aquamarine into the payload bay for launch. At MET 1d4h32m10s the #4 oxygen tank in the orbiter aft compartment began leaking. The crew were able to transfer most of its contents to other tanks, but there was insufficient capacity for everything and approximately ¼ of the tank's capacity was lost to space. At MET 1d4h34m the crew raised the payload into the 50 degree deployment position, and then began deploying the payload's systems over the next hour. First to be deployed were two of the four radiator panels, and then the three low-gain antennas. They then unfolded and deployed the three large radar antennas. Finally, they deployed the high-gain antenna, and then spent the rest of the day on final checks of the payload.

Aquamarine 1 was deployed from the payload bay at MET 2d5h55m33s. Shortly after deployment, the payload extended its two remaining radiator panels, which could not be deployed in the payload bay as they were blocked by the shuttle structure. At MET 3d0h17m the crew performed an OMS burn to raise the orbit to 75x101km, and a second at MET 3d0h34m to circularize the orbit to 100x102km, period 32m42s, in preparation for landing the next day.

The crew completed the deorbit burn at MET 3d5h35m, targeting Edwards Air Force Range due to rain for the next three days at Dessert Air Force Base. Entry interface occurred at MET 3d5h41m03s, while Discovery was flying over the Arctic. O'Brian and Thorsen brought Discovery in for a slightly bumpy landing at Edwards (the first polar landing there) with wheel stop at MET 3d5h56m54s.

Next Up: Columbia is already standing on Pad 39B with another classified payload. It is scheduled to lift off on January 9 on mission STS-61P.

[ShuttleHugger]

STS-61P Columbia Mission Report

Quick Summary:

Crew: Peter Marchesi (CDR), Rick Wakefield (PLT), Lyell Power (MS1), Allan Otto (MS2), Jeffrey Christiansen (PS1), Seth Hayes (PS2)

Payload: KSA-042 (CLASSIFIED)

Payload Mass: 10,346 kg

Launch: January 10, 1987 0:24:00 from Pad 39B at Kerbal Space Center

Mission Duration: 4d1h04m51s

Landing: January 14, 1987 1:28:51 at Kerbal Space Center

Statistics & Milestones: 49th Space Shuttle mission; 17th flight of Columbia; 8th Space Shuttle launch from Pad 39B; 26th landing at KSC; 10th dedicated mission for the KSA DOD.

Narrative Summary:

Initially scheduled for launch on January 9, liftoff was pushed back by half an hour into January 10 to allow frigid temperatures at the Edwards Air Force Range emergency landing site to clear. Columbia lifted off on the first opportunity after this hold. Coverage of this classified flight was blacked out five minutes after launch.

The orbiter landed back at KSC four days later, touching down just after sunset.

Classified Summary:

Spoiler

CLASSIFIED SUMMARY - AUTHORIZED PERSONNEL ONLY

This mission carried the Hydra 2 signals intelligence satellite, identical to Hydra 1 launched on STS-51F almost two years earlier.

The orbiter was placed into an initial 42x201km orbit. At MET 17m the crew completed an OMS burn to place Columbia in a 72x200km orbit, inclination 0.9 degrees, period 35m11s.

The crew performed an OMS burn at MET 4h42m to lower the orbit to 71x101km, and a second at MET 4h56m to circularize the orbit to 99x101km, period 32m40s.

The crew released the restraints holding Hydra 2 into the payload bay at MET 1d4h34m, and thereafter raised the payload into the deployment position. It was deployed one orbit later, at MET 1d5h10m46s. The first IUS burn placed the payload onto a 101x2,764km transfer orbit. The second IUS burn and two RCS burns placed it into its operational geosynchronous orbit, and it successfully unfurled its antennas. It was then renamed KSA-042.

The crew completed the deorbit burn at MET 4d0h45m. Marchesi and Wakefield brought Columbia in for a rough landing at KSC just after sunset with wheel stop at MET 4d1h04m51s.

Next Up: Continuing the quick series of launches in January 1987, Challenger is standing ready on Pad 39A to carry three communications satellites and the first Norwegian astronaut into orbit on mission STS-61N. Launch is scheduled for January 18.

In Other News: KSP announced the selection of the next group of astronauts, Astronaut Group 12, in early January. These 40 new astronauts (the largest class to date) will meet KSP's spaceflight needs over the next few years and will form the core of the Astronaut Corps in the Space Station Liberty era. They will train alongside four new ESA astronauts (including the first Swedish astronaut) and three new Japanese astronauts.