STS-51-D
STS-51-D was the 16th flight of NASA's Space Shuttle program, and the fourth flight of Space Shuttle Discovery. The launch of STS-51-D from Kennedy Space Center (KSC), Florida, on April 12, 1985, was delayed by 55 minutes, after a boat strayed into the restricted Solid Rocket Booster (SRB) recovery zone. STS-51-D was the third shuttle mission to be extended.
Key facts
- Spaceflight.name
- STS-51-D
- Spaceflight.names_list
- Space Transportation System-16
- Spaceflight.image
- STS-51-D Syncom IV-3 activation effort.jpg
- Spaceflight.image_caption
- The crew attempt to activate Syncom IV-3 via a "flyswatter" device attached to Discovery Canadarm
- Spaceflight.mission_type
- Communications satellite deployment
- Spaceflight.operator
- NASA
- Spaceflight.orbits_completed
- 110
- Spaceflight.crew_size
- 7
- Spaceflight.crew_EVAs
- 1
- Spaceflight.crew_EVA_duration
- 3hours, 6minutes
- Spaceflight.launch_date
- UTC (8:59:05amEST)
- Spaceflight.launch_site
~5 min read
Article
9 sectionsContents
- Crew
- Spacewalk
- Crew seat assignments
- Mission summary
- Wake-up calls
- Gallery
- See also
- References
- External links
STS-51-D was the 16th flight of NASA's Space Shuttle program, and the fourth flight of Space Shuttle Discovery. The launch of STS-51-D from Kennedy Space Center (KSC), Florida, on April 12, 1985, was delayed by 55 minutes, after a boat strayed into the restricted Solid Rocket Booster (SRB) recovery zone. STS-51-D was the third shuttle mission to be extended.
On April 19, 1985, after a week-long flight, Discovery conducted the fifth shuttle landing at KSC. The shuttle suffered extensive brake damage and a ruptured tire during landing. This forced shuttle landings to be done at Edwards Air Force Base, California for the next five years until the development and implementation of nose wheel steering made landings at KSC more feasible.