STS-61-B
Sign in to saveSTS-61-B was the 23rd NASA Space Shuttle mission, and its second using Space Shuttle Atlantis. The shuttle was launched from Kennedy Space Center, Florida, on November 26, 1985. During STS-61-B, the shuttle crew deployed three communications satellites, and tested techniques of constructing structures in orbit. Atlantis landed at Edwards Air Force Base, California, at 16:33:49 EST on December 3, 1985, after 6 days, 21 hours, 4 minutes, and 49 seconds in orbit.
Key facts
- Spaceflight.name
- STS-61-B
- Spaceflight.names_list
- Space Transportation System-23
- Spaceflight.image
- Structures in Space - GPN-2000-001080.jpg
- Spaceflight.image_caption
- Construction of the ACCESS structure.
- Spaceflight.mission_type
- Satellites deploymentTechnology
- Spaceflight.operator
- NASA
- Spaceflight.orbits_completed
- 109
- Spaceflight.crew_size
- 7
- Spaceflight.crew_EVAs
- 2
- Spaceflight.launch_date
- UTC (7:29pmEST)
- Spaceflight.launch_site
- Kennedy, LC-39A
- Spaceflight.launch_contractor
- Rockwell International
- Spaceflight.landing_date
- UTC (1:33:49pmPST)
- Spaceflight.landing_site
- Edwards, Runway22
- Spaceflight.orbit_reference
- Geocentric orbit
- Spaceflight.orbit_regime
- Low Earth orbit
- Spaceflight.orbit_inclination
- 28.45°
- Spaceflight.orbit_period
- 91.90 minutes
via Wikipedia infobox
Wikidata facts
- Duration
- 594289
- Mass
- 21791
- Orbital period
- 91.9
- Image
- Structures in Space - GPN-2000-001080.jpg
Show 8 more facts
- UTC date of spacecraft landing
- 1985-12-03
- Commons gallery
- STS-61-B
- Commons category
- STS-61-B
- UTC date of spacecraft launch
- 1985-11-27
- orbits completed
- 109
- orbital inclination
- 57.0
- periapsis
- 361
- apoapsis
- 370
Sources (3)
via Wikidata · CC0
~12 min read
Article
13 sectionsContents
- Crew
- Backup crew
- Crew seat assignments
- Shuttle processing
- Payload
- Middeck payloads
- Other items
- Mission summary
- Spacewalks
- Wake-up calls
- See also
- References
- External links
STS-61-B was the 23rd NASA Space Shuttle mission, and its second using Space Shuttle Atlantis. The shuttle was launched from Kennedy Space Center, Florida, on November 26, 1985. During STS-61-B, the shuttle crew deployed three communications satellites, and tested techniques of constructing structures in orbit. Atlantis landed at Edwards Air Force Base, California, at 16:33:49 EST on December 3, 1985, after 6 days, 21 hours, 4 minutes, and 49 seconds in orbit.
STS-61-B marked the quickest turnaround of a Shuttle orbiter from launch to launch in history – just 54 days elapsed between Atlantis launch on STS-51-J and launch on STS-61-B. , this is still the record for turn around between two flights of the same orbital space vehicle. The mission was also notable for carrying the first Mexican astronaut, Rodolfo Neri Vela. This was also Atlantis second and final mission before the Space Shuttle Challenger disaster in 1986. The Challenger disaster would ground the shuttle fleet for two and a half years and Atlantis would not fly again until STS-27, which launched three years later on December 2, 1988.