STS-41-G (formerly STS-17) was the 13th flight of NASA's Space Shuttle program and the sixth flight of Space Shuttle Challenger. Challenger launched on October 5, 1984, and conducted the second shuttle landing at Kennedy Space Center on October 13, 1984. It was the first shuttle mission to carry a crew of seven, including the first crew with two women (Sally K. Ride and Kathryn D. Sullivan), the first American Extravehicular activity (EVA) involving a woman (Sullivan), the first Australian-born person to journey into space as well as the first astronaut with a beard (Paul D. Scully-Power) and the first Canadian astronaut (Marc Garneau).
![]() ERBS during deployment | |
Names | Space Transportation System-13 |
---|---|
Mission type | Satellite deployment Radar imaging |
Operator | NASA |
COSPAR ID | 1984-108A ![]() |
SATCAT no. | 15353 |
Mission duration | 8 days, 5 hours, 23 minutes, 33 seconds (achieved) |
Distance travelled | 5,293,847 km (3,289,444 mi) |
Orbits completed | 133 |
Spacecraft properties | |
Spacecraft | Space Shuttle Challenger |
Launch mass | 110,120 kg (242,770 lb) |
Landing mass | 91,746 kg (202,265 lb) |
Payload mass | 8,573 kg (18,900 lb) |
Crew | |
Crew size | 7 |
Members | |
EVAs | 1 |
EVA duration | 3 hours, 29 minutes |
Start of mission | |
Launch date | October 5, 1984, 11:03:00 UTC |
Rocket | Space Shuttle Challenger |
Launch site | Kennedy Space Center, LC-39A |
Contractor | Rockwell International |
End of mission | |
Landing date | October 13 1984, 16:26:33 UTC |
Landing site | Kennedy Space Center, SLF Runway 33 |
Orbital parameters | |
Reference system | Geocentric orbit[1] |
Regime | Low Earth orbit |
Perigee altitude | 351 km (218 mi) |
Apogee altitude | 391 km (243 mi) |
Inclination | 57.00° |
Period | 92.00 minutes |
Instruments | |
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![]() STS-41-G mission patch ![]() Top: Paul D. Scully-Power, Robert L. Crippen, Marc Garneau Bottom: Jon A. McBride, Sally K. Ride, Kathryn D. Sullivan, David C. Leestma. The replica of a gold astronaut pin near McBride signifies Unity. Space Shuttle program |
STS-41-G was the third shuttle mission to carry an IMAX camera on board to document the flight. Launch and in-orbit footage from the mission (including Sullivan and Leestma's EVA) appeared in the 1985 IMAX movie The Dream is Alive.
Position | Astronaut | |
---|---|---|
Commander | ![]() Fourth and last spaceflight | |
Pilot | ![]() Only spaceflight | |
Mission Specialist 1 | ![]() First spaceflight | |
Mission Specialist 2 | ![]() Second and last spaceflight | |
Mission Specialist 3 | ![]() First spaceflight | |
Payload Specialist 1 | ![]() ![]() Only spaceflight | |
Payload Specialist 2 | ![]() First spaceflight |
Position | Astronaut | |
---|---|---|
Payload Specialist 1 | ![]() First spaceflight | |
Payload Specialist 2 | ![]() First spaceflight |
Seat[2] | Launch | Landing | ![]() Seats 1–4 are on the Flight Deck. Seats 5–7 are on the Middeck. |
---|---|---|---|
S1 | Crippen | Crippen | |
S2 | McBride | McBride | |
S3 | Sullivan | Leestma | |
S4 | Ride | Ride | |
S5 | Leestma | Sullivan | |
S6 | Scully-Power | Scully-Power | |
S7 | Garneau | Garneau |
On October 5, 1984, Challenger launched from the Kennedy Space Center at 7:03:00 a.m. EDT, marking the start of the STS-41-G mission. On board were seven crew members – the largest flight crew ever to fly on a single spacecraft at that time. They included commander Robert L. Crippen, making his fourth Shuttle flight and second in six months (Crippen became the first American astronaut to complete two space missions in the same calendar year); pilot Jon A. McBride; three mission specialists – David C. Leestma, Sally K. Ride and Kathryn D. Sullivan – and two payload specialists, Paul D. Scully-Power and Marc Garneau, the first Canadian citizen to serve as a Shuttle crew member, as well as the first Canadian in space. The mission also marked the first time two female astronauts had flown together.
Sullivan became the first American woman to walk in space when she and Leestma performed a 3-hour Extravehicular activity (EVA) on October 11, 1984, demonstrating the Orbital Refueling System (ORS) and proving the feasibility of refueling satellites in orbit.
Nine hours after liftoff, the 2,307 kg (5,086 lb) Earth Radiation Budget Satellite (ERBS) was deployed from the payload bay by the Canadarm robot arm, and its on-board thrusters boosted it into orbit 560 km (350 mi) above the Earth. ERBS was the first of three planned satellites designed to measure the amount of energy received from the Sun and reradiated into space. It also studied the seasonal movement of energy from the tropics to the polar regions.
Another major mission activity was the operation of the Shuttle Imaging Radar-B (SIR-B). The SIR-B was part of the OSTA-3 experiment package in the payload bay, which also included the Large Format Camera (LFC) to photograph the Earth, another camera called MAPS which measured air pollution, and a feature identification and location experiment called FILE, which consisted of two TV cameras and two 70 mm (2.8 in) still cameras.
The SIR-B was an improved version of a similar device flown on the OSTA-1 package during STS-2. It had an eight-panel antenna array measuring 11 × 2 m (36.1 × 6.6 ft). It operated throughout the flight, but problems were encountered with Challenger's Ku-band antenna, and therefore much of the data had to be recorded on board the orbiter rather than transmitted to Earth in real-time as was originally planned.
Payload Specialist Scully-Power, an employee of the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory (NRL), performed a series of oceanography observations during the mission. Garneau conducted a series of experiments sponsored by the Canadian government, called CANEX, which were related to medical, atmospheric, climatic, materials and robotic science. A number of Getaway Special (GAS) canisters, covering a wide variety of materials testing and physics experiments, were also flown.
A claim was later made that the Soviet Terra-3 laser testing center was used to track Challenger with a low-power laser on October 10, 1984. This supposedly caused the malfunction of on-board equipment and the temporary blinding of the crew, leading to a U.S. diplomatic protest.[3] However, this story has been comprehensively denied by the crew members.[4] In 2022, former Soviet Minister of Industry informed the Russian press that the Soviets had used a laser locater to lock onto the shuttle and hold the lock until it was 800 km from the test site.[5]
During the 8 days, 5 hours, 23 minutes, and 33 seconds mission, Challenger traveled 5,293,847 km (3,289,444 mi) and completed 133 orbits. It landed at the Shuttle Landing Facility (SLF) at Kennedy Space Center – becoming the second shuttle mission to land there – on October 13, 1984, at 12:26 p.m. EDT.[6]
The STS-41-G mission was later described in detail in the book Oceans to Orbit: The Story of Australia's First Man in Space, Paul Scully-Power by space historian Colin Burgess.
The thirteen complete stars in the blue field of the U.S. flag of the mission insignia symbolize the flight's numerical designation in the Space Transportation System's mission sequence and being essentially the 13th undertaken flight, by 'obscuring' the remaining stars. (The 17 stars in the black field were indicative of the flight's original designation as STS-17.) Central, as if it is launching, is an astronaut insignia in gold, which was presented to each astronaut since Project Mercury, after completing their first spaceflight, as a reference to the mostly rookie crew. Gender symbols are placed next to each astronaut's name (the male symbol was 'buffed up' as to make it feasible to visualize on the patch), and a Canadian flag icon is placed next to Garneau's name.
NASA began a tradition of playing music to astronauts during the Project Gemini, and first used music to wake up a flight crew during Apollo 15. Each track is specially chosen, often by the astronauts' families, and usually has a special meaning to an individual member of the crew, or is applicable to their daily activities.[7]
Flight Day | Song | Artist/Composer |
---|---|---|
Day 2 | "Flashdance... What a Feeling" | Irene Cara |
Day 3 | "Theme From Rocky" | Bill Conti |
Space Shuttle Challenger (OV-099) | ||
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← 1983 · Orbital launches in 1984 · 1985 → | |
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Kosmos 1522 · Kosmos 1523 · Kosmos 1524 · Kosmos 1525 · Kosmos 1526 · Kosmos 1527 · Kosmos 1528 · Kosmos 1529 | Kosmos 1530 | Kosmos 1531 | Kosmos 1532 | Yuri 2a | Kosmos 1533 | Kosmos 1534 | Shiyan Tongbu Tongxing Weixing 1 | OPS 0441 | Kosmos 1535 | STS-41-B (Westar 6 · Palapa B2 · IRT · SPAS-1A) | OPS 8737 · OPS 8737 SSU-1 · OPS 8737 SSU-2 · OPS 8737 SSU-3 | Kosmos 1536 | Soyuz T-10 | Ōzora | Gran' No.25L | Kosmos 1537 | Progress 19 | Kosmos 1538 | Kosmos 1539 | Landsat 5 · UoSAT-2 | Kosmos 1540 | Intelsat V F-8 | Kosmos 1541 | Kosmos 1542 | Kosmos 1543 | Kosmos 1544 | Ekran No.26L | Molniya-1 No.51 | Kosmos 1545 | Kosmos 1546 | Soyuz T-11 | Kosmos 1547 | STS-41-C (LDEF) | Shiyan Tongbu Tongxing Weixing 2 | Kosmos 1548 | OPS 7641 | Progress 20 | OPS 8424 | Kosmos 1549 | Gorizont No.19L | Progress 21 | Kosmos 1550 | Kosmos 1551 | Kosmos 1552 | Kosmos 1553 | Kosmos 1554 · Kosmos 1555 · Kosmos 1556 | Kosmos 1557 | Spacenet 1 | Kosmos 1558 | Progress 22 | Kosmos 1559 · Kosmos 1560 · Kosmos 1561 · Kosmos 1562 · Kosmos 1563 · Kosmos 1564 · Kosmos 1565 · Kosmos 1566 | Kosmos 1567 | Kosmos 1568 | Kosmos 1569 | Kosmos 1570 | Intelsat V F-9 | Kosmos 1571 | USA-1 | Kosmos 1572 | Kosmos 1573 | Kosmos 1574 | Gran' No.27L | Kosmos 1575 | USA-2 · USA-3 | Kosmos 1576 | Kosmos 1577 | Kosmos 1578 | Kosmos 1579 | Kosmos 1580 | Kosmos 1581 | Meteor-2 No.16 | Soyuz T-12 | Kosmos 1582 | Kosmos 1583 | Kosmos 1584 | Kosmos 1585 | Gorizont No.20L | Kosmos 1586 | Himawari 3 | ECS-2 · Telecom 1A | Kosmos 1587 | Kosmos 1588 | Kosmos 1589 | Molniya-1 No.53 | Progress 23 | Kosmos 1590 | CCE · IRM · UKS · SCE | Molniya-1 No.54 | Ekran No.27L | USA-4 | Kosmos 1591 | STS-41-D (SBS-4 · Leasat 2 · Telstar 3C) | Kosmos 1592 | Kosmos 1593 · Kosmos 1594 · Kosmos 1595 | Kosmos 1596 | USA-5 | Fanhui Shi Weixing 7 | Kosmos 1597 | Kosmos 1598 | Galaxy 3 | Kosmos 1599 | Kosmos 1600 | Kosmos 1601 | Kosmos 1602 | Kosmos 1603 | Kosmos 1604 | STS-41-G (ERBS · OSTA-3) | Kosmos 1605 | Nova 3 | Kosmos 1606 | Kosmos 1607 | STS-51-A (Anik D2 · Leasat 1) | Spacenet 2 · MARECS-2 | NATO 3D | Kosmos 1608 | Kosmos 1609 | Kosmos 1610 | Kosmos 1611 | Kosmos 1612 | Kosmos 1613 | USA-6 | NOAA-9 | Molniya-1 No.55 | Vega 1 | Kosmos 1614 | Kosmos 1615 | Vega 2 | USA-7 | |
Payloads are separated by bullets ( · ), launches by pipes ( | ). Crewed flights are indicated in underline. Uncatalogued launch failures are listed in italics. Payloads deployed from other spacecraft are denoted in (brackets). |