STS-27 was a space shuttle mission by NASA using the Space Shuttle Atlantis. It was the 27th shuttle mission, and the 3rd for Atlantis, 2nd after the Challenger disaster. It carried a payload for the U.S. Department of Defense.

Crew

• Robert L. Gibson (3), Commander
• Guy S. Gardner (1), Pilot
• Richard M. Mullane (2), Mission Specialist
• Jerry L. Ross (2), Mission Specialist
• William M. Shepherd (1), Mission Specialist

Mission parameters

• Mass: 14,500? kg Payload: Lacrosse 1 (radar reconnaissance) satellite
• Perigee: 437 km
• Apogee: 447 km
• Inclination: 57°
• Period: 93.4 min

Mission highlights

It was the 27th Space Shuttle mission. Launch was originally scheduled Dec. 1, but was postponed one day because of cloud cover and strong wind conditions. Liftoff from Pad B, Launch Complex 39, KSC, on Dec. 2 was at 9:30 a.m. EST. The Orbiter Atlantis touched down Dec. 6 at Runway 17, Edwards AFB, CA, at 6:35 p.m. EST. The total mission elapsed time (wheels stop) was 4 days, 9 hours and 6 minutes.

The orbiter's Thermal Protection System tiles sustained more-than-normal damage during the flight. A review panel investigating the damage found that the most probable cause was ablative insulating material from the right-hand solid rocket booster nose cap hitting the orbiter about 85 seconds into the flight. The crew noticed some of the damage during the flight, and showed mission control with one of the RMS cameras. However, due to the low resolution of the camera, mission control couldn't make out the damage, and pronounced it OK. Upon landing, over 700 damaged tiles were noted, and one tile was missing.

See also

• Space science
• Space shuttle
• List of space shuttle missions
• List of human spaceflights chronologically

External links

• NASA mission summary
• STS-27 Video Highlights