STS 51-D was the sixteenth flight of a space shuttle and the fourth flight of Discovery. It conducted the fifth landing at Kennedy Space Center, Florida.

Crew

Number in parentheses indicates number of spaceflights by each individual prior to and including this mission.

• Karol J. Bobko (2) - Commander
• Donald E. Williams (1) - Pilot
• M. Rhea Seddon (1) - Mission Specialist
• Jeffrey A. Hoffman (1) - Mission Specialist
• S. David Griggs (1) - Mission Specialist
• Charles D. Walker (2) - Payload Specialist
• Jake Garn (1) - Payload Specialist

Crew notes

Garn was a Republican senator from Utah. He was the first sitting member of Congress in space and is sometimes considered the first space tourist.

Mission parameters

• Mass:
• Orbiter Liftoff: 113,802 kg
• Orbiter Landing: 89,816 kg
• Payload: 16,249 kg
• Perigee: 445 km
• Apogee: 535 km
• Inclination: 28.5°
• Period: 94.4 min

Space walk

• Hoffman and Griggs - EVA 1
• EVA 1 Start: April 16, 1985
• EVA 1 End: April 16, 1985
• Duration: 3 hours, 06 minutes

Mission highlights

TELESAT-l (ANIK C-1) communications satellite deployed, attached to Payload Assist Module (PAM-D) motor. SYNCOM IV-3 (also known as LEASAT-3) deployed, but the spacecraft sequencer failed to initiate antenna deployment, spin-up, and ignite the perigee kick motor. Mission extended two days to make certain sequencer start lever in proper position. Griggs and Hoffman performed space walk to attach Flyswatter devices to remote manipulator system. Seddon engaged LEASAT lever using remote manipulator system but post deployment sequence did not begin. Other payloads: Continuous Flow Electrophoresis System (CFES) III, flying for sixth time; two Shuttle Student Involvement Program (SSIP) experiments; American Flight Echocardiograph (AFE); two Getaway Specials; Phase Partitioning Experiments (PPE); astronomy Photography verification test; medical experiments and "toys in space," an informal study of the behavior of simple toys in weightless environment, with results to be made available to school students. Extensive brake damage and blown tire during landing prompted landing of future flights at Edwards Air Force Base until implementation of nose wheel steering.

Gallery

See also

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

External links

• NASA mission summary
• STS-51D Video Highlights