STS-26

STS-26

STS-26 launches from Kennedy Space Center, 29 September 1988.
Operator	NASA
COSPAR ID	1988-091A
SATCAT №	19547
Mission duration	4 days, 1 hour, 11 seconds
Distance travelled	2,703,000 kilometers (1,680,000 mi)
Orbits completed	64
Spacecraft properties
Spacecraft	Space Shuttle Discovery
Launch mass	115,487 kilograms (254,605 lb)
Landing mass	88,078 kilograms (194,179 lb)
Payload mass	21,082 kilograms (46,478 lb)
Crew
Crew size	5
Members	Frederick H. Hauck Richard O. Covey John M. Lounge David C. Hilmers George D. Nelson
Start of mission
Launch date	29 September 1988, 15:37:00 (1988-09-29UTC15:37Z) UTC
Launch site	Kennedy LC-39B
End of mission
Landing date	3 October 1988, 16:37:11 (1988-10-03UTC16:37:12Z) UTC
Landing site	Edwards Runway 17
Orbital parameters
Reference system	Geocentric
Regime	Low Earth
Perigee	301 kilometres (187 mi)
Apogee	306 kilometres (190 mi)
Inclination	28.5 degrees
Period	90.6 min
Back row, L-R: Lounge, Hilmers, Nelson. Front row, L-R: Covey and Hauck. Space Shuttle program ← STS-51-L STS-27 →

Back row, L-R: Lounge, Hilmers, Nelson. Front row, L-R: Covey and Hauck.

STS-26 was the 26th NASA Space Shuttle mission and the seventh flight of the orbiter Discovery. The mission launched from Kennedy Space Center, Florida, on 29 September 1988, and landed four days later on 3 October. STS-26 was declared the "Return to Flight" mission, being the first mission after the Space Shuttle Challenger disaster of 28 January 1986. It was the first mission since STS-9 to use the original STS numbering system, the first to have all its crew members wear pressure suits for launch and landing since STS-4, and the first mission with bailout capacity since STS-4. STS-26 was also the first all-veteran crew mission since Apollo 11, with all of its crew members having flown at least one prior mission.

The crew roster for STS-26 was based on the original crew assignment for STS-61-F, which would have launched the Ulysses probe from Challenger in 1986. Ulysses was eventually launched on STS-41. Hauck, Lounge and Hilmers were all assigned to that flight, with Roy D. Bridges, Jr. as pilot. Bridges never flew again after the Challenger disaster, but would eventually become the Director of Langley Research Center.