STS-51B
Challenger launches on STS-51-B
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| Mission type | Microgravity research |
|---|---|
| Operator | NASA |
| COSPAR ID | 1985-034A |
| SATCAT no. | 15665 |
| Mission duration | 7 days, 8 minutes, 46 seconds |
| Distance travelled | 4,651,621 kilometres (2,890,383 mi) |
| Orbits completed | 111 |
| Spacecraft properties | |
| Spacecraft | Space Shuttle Challenger |
| Launch mass | 111,980 kilograms (246,880 lb) |
| Landing mass | 96,373 kilograms (212,465 lb) |
| Payload mass | 15,610 kilograms (34,415 lb) |
| Crew | |
| Crew size | 7 |
| Members |
Robert F. Overmyer Frederick D. Gregory Don L. Lind Norman E. Thagard William E. Thornton Lodewijk van den Berg Taylor G. Wang |
| Start of mission | |
| Launch date | April 29, 1985, 16:02:18 UTC |
| Launch site | Kennedy LC-39A |
| End of mission | |
| Landing date | May 6, 1985, 16:11:04 UTC |
| Landing site | Edwards Runway 17 |
| Orbital parameters | |
| Reference system | Geocentric |
| Regime | Low Earth |
| Perigee | 346 kilometres (215 mi) |
| Apogee | 352 kilometres (219 mi) |
| Inclination | 57.0 degrees |
| Period | 91.5 minutes |
| Epoch | May 1, 1985 |
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 L-R: (sitting): Overmyer, Gregory (standing): Lind, Wang, Thagard, Thornton, van den Berg |
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STS 51-B was the seventeenth flight of NASA's Space Shuttle program, and the seventh flight of Space Shuttle Challenger. The launch of Challenger on April 29, 1985 was delayed by 2 minutes and 18 seconds, due to a launch processing failure. Challenger was initially rolled out to the pad to launch on the STS-51-E mission. The shuttle was rolled back when a timing issue emerged with the TDRS-B satellite. When STS-51-E was canceled, Challenger was remanifested with the STS-51-B payloads. The shuttle landed successfully on May 6, 1985, after a week-long mission.
Challenger lifted off from Kennedy Space Center (KSC)'s launch pad 39A at 12:02 pm EDT on April 29, 1985. The crew members included Robert F. Overmyer, commander; Frederick D. Gregory, pilot; Don L. Lind, Norman E. Thagard and William E. Thornton, mission specialists; and Lodewijk van den Berg, of EG&G Energy Management, Inc., and Taylor G. Wang, of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, both payload specialists. Similar to the previous Spacelab mission, the crew was divided roughly in half to cover 12-hour shifts, with Overmyer, Lind, Thornton and Wang forming the Gold team, and Gregory, Thagard and van den Berg as the Silver team.
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