STS-61A

STS-61-A

Challenger during the launch of STS-61A
Mission type	Microgravity research
Operator	NASA
COSPAR ID	1985-104A
SATCAT no.	16230
Mission duration	7 days, 44 minutes, 51 seconds
Distance travelled	4,682,148 kilometers (2,909,352 mi)
Orbits completed	112
Spacecraft properties
Spacecraft	Space Shuttle Challenger
Launch mass	110,568 kilograms (243,761 lb)
Landing mass	97,144 kilograms (214,166 lb)
Payload mass	14,451 kilograms (31,859 lb)
Crew
Crew size	8
Members	Henry W. Hartsfield, Jr. Steven R. Nagel Bonnie J. Dunbar James F. Buchli Guion S. Bluford Reinhard Furrer Ernst Messerschmid Wubbo Ockels
Start of mission
Launch date	October 30, 1985, 17:00:00 (1985-10-30UTC17Z) UTC
Launch site	Kennedy LC-39A
End of mission
Landing date	November 6, 1985, 17:44:51 (1985-11-06UTC17:44:52Z) UTC
Landing site	Edwards Runway 17
Orbital parameters
Reference system	Geocentric
Regime	Low Earth
Perigee	319 kilometers (198 mi)
Apogee	331 kilometers (206 mi)
Inclination	57.0 degrees
Period	91.0 minutes
Back L-R: Nagel, Bluford, Messerschmid, Ockels Front L-R: Furrer, Dunbar, Buchli, Hartsfield Space Shuttle program ← STS-51-J STS-61-B →

STS-61-A (also known as D-1) was the 22nd mission of NASA's Space Shuttle program. It was a scientific Spacelab mission, funded and directed by West Germany – hence the non-NASA designation of D-1 (for Deutschland-1). STS-61-A was the ninth and final successful flight of Space Shuttle Challenger. STS-61-A holds the current record for the largest crew - eight people - aboard any single spacecraft for the entire period from launch to landing.

The mission carried the NASA/ESA Spacelab module into orbit with 76 scientific experiments on board, and was declared a success. Payload operations were controlled from the German Space Operations Center in Oberpfaffenhofen, West Germany, instead of from the regular NASA control centers.

Space Shuttle Challenger lifted off from Pad A of Launch Complex 39 at Kennedy Space Center, Florida, at 12:00 EST on October 30, 1985. This was the first Space Shuttle mission largely financed and operated by another nation, West Germany. It was also the only shuttle flight to launch with a crew of eight. The crew members included Henry W. Hartsfield, Jr., commander; Steven R. Nagel, pilot; Bonnie J. Dunbar, James F. Buchli and Guion S. Bluford, mission specialists; and Ernst Messerschmid and Reinhard Furrer of West Germany, along with first Dutch astronaut Wubbo Ockels of the European Space Agency (ESA), all payload specialists.