STS-27 was the 27th NASA Space Shuttle mission, and the third flight of Space Shuttle Atlantis. Launching on December 2, 1988, on a four-day mission, it was the second shuttle flight after the Space Shuttle Challenger disaster of January 1986. STS-27 carried a classified payload for the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD), ultimately determined to be a Lacrosse surveillance satellite. The vessel's heat shielding was substantially damaged during lift-off, and crew members thought that they would die during reentry. This was a situation that was similar to the one that would prove fatal 15 years later on STS-107. Compared to the damage that Columbia sustained on STS-107, Atlantis experienced more extensive damage. However, this damage was experienced over less critical areas, and the missing tile was over an antenna which gave extra protection to the spacecraft structure. The mission landed successfully, although intense heat damage necessitated extensive repairs.
The mission is technically designated STS-27R, as the original STS-27 designator belonged to STS-51-I, the twentieth Space Shuttle mission. Official documentation for that mission contained the designator STS-27 throughout. As STS-51-L was designated STS-33, future flights with the STS-26 through STS-33 designators would require the R in their documentation to avoid conflicts in tracking data from one mission to another.
Crew
Prior to the Challenger disaster, this mission was slated to launch in July 1986 as STS-62-A with Discovery as the orbiter, and was slated to launch at Vandenberg Space Force Base in Santa Barbara County, California. Dale A. Gardner was originally assigned to be as mission specialist, which would have been his third spaceflight. Gardner chose to retire from NASA in October 1986, he was replaced by rookie William Shepherd. Space launches to be scheduled in Vandenberg were eventually cancelled permanently in December 1989, nearly four years following the Challenger disaster.
Crew seat assignments
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
! Seat
! Launch
! Landing
|rowspan=8| 150px<br />Seats 1–4 are on the flight deck.<br />Seats 5–7 are on the mid-deck.
|-
! 1
|colspan=2| Gibson
|-
! 2
|colspan=2| Gardner
|-
! 3
| Mullane
| Shepherd
|-
! 4
|colspan=2| Ross
|-
! 5
| Shepherd
| Mullane
|-
! 6
|colspan=2 style="background-color:lightgray"| Unused
|-
! 7
|colspan=2 style="background-color:lightgray"| Unused
|}
Mission summary
thumb|left|Atlantis launches on STS-27.
thumb|left|Damaged [[Space Shuttle thermal protection system|thermal protection tiles are clearly visible at touchdown.]]