STS-41-C (formerly STS-13) was NASA's eleventh Space Shuttle mission, and the fifth mission of Space Shuttle Challenger. The launch, which took place on April 6, 1984, marked the first direct ascent trajectory for a Space Shuttle mission. During the mission, Challengers crew captured and repaired the malfunctioning Solar Maximum Mission ("Solar Max") satellite, and deployed the Long Duration Exposure Facility (LDEF) experimental apparatus. STS-41-C was extended one day due to problems capturing the Solar Max satellite, and the landing on April 13, 1984, took place at Edwards Air Force Base, instead of at Kennedy Space Center as had been planned. The flight was originally numbered STS-13.

Crew

Spacewalks

;EVA 1

  • Personnel: Nelson and van Hoften
  • Date: April 8, 1984 (14:18–17:17 UTC)
  • Duration: 2 hours, 59 minutes

;EVA 2

  • Personnel: Nelson and van Hoften
  • Date: April 11, 1984 (08:58–16:05 UTC)
  • Duration: 7 hours, 7 minutes

! 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| Crippen

|-

! 2

|colspan=2| Scobee

|-

! 3

| Hart

| Nelson

|-

! 4

|colspan=2| van&nbsp;Hoften

|-

! 5

| Nelson

| Hart

|-

! 6

|colspan=2 style="background-color:lightgray"| Unused

|-

! 7

|colspan=2 style="background-color:lightgray"| Unused

|}

Mission summary

thumb|upright=1.0|right|STS-41-C post flight presentation, narrated by the astronauts (19 minutes).

STS-41-C launched successfully at 8:58 a.m. EST on April 6, 1984. The mission marked the first direct ascent trajectory for the Space Shuttle; Challenger reached its orbit using its Orbiter Maneuvering System (OMS) engines only once, to circularize its orbit. During the ascent phase, the main computer in Mission control center (MCC) failed, as did the backup computer. For about an hour, the controllers had no data on the orbiter.

The flight had two primary objectives. The first was to deploy the Long Duration Exposure Facility (LDEF), a passive, retrievable, 12-sided experimental cylinder. The LDEF was in diameter and long, and carried 57 scientific experiments. The second objective of STS-41-C was to capture, repair and redeploy the malfunctioning Solar Maximum Mission satellite ("Solar Max"), which had been launched in 1980.

On the second day of the flight, the LDEF was grappled by the Remote Manipulator System (Canadarm) and successfully released into orbit. Its 57 experiments, mounted in 86 removable trays, were contributed by 200 researchers from eight countries. Retrieval of the passive LDEF was initially scheduled for 1985, but schedule delays and the Challenger disaster of 1986 postponed the retrieval until January 12, 1990, when Columbia retrieved the LDEF during STS-32.

On the third day of the mission, Challengers orbit was raised to about , and it maneuvered to within of the stricken Solar Max satellite. Astronauts Nelson and van Hoften, wearing space suits, entered the payload bay. Nelson, using the Manned Maneuvering Unit (MMU), flew out to the satellite and attempted to grasp it with a special capture tool, called the Trunnion Pin Acquisition Device (TPAD). Three attempts to clamp the TPAD onto the satellite failed. Solar Max began tumbling on multiple axes when Nelson attempted to grab one of the satellite's solar arrays by hand, and the effort was called off. Crippen had to perform multiple maneuvers of the orbiter to keep up with Nelson and Solar Max, and nearly ran out of RCS fuel.]]

NASA began a tradition of playing music to astronauts during the Project Gemini, and first used music to wake up a flight crew during Apollo 15. Each track is specially chosen, often by the astronauts' families, and usually has a special meaning to an individual member of the crew, or is applicable to their daily activities.

{| class="wikitable"

|-

! Flight Day

! Song

! Artist/Composer

|-

| Day 2

| "A Boy Named Sue"

| Johnny Cash

|-

| Day 3

| "Fight for California"

| UC Berkeley Fight Song

|-

| Day 4

| Unidentified

|

|-

| Day 5

| "Theme from Rocky"

| Bill Conti

|-

| Day 6

| Unidentified

|

|-

| Day 7

| None

|

|-

| Day 8

| "University of Texas Fight Song"

|

|}

See also

  • List of human spaceflights
  • List of Space Shuttle missions
  • Lists of spacewalks and moonwalks

References

  • STS-41-C press kit NASA
  • STS-41-C mission summary NASA
  • STS-41-C video highlights NSS
  • The Dream is Alive (1985) IMDb
  • STS-41-C NST Program Mission Report NASA