STS-61-E was a NASA Space Shuttle mission planned to launch on 6 March 1986 using Columbia. It was canceled after the Challenger disaster.
| Names | Space Transportation System |
|---|---|
| Mission type | Observations of the Comet of Halley |
| Operator | NASA |
| Mission duration | 8 days, 22 hours, 2 minutes (planned) |
| Spacecraft properties | |
| Spacecraft | Space Shuttle Columbia (planned) |
| Launch mass | 1,217,990 kg (2,685,210 lb) |
| Landing mass | 90,584 kg (199,704 lb) |
| Payload mass | 21,937 kg (48,363 lb) |
| Crew | |
| Crew size | 7 |
| Members | Jon A. McBride Richard N. Richards Jeffrey A. Hoffman David C. Leestma Robert A. Parker Samuel T. Durrance Ronald A. Parise |
| Start of mission | |
| Launch date | 6 March 1986, 10:45 UTC (planned) |
| Rocket | Space Shuttle Columbia |
| Launch site | Kennedy Space Center, LC-39B |
| Contractor | Rockwell International |
| End of mission | |
| Landing date | 15 March 1986, 08:47 UTC (planned) |
| Landing site | Kennedy Space Center |
| Orbital parameters | |
| Reference system | Geocentric orbit (planned) |
| Regime | Low Earth orbit |
| Perigee altitude | 285 km (177 mi) |
| Apogee altitude | 295 km (183 mi) |
| Inclination | 28.45° |
| Period | 90.40 minutes |
 STS-61-E mission patch  Back row: Samuel T. Durrance, Robert A. Parker, Jeffrey A. Hoffman, Ronald A. Parise Front row: Richard N. Richards, Jon A. McBride, David C. Leestma Cancelled Shuttle missions | |
Crew
edit| Position | Astronaut | |
|---|---|---|
| Commander | Jon A. McBride Would have been second spaceflight | |
| Pilot | Richard N. Richards Would have been first spaceflight | |
| Mission Specialist 1 | Jeffrey A. Hoffman Would have been second spaceflight | |
| Mission Specialist 2 | David C. Leestma Would have been second spaceflight | |
| Mission Specialist 3 | Robert A. Parker Would have been second spaceflight | |
| Payload Specialist 1 | Samuel T. Durrance Would have been first spaceflight | |
| Payload Specialist 2 | Ronald A. Parise Would have been first spaceflight | |
Mission objectives
editColumbia was to carry the ASTRO-1 observatory, which would be used to make astronomical observations including observations of Halley's Comet. ASTRO-1 consisted of three ultraviolet telescopes mounted on two Spacelab pallets, controlled by the Instrument Pointing System (IPS) which was first tested on STS-51-F.[1]
After the Challenger disaster, the flight was remanifested as STS-35 and several crew members were replaced. Both Richards and Leestma were reassigned to STS-28 while McBride left NASA in 1989. Vance D. Brand replaced McBride as the commander while Guy S. Gardner and John M. Lounge replaced Richards and Leestma, respectively.
See also
edit
References
edit- ^ Evans, Ben (2005). Space Shuttle Columbia: Her Missions and Crews. Springer Science + Business Media. p. 99. ISBN 0-387-21517-4.