Mission Insignia

Mission Statistics
Mission:STS-41-C
Shuttle:Challenger
Launch Pad: 39-A
Launch:April 6, 1984, 8:58:00 a.m. EST
Landing:April 13, 1984, 5:38:07 a.m. PST, Edwards Air Force Base
Duration:6/23:40:07
Orbit Altitude:313 nautical miles
Orbit Inclination: 28.5 degrees
Miles Traveled:2,870,000
Crew photo

Photo of 41-C crew taken in aft flight deck of the Challenger while in orbit. Astronauts Robert L. Crippen, right, crew commander; and Francis R. (Dick) Scobee, left, pilot, flank the mission specialists -- (l-r) George D. Nelson, James D. van Hoften and Terry J. Hart.
STS-41-C was the 11th Space Shuttle mission and the fifth for Challenger. The launch was flawless and executed the first direct ascent trajectory for a Shuttle mission. The mission was extended one day due to problems capturing the Solar Max satellite, and the landing was at Edwards Air Force Base instead of Kennedy Space Center as planned.

Table of contents
1 Crew
2 Mission Highlights
3 External Links

Crew

  • Robert L. Crippen (3), Commander
  • Francis R. Scobee (1), Pilot
  • George D. Nelson (1), Mission Specialist
  • James D. A. van Hoften (1), Mission Specialist
  • Terry J. Hart (1), Mission Specialist

Mission Highlights

Using manned maneuvering unit, astronauts replaced altitude control system and coronagraph/polarimeter electronics box in the Solar Max satellite while it remained in orbit. Long Duration Exposure Facility (LDEF) deployed, carrying 57 experiments. LDEF was to be retrieved after 11 months, but schedule changes pushed that date to 5.7 years when STS-32 retrieved the experiment package. Other payloads: IMAX camera; Radiation Monitoring Equipment (RME); Cinema 360; Shuttle Student Involvement Program (SSlP) experiment.

The Long Duration Exposure Facility (LDEF) is placed in orbit by the shuttle Challenger crew in this view. Still attached to the remote manipulator system (RMS) end effector, the LDEF is backdropped against Florida, the Bahama Bank, the Gulf of Mexico and Atlantic waters.

External Links

Previous Mission:
STS-41-B		 Space Shuttle program Next Mission:
STS-41-D