STS-61-A

Mission highlights

The Orbiter Challenger lifted off from Pad A, Launch Complex 39, KSC,

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at 12:00 noon EST on October 30, 1985. This was the first Space Shuttle

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mission largely financed and operated by another nation, West Germany. It

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was also the first Space Shuttle flight to carry a crew of eight. The

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primary mission was to operate a series of experiments, almost all related

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to functions in microgravity, in Spacelab D-1, the fourth flight of a

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Spacelab. Two other mission assignments were to deploy the Global Low

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Orbiting Message Relay Satellite (GLOMR) out of a Getaway Special canister

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in the cargo bay, and operate five materials processing experiments

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mounted in the cargo bay on a separate device called the German Unique

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Support Structure.

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NASA operated the Space Shuttle, and was responsible for overall

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safety and control functions throughout the flight. West Germany was

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responsible for the scientific research carried out during the seven-day

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mission. To fulfill this function German scientific controllers on the

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ground worked closely with the personnel in orbit, operating out of the

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German Space Operations Center at Oberpfaffenhofen, near Munich, West

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Germany. The orbiting crew divided into two teams, and operated 24-hrs a

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day. Communications were very good throughout the mission and the ground

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and orbital crews were able to interact regularly. The overall system of

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one Center controlling spacecraft operations and a second controlling

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experiment functions worked very smoothly in practice.

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The GLOMR satellite was successfully deployed during the

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mission. The five experiments mounted on the separate structure behind

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the Spacelab module obtained good data. Orbiter Challenger landed on

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Runway 17 at Edwards AFB on November 6, 1985. The wheels stopped rolling

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at 12:45 p.m. EST, after a mission duration of 7 days, 0 hours, and 45

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minutes. The crew members were Henry W. Hartsfield, Jr., commander; Steven

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R. Nagel, pilot; Bonnie J. Dunbar, James F. Buchli and Guion S. Bluford,

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mission specialists; and Ernst Messerschmid and Reinhard Furrer, West

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Germany, along with Wubbo Ockels, European Space Agency, payload

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specialists. encompassed some 75 numbered experiments, most of which were

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performed more than once. Some of these experiments had predecessors

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which had returned data obtained on earlier flights. This made it

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possible to prepare experiment regimens that were 'second generation' with

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respect to technical concept and experiment installation. Almost all of

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them took advantage of the microgravity environment to perform work not

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possible, or very much more difficult to do, on Earth. The major area of

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concentration was materials science, in which West Germany has a well

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developed expertise.

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The primary areas of experiment concentration were: fluid

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physics, with experiments in capillarity, Marangoni convection, diffusion

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phenomena, and critical point; solidification experiments; single crystal

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growth; composites; biological, including cell functions, developmental

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processes, and the ability of plants to perceive gravity; medical,

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including the gravitational perceptions of humans, and their adaptation

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processes in space; and speed-time interaction studies of people working

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in space.

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One equipment item of unusual interest was the Vestibular

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Sled, an ESA contribution consisting of a seat for a test subject that

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could be moved backward and forward with precisely controlled

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accelerations and stops, along rails fixed to the floor of the Spacelab

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aisle. By taking detailed measurements on a human strapped into the seat,

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scientists gained data on the functional organization of the human

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vestibular and orientation systems, and the vestibular adaptation

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processes under microgravity. The acceleration experiments by the sled

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riders were combined with thermal stimulations of the inner ear and

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optokinetic stimulations of the eye.

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Overall, this was the most comprehensive series of experiments

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to date on materials processing in space and associated human activities,

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adding a rich store to humanity's knowledge. The data that was gained

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will require years of analysis.

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Dedicated German Spacelab (D-1) mission conducted in long module configuration, which featured Vestibular Sled designed to give scientists data on functional organization of human vestibular and orientation systems. Spacelab D-1 encompassed 75 numbered experiments, most performed more than once. Mission included basic and applied microgravity research in fields of materials science, life sciences and technology, and communications and navigation. Though orbiter controlled from Johnson Space Center, scientific operations controlled from German Space Operations Center at Oberpfaffenhofen, near Munich. Other objectives: Global Low Orbiting Message Relay (GLOMR) satellite deployed from Get Away Special canister.

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