Oct 3 1985
From The Space Library
NASA launched at 11:15 a.m. today from KSC the Space Shuttle Atlantis, the maiden voyage of the orbiter and the 21st mission in the Space Shuttle program, on mission 51-J, a secret flight for the Department of Defense (DOD), the NY Times reported. The secrecy was part of DOD's efforts to make it difficult for the Soviet military to monitor the Space Shuttle takeoff and find out the identity and mission of the payload. Despite these precautions, it was widely reported that a primary goal of the flight was to launch a pair of $100-million military communication satellites. DOD apparently planned to station the satellites, designated DSCS III for Defense Satellite Communications System, 22,300 miles above earth, where they would relay messages to U.S. military forces around the world.
The commander of Atlantis was Air Force Col. Karol Bobko, flying his third Space Shuttle mission; the pilot was Air Force Lt. Col. Ronald Grabe. Other crew members were Maj. David Hilmers of the Marine Corps, Army Lt. Col. Robert Stewart, and Air Force Maj. William Pailes. The first four were members of NASA's astronaut corps; Pailes was an Air Force pilot assigned to the mission to assist in deploying its secret payload.
In accordance with security rules, NASA gave out little information about the flight. There were no space-to-ground communications released to the public and no postlaunch news conference. Nearly five hours after the launch, mission control in Houston said, “On the maiden voyage of Atlantis, the crew is doing well and all systems on board the orbiter are performing satisfactorily.” NASA officials said it would issue no other status reports during the mission, which might last a week or more.
Atlantis was the lightest and most advanced of the four orbiters. In its planning and construction, engineers removed minor design flaws found in earlier versions and incorporated the latest in electronic technology and light-weight, high-strength structural materials. NASA strengthened Atlantis mainly so it could withstand more vigorous launchings from the Air Force's facility at Vandenberg Air Force Base. These launches, which would take the Space Shuttle into orbits around the earth's poles, required greater thrust from the Space Shuttle's engines.
Although the mission was devoted to the military, NASA officials said there was a civilian experiment on board to study exposure of the orbiter and its crew to cosmic rays, which were extremely high-energy particles from space that bombarded the earth and the orbiting Space Shuttles. (NY Times, Oct 3/ 85, A18, Oct 4/85, B5)
The Syncom II communications satellite lost one of its 13 channels, described as an important wide-band channel, and efforts were underway to reactivate it, Defense Daily reported. The U.S. Navy leased the satellite from Hughes Communications Inc., which was under contract to provide four such Leasats to the Navy.
NASA in September 1984 launched Syncom /and II from the Space Shuttle and launched in April from the Space Shuttle Syncom Ill, which failed to fire in orbit. The Space Shuttle crew in July repaired Syncom III, with a reboost attempt scheduled for October. NASA launched in July from the Space Shuttle Syncom IV, but its communications failed in orbit. (D/D, Oct 3/85, 174)
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