Sep 13 1977
From The Space Library
The Shuttle orbiter Enterprise made its second free flight at Edwards AFB in Calif., a 5min unpowered glide from about 24 000ft altitude, during which it reached a speed of more than 330mph and performed several maneuvers to test its handling before air brakes slowed it to a landing at 250mph. Separation from the Boeing 747 carrier was delayed 3min because a power failure at DFRC made mission control in Houston lose radio contact; the delay caused no problems. For about 50min before separation, pilots Joe H. Engleand Richard Truly took turns at the controls and the computer to monitor the orbiter's behavior at various speeds. Pilots of the 747 were Fitzhugh L. Fulton, Jr., and Thomas C. McMurtry. The flight had been postponed from Aug. 30 because of a tropical storm [see Sept. 11; a third test was set for late Sept. (Postflight rpt, free flt 2, Sp Sh orbiter ALT; W Post, Sept 14/77, A6)
September 13-November 9. NASA announced that the Delta vehicle on which it had launched ESA's orbital test satellite OTS at 7:21pm Sept. 13 from ETR had exploded 54sec after liftoff. The booster and 5 strap-on motors [see Sept. 71 had performed properly before the explosion. On Sept. 14 John F. Yardley, NASA's associate administrator for spaceflight, had appointed a failure review board whose investigation concluded from flight data analysis, photo records, and "substantial" vehicle debris recovered near the launch site that the no. 1 strap-on motor had failed from causes unknown. NASA had scheduled an OTS backup launch for April 1978. (MOR M-492-210-77-01 [postlaunch] Nov 9/77; NASA newsrm rept Sept 14/77; W Post, Sept 14/77, A9; NASA Release 77-193)
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