Apr 6 1984
From The Space Library
Space News for this day. (1MB PDF)
Engineers at NASA's GSFC completed checkout and activation of the Landsat-5 Earth resources satellite, launched from the Vandenberg Air Force Base complex in California on March 1, and turned over today operational control of the spacecraft to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Ad-ministration (NOAA). The 1,950-kilogram (4,300-pound) spacecraft was placed in a 705-kilometer (438-statute miles) near-polar orbit. NASA engineers had checked out all computer, communications, telemetry, and other spacecraft systems and declared the spacecraft ready for operational use.
With Landsat-4 still functioning, data acquisition over the same ground swath was possible on an eight-day repeat cycle. NASA planned to turn over to NOAA operational responsibility for Thematic Mapper operation and data processing in January 1985. (NASA Release 84-49; NASA Dly Actv Rept, Apr 9/84)
NASA announced that it had established an interim Space Station Program office as a result of President Reagan's January 25, 1984, directive to NASA to develop a permanently manned Space Station and to do it within a decade. Philip E. Culbertson, in addition to his duties as associate deputy administrator, would assume the role of acting director of the interim office, with John D. Hodge (former director of the Space Station task force) as acting deputy.
The interim office superseded the former Space Station task force and would be responsible for direction of the Space Station Program and for planning the organizational structure of a permanent Program Office. (NASA an-no, Apr 6/84) April 8: The PRC New China News Agency announced that China had launched on April 8 its first permanently orbiting communications satellite, the Washington Post reported. The geosynchronous satellite was positioned over the Moluccan Sea near Indonesia. The news agency reported that all meters and instruments were working normally as the satellite began experiments on telephone communications and radio and television transmissions.
Foreign experts said that the launch was a major achievement that could improve communications in all facets of Chinese life, including the far-flung military. It also had vast implications for China's fledgling nuclear force. The rocketry required to propel the satellite into orbit-a three-stage launcher with a refined guidance system-far exceeded the firing capability of the nation's best intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs).
China also had pending contracts with the United States to launch three larger communications satellites with the Space Shuttle, but no dates were set. (W Post, Apr 19/84, A-31)
April 6-13: NASA launched at 8:58 a.m. EST today from Cape Canaveral the Space Shuttle Challenger (STS-41C) carrying Capt. Robert L. Crippen, commander; Frances R. Scobee, pilot; and mission specialists Terry J. Hart, Dr. James D. van Hoften, and Dr. George D. Nelson. Challenger flew to an altitude of nearly 300 miles, the highest any Shuttle crew had flown, because the astronauts had to match the orbit of, rendezvous with, and repair the burned out Solar Maximum Observatory satellite that had been out of service for almost four years.
At 12:20 p.m. EST on April 7 the astronauts deployed the Long Duration Exposure Facility (LDEF), a 30-foot-long cylinder carrying 57 varieties of space-age materials. Following retrieval by other astronauts next February, scientists would examine the cargo to determine how it stoop up to the heat, cold, and cosmic rays of space. The Space Shuttle's 50-foot-long robot arm pushed the cylinder out of Challenger's cargo bay.
The initial attempt on April 8 to retrieve the orbiting Solar Max satellite failed when astronaut George (Pinky) Nelson, propelled by a jet-powered backpack, tried unsuccessfully to attach himself to the crippled, slowly spinning observatory. He bounced away from the satellite each time, causing it to spin faster with each bounce. After running low on fuel, Nelson returned to Challenger. However, on April 9 radio commands from ground controllers at GFSC stabilized the satellite just before its batteries went dead. On April 10 Crippen inched Challenger's robot arm up to one end of the 21-foot-tall Solar Max, and then Hart caught the slow-spinning satellite on the first try. They then moved it into flight support system, a berthing area in the back of the Space Shuttle's cargo bay. The following day, Nelson and Van Hoften, wearing space suits, stepped out into the cargo bay and replaced a 500-pound fuse box and fixed a smaller electronics box supplying power to one of seven instruments. The work was completed in slightly less than the allotted six hours. The astronauts redeployed the observatory on April 12. The Washington Post reported that, because the repair job was done so well, the observatory would do better in its restored state than in the 10 months it had worked before breaking down almost four years previously.
Challenger landed at 5:38 a.m. local time April 13 at California's Edwards Air Force Base instead of the preferred site at KSC, due to poor weather in Florida. NASA officials pronounced the Space Shuttle to be in excellent condition. "Compared to 10 previous recoveries, the condition of the ship is much better," Fritz Widick, operations manager for the recovery, commented at a news conference. "During the flight there were only something like 12 problems recorded in the ship, which is remarkable." (NASA MOR M-989-41-C, Mar 19/84; W Post, Apr 8/84, A-3, Apr 6/84, A-2, Apr 9/84, A-1, Apr 10/84, A-1, Apr 11/84, A-l Apr 12/84, A-1, Apr 13/84, A-2; NY limes, Apr 15/84, 23)
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