Mar 5 1983
From The Space Library
NASA said that it would have to revise the schedule for Challenger's first launch because delays had pushed the date past the vernal equinox and would put the Shuttle's communications satellite payload in Earth's shadow for an undesirably long time. Liftoff would be reset for 1:30 p.m. EST, regardless of the date, shortening the launch window from 4 hours to 18 minutes, because of the need for daylight conditions at an emergency-landing runway in Dakar, Senegal.
Spring would start March 20 at 11:39 p.m. EST. With the sun directly over the equator, the time in darkness between transferring the communications satellite from the Shuttle's low Earth orbit to stationary orbit at 22,300 miles altitude would have resulted in too much heat loss. All five Columbia missions were launched in the morning, the earlier the better according to NASA, so that the crews had more daylight to work in. (NY limes, Mar 6/83, 38)
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