STS-51-G

STS-51-G

Discovery deploys Morelos 1 satellite.
Names	Space Transportation System-18
Mission type	Satellite deployment
Operator	NASA
COSPAR ID	1985-048A
SATCAT no.	15823
Mission duration	7 days, 1 hour, 38 minutes, 52 seconds (achieved)
Distance travelled	4,693,051 km (2,916,127 mi)
Orbits completed	112
Spacecraft properties
Spacecraft	Space Shuttle Discovery
Launch mass	116,357 kg (256,523 lb)
Landing mass	92,610 kg (204,170 lb)
Payload mass	17,280 kg (38,100 lb)
Crew
Crew size	7
Members	Daniel C. Brandenstein John O. Creighton John M. Fabian Steven R. Nagel Shannon W. Lucid Patrick Baudry Sultan bin Salman Al Saud
Start of mission
Launch date	17 June 1985, 11:33:00 UTC
Rocket	Space Shuttle Discovery
Launch site	Kennedy Space Center, LC-39A
Contractor	Rockwell International
End of mission
Landing date	24 June 1985, 13:11:52 UTC
Landing site	Edwards Air Force Base, Runway 23
Orbital parameters
Reference system	Geocentric orbit[1]
Regime	Low Earth orbit
Perigee altitude	353 km (219 mi)
Apogee altitude	355 km (221 mi)
Inclination	28.45°
Period	91.80 minutes
STS 51-G mission patch Back: Shannon W. Lucid, Steven R. Nagel, John M. Fabian, Sultan bin Salman Al Saud, Patrick Baudry, Front: Daniel C. Brandenstein, John O. Creighton Space Shuttle program ← STS-51-B (STS-17) STS-51-F (STS-19) →

STS-51-G (formerly STS-25) was the 18th flight of NASA's Space Shuttle program, and the fifth flight of Space Shuttle Discovery. The seven-day mission launched from Kennedy Space Center, Florida, on 17 June 1985, and landed at Edwards Air Force Base, California, on 24 June 1985. Sultan bin Salman Al Saud of Saudi Arabia was on board as a payload specialist; Al Saud became the first Arab, the first Muslim, and the first member of a royal family to fly into space.^[2] It was also the first Space Shuttle mission which flew without at least one astronaut from the pre-Shuttle era among its crew.

Crew[]

Position	Astronaut
Commander	Daniel C. Brandenstein Second spaceflight
Pilot	John O. Creighton First spaceflight
Mission Specialist 1	John M. Fabian Second and last spaceflight
Mission Specialist 2	Steven R. Nagel First spaceflight
Mission Specialist 3	Shannon W. Lucid First spaceflight
Payload Specialist 1	Patrick Baudry, CNES Only spaceflight
Payload Specialist 2	Prince Sultan bin Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, Royal Saudi Air Force Only spaceflight
Al Saud became the first member of royalty to fly into space, as well as the first Arab and the first Muslim.

Backup crew[]

Position	Astronaut
Payload Specialist 1	Jean-Loup Chrétien, CNES Second spaceflight
Payload Specialist 2	Abdulmohsen Al-Bassam, RSAF First spaceflight

Crew seating arrangements[]

Seat[3]	Launch	Landing	Seats 1–4 are on the Flight Deck. Seats 5–7 are on the Middeck.
S1	Brandenstein	Brandenstein
S2	Creighton	Creighton
S3	Lucid	Fabian
S4	Nagel	Nagel
S5	Fabian	Lucid
S6	Baudry	Baudry
S7	Al Saud	Al Saud

Mission summary[]

Discovery lifted off Launch Complex 39A, Kennedy Space Center (KSC), at 7:33:00 am EDT on 17 June 1985. The mission's crew members included Daniel C. Brandenstein, commander; John O. Creighton, pilot; Shannon W. Lucid, Steven R. Nagel, and John M. Fabian, mission specialists; and Patrick Baudry, of France, and Prince Sultan Sultan bin Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, of Saudi Arabia, both payload specialists.

STS-51-G carried three communications satellites as its primary cargo. These were Arabsat-1B (Arab Satellite Communications Organization); Morelos I (Mexico); and Telstar 303 (AT&T Corporation). All three successfully utilized Payload Assist Module (PAM-D) booster stages to achieve geostationary transfer orbits after being deployed from Discovery.

Also carried was the Spartan 1 carrier module, designed to be deployed from the orbiter and fly free in space before being retrieved. Spartan 1 included 140 kg (310 lb) of astronomy experiments. It was deployed and operated successfully, independent of the orbiter, before being retrieved. Discovery furthermore carried an experimental materials-processing furnace, several French biomedical experiments, and six Getaway Special (GAS) experiments, which were all successfully performed, although the GO34 Getaway Special shut down prematurely. This mission was also the first flight test of the OEX advanced autopilot which gave the orbiter capabilities above and beyond those of the baseline system.

The mission's final payload element was a High Precision Tracking Experiment (HPTE) for the Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI) (nicknamed "Star Wars"); the HPTE failed to deploy properly during its first try on the mission's 37th orbit, because the orbiter was not at the correct attitude. It was successfully deployed on orbit 64.

Discovery landed at Edwards Air Force Base at 9:12:52 am EDT on 24 June 1985, after a mission duration of 7 days, 1 hour, 38 minutes and 52 seconds.

Mission insignia[]

The STS-51-G insignia illustrates the advances in aviation technology in the United States within a relatively short span of the twentieth century with Discovery flying over the Wright Flyer. A gold-and-orange-flame eagle forms the base of the insigna. The surnames of the crewmembers for the Discovery's mission appear near the center edge of the circular design, with the French and Saudi crewmembers added below, with a respective flag icon along their name. Although Baudry was the first French citizen to fly with a Space Shuttle mission into space, he was only the second Frenchman to go to space, following Jean-Loup Chrétien's earlier mission with a Soyuz, Soyuz T-6.

Wake-up calls[]

NASA began a tradition of playing music to astronauts during the Project Gemini, and first used music to wake up a flight crew during Apollo 15. Each track is specially chosen, often by the astronauts' families, and usually has a special meaning to an individual member of the crew, or is applicable to their daily activities.^[4]

Gallery[]

• 

  Arabsat-1B deployment

• 

  Morelos I deployment

• 

  Telstar 303 deployment

• 

  Spartan 1 after deployment

See also[]

• List of human spaceflights
• List of Space Shuttle missions

References[]

External links[]

• NASA mission summary
• STS-51G Video Highlights