STS 41-G National Space Transportation Systems Program Mission Report November 1984 NAS/A National Aeronautics and ‘Space Administration ‘Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center Houston, Texas JSc-20168TABLE OF Title INTRODUCTION AND MISSION OBJECTIVES MISSION SUMMARY 6 eee eee VEHICLE ASSESSMENT 6 se ee ee SOLID ROCKET BOOSTER ©. eee EXTERNAL TANK, 2s ee ee eee SPACE SHUTTLE MAIN ENGINE . « MAIN PROPULSION SYSTEM. «+ + + ORBITER » eee eee eet Flash Evaporator System Shutdown Thermal Protection System Damage Maneuvering Systen Pod ‘on Orbital CONTENTS Ku-band Antenna Beta Gimbal Control Lost « Display Electronics Units 2 and 3 Failed « Missing Tile From Left Chine Area. + + + PAYLOAD AND EXPERIMENTS « EARTH RADIATION BUDGET SATELLITE.» + + + ORBITAL REFUELING SYSTEM. - ee ee ee OFFICE OF SPACE AND TERRESTRIAL APPLICATIONS-: LARGE FORMAT CAMERA. GETAWAY SPECIAL CANISTERS. . + + AURORAL PHOTOGRAPHY EXPERIMENT « THERMOLUMINESCENT DETECTOR . « « CANADIAN EXPERIMENTS «6 ee + itINTRODUCTION AND MISSION OBJECTIVES the STS 41-6 National Space Transportation Systems Program Mission Report contains, 2 Theory of the major activities and accomplishments of the thirteenth Space Shuet}e fant suamary Ofxth flight of the OV-099 vehicle, Challenger, This report also summarizes the ATgnificant problens that occurred and provides a problem tracking ist thet ts @ complete Faeeeat Ai problens that occurred during the flight. Wine of the problens wit! affect the STS 51-A flight. the primary objectives of this flight were to successfully deploy the EXBS (Earth Reseurces sree elite) spacecraft, and to conduct operations of the UAST-3 (Oftice of Space and Gudget tial Applications), the LFC (large format camera), the ORS (orbital refueling system), the CANEX (Canadian experiments), and the IMAX camer: The sequence of events for this mission 1s shown in table 1. The problem tracking 11st for the Orbiter 1s shown in table II at the end of the report. MISSION SUMMARY The STS 41-6 mission, the sixth flight for the OV-099 vehicle, Challenger, was Taunched fron Launch Complex 39A at KSC (Kennedy Space Center) on October, 5, 1988. Data were fromected on all 14 detailed test objectives, as well as on the 11 detailed suppienentary SOhectivess In the areas of payloads and experiments, all except the SIR (shuttle Imaging Radar) accomplished essentially all of their objectives. The crew for this flight were Robert L. Crippen, Captain, USN, Commander; Jon A. McBride, Ceencnders USN, Pilots Sally K. Ride, PAD. , Kathryn D. Sullivan, PhD. » and David C- Comrana its Car. USK, Mission Specialists; Paul D. Scully-Power, PhD. Payload Special- ist; and Marc Garneau, PhD. , Canadian Payload Specialist. The ascent phase was normal in all respects; however, on orbit the crew reported that Tees jon of AFRSI (advanced felt reusable surface insulation) was missing from the star- see Ons. (orbital maneuvering system) pod, and sone TPS (thermal pratection systen) ties board ome (erage, The Toss and damage did’not impact the mission. All other Orbiter sub- systems performed satisfactorily during ascent. The SRB's (solid rocket boosters) performed satisfactorily. The provellant burn rates roe SRecentially as predicted and a satisfactory SRB separation occurred 0.27 second tater were Credicted. The external tank subsystens performed as expected and no TPS anonalies than Preerved, The MPS (main propulsion system) performance was excellent with main engine cutoff occurring at the predicted time. The first day of the STS 41-6 mission was very active. The ERBS (Eartn Radiation Sudget yeeetiite) was released about 2 hours 50 minutes later than planned because the solar Steyn the satellite did nat deploy when commanded. After exposure to the Sun, the array oneays deployed, and the satellite was released in a very stable attitude with rates of less than 0,01 deg/sec. Thruster RIR (prinary right yaw) was automatically deselected at 279:11:26 G.n.t. The qrrster Fenained deselected for the renainder of the mission. | At 279:23:54 Gant. » Tneuster snronna bypass message was noted and, coincident with this message, the Ku-band Teac went to vero, The Ku-band power cable in Avionics: Bay 3A in the aft mi daeck FF povecommected to renove all Ku-band antenna drive signals and Teave the antenna in @ wet tted position. The Orbiter was then maneuvered to aim the antenna at the TORS (tracking and data relay satellite).