STS 51-J

Flight Crew

BOBKO, Karol Joseph, 48, USAF, commander, 3rd mission Previous missions: STS-6 (1983); STS 51-D (1985)

GRABE, Ronald John, 40, USAF, pilot HILMERS, David Carl, 35, USMC, mission specialist 1 STEWART, Robert Lee, 43, US Army, mission specialist 2, 2nd mission Previous mission: STS 41-B (1984)

PAILES, William, 33, USAF, payload specialist 1

Flight Log

The maiden flight of the Atlantis orbiter began in spectacular style from Pad 39A at 11: 15hrs local time, but the first anyone was to have known about the mission was nine minutes earlier, when the ground launch sequencer started the final countdown. Mission 51-J was a Department of Defense flight and is one of the most anonymous in Shuttle history because of its classification. It is thought to have deployed two DSCS communications satellites into orbit aboard an IUS upper stage. According to data revealed by the North American Air Defense Command, NORAD, Atlantis reached a record 512km (318 miles) altitude in the 28.5° orbit.

Also on board was an experiment called Bios, which studied the damage to biological samples by high-energy cosmic rays. The mission also marked the end of the brief career of the USA Air Force Manned Space Engineer corps, whose William Pailes was the second and last to fly. At one time, one or two representatives from the MSE corps were to have flown every DoD mission. After the Challenger accident the next year, these already limited opportunities disappeared altogether.

Atlantis made a longer than usual return from its high orbit, landing on runway 23 at Edwards Air Force Base at T + 4 days 1 hour 44 minutes 38 seconds.