STS-62-A

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STS-62-A
Space Shuttle Discovery and SCA over Vandenberg AFB SLC-6 - DF-SC-85-09923.jpg
Space Shuttle Discovery atop Shuttle Carrier Aircraft 905, flies over Vandenberg Space Launch Complex 6 in November 1984, for testing of infrastructure at the base ahead of the mission
Names Space Transportation System
Mission type DoD satellite deployment (planned)
Operator NASA
Spacecraft properties
Spacecraft Space Shuttle Discovery (planned)
Crew
Crew size7
Members
Start of mission
Launch dateJuly 15, 1986 (planned, not launched)
Rocket Space Shuttle Discovery
Launch site Vandenberg, SLC-6
Contractor Rockwell International
End of mission
Landing dateJuly 19, 1986 (planned)
Landing site Vandenberg, Runway 12/30
Orbital parameters
Reference system Geocentric orbit (planned)
Regime Low Earth orbit
Perigee altitude 312 km (194 mi)
Apogee altitude 320 km (200 mi)
Inclination 48.45°
Period 90.90 minutes
STS-62A Crew.jpg
Back row: Aldridge, Crippen and Watterson
Front row: G. Gardner, Mullane, Ross and D. Gardner
  STS-51-L (25)
STS-26  
 
Cancelled Shuttle missions
  STS-61-H
STS-61-M  

STS-62-A was a planned NASA Space Shuttle mission to deliver a reconnaissance payload (Teal Ruby) into polar orbit. It was expected to use Discovery. It would have been the first crewed launch from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, and the first crewed mission to go into polar orbit.

Contents

The mission designation, STS-62-A, meant: 6=fiscal year 1986, 2=Vandenberg (1=Kennedy Space Center), and A=first flight in that fiscal year.

Crew

Position [1] [2] Astronaut
Commander Robert L. Crippen
Would have been fifth spaceflight
Pilot Guy S. Gardner
Would have been first spaceflight
Mission Specialist 1 Richard M. Mullane
Would have been second spaceflight
Mission Specialist 2 Jerry L. Ross
Would have been second spaceflight
Mission Specialist 3 Dale A. Gardner
Would have been third spaceflight
Payload Specialist 1 Edward C. Aldridge Jr.
Would have been first spaceflight
Payload Specialist 2 Brett Watterson, MSE
Would have been first spaceflight

Post-Challenger accident

The destruction of Challenger and subsequent halt of the Space Shuttle program led to the cancellation of the mission.

Guy Gardner, Jerry Ross, and Mike Mullane were members of the second post-Challenger mission STS-27 — a classified mission for the DoD — during which the Lacrosse-1 radar reconnaissance spacecraft was allegedly deployed. [3] [4]

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References

  1. "Crews for First Vandenberg Mission, DoD Flight Named" (PDF) (Press release). NASA Johnson Space Center News. February 15, 1985. pp. 24–25. Archived from the original (PDF) on March 18, 2010. Retrieved July 30, 2024.PD-icon.svg This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
  2. Bergin, Chris (December 18, 2005). "STS-62A: The Polar Express" . Retrieved July 31, 2024.
  3. Jenkins, Dennis R. (2001). Space Shuttle: The History of the National Space Transportation System The First 100 Missions . Saint Paul, Minnesota: Voyageur Press. p. 329. ISBN   0-9633974-5-1..
  4. "Display: Lacrosse 1 (1988-106B)". NASA. January 7, 2022. Retrieved January 29, 2022.PD-icon.svg This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain .