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STS-61A Mission: D-1 Spacelab Mission (First German Dedicated Spacelab)
Space Shuttle: Challenger
Launch Pad: 39A 
Launch Weight: 243,762 pounds
Launched: October 30, 1985, 12:00:00 p.m. EST
Landing Site: Edwards Air Force Base, Calif.
Landing: November 6, 1985, 9:44:53 a.m. PST
Landing Weight: 214,171 pounds
Runway: 17 
Rollout Distance: 8,304 feet
Rollout Time: 45 seconds
Revolution: 112
Mission Duration: 7 days, 0 hours, 44 minutes, 51 seconds
Returned to KSC: November 11, 1985
Orbit Altitude: 207 nautical miles
Orbit Inclination: 57 degrees


Crew Members

                    

Image above: STS-61A Crew photo with Commander Henry W. Hartsfield, Jr., Pilot 
Steven R. Nagel, Mission Specialists James F. Buchli, Guion S. Bluford, Bonnie 
J. Dunbar and Payload Specialists Reinhard Furrer, Ernst Messerschmid and Wubbo 
J. Ockels. Image Credit: NASA 

Mission Highlights

 The dedicated German Spacelab (D-1) mission was conducted in a long module 
configuration, which featured a Vestibular Sled designed to give scientists data 
on the functional organization of human vestibular and orientation systems. 
Spacelab D-1 encompassed 75 numbered experiments, most performed more than once. 
The mission included basic and applied microgravity research in fields of 
materials science, life sciences and technology, and communications and 
navigation. Though the orbiter was controlled from Johnson Space Center, 
scientific operations were controlled from the German Space Operations Center at 
Oberpfaffenhofen, near Munich. Other objectives: Global Low Orbiting Message 
Relay (GLOMR) satellite deployed from Get Away Special canister.

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