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ArchivesText SizeSTS-61C Mission: SATCOM KU-1
Space Shuttle: Columbia
Launch Pad: 39A 
Launch Weight: 256,003 pounds
Launched: January 12, 1986, 6:55:00 a.m. EST
Landing Site: Edwards Air Force Base, Calif.
Landing: January 18, 1986, 5:58:51 a.m. PST
Landing Weight: 210,161 pounds
Runway: 22 
Rollout Distance: 10,202 feet
Rollout Time: 59 seconds
Revolution: 98
Mission Duration: 6 days, 2 hours, 3 minutes, 51 seconds
Returned to KSC: January 23, 1986
Orbit Altitude: 212 nautical miles
Orbit Inclination: 28.5 degrees
Miles Traveled: 2.5 million 

Crew Members

                    

Image above: STS-61C Crew photo with Commander Robert L. Gibson, Pilot Charles 
F. Bolden, Jr., Mission Specialists Franklin R. Chang-Diaz, Steven A. Hawley, 
George D. Nelson and Payload Specialists Robert J. Cenker and Congressman Bill 
Nelson. Image Credit: NASA 

Launch/Landing Highlights

 The launch set for December 18, 1985 was delayed one day when additional time 
needed to close out orbiter aft compartment. Another launch attempt on December 
19 scrubbed at T- 14 seconds due to indication that the right solid rocket 
booster hydraulic power unit was exceeding the RPM redline speed limits. (This 
was later determined to be a false reading.) After an 18-day delay, a launch 
attempt January 6, 1986 halted at T-31 seconds due to the accidental draining of 
approximately 4,000 pounds of liquid oxygen from the external tank. The launch 
attempt January 7 scrubbed at T-9 minutes due to bad weather at both 
transoceanic abort landing sites (Moron, Spain and Dakar, Senegal). After a 
two-day delay, the launch set for January 9 was delayed due to the launch pad 
liquid oxygen sensor breaking off and lodging in the number two main engine 
prevalve. The launch set for January 10 was delayed two days due to heavy rains. 
The launch countdown on January 12 proceeded with no delays.

The planned landing at KSC, originally scheduled for January 17, moved to 
January 16 to save orbiter turnaround time. Landing attempts on January 16 and 
17 were abandoned due to unacceptable weather at KSC. The landing set for 
January 18 at KSC but persisting bad weather forced a one revolution extension 
of mission and landing at Edwards.

Mission Highlights

The SATCOM KU-I (RCA Americom) satellite, attached to the Payload Assist 
Module-D2 (PAM-D2) motor, was deployed. Comet Halley Active Monitoring Program 
(CHAMP) experiment, a 35mm camera to photograph Comet Halley, did not function 
properly due to battery problems. Other payloads: Materials Science Laboratory-2 
(MSL-2); Hitchhiker G-1; Infrared Imaging Experiment (IR-IE); Initial Blood 
Storage Experiment (IBSE); Hand-held Protein Crystal Growth (HPCG) experiment; 
three Shuttle Student Involvement Program (SSIP) experiments and 13 Get Away 
Specials (GAS), 12 of them mounted on a special GAS Bridge Assembly.

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