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| Mission Insignia |
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| Mission Statistics |
| Mission: | STS-61-A |
| Shuttle: | Challenger |
| Launch Pad: | 39A |
| Launch: | October 30, 1985
17:00:00 UTC |
| Landing: | November 6, 1985
17:44:51 |
| Duration: | 7 days 44 minutes 51 seconds |
| Orbit Altitude: | |
| Orbit Inclination: | 57° |
| Miles Traveled: | |
| Crew photo |
 Front row L-R: Messerschmid, Ockels, Nagel, Bluford, Back row L-R: Hartsfield, Dunbar, Buchli, Furrer. |
STS-61-A was the 22nd Space Shuttle mission. It was a scientific Spacelab mission booked by Germany - hence the payload name D-1 (for Deutschland 1).
Crew
Mission Parameters
Mission Highlights
The Orbiter Challenger lifted off from Pad A, Launch Complex 39, KSC,
at 12:00 noon EST on October 30, 1985. This was the first Space Shuttle
mission largely financed and operated by another nation, West Germany. It
was also the first Space Shuttle flight to carry a crew of eight. The
primary mission was to operate a series of experiments, almost all related
to functions in microgravity, in Spacelab D-1, the fourth flight of a
Spacelab. Two other mission assignments were to deploy the Global Low
Orbiting Message Relay Satellite (GLOMR) out of a Getaway Special canister
in the cargo bay, and operate five materials processing experiments
mounted in the cargo bay on a separate device called the German Unique
Support Structure.
NASA operated the Space Shuttle, and was responsible for overall
safety and control functions throughout the flight. West Germany was
responsible for the scientific research carried out during the seven-day
mission. To fulfill this function German scientific controllers on the
ground worked closely with the personnel in orbit, operating out of the
German Space Operations Center at Oberpfaffenhofen, near Munich, West
Germany. The orbiting crew divided into two teams, and operated 24-hrs a
day. Communications were very good throughout the mission and the ground
and orbital crews were able to interact regularly. The overall system of
one Center controlling spacecraft operations and a second controlling
experiment functions worked very smoothly in practice.
The GLOMR satellite was successfully deployed during the
mission. The five experiments mounted on the separate structure behind
the Spacelab module obtained good data. Orbiter Challenger landed on
Runway 17 at Edwards AFB on November 6, 1986. The wheels stopped rolling
at 12:45 p.m. EST, after a mission duration of 7 days, 0 hours, and 45
minutes. The crew members were Henry W. Hartsfield, Jr., commander; Steven
R. Nagel, pilot; Bonnie J. Dunbar, James F. Buchli and Guion S. Bluford,
mission specialists; and Ernst Messerschmid and Reinhard Furrer, West
Germany, along with Wubbo Ockels, European Space Agency, payload
specialists. encompassed some 75 numbered experiments, most of which were
performed more than once. Some of these experiments had predecessors
which had returned data obtained on earlier flights. This made it
possible to prepare experiment regimens that were 'second generation' with
respect to technical concept and experiment installation. Almost all of
them took advantage of the microgravity environment to perform work not
possible, or very much more difficult to do, on Earth. The major area of
concentration was materials science, in which West Germany has a well
developed expertise.
The primary areas of experiment concentration were: fluid
physics, with experiments in capillarity, Marangoni convection, diffusion
phenomena, and critical point; solidification experiments; single crystal
growth; composites; biological, including cell functions, developmental
processes, and the ability of plants to perceive gravity; medical,
including the gravitational perceptions of humans, and their adaptation
processes in space; and speed-time interaction studies of people working
in space.
One equipment item of unusual interest was the Vestibular
Sled, an ESA contribution consisting of a seat for a test subject that
could be moved backward and forward with precisely controlled
accelerations and stops, along rails fixed to the floor of the Spacelab
aisle. By taking detailed measurements on a human strapped into the seat,
scientists gained data on the functional organization of the human
vestibular and orientation systems, and the vestibular adaptation
processes under microgravity. The acceleration experiments by the sled
riders were combined with thermal stimulations of the inner ear and
optokinetic stimulations of the eye.
Overall, this was the most comprehensive series of experiments
to date on materials processing in space and associated human activities,
adding a rich store to humanity's knowledge. The data that was gained
will require years of analysis.
Dedicated German Spacelab (D-1) mission conducted in long module configuration, which featured Vestibular Sled designed to give scientists data on functional organization of human vestibular and orientation systems. Spacelab D-1 encompassed 75 numbered experiments, most performed more than once. Mission included basic and applied microgravity research in fields of materials science, life sciences and technology, and communications and navigation. Though orbiter controlled from Johnson Space Center, scientific operations controlled from 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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