Frederick D. Gregory

(First Space Flight) Mission Specialist 1:

(Second Space Flight) Mission Specialist 2:

(Second Space Flight) Mission Specialist 3:

(First Space Flight)

STS 51-B was the seventeenth flight of NASA's Space Shuttle program, and the seventh flight of Space Shuttle Challenger. The launch of Challenger on April 29, 1985 was delayed by 2 minutes and 18 seconds, due to a launch processing failure. Challenger was initially rolled out to the pad to launch on the STS-51-E mission. The shuttle was rolled back when a timing issue emerged with the TDRS-B satellite. When STS-51-E was canceled, Challenger was remanifested with the STS-51-B payloads. The shuttle landed successfully on May 6, 1985, after a week-long mission.

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Pages within this section: USA Shuttle Mission Flights

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The Space Shuttle Missions

Lodeewijk Van Den Berg

(Second Space Flight)

(First Space Flight) Payload Specialist 1:

(First Space Flight) Payload Specialist 2:

Challenger lifted off from Kennedy Space Center (KSC)'s launch pad 39A at 12:02 pm EDT on April 29, 1985. The crew members included Robert F. Overmyer, commander; Frederick D. Gregory, pilot; Don L. Lind, Norman E. Thagard and William E. Thornton, mission specialists; and Lodewijk van den Berg, of EG&G Energy Management, Inc., and Taylor G. Wang, of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, both payload specialists. Similar to the previous Spacelab mission, the crew was divided roughly in half to cover 12-hour shifts, with Overmyer, Lind, Thornton and Wang forming the Gold team, and Gregory, Thagard and van den Berg as the Silver team.

STS-51-B was the second flight of the European Space Agency's Spacelab, and the first with the Spacelab module in a fully operational configuration. Spacelab's capabilities for multi-disciplinary research in microgravity were successfully demonstrated. The gravity gradient attitude of the orbiter proved quite stable, allowing the delicate experiments in materials processing and fluid mechanics to proceed normally. The crew operated around the clock in two 12-hour shifts. Two squirrel monkeys and 24 rats were flown in special cages, the second time American astronauts flew live non-human mammals aboard the shuttle. The crew members in orbit were supported 24 hours a day by a temporary Payload Operations Control Center, located at the Johnson Space Center.

On the mission, Spacelab carried 15 primary experiments, of which 14 were successfully performed. Two Getaway Special experiments required that they be deployed from their canisters, a first for the program. These were NUSAT (Northern Utah Satellite) and GLOMR (Global Low Orbiting Message Relay Satellite). NUSAT deployed successfully, but GLOMR did not deploy, and was returned to Earth.

Challenger landed safely at Edwards Air Force Base at 12:11 pm EDT on May 6, 1985, after a mission lasting 7 days, 8 minutes and 46 seconds.

Overmyer, Lind, Van den Berg, and Thornton in Spacelab Module LM1 during flight

Backup crew
Payload Specialist 1
Mary Johnston Member of Silver Team
First spaceflight
Payload Specialist 2
Eugene H. Trinh Member of Gold Team
First spaceflight