STS-8

Infobox Space mission
mission_name = STS-8
insignia = STS-8_patch.png shuttle = Challenger
launch_pad = 39-A
launch = August 30, 1983, 06:32:00 UTC
landing = September 5, 1983, 07:40:43 UTC
duration = 6d/01:08:43
altitude = 354 km
inclination = 28.5°
orbits = 98
distance = 4,046,660 km
crew_photo = STS-8_crew.jpg
crew_caption = Seated (L-R): Daniel C. Brandenstein, Pilot, Richard H. Truly, Commander, and Guion S. Bluford, Jr., Mission Specialist. Standing (L-R): Dale A. Gardner, Mission Specialist, and William E. Thornton, Mission Specialist.
previous = STS-7
next = STS-9

STS-8 was the third flight of the Space Shuttle "Challenger", and the eighth shuttle flight. It conducted the first night launch and night landing.

Crew

Number in parentheses indicates number of spaceflights by each individual prior to and including this mission.

*Richard H. Truly (2) - Commander
*Daniel C. Brandenstein (1) - Pilot
*Dale A. Gardner (1) - Mission Specialist
*Guion S. Bluford, Jr. (1) - Mission Specialist
*William E. Thornton (1) - Mission Specialist

Mission parameters

*Mass:
**"Orbiter Liftoff:" 110,105 kg
**"Orbiter Landing:" 92,506 kg
**"Payload:" 13,642 kg
*Perigee: 306 km
*Apogee: 313 km
*Inclination: 28.5°
*Period: 90.7 min

Mission highlights

Bluford became the first African American to fly in space. Astronauts deployed INSAT-1B, a multipurpose satellite for India attached to Payload Assist Module-D (PAM-D) motor. On this mission, guidance held the nose of orbiter away from the sun for 14 hours to test the flight deck area in extreme cold. For the Development Flight Instrumentation Pallet (DFI PLT), the crew filmed performance of an experimental heat pipe mounted in the cargo bay. During the flight, the orbiter dropped to 139 miles altitude to perform tests on thin atomic oxygen to identify the cause of glow that surrounds parts of the orbiter at night. Astronauts tested the Remote Manipulator System to evaluate joint reactions to higher loads than previously examined. The flight included biofeedback experiments with six rats flown in an Animal Enclosure Module to observe animal reactions in space. Other payloads: Continuous Flow Electrophoresis System (CFES); Shuttle Student Involvement Program (SSIP) experiment; Incubator-Cell Attachment Test (I CAT); Investigation of STS Atmospheric Luminosities (ISAL); Radiation Monitoring Equipment (RME); and five Get Away Special experiment packages including eight cans of postal covers. Astronauts and ground control tested communications between Tracking and Data Relay Satellite-I (TDRS-1) and the orbiter using Ku-band antenna, and investigations continued on Space Adaptation Syndrome.In cooperation with the USPS, the mission also carried several hundred thousand covers franked with $9.35 express mail stamps, which were then sold to the public after the shuttle's return. The original plan was to carry 500,000, but the final number was reduced to 261,900, of which 2,523 were damaged during the flight and discarded. The remaining covers were each enclosed in a souvenir folder describing the mission and the cover, and sold for $15.35 apiece. They were sold out by November 1983, just a few months after the flight.

Mission insignia

The eight stars in the black field of the mission patch tell the flight's numerical designation in the Space Transportation System's mission sequence.

ee also

* Space science
* Space shuttle
* List of space shuttle missions
* List of human spaceflights chronologically

References

* [http://science.ksc.nasa.gov/shuttle/missions/sts-8/mission-sts-8.html Kennedy Space Center STS-8 Archive]
* [http://www.nss.org/resources/library/shuttlevideos/shuttle08.htm STS-8 Video Highlights]
* [http://www.spacepatches.nl/sts_mis/sts8b.html Info on the STS-8 mission logo known as "Eyes"]