STS-62-A

Infobox Space mission
mission_name = STS-1V/62-A
insignia = Shuttle_Patch.png shuttle = Discovery
launch_pad = SLC-6
launch = July 15, 1986 (planned)
landing = n/a
duration = n/a
altitude = n/a
inclination = n/a
distance = n/a
crew_photo =
crew_caption =
previous = STS-51-L
next = STS-26

STS-62-A was a planned Space Shuttle mission to deliver a reconnaissance payload (Teal Ruby) into polar orbit. It was expected to use "Discovery". It would have been the first manned launch from Vandenberg Air Force Base. The mission designation, 62-A, meant: 6=Fiscal year 1986, 2=Vandenberg (1=Kennedy Space Center), and A=first flight in that fiscal year.

Crew

The crew was announced on February 15, 1985. [cite press release | title= 85-0025 Crews for First Vandenberg Mission, DoD Flight Named | publisher=NASA Johnson Space Center News | date=1985-02-15 | url=http://www.nasa.gov/centers/johnson/pdf/83137main_1985.pdf | format=PDF |accessdate=2008-02-11]

*Robert L. Crippen (5) - Commander
*Guy S. Gardner (1) - Pilot
*Dale A. Gardner (3) - Mission Specialist
*Jerry L. Ross (2) - Mission Specialist
*Michael Mullane (2) - Mission Specialist
*Brett Watterson (1) - Manned Spaceflight Engineer
*Edward C. Aldridge Jr. (1) - Payload Specialist

Post-"Challenger" accident

The destruction of "Challenger" and subsequent halt of the Space Shuttle Program led to the cancellation of the mission.

Interestingly, G. Gardner, Ross and Mullane were members of the second post-"Challenger" mission STS-27 - a classified mission for the DoD - during which the Lacrosse-1 radar reconnaissance spacecraft was allegedly deployed. [cite book | last=Jenkins |first= Dennis R. |title=Space Shuttle: The History of the National Space Transportation System The First 100 Missions |page=329 |date=2001 | publisher=Voyageur Press |location=Saint Paul | isbn=0963397451.] [cite web | url=http://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/nmc/spacecraftDisplay.do?id=1988-106B | title=NASA National Space Science Data Center - Lacrosse 1 Details | accessdate=2008-02-11]

References

External links

* [http://www.spacepatches.nl/sts_mis/STS62A.html STS-62-A mission patch draft designs]