| STS-9 | |||||
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| Mission insignia |
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| Mission statistics | |||||
| Mission name | STS-9 | ||||
| Space shuttle | Columbia | ||||
| Launch pad | 39A | ||||
| Launch date | 28 November 1983, 11:00:00 EDT (16:00:00 UTC) | ||||
| Landing | 8 December 1983, 18:47:24 EDT (23:47:24 UTC) Edwards AFB, Runway 17 |
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| Mission duration | 10 days, 7 hours, 47 minutes, 24 seconds | ||||
| Number of orbits | 167 | ||||
| Orbital altitude | 178 miles (286 km) | ||||
| Orbital inclination | 57.0° | ||||
| Distance traveled | 4,295,852 miles (6,913,504 km) | ||||
| Crew photo | |||||
| L-R: Garriott, Lichtenberg, Shaw, Young, Merbold, Parker | |||||
| Related missions | |||||
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STS-9 (also known as STS-41A[1] and Spacelab 1) was a NASA Space Shuttle mission which carried the first Spacelab module into orbit to conduct space-based scientific experiments. It was the sixth mission of the Space Shuttle Columbia, and was Columbia's last flight until STS-61-C in January 1986. It was also the last time the old STS numbering was used until STS-26 (in the aftermath of the Challenger disaster of STS-51-L). Under the new system, STS-9 would have been designated as STS-41-A.
Contents |
| Position | Astronaut | |
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| Commander | John W. Young Sixth spaceflight |
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| Pilot | Brewster H. Shaw, Jr. First spaceflight |
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| Mission Specialist 1 | Owen K. Garriott Second spaceflight |
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| Mission Specialist 2 | Robert A. Parker First spaceflight |
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| Payload Specialist 1 | Ulf Merbold, ESA First spaceflight |
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| Payload Specialist 2 | Byron K. Lichtenberg First spaceflight |
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| Position | Astronaut | |
|---|---|---|
| Payload Specialist 1 | Wubbo Ockels | |
| Payload Specialist 2 | Michael Lampton | |
STS-9's six-member crew, the largest of any manned space mission at the time, included John W. Young, commander, on his second shuttle flight; Brewster H. Shaw, pilot; Owen Garriott and Robert A. Parker, both mission specialists; and Byron K. Lichtenberg and Ulf Merbold, payload specialists - the first two non-NASA astronauts to fly on the Space Shuttle. Merbold, a citizen of West Germany, was the first foreign citizen to participate in a shuttle flight. Lichtenberg was a researcher at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Prior to STS-9, scientist-astronaut Garriott had spent 56 days in orbit in 1973 aboard Skylab.
The mission was devoted entirely to Spacelab 1, a joint NASA/European Space Agency (ESA) program designed to demonstrate the ability to conduct advanced scientific research in space, with astronauts and payload specialists working in the Spacelab module and coordinating their efforts with scientists at the Marshall Payload Operations Control Center (POCC) then located at the Johnson Space Center. Funding for Spacelab 1 was provided by ESA.
The original launch date of 29 October 1983 was scrubbed due to concerns with the exhaust nozzle on the right solid rocket booster (SRB). For the first time in the history of the shuttle program, the shuttle stack was rolled back to the Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB), where it was destacked and the orbiter returned to the orbiter processing facility, while the suspect booster underwent repairs. The shuttle was restacked and returned to the launch pad on 8 November 1983.[2][3][4]
STS-9 launched successfully from Kennedy Space Center at 11 am EST on 28 November 1983.
The shuttle's crew was divided into two teams, each working 12-hour shifts for the duration of the mission. Young, Parker and Merbold formed the Red Team, while Shaw, Garriott and Lichtenberg made up the Blue Team. Usually, the commander and the pilot team members were assigned to the flight deck, while the mission and payload specialists worked inside the Spacelab.
Over the course of the mission, seventy-two scientific experiments were carried out, spanning the fields of atmospheric and plasma physics, astronomy, solar physics, material sciences, technology, life sciences and Earth observations. The Spacelab effort went so well that the mission was extended an additional day to 10 days, making it the longest-duration shuttle flight at that time.
In addition, Garriott made the first ham radio transmissions by an amateur radio operator in space during the flight. This led to many further space flights incorporating amateur radio as an educational and back-up communications tool.
The Spacelab 1 mission was highly successful, proving the feasibility of the concept of carrying out complex experiments in space using non-NASA persons trained as payload specialists in collaboration with a POCC. Moreover, the Tracking and Data Relay Satellite, now fully operational, was able to relay vasts amounts of data through its ground terminal to the POCC.
During orbiter orientation, four hours before re-entry, one of the flight control computers crashed when the RCS thrusters were fired. A few minutes later, a second crashed in a similar fashion, but was successfully rebooted. Young delayed the landing, letting the orbiter drift. He later testified: "Had we then activated the Backup Flight Software, loss of vehicle and crew would have resulted." Post-flight analysis revealed the GPCs failed when the RCS thruster motion knocked a piece of solder loose and shorted out the CPU board.
Columbia landed on Runway 17 at Edwards Air Force Base on 8 December 1983, at 15:47 pm PST, having completed 166 orbits and travelled 4.3 million miles over the course of its mission. Right before landing, two of the orbiter's three auxiliary power units caught fire due to a hydrazine leak, but the orbiter nonetheless landed successfully. Columbia was ferried back to KSC on 15 December. The leak was later discovered after it had burned itself out and caused major damage to the compartment.
| Attempt | Planned | Result | Turnaround | Reason | Decision point | Weather go % | Notes |
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| 1 | 29 Oct 1983, 12:00:00 pm | scrubbed | --- | technical | 19 Oct 1983, 12:00 am(T-43) | SRB nozzle issues. Launch and decision point times are approximate, dates are accurate. | |
| 2 | 28 Nov 1983, 11:00:00 pm | success | 30 days, 10 hours, 60 minutes |
The major payload of the flight, Spacelab 1, is depicted in the payload bay of the Columbia. The nine stars and the path of the orbiter indicate the flight's numerical designation, STS-9.
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