STS-9 (9)

COLUMBIA (6)

Pad 39-A (21)

9th Shuttle mission

6th Flight OV-102

1st rollback

Extended mission

Crew:

John W. Young (6), Commander

Brewster H. Shaw (1), Jr., Pilot

Owen K. Garriott (2), Mission Specialist

Dr. Robert A. Parker (1), Mission Specialist

Dr. Byron K. Lichtenberg (1), Payload Specialist

Dr. Ulf Merbold (1), Payload Specialist (ESA)

Milestones:

Flow A:

OPF - Nov. 23, 1982

VAB - Sept. 24, 1983

PAD - Sept. 28, 1983

Flow B:

OPF - Oct. 20, 1983

VAB - Nov. 3, 1983

PAD - Nov. 8,1983

Payload:

SPACELAB-1

Mission Objectives:

>Click here for Additional Info on STS-9

Launch:

November 28, 1983, 11:00:00 a.m. EST. Launch set for Sept. 30 delayed 28 days due to suspect exhaust nozzle on right solid rocket booster. Problem discovered while Shuttle was on pad. Shuttle returned to VAB and demated. Suspect nozzle replaced and vehicle restacked. Countdown Nov. 28 proceeded as scheduled. Launch Weight: 247,619 lbs.

Orbit:

Altitude: 155nm

Inclination: 57.0 degrees

Orbits: 167

Duration: 10 days, seven hours, 47 minutes, 24 seconds.

Distance: 4,295,853 miles

Hardware:

SRB: BI-009

SRM: 009SW(HPM)

ET : 11/LWT-4

MLP : 1

SSME-1: SN-2011

SSME-2: SN-2018

SSME-3: SN-2019

Landing:

December 8, 1983, 3:47:24 p.m. PST, Runway 17, Edwards Air Force Base, Calif. Rollout distance: 8,456 feet. Rollout time: 53 seconds. Landing delayed approximately eight hours to analyze problems when general purpose computers one and two failed and inertial measurement unit one failed. During landing, two of three auxiliary power units caught fire. Orbiter returned to KSC Dec. 15, 1983. Landing Weight: 220,027 lbs.

Mission Highlights:

Flight carried first Spacelab mission and first astronaut to represent European Space Agency (ESA), Ulf Merbold of Germany. ESA and NASA jointly sponsored Spacelab-1 and conducted investigations which demonstrated capability for advanced research in space. Spacelab is an orbital laboratory and observations platform composed of cylindrical pressurized modules and U-shaped unpressurized pallets which remain in orbiter's cargo bay during flight. Altogether 73 separate investigations carried out in astronomy and physics, atmospheric physics, Earth observations, life sciences, materials sciences, space plasma physics and technology. First time six persons carried into space on a single vehicle.

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