Mission Highlights

The launch originally was scheduled for Dec. 18, but the closeout of an aft orbiter compartment was delayed and the mission was rescheduled for the next day on Dec. 19, the countdown was stopped at T-14 seconds because of a -- out-of-tolerance turbine reading on the right SRBs hydraulic system.

Another launch attempt on Jan. 6, 1986, was terminated at T-31 seconds because a problem in a valve in the liquid oxygen system could not be fixed before the end of the launch window. Other launch attempts were made on Jan. 7, scrubbed because of bad weather at contingency landing sites at Dakar, Senegal, and Moron, Spain; on Jan. 9, delayed because of a problem with a main engine prevalve; and on Jan. 10 because of heavy rain in the launch area.

The launch finally took place at 6:55 a.m. EST, on Jan. 12 without further problems.

The flight crew included Robert L. Gibson, commander; Charles F. Bolden, pilot; three mission specialists Franklin Chang-Diaz, Steven A. Hawley and George D. Nelson; and two payload specialists Robert Cenker RCA Astro-Electronics and U.S. Congressman Bill Nelson.

The primary objective of the mission was to deploy the Ku-l communications satellite, second in a planned series of geosynchronous satellites owned and operated by RCA Americom. The deployment was successful and the satellite eventually became operational. The flight also carried a large number of small experiments, including 13 GAS canisters devoted to investigations involving the effect of microgravity on materials processing, seed germination, chemical reactions, egg hatching, astronomy and atmospheric physics. Other cargo included a Materials Science Laboratory-2 structure for experiments involving liquid bubble suspension by sound waves, melting and resolidification of metallic samples and containerless melting and solidification of electrically conductive specimens. Another small experiment carrier located in the payload bay was the Hitchiker G-l (HHG-l) with three experiments to l) study film particles in the orbiter environment, 2) test a new heat transfer system and 3) determine the effects of contamination and atomic oxygen on ultraviolet optics materials. There were also four in-cabin experiments, three of them part of the Shuttle Student Involvement Program.

Finally, an experiment called the Comet Halley Active Monitoring Program (CHAMP), consisting of a 35mm camera to photograph Comet Halley through the aft flight deck overhead window, was not successful because of battery problems.

Not only was the STS 61-C mission difficult to get off the ground, it proved to be difficult getting it back to Earth. A landing attempt on Jan. 16 was cancelled because of unfavorable weather at Edwards AFB. Continued bad weather forced another wave-off the following day, Jan. 17. The flight was extended one more day to provide for a landing opportunity at KSC on the Jan. 18th -- this in order to avoid time lost in an Edwards AFB landing and turnaround. However, bad weather at the KSC landing site resulted in still another wave-off.

Columbia finally landed at Edwards AFB at 5:59 a.m. PST, on Jan. 18. Mission elapsed time was 6 days, 2 hours, 3 minutes, 51 seconds.

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