STS-9

USA

Manned Flight n°: 94

Earth orbit Flight n°: 91

USA manned Flight n°: 40

Launch, orbit & landing data:

Designation 14523 / 83116A
Launch date - time 28 Nov 1983 - 16:00:00 UT
Launch site KSC, LC39A
Launch vehicle  Space Shuttle (#9)
Orbiter Columbia OV-102 (#6)
Primary payload Spacelab 1
Mass (kg) 
Call Sign 
Earth orbit on :
   - Perigee / Apogee 241 / 254 km
   - Inclination 57.0°
   - Period 89.5 min
Landing date - time 08 Dec 1983 - 23:47:23 UT
Landing location Edwards AFB, Runway 17
Flight Duration (d:hr:min) 10d 07h 47m
Nbr orbits 167

Spacelab 1 demonstration - First 6-man flight.

Flight Crew

Nr. Surname Given name Job Duration
1  Young  John Watts  CDR 10d 07h 47m 
2  Shaw  Brewster Hopkinson, Jr.  PLT 10d 07h 47m 
3  Garriott  Owen Kay  MSP 10d 07h 47m 
4  Parker  Robert Alan Ridley  MSP 10d 07h 47m 
5  Lichtenberg  Byron Kurt  PSP 10d 07h 47m 
6  Merbold  Ulf Dietrich  PSP 10d 07h 47m 

Summary:

Launch from KSC; landing on Edwards AFB; Merbold first non-American in a Space Shuttle; first crew of six persons; first mission of ESA-sponsored Spacelab (Spacelab 1, SL-1); all in all 73 different experiments in the areas of medicine biology, physics, materials science, astronomy and Earth sciences.
LV Configuration: STS-9 (41-A). Payload: Columbia F06 / Spacelab 1 Pallet. Mass: 15,088 kg.
STS-9 STS-9 - Launch of STS-9 Space Shuttle Columbia - Credit: NASA.

Carried ESA Spacelab. Payloads: Payload: Spacelab-1 experiments, habitable Spacelab and pallet, carried 71 experiments. The six-man crew was divided into two 12-hour-day red and blue teams to operate experiments. First high-inclination orbit of 57 degrees.

STS-9STS-9 - View of the Spacelab module in the payload bay of the Columbia during STS-9 - Credit: NASA. 43,071 bytes. 484 x 484 pixels.
Orbits of Earth: 166. Distance traveled: 6,913,505 km. Orbiter Liftoff Mass: 112,318 kg. Orbiter Mass at Landing: 99,800 kg. Payload to Orbit: 15,088 kg. Payload Returned: 15,088 kg. Landed at: Runway 17 dry lake bed at Edwards Air Force Base, . Landing Speed: 342 kph. Touchdown miss distance: 502 m. Landing Rollout: 2,577 m.
STS-9STS-9 - STS-9 crewmembers Parker and Merbold floating about the Spacelab module - Credit: NASA. 62,622 bytes. 621 x 621 pixels.
NASA Official Mission Narrative

Mission Name: 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)

STS-9STS-9 - Payload Specialist Byron K. Lichtenberg working in the Spacelab - Credit: NASA. 56,426 bytes. 615 x 615 pixels.
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:

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

STS-9STS-9 - View of payload bay as seen from Spacelab aft viewing area - Credit: NASA. 31,775 bytes. 622 x 622 pixels.
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.

STS-9STS-9 - STS-9 crewmembers gather around television monitor in Spacelab module - Credit: NASA. 64,307 bytes. 616 x 616 pixels.
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.
STS-9 STS-9 - Payload Specialist Ulf Merbold working in the Spacelab - Credit: NASA.
STS-9 STS-9 - Post landing view of the Columbia on runway with deservicing vehicles & crew - Credit: NASA.

External links:

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