STS-8

Launch, orbit & landing data: Designation  14312 / 83089A Launch date - time  30 Aug 1983 - 06:32:00 UT Launch site  KSC, LC39A Launch vehicle  Space Shuttle (#8) Orbiter  Challenger OV-099 (#3) Primary payload  INSAT 1B Challenger F03 / PFTA. Mass: 13,642 kg. Mass (kg)   Earth orbit on :    - Perigee / Apogee  306 / 313 km    - Inclination  28.5°    - Period  90.7 min Landing date - time  05 Sep 1983 - 07:40:43 UT Landing location  Edwards AFB, Runway 22 Flight Duration (d:hr:min)  6d 01h 08m Nbr orbits  98

Flight Crew

Mission details:

• Launch from Cape Canaveral (KSC); landing on Edwards AFB; deploying of communications satellite Insat-1B (India); electrophoresis-experiments; investigations on "Space Adaption Syndrome"; biofeedback experiments with six rats; first night landing of a Space Shuttle; first night launch and first night landing of a Space Shuttle.
  

  Crew compartment flight deck window debris, damage, streak documentation - Credit: NASA.

  Mission Specialist (MS) Bluford exercises on middeck treadmill - Credit: NASA.

  
  

• First night launch and night landing. Deployed Insat 1B. Payloads: Deployment of INSAT (lndia communica-tion satellite) with Payload Assist Module (PAM)-D, Payload Flight Test Article (PFTA)/ Payload Deployment Retrieval System (PDRS), Continuous Flow Electrophoresis (CFES), biomedical experiments. 250,000 express mail envelopes with special cachet for U.S. Postal Service were carried for a first-day cover.

• Orbits of Earth: 97. Distance traveled: 4,046,660 km. Orbiter Liftoff Mass: 110,105 kg. Orbiter Mass at Landing: 92,506 kg. Payload to Orbit: 13,642 kg. Payload Returned: 10,265 kg. Landed at: Concrete runway 22 at Edwards Air Force Base, Cali. Landing Speed: 361 kph. Touchdown miss distance: 851 m. Landing Rollout: 2,856 m.
  

  Aft flight deck documentation with freefloating headset interface unit (HIU) - Credit: NASA.

  View of the INSAT/PAM-D being deployed - Credit: NASA.

  
  
• NASA Official Mission Narrative

  Mission Name: STS-8 (8)
  CHALLENGER (3)
  Pad 39-A (20)
  8th Shuttle mission
  3rd Flight OV-099
  1st Night Launch
  1st Night Landing

  Crew:
  Richard H. Truly (2), Commander
  Daniel C. Brandenstein (1), Pilot
  Dale A. Gardner (1), Mission Specialist
  Guion S. Bluford (1), Jr., Mission Specialist
  William E. Thornton (1), Mission Specialist
  

  ISAL experiment documentation of vertical tail and OMS pods - Credit: NASA.

  
  

• Milestones:
  OPF - June 3O, 1983
  VAB - July 26, 1983
  PAD - Aug. 2, 1983

  Payload:
  INSAT-1B,PDRS/PFTA,CFES(4),OIM,MLR(3),GAS(x7)
  Mission Objectives:

  Launch:
  August 30, 1983, 2:32:00 a.m. EDT. Launch delayed 17 mlnutes due to weather. Launch Weight: 242,742 lbs.
  Orbit:
  Altitude: 191nm
  Inclination: 28.5 degrees
  Orbits: 98
  Duration: Six days, one hour, eight minutes, 43 seconds.
  Distance: 2,514,478 miles.

• Mission Highlights: Bluford became first African-American to fly in space. INSAT-1B, a multipurpose satellite for India attached to Payload Assist Module-D (PAM-D) motor, was deployed. Nose of orbiter held away from sun 14 hours to test flight deck area in extreme cold. For Development Flight Instrumentation Pallet (DFI PLT), crew filmed performance of experimental heat pipe mounted in cargo bay; also, orbiter dropped to 139 miles altitude to perform tests on thin atomic oxygen to identify cause of glow that surrounds parts of orbiter at night. Remote manipulator system tested to evaluate joint reactions to higher loads. Biofeedback experiments: six rats flown in Animal Enclosure Module to observe animal reactions in space. Other payloads: Continuous Flow Electrophoresis System (CFES); Shuttle Student Involvement Program (SSlP) experiment; Incubator-Cell Attachment Test (l CAT); Investigation of STS Atmospheric Luminosities (ISAL); Radiation Monitoring Equipment (RME); and five Get Away Special experiment packages including eight cans of postal covers. Testing conducted between Tracking and Data Relay Satellite-I (TDRS-1 ) and orbiter using Ku-band antenna, and investigations continued on Space Adaptation Syndrome.

Astrophilately covers:

KSC launch & landing cancel. Credit: #411