STS-51-B (Challenger)
STS-51-B (Challenger)
Launch Date
April 29, 1985
Craft
Space Shuttle
Status
Past
Crew
7
STS-51-B (Challenger)
STS-51-B (Challenger)
Launch Date
April 29, 1985
Craft
Space Shuttle
Status
Past
Crew
7
Overview
A co-sponsored ESA/NASA scientific research flight of Spacelab. This was Spacelab's second flight and hosted a range of 15 scientific experiments. During launch, a second significant burn through of the O-ring seal between the Solid Rocket Booster segments occurred as it had on STS-51-C. According to the mission's Commander, the flight came within 0.3 seconds of a Challenger-like burn through event. Morton Thiokol (who built the solid rockets) and NASA upper management again dismissed concerns. The Space Shuttle kept flying.
Crafts
Space Shuttle
Space Shuttle
The first reusable launch and landing spacecraft, the Space Shuttle began a new chapter of human space exploration. It launched like a rocket but landed on a runway like a plane. Shuttle crews deployed dozens of commercial satellites and two interplanetary probes to Venus and Jupiter. The Shuttle served as a mini space station and hosted hundreds of biomedical, psychological, physiological, materials science, and physics experiments that have directly benefited life on Earth. The five flight-worthy Shuttles -- Columbia, Challenger, Discovery, Atlantis, and Endeavour -- flew 135 missions over 30 years. The Shuttles helped construct the Russian Mir space station and brought nearly 80% of the International Space Station to orbit. Shuttles also deployed and serviced the Hubble Space Telescope.