 |
|
| Crew: 5 | CDR - Robert L. Gibson |
| Plt - Guy S. Gardner | |
| MS 1 - Richard M. Mullane | |
| MS 2 - Jerry L. Ross (EV 1) | |
| MS 3 - William M. Shepherd (EV 2) | |
| Launch | 2 December 1988 @ 0930:33.987 EST |
| Orbital incl: | 56.99 |
| Max alt: | 457.1 km. |
| Orbits: | 67 |
| Dur: | 4:09:05:35 |
| Landing: | 6 December 1988 @ 1536:11 PST |
| Launch Window: | DOD announced launch period: 6:32 - 9:32 am EST |
| TAL Sites: | Ben Guerir, Morocco |
| AOA site: | Edwards AFB |
| Primary landing site: | Edwards AFB |
| Landing Speed: | 194 knots (222 mph) |
| Landing rollout: | 7,123' from main gear touchdown |
| Vehicle weight @ liftoff: | 4,505,773 lbs |
| Orbiter weight @ liftoff: | 190,956 lbs (without cargo) |
| Orbiter weight @ landing: | N/A |
| Cargo mass approx.: | N/A |
| Landing Weight: | N/A |
| Special mission kits: | RMS-201, EMU's 1090, 1092, Galley, TAGS, teleprinter |
| DOD-01 Lacrosse (CIA) - 1988-106B/USA-34 | Deployed mass - N/A, no upper stage. Lacrosse reported weighed nearly 40,000 lbs and was deployed on FD-1 at 1630 EST on Revolution (orbit) 5, MET 7:00 |
| STP-F Battleview | Battlefield Surveillance using hand held optics |
| STP-F SPADVOS | (Spaceborne Direct View Optical System, mass - 473 lbs), AMOS (see STS-29R), APE (see STS-9), CLOUDS (see STS-14), CRUX (Cosmic Ray Upset Experiment), RME-III (see STS-8 & STS-19/51A), VFT-2, OASIS (see STS-26R), and SPACE (Space Debris Belt Characterization Exp.) |
| SSME's: | 2027 (1), 2030 (2), 2039 (3) - all 1st use. At Tower Clear 104% |
| OMS Pods/Engines: | LP-01/106 - Pod 1st use, Motor 9th use, RP-01/111 - Pod 1st use, Motor 4th use |
| ET: | ET-23 (LWT-16) |
| SRB's: | BI-030 (RSRM-2) - Lightweight set successfully recovered |
| Left - 30A | Right - 30B | |||
| New | 043 | Fwd | 018 | D-6 |
| New | 093 | Cyl | 072 | 19 |
| New | 008n | Cyl | 012n | New |
| New | L101 | Cyl | L82 | 19 |
| New | L24n | Cyl | L25n | New |
| 24 | L43 | Cyl | L53 | 23 |
| New | L23n | Cyl | L14n | New |
| D-6 | L21 | Att | L07 | D-7 |
| New | L51 | Stf | L17 | 23 |
| New | L53 | Stf | L38 | D-9 |
| 21 | 031 | Aft | 011 | 11 |
| 8 December 1985 | OV-104 returns to the OPF following Mission-23/61-B |
| October 1986 | OV-104 (without SSME's) rollover to VAB for stacking (stack was intended for 61-G pre-Challenger) |
| 9 October 1986 | OV-104 stack rollout to Pad 39B for weather protection system tests and measurement of SRB stresses during rollout |
| 18 November 1986 | TCDT with 61-C crew aboard orbiter was halted at T-26 seconds due to a software anomaly |
| 22 November 1986 | Rollback of stack to VAB |
| 19 March 1987 | OV-104 destacked from ET/SRB's after remaining stacked in the VAB for several months |
| 27 March 1987 | OV-104 transfered from VAB storage to OPF-2 |
| 28 March 1988 | ET-23 arrives on dock KSC (transferred from Vandenberg AFB, used in tests with OV-101 Enterprise) |
| 20 September 1988 | ET/SRB mate |
| 22 October 1988 | OV-104 rollover from OPF-2 to VAB High Bay 3 for stacking the next day |
| 2 November 1988 | Stack rollout to Pad 39B |
| 14 November 1988 | TCDT dress rehearsal conducted with crew aboard orbiter |
| 28 November 1988 | Astronaut arrival KSC, "Call to stations" 43 hr countdown started at 12:01 am EST |
| 2 December 1988 | Launch |
| 6 December 1988 | Landing at Edwards AFB |
| 11 December 1988 | First leg of ferry flight from Edwards AFB to Davis-Monthan AFB for an overnight stay |
| 12 December 1988 | Second leg of ferry flight from Davis-Monthan AFB to Kelly AFB for an overnight stay |
| 13 December 1988 | Final leg fo ferry flight from Kelly AFB to KSC and delivery to the OPF-2 next day |