STS-27

Name: Space Shuttle Atlantis / OV-104 | STS-27
Start: 1988-12-02T14:30:00+00:00
End: 1988-12-02T15:30:00+00:00
Location: Launch Complex 39B

Space Shuttle Atlantis / OV-104

Lockheed Space Operations Company

Launch Status

Success

Fri • Dec 2nd, 1988
2:30 PM UTC

Crew

Robert L. Gibson

Status: Retired
10/30/1946 -
Nationality: American
Type: Government
First Flight: 2/3/1984
Last Flight: 6/27/1995

Robert Lee "Hoot" Gibson is a former American naval officer and aviator, test pilot, aeronautical engineer, and a retired NASA astronaut, as well as a professional pilot who currently races regularly at the annual Reno Air Races.

Guy Gardner

Status: Retired
1/6/1948 -
Nationality: American
Type: Government
First Flight: 12/2/1988
Last Flight: 12/2/1990

Guy Spence Gardner is a United States Air Force officer and a former astronaut. He holds the rank of Colonel. He flew as pilot on two Space Shuttle missions, STS-27 and STS-35. Gardner was also the 12th president of the Williamson Free School of Mechanical Trades.

Mike Mullane

Status: Retired
9/10/1945 -
Nationality: American
Type: Government
First Flight: 8/30/1984
Last Flight: 2/28/1990

Richard Michael "Mike" Mullane is an engineer and aircraft pilot, a retired USAF officer. and a former NASA astronaut. During his career, he flew as a mission specialist on STS-41-D, STS-27, and STS-36.

William Shepherd

Status: Retired
7/26/1949 -
Nationality: American
Type: Government
First Flight: 12/2/1988
Last Flight: 10/31/2000

William McMichael "Bill" Shepherd is an American former Navy SEAL, aerospace, ocean, and mechanical engineer, and NASA astronaut who served as Commander of Expedition 1, the first crew on the International Space Station. He is also a recipient of the Congressional Space Medal of Honor.

Jerry L. Ross

Status: Retired
1/20/1948 -
Nationality: American
Type: Government
First Flight: 11/27/1985
Last Flight: 4/8/2002

Jerry Lynn Ross is a retired United States Air Force officer and a former NASA astronaut. He is a veteran of seven Space Shuttle missions, making him the joint record holder for most spaceflights (a record he shares with Franklin Chang-Diaz). His papers, photographs and many personal items are in the Barron Hilton Flight and Space Exploration Archives at Purdue University. He was inducted into the Astronaut Hall of Fame during ceremonies in May 2014.

Ross is the author of Spacewalker: My Journey in Space and Faith as NASA's Record-Setting Frequent Flyer (Purdue University Press, 2013) with John Norberg. In March 2014 it was announced "Spacewalker" will be available in a French translation through the specialist aerospace publisher Altipresse.

Fellow astronaut Chris Hadfield describes Ross in his autobiography, An Astronaut's Guide to Life on Earth, as "the embodiment of the trustworthy, loyal, courteous and brave astronaut archetype."

Mission

STS-27

Type: Government/Top Secret

STS-27 was the twenty-seventh and the third for Atlantis. It carried a classified payload for the Department of Defence. The heat shielding was substantially damaged during lift-off, impacting the right wing. The crew narrowly survived re-entry with a steal bar taking the brunt of the heat before beginning to burn through the aluminum structure.