STS-27

Robert L. Gibson

• Birthday: 10/30/1946
• Role: Commander
• Nationality: United States of America
• First Flight: 02/03/1984
• Last Flight: 06/27/1995

Robert Lee "Hoot" Gibson is a former American naval officer and aviator, test pilot, aeronautical engineer, and a r...

Guy Gardner

• Birthday: 01/06/1948
• Role: Pilot
• Nationality: United States of America
• First Flight: 12/02/1988
• Last Flight: 12/02/1990

Guy Spence Gardner is a United States Air Force officer and a former astronaut. He holds the rank of Colonel. He flew as pilo...

Mike Mullane

• Birthday: 09/10/1945
• Role: Mission Specialist
• Nationality: United States of America
• First Flight: 08/30/1984
• Last Flight: 02/28/1990

Richard Michael "Mike" Mullane is an engineer and aircraft pilot, a retired USAF officer. and a former NASA astrona...

William Shepherd

• Birthday: 07/26/1949
• Role: Mission Specialist
• Nationality: United States of America
• First Flight: 12/02/1988
• Last Flight: 10/31/2000

William McMichael "Bill" Shepherd is an American former Navy SEAL, aerospace, ocean, and mechanical engineer, and N...

Jerry L. Ross

• Birthday: 01/20/1948
• Role: Mission Specialist
• Nationality: United States of America
• First Flight: 11/27/1985
• Last Flight: 04/08/2002

Jerry Lynn Ross is a retired United States Air Force officer and a former NASA astronaut. He is a veteran of seven Space Shut...

Mission

STS-27

• Type: Government/Top Secret
• Orbit: Low Earth Orbit
• Launch Cost: $450,000,000

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.

Location

Launch Complex 39B

Kennedy Space Center, FL, USA

Find the best place to watch the launch from Florida

Launch Complex 39B has witnessed the launch of 58 rockets, including 57 orbital launch attempts. While Kennedy Space Center, FL, USA, has been the site for 266 rocket launches.

The John F. Kennedy Space Center, located on Merritt Island, Florida, is one of NASA's ten field centers. Since 1968, KSC has been NASA's primary launch center of American spaceflight, research, and technology. Launch operations for the Apollo, Skylab and Space Shuttle programs were carried out from Kennedy Space Center Launch Complex 39 and managed by KSC. Located on the east coast of Florida, KSC is adjacent to Cape Canaveral Space Force Station (CCSFS).

Rocket

National Aeronautics and Space Administration Space Shuttle

The Space Shuttle is a retired, partially reusable low Earth orbital spacecraft system operated from 1981 to 2011 by the U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) as part of the Space Shuttle program. Its official program name was Space Transportation System (STS). Five complete Space Shuttle orbiter vehicles were built and flown on a total of 135 missions from 1981 to 2011.

Learn more about the Space Shuttle