STS-51-J

Karol J. Bobko

• Birthday: 12/23/1937
• Role: Commander
• Nationality: United States of America
• First Flight: 04/04/1983
• Last Flight: 10/03/1985

Karol Joseph "Bo" Bobko is an American aerospace engineer, retired U.S. Air Force officer, test pilot, and a former...

Ronald J. Grabe

• Birthday: 06/13/1945
• Role: Pilot
• Nationality: United States of America
• First Flight: 10/03/1985
• Last Flight: 06/21/1993

Ronald John Grabe is a former NASA astronaut.

He has earned the Air Force Distinguished Flying Cross, the Ai...

William A. Pailes

• Birthday: 06/26/1952
• Role: Payload Specialist
• Nationality: United States of America
• First Flight: 10/03/1985
• Last Flight: 10/03/1985

William Arthur Pailes (Colonel, USAF) (born June 26, 1952) was a USAF astronaut in the Manned Spaceflight Engineer Program du...

Robert L. Stewart

• Birthday: 05/10/1942
• Role: Mission Specialist
• Nationality: United States of America
• First Flight: 02/03/1984
• Last Flight: 10/03/1985

Robert Lee Stewart is a retired brigadier general of the United States Army and a former NASA astronaut.

David Hilmers

• Birthday: 01/28/1950
• Role: Mission Specialist
• Nationality: United States of America
• First Flight: 10/03/1985
• Last Flight: 01/22/1992

David Carl Hilmers is a former NASA astronaut. Hilmers was selected a NASA astronaut in July 1980, and completed the initial ...

Mission

STS-51-J

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

STS-51-J was the twenty-first space shuttle mission and the maiden flight of the Space Shuttle Atlantis. It was the second mission dedicated to deploying a Department of Defence payload. It was a classified mission however we do know that it deployed two 10 satellites.

Location

Launch Complex 39A

Kennedy Space Center, FL, USA

Find the best place to watch the launch from Florida

Launch Complex 39A has witnessed the launch of 208 rockets, including 207 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