STS-61-B

Brewster H. Shaw

• Birthday: 05/16/1945
• Role: Commander
• Nationality: United States of America
• First Flight: 11/28/1983
• Last Flight: 08/08/1989

Brewster Hopkinson Shaw Jr. is a former NASA astronaut, a retired U.S. Air Force Colonel and former executive at Boeing. Shaw...

Bryan D. O'Connor

• Birthday: 09/06/1946
• Role: Pilot
• Nationality: United States of America
• First Flight: 11/27/1985
• Last Flight: 06/05/1991

Bryan Daniel O'Connor is a retired United States Marine Corps Colonel and former NASA astronaut.

Rodolfo Neri Vela

• Birthday: 02/19/1952
• Role: Payload Specialist
• Nationality: Mexico
• First Flight: 11/27/1985
• Last Flight: 11/27/1985

Rodolfo Neri Vela (born 19 February 1952) is a Mexican scientist and astronaut who flew aboard a NASA Space Shuttle mission i...

Sherwood C. Spring

• Birthday: 09/03/1944
• Role: Mission Specialist
• Nationality: United States of America
• First Flight: 11/27/1985
• Last Flight: 11/27/1985

Sherwood Clark "Woody" Spring is a retired United States Army colonel and former NASA astronaut. Spring is married ...

Mary L. Cleave

• Birthday: 02/05/1947
• Role: Mission Specialist
• Nationality: United States of America
• First Flight: 11/27/1985
• Last Flight: 05/04/1989

Mary Louise Cleave was an American engineer and NASA astronaut. She also served from 2004 to 2007 as NASA Associate Administr...

Charles D. Walker

• Birthday: 08/29/1948
• Role: Payload Specialist
• Nationality: United States of America
• First Flight: 08/30/1984
• Last Flight: 11/27/1985

Charles David "Charlie" Walker (born August 29, 1948) is an American engineer who flew on three Space Shuttle missi...

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-61-B

• Type: Communications
• Orbit: Low Earth Orbit
• Launch Cost: $450,000,000

STS-61-B was the twenty-third space shuttle mission and the second for the Space Shuttle Atlantis. The shuttle was launched for Kennedy Space Center and the shuttle deployed three communicates satellites. It also tested techniques for constructing structures in orbit. This mission marked the quickest turnaround of a shuttle, just 54 days elapsed beetween this launch and Atlantis' previous mission.

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