STS-51-C

Ken Mattingly

• Birthday: 03/17/1936
• Role: Commander
• Nationality: United States of America
• First Flight: 04/16/1972
• Last Flight: 01/24/1985

Thomas Kenneth Mattingly II better known as Ken Mattingly, is a former American naval officer and aviator, aeronautical engin...

Loren Shriver

• Birthday: 09/23/1944
• Role: Pilot
• Nationality: United States of America
• First Flight: 01/24/1985
• Last Flight: 07/31/1992

Loren James Shriver is a former NASA astronaut, aviator, and a retired US Air Force Colonel.

Gary Payton

• Birthday: 06/20/1948
• Role: Payload Specialist
• Nationality: United States of America
• First Flight: 01/24/1985
• Last Flight: 01/24/1985

Colonel Gary Eugene Payton, USAF, (born June 20, 1948) is an American former astronaut.
Payton flew on the STS-51-C m...

Ellison Onizuka

• Birthday: 06/24/1946
• Role: Mission Specialist
• Nationality: United States of America
• First Flight: 01/24/1985
• Last Flight: 01/28/1986

Ellison Shoji Onizuka (鬼塚 承次 Onizuka Shōji) was an American astronaut from Kealakekua, Hawaii, who successfully flew...

James Buchli

• Birthday: 06/20/1945
• Role: Mission Specialist
• Nationality: United States of America
• First Flight: 01/24/1985
• Last Flight: 09/12/1991

James Frederick Buchli is a retired United States Marine aviator and former NASA astronaut who flew on four Space Shuttle mis...

Mission

STS-51-C

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

STS-51-C was the fifteenth flight of the shuttle program and third for the Space Shuttle Discovery. It was the first space shuttle mission dedicated to the United States Department of Defense and therefore, the mission details remain classified.

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