STS-51-D

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...

Donald E. Williams

• Birthday: 02/13/1942
• Role: Pilot
• Nationality: United States of America
• First Flight: 04/12/1985
• Last Flight: 10/18/1989

Captain Donald Edward Williams was an American naval officer and aviator, test pilot, mechanical engineer and NASA astronaut....

Edwin Jacob Garn

• Birthday: 10/12/1932
• Role: Payload Specialist
• Nationality: United States of America
• First Flight: 04/12/1985
• Last Flight: 04/12/1985

Edwin Jacob "Jake" Garn (born October 12, 1932) is an American astronaut and politician, a member of the Republican...

S. David Griggs

• Birthday: 09/07/1939
• Role: Mission Specialist
• Nationality: United States of America
• First Flight: 04/12/1985
• Last Flight: 04/12/1985

Stanley David Griggs was a United States Navy officer and a NASA astronaut. He is credited with conducting the first unschedu...

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...

Margaret Rhea Seddon

• Birthday: 11/08/1947
• Role: Mission Specialist
• Nationality: United States of America
• First Flight: 04/12/1985
• Last Flight: 10/18/1993

Margaret Rhea Seddon is a physician and retired NASA astronaut. After being selected as part of the first group of astronauts...

Jeffrey Hoffman

• Birthday: 11/02/1944
• Role: Mission Specialist
• Nationality: United States of America
• First Flight: 04/12/1985
• Last Flight: 02/22/1996

Jeffrey Alan Hoffman is an American former NASA astronaut and currently a professor of aeronautics and astronautics at MIT. H...

Mission

STS-51-D

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

STS-51-D was the sixteenth flight of the shuttle and fourth for the Space Shuttle Discovery. Its mission was to deploy a number of 10 satellites. The landing suffered extensive brake damaged and a ruptured tire. All subsequent landings had to be done at the Edwards Air Force Base until the development and implementation of nose steering.

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