STS-27 was the 27th NASASpace Shuttle mission, and the third flight of Space Shuttle Atlantis. Launching on December 2, 1988, on a four-day mission, it was the second shuttle flight after the Space Shuttle Challenger disaster of January 1986. STS-27 carried a classified payload for the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD), ultimately determined to be a Lacrosse surveillance satellite. The vessel's heat shielding was substantially damaged during lift-off, and crew members thought that they would die during reentry.[1][2] This was a situation that was similar to the one that would prove fatal 15 years later on STS-107. Compared to the damage that Columbia sustained on STS-107, Atlantis experienced more extensive damage. However, this was over less critical areas and the missing tile was over an antenna which gave extra protection to the spacecraft structure (and not part of a wing as cited initially). The mission landed successfully, although intense heat damage needed to be repaired.
The mission is technically designated STS-27R, as the original STS-27 designator belonged to STS-51-I, the twentieth Space Shuttle mission. Official documentation for that mission contained the designator STS-27 throughout. As STS-51-L was designated STS-33, future flights with the STS-26 through STS-33 designators would require the R in their documentation to avoid conflicts in tracking data from one mission to another.[3]
The mission was originally scheduled to launch on December 1, 1988, but the launch was postponed one day because of cloud cover and strong wind conditions at the launch site. Liftoff occurred from LC-39B at Kennedy Space Center, Florida, on December 2, 1988, at 09:30:34 a.m. EST. Atlantis touched down on December 6, 1988, on Runway 17 at Edwards Air Force Base, California, at 18:36:11 EST. The total mission elapsed time at wheels-stop was 4 days, 9 hours, 5 minutes, and 37 seconds. Atlantis was returned to the Kennedy Space Center on December 13, 1988, and moved into an OPF on December 14, 1988.
There has been speculation that an EVA was conducted during this mission.[7] Interviews with members of the crew several years after the flight confirmed there had been a problem with the satellite upon release, whereupon a rendezvous with the satellite was effected and repairs performed.[8][9] These unspecified repairs could have necessitated a spacewalk, likely performed by Ross and Shepherd. As a classified DoD mission, details or confirmation of such an EVA remain unreleased.[7]
The day after Atlantis landed, the 1988 Armenian earthquake killed tens of thousands in the Soviet Union. At an astronaut meeting Gibson said, "I know many of you may have been very curious about our classified payload. While I can't go into its design features, I can say Armenia was its first target! And we only had the weapon set on stun!"[8]
Tile damage
A partly melted aluminum plate on Atlantis' underside.
Atlantis'Thermal Protection System tiles sustained extensive damage during the flight. Ablative insulating material from the right-hand solid rocket booster nose cap had hit the orbiter about 85 seconds into the flight, as seen in footage of the ascent.[1] The STS-27 crew also commented that white material was observed on the windshield at various times during ascent.[10] The crew made an inspection of the shuttle's impacted starboard side using the shuttle's Canadarm, but the limited resolution and range of the cameras made it impossible to determine the full extent of the tile damage.
The problem was compounded by the fact that the crew was prohibited from using their standard method of sending images to ground control due to the classified nature of the mission. The crew was forced to use a slow, encrypted transmission method, likely causing the images NASA engineers received to be of poor quality, causing them to think the damage was actually "just lights and shadows". They told the crew the damage did not look any more severe than on past missions.[1]
One report describes the crew as "infuriated" that Mission Control Center seemed unconcerned.[11][12] When Gibson saw the damage he thought to himself, "We are going to die";[2] he and others did not believe that the shuttle would survive reentry. Gibson advised the crew to relax because "No use dying all tensed-up", he said,[8][9] but if instruments indicated that the shuttle was disintegrating, Gibson planned to "tell mission control what I thought of their analysis" in the remaining seconds before his death.[1][8]
Mullane recalled that while filming the reentry through the upper deck's overhead windows, "I had visions of molten aluminum being smeared backwards, like rain on a windshield". Although the shuttle landed safely "The damage was much worse than any of us had expected", he wrote.[8] Upon landing, the magnitude of the damage to the shuttle astonished NASA; over 700 damaged tiles were noted, and one tile was missing altogether. The missing tile had been located over the aluminum mounting plate for an L-band antenna (one of six, part of the Tactical air navigation system (TACAN) landing system), perhaps preventing a burn-through of the sort that would ultimately doom Columbia in 2003.[4][1] There was almost no damage present on the orbiter's left side. STS-27 Atlantis was the most damaged launch-entry vehicle to return to Earth successfully.[13] Gibson believed that had the shuttle been destroyed, Congress would have ended the shuttle program given that only one successful mission had occurred between his flight and the loss of Challenger.[8]
A review team investigated the cause beginning with a detailed inspection of the Atlantis TPS damage, and a review of related inspection reports to establish an in-depth anomaly definition. An exhaustive data review followed to develop a fault tree and several failure scenarios. This and other information gained during the review formed the basis for the team's findings and recommendations.[10]
Wake-up calls
NASA began a tradition of playing music to astronauts during Project Gemini, and first used music to awaken a flight crew during Apollo 15. Each track is specially chosen, often by the astronauts' families, and usually has a special meaning to an individual member of the crew, or is applicable to their daily activities.[14]
^ abcdeHarwood, William (March 27, 2009). "Legendary commander tells story of shuttle's close call". Spaceflight Now. Retrieved April 1, 2018.
^ ab"Tell Me A Story: Astronaut Hoot Gibson's and Atlantis' Close Call". Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex. April 25, 2015. This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
^Jenkins, Dennis R. (2016). "Chapter 18 - Destiny Fulfilled - The Intended Purpose". Space Shuttle: Developing an Icon - 1972-2013. Vol. III: The Flight Campaign (1 ed.). Forest Lake, Minnesota: Specialty Press. p. 132. ISBN978-1580072496.
^ abBecker, Joachim. "Spaceflight mission report: STS-27". SPACEFACTS. from the original on September 28, 2020. Retrieved February 26, 2014.
^"NASA - NSSDCA - Spacecraft - Details". nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov. NASA. This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
^"Lacrosse 1". Space Science Data Coordinated Archive. NASA. from the original on August 15, 2020. Retrieved August 12, 2010. This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
^ abCassutt, Michael (August 2009). "Secret Space Shuttles". Air & Space magazine. Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Institution. from the original on January 6, 2021.
^ abcdefEvans, Ben (January 30, 2012). "Into the Black: NASA's Secret Shuttle Missions – Part Two". AmericaSpace. from the original on January 6, 2021.
^ abEvans, Ben (December 9, 2018). "'Dying All Tensed-Up': 30 Years Since the Troubled Secret Mission of STS-27". AmericaSpace. from the original on January 6, 2021.
^ abSTS-27R OV-104 Orbiter TPS Damage Review Team (February 1989). "Summary Report - Volume I" (PDF). NASA. Retrieved July 3, 2011. This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
^Wade, Mark. . Astronautix. Archived from the original on January 28, 2020. Retrieved January 6, 2021.
^Mullane, Mike (2006). Riding Rockets: The Outrageous Tales of a Space Shuttle Astronaut. New York, New York: Charles Scribner's Sons. p. 290. ISBN978-0743296762.
^Gebhardt, Chris (July 2, 2011). "OV-104/ATLANTIS: An International Vehicle for a Changing World". NASASpaceFlight.com. from the original on December 1, 2020.
^Fries, Colin (March 13, 2015). "Chronology of Wakeup Calls" (PDF). History Division. NASA. (PDF) from the original on January 5, 2021. Retrieved January 5, 2021. This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
27th, nasa, space, shuttle, mission, third, flight, space, shuttle, atlantis, launching, december, 1988, four, mission, second, shuttle, flight, after, space, shuttle, challenger, disaster, january, 1986, carried, classified, payload, department, defense, ulti. STS 27 was the 27th NASA Space Shuttle mission and the third flight of Space Shuttle Atlantis Launching on December 2 1988 on a four day mission it was the second shuttle flight after the Space Shuttle Challenger disaster of January 1986 STS 27 carried a classified payload for the U S Department of Defense DoD ultimately determined to be a Lacrosse surveillance satellite The vessel s heat shielding was substantially damaged during lift off and crew members thought that they would die during reentry 1 2 This was a situation that was similar to the one that would prove fatal 15 years later on STS 107 Compared to the damage that Columbia sustained on STS 107 Atlantis experienced more extensive damage However this was over less critical areas and the missing tile was over an antenna which gave extra protection to the spacecraft structure and not part of a wing as cited initially The mission landed successfully although intense heat damage needed to be repaired STS 27Launch of AtlantisNamesSpace Transportation System 27STS 27RMission typeDoD satellite deploymentOperatorNASACOSPAR ID1988 106ASATCAT no 19670Mission duration4 days 9 hours 5 minutes 37 seconds achieved Distance travelled2 916 252 km 1 812 075 mi Orbits completed68Spacecraft propertiesSpacecraftSpace Shuttle AtlantisLanding mass86 616 kg 190 956 lb Payload mass14 500 kg 32 000 lb CrewCrew size5MembersRobert L GibsonGuy S GardnerRichard M MullaneJerry L RossWilliam M ShepherdStart of missionLaunch dateDecember 2 1988 14 30 34 UTCRocketSpace Shuttle AtlantisLaunch siteKennedy Space Center LC 39BContractorRockwell InternationalEnd of missionLanding dateDecember 6 1988 23 36 11 UTCLanding siteEdwards Air Force Base Runway 17Orbital parametersReference systemGeocentric orbitRegimeLow Earth orbitPerigee altitude437 km 272 mi Apogee altitude447 km 278 mi Inclination57 00 Period93 40 minutesSTS 27 mission patch Back row William M Shepherd Richard M MullaneFront row Guy S Gardner Robert L Gibson Jerry L RossSpace Shuttle program STS 26STS 29 28 The mission is technically designated STS 27R as the original STS 27 designator belonged to STS 51 I the twentieth Space Shuttle mission Official documentation for that mission contained the designator STS 27 throughout As STS 51 L was designated STS 33 future flights with the STS 26 through STS 33 designators would require the R in their documentation to avoid conflicts in tracking data from one mission to another 3 Contents 1 Crew 1 1 Crew seating arrangements 2 Mission summary 3 Tile damage 4 Wake up calls 5 Gallery 6 See also 7 References 8 External linksCrew EditPosition AstronautCommander Robert L GibsonThird spaceflightPilot Guy S GardnerFirst spaceflightMission Specialist 1 Richard M MullaneSecond spaceflightMission Specialist 2 Jerry L RossSecond spaceflightMission Specialist 3 William M ShepherdFirst spaceflightCrew seating arrangements Edit Seat 4 Launch Landing Seats 1 4 are on the Flight Deck Seats 5 7 are on the Middeck S1 Gibson GibsonS2 Gardner GardnerS3 Mullane ShepherdS4 Ross RossS5 Shepherd MullaneMission summary Edit Atlantis launches on STS 27 Damaged thermal protection tiles are clearly visible at touchdown The Space Shuttle Atlantis OV 104 at the time the youngest in NASA s shuttle fleet made its third flight on a classified mission for the United States Department of Defense DoD It deployed a single satellite USA 34 5 NASA archival information has identified USA 34 as Lacrosse 1 a side looking radar all weather surveillance satellite for the U S National Reconnaissance Office NRO and the Central Intelligence Agency CIA 6 The mission was originally scheduled to launch on December 1 1988 but the launch was postponed one day because of cloud cover and strong wind conditions at the launch site Liftoff occurred from LC 39B at Kennedy Space Center Florida on December 2 1988 at 09 30 34 a m EST Atlantis touched down on December 6 1988 on Runway 17 at Edwards Air Force Base California at 18 36 11 EST The total mission elapsed time at wheels stop was 4 days 9 hours 5 minutes and 37 seconds Atlantis was returned to the Kennedy Space Center on December 13 1988 and moved into an OPF on December 14 1988 There has been speculation that an EVA was conducted during this mission 7 Interviews with members of the crew several years after the flight confirmed there had been a problem with the satellite upon release whereupon a rendezvous with the satellite was effected and repairs performed 8 9 These unspecified repairs could have necessitated a spacewalk likely performed by Ross and Shepherd As a classified DoD mission details or confirmation of such an EVA remain unreleased 7 The day after Atlantis landed the 1988 Armenian earthquake killed tens of thousands in the Soviet Union At an astronaut meeting Gibson said I know many of you may have been very curious about our classified payload While I can t go into its design features I can say Armenia was its first target And we only had the weapon set on stun 8 Tile damage Edit A partly melted aluminum plate on Atlantis underside Atlantis Thermal Protection System tiles sustained extensive damage during the flight Ablative insulating material from the right hand solid rocket booster nose cap had hit the orbiter about 85 seconds into the flight as seen in footage of the ascent 1 The STS 27 crew also commented that white material was observed on the windshield at various times during ascent 10 The crew made an inspection of the shuttle s impacted starboard side using the shuttle s Canadarm but the limited resolution and range of the cameras made it impossible to determine the full extent of the tile damage The problem was compounded by the fact that the crew was prohibited from using their standard method of sending images to ground control due to the classified nature of the mission The crew was forced to use a slow encrypted transmission method likely causing the images NASA engineers received to be of poor quality causing them to think the damage was actually just lights and shadows They told the crew the damage did not look any more severe than on past missions 1 One report describes the crew as infuriated that Mission Control Center seemed unconcerned 11 12 When Gibson saw the damage he thought to himself We are going to die 2 he and others did not believe that the shuttle would survive reentry Gibson advised the crew to relax because No use dying all tensed up he said 8 9 but if instruments indicated that the shuttle was disintegrating Gibson planned to tell mission control what I thought of their analysis in the remaining seconds before his death 1 8 Mullane recalled that while filming the reentry through the upper deck s overhead windows I had visions of molten aluminum being smeared backwards like rain on a windshield Although the shuttle landed safely The damage was much worse than any of us had expected he wrote 8 Upon landing the magnitude of the damage to the shuttle astonished NASA over 700 damaged tiles were noted and one tile was missing altogether The missing tile had been located over the aluminum mounting plate for an L band antenna one of six part of the Tactical air navigation system TACAN landing system perhaps preventing a burn through of the sort that would ultimately doom Columbia in 2003 4 1 There was almost no damage present on the orbiter s left side STS 27 Atlantis was the most damaged launch entry vehicle to return to Earth successfully 13 Gibson believed that had the shuttle been destroyed Congress would have ended the shuttle program given that only one successful mission had occurred between his flight and the loss of Challenger 8 A review team investigated the cause beginning with a detailed inspection of the Atlantis TPS damage and a review of related inspection reports to establish an in depth anomaly definition An exhaustive data review followed to develop a fault tree and several failure scenarios This and other information gained during the review formed the basis for the team s findings and recommendations 10 Wake up calls EditNASA began a tradition of playing music to astronauts during Project Gemini and first used music to awaken a flight crew during Apollo 15 Each track is specially chosen often by the astronauts families and usually has a special meaning to an individual member of the crew or is applicable to their daily activities 14 Flight Day Song Artist ComposerDay 2 Army fight songDay 3 Rawhide parody Dimitri TiomkinDay 4 Do You Want to Know a Secret parody Mike CahillGallery Edit Atlantis on its launchpad The Brahmaputra River imaged from orbit Fiji imaged from orbit See also Edit Spaceflight portalList of human spaceflights List of Space Shuttle missionsReferences Edit a b c d e Harwood William March 27 2009 Legendary commander tells story of shuttle s close call Spaceflight Now Retrieved April 1 2018 a b Tell Me A Story Astronaut Hoot Gibson s and Atlantis Close Call Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex April 25 2015 This article incorporates text from this source which is in the public domain Jenkins Dennis R 2016 Chapter 18 Destiny Fulfilled The Intended Purpose Space Shuttle Developing an Icon 1972 2013 Vol III The Flight Campaign 1 ed Forest Lake Minnesota Specialty Press p 132 ISBN 978 1580072496 a b Becker Joachim Spaceflight mission report STS 27 SPACEFACTS Archived from the original on September 28 2020 Retrieved February 26 2014 NASA NSSDCA Spacecraft Details nssdc gsfc nasa gov NASA This article incorporates text from this source which is in the public domain Lacrosse 1 Space Science Data Coordinated Archive NASA Archived from the original on August 15 2020 Retrieved August 12 2010 This article incorporates text from this source which is in the public domain a b Cassutt Michael August 2009 Secret Space Shuttles Air amp Space magazine Washington D C Smithsonian Institution Archived from the original on January 6 2021 a b c d e f Evans Ben January 30 2012 Into the Black NASA s Secret Shuttle Missions Part Two AmericaSpace Archived from the original on January 6 2021 a b Evans Ben December 9 2018 Dying All Tensed Up 30 Years Since the Troubled Secret Mission of STS 27 AmericaSpace Archived from the original on January 6 2021 a b STS 27R OV 104 Orbiter TPS Damage Review Team February 1989 Summary Report Volume I PDF NASA Retrieved July 3 2011 This article incorporates text from this source which is in the public domain Wade Mark STS 27 Astronautix Archived from the original on January 28 2020 Retrieved January 6 2021 Mullane Mike 2006 Riding Rockets The Outrageous Tales of a Space Shuttle Astronaut New York New York Charles Scribner s Sons p 290 ISBN 978 0743296762 Gebhardt Chris July 2 2011 OV 104 ATLANTIS An International Vehicle for a Changing World NASASpaceFlight com Archived from the original on December 1 2020 Fries Colin March 13 2015 Chronology of Wakeup Calls PDF History Division NASA Archived PDF from the original on January 5 2021 Retrieved January 5 2021 This article incorporates text from this source which is in the public domain External links EditNASA mission summary Archived June 25 2020 at the Wayback Machine STS 27 Video Highlights Archived October 3 2013 at the Wayback Machine STS 27R OV 104 Orbiter TPS damage review team volume 1 Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title STS 27 amp oldid 1164768470, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
