the 26th mission of the space shuttle
the first after the Challenger accident
what was our main objective a safe
launch and a safe return we used that as
the dominant theme of our crew patch the
red vector from the NASA meatball
indicates that we are still building
upon the traditional strengths of NASA
the seven star Big Dipper symbolized our
seven friends lost on the Challenger the
sunrise represented a new beginning on
September 29th 1988 while we slept
discovery was being fueled on the launch
pad we got up at about 5:00 a.m. and
after breakfast in our weather briefs we
suited up I'm captain Rick out commander
of the mission the pilot was Colonel
dick Covey mission specialists
Lieutenant Colonel Dave helmers dr.
pinky Nelson and Mike lounge this flight
was to be the culmination of the efforts
of tens of thousands of people across
the nation NASA engineers contractors
many advisory groups both within and
outside government this was to be in
every sense a test flight during the 30
months since the Challenger accident
there had been hundreds of hardware
changes to not only the solid rocket
booster but also to the orbiter and the
large liquid rocket fuel tank numerous
software changes had been implemented
all had been tested exhaustively we had
trained as a crew for 20 months when it
came time to strap into this four and a
half million pounds of hardware we were
convinced that the team was as ready as
it could be
autosequence start discoveries for
redundant computers have assumed t-minus
23 seconds and counting
the s are being the nozzle profiles - 15
14 13 12 11 10 we're go for main engine
start
seven six
Humphry cleared the tower Roger roll
discovery roll program Houston and
controlling whether you have flown
aboard the shuttle before or not you're
never really quite ready for the launch
experience emotions adrenaline sight
sound and motion all well together in an
overwhelming bond your body tells you
that something very powerful is
propelling you and leaves no doubt that
you were going somewhere very fast as we
pass through the region of maximum
dynamic pressure ii seem to move ever so
slowly the solid rocket motors worked
superbly the long hard work of the
redesign and test teams had paid off in
a perfect launch those motors burned for
two minutes but it takes another six and
a half minutes to achieve orbital
velocity the discoveries liquid fuel
engines provided the additional push
required to accelerate to a speed of
five miles a second and an altitude of
160 nautical miles in that orbit we
would see 16 sunrises and sunsets a day
for the next four days traveling over
one and two thirds million miles engines
still running 104 percent fifty six
hundred feet per second velocity 31.8
nautical miles altitude downrange
distance thirty-eight nautical miles one
of our primary objectives for this
flight was to deploy a large
communication satellite for NASA and
once we got safely into orbit we got
busy preparing for that deployment Rick
and Vic up in the front seats of a
flight deck got busy check-in the
orbiter and making sure it was healthy
and ready to do the required separation
maneuver after the deployment of the
TDRs satellite meanwhile Dave and I were
busy on the aft flight deck checking the
telemetry from the spacecraft and its
booster making sure it was healthy and
for deployment the satellite is a 5,000
pound very complex communication
satellite the dark object here in the
picture it's carried to its 22,000 mile
high orbit by the inertial upper stage
which is the white portion of this
40-foot stack and my job here was upon
getting a go from Mission Control to
throw a switch that would separate this
stack from the support structure go
procedures deploy here we see the
tigress eye us.combination shortly after
deployment at the moment of deployment
push-off Springs gave it a slow and
majestic separation from the shuttle
pinky was our chief photo documentary
for the deploy Rick came back to the app
flight deck and maneuvered the orbiter
about one minute after the deploy the
maneuver that he made gave additional
separation from the satellite and
positioned it in the overhead window so
it could be tracked visually about 60
minutes after the deploy the first of
two solid rocket motors fired on the
upper stage these rockets placed the
satellite in an orbit above the equator
such will remain fixed relative to the
ground it will be used by NASA to
increase shuttle communications with
Mission Control and will also be
utilized by spacecraft such as Landsat
to relay telemetry to the ground many
other private and government agencies
will be using this extremely
sophisticated satellite until the United
States Space Station is on orbit the
mid-deck of the orbiter will be the free
world's only microgravity laboratory the
mid-deck is a national resource that was
well used during the flight of discovery
we carried 11 experiments on board from
the Marshall Space Flight Center
JSC industry and university laboratories
all across the country ranging from
biomedical investigations like protein
crystal growth to material science to an
engineering test of an infrared
communication system to experiments
designed by high school students were
performed both for their scientific
value and to encourage young people to
develop interest in space science and
spaceflight
both of these experiments were very
visual when heated titanium wires the
other grew crystals of lead iodide on a
membrane even on a short four day
mission the scientific return from our
experiments is significant another
mid-deck experiment we performed was a
phased partition experiment here we see
pinky shaken up the experiment container
while I was setting up the photo
equipment first partitioning is one
method currently used for separating
different types of biological cells this
process has been shown to be extremely
valuable in developing new
pharmaceuticals and also in performing
biomedical research after we had shaken
the experiment we photographed the
chambers to study their D mixing
properties which are not completely
understood here on earth discovery
Houston
we're with you through Hawaii we'd like
to take just a few moments today to
share with you some of the sites that
we've been privileged to view over the
past several days as we watch along with
you many emotions swell up in our hearts
joy for America's return to space
gratitude for an eighth support through
difficult times Thanksgiving for the
safety of our crew reverence for those
who sacrifice made our journey possible
gazing outside we can understand why
mankind has looked towards the heavens
with all and wonder since the dawn of
human existence we can comprehend why
our countrymen have been driven to
explore the vast expanse of space and we
are convinced that this is the road to
the future the road that Americans must
travel if we are to maintain the dream
of our Constitution
to secure the blessings of liberty to
ourselves and our posterity as we occur
discovery witness this earthly splendor
from American spacecraft less than 200
miles separates us from the remainder of
mankind in a fraction of a second our
words reach our ears but lest we ever
forget that these few miles represent a
great gulf that to the center this
seemingly tranquil sea will always be
fraught with danger let us remember the
Challenger crew whose voyage was so
tragically short with them we share the
common purpose with them we shared a
common goal at this moment our place in
the heavens makes us feel closer to them
than ever before those are the
Challenger who had flown before us seen
these sites they would know the meaning
of our thoughts those who had gone to
view them for the first time they would
know why we searched forth they were
fellow sojourners they were our friends
today up here where the blue sky turns
to black we can say at long last to dick
Mike duty to Ron and now and the Kristin
break dear friends we have resumed the
journey that we promise to continue for
you dear friends your loss has meant
that we could confidently begin anew
dear friends your spit and your dream I
still alive in our heart a discovery on
behalf of the Challenger families and
all of us down here
it sure does feel good to see the
Challenger mission continue in America
back in space time to stop doing that
shuttle shuffle you know what I mean
is the place to be
just give her the gas and look at his
baby oh are you awake yet why
because it's time to eat breakfast from
a toothpaste tube
special control on NASA select
television we're now taking a view from
helicopter over the landing area we're
looking at some of the 380,000 people
gathered for the landing of discovery
discovery handled beautifully even
though it's a two hundred thousand pound
lighter it responds very well to control
inputs we came subsonic overhead the
Edwards Lake bed in about forty thousand
feet and dick coming took control for
about ten or 15 seconds and passed it to
me
discovery Houston on centerline on glide
slope winds are calm looks real pretty
flew the glide slope in the standard
orbiter approach about three hundred
miles an hour
pointed down at the lake bed our sink
rates about eleven thousand feet per
minute then as we get to eighteen
hundred feet I pulled back gently on the
stick both to shallow the descent rate
and to start bleeding off airspeed
and about 300 feet to come he lowered
the landing gear their gear down and
locked the report from Mission Control
thank you touchdown man hurry up now
rotating the nose down standing by for
nose gear I am touchdown
with only moderate breaking we stopped
after about 7,500 feet of ground roll
roger wheelstop discovery welcome back
great ending to the new beginning I
collapse
after completing the post Landing checks
we were met at the bottom of the steps
by Vice President Bush NASA
Administrator dr. Jim Fletcher and the
head of the office of space flight Rear
Admiral dick truly we knew that the
smiles on their faces reflected the mood
of the NASA team we'd accomplished the
missions objectives we'd returned
Americans to space