STS-51A
STS-51A was Space Shuttle Discovery's second mission and the Shuttle program's first successful satellite-retrieval flight. The crew deployed Anik D-2 and LEASAT-1, then recovered the stranded Palapa B-2 and Westar VI communications satellites for return to Earth. Allen and Gardner performed two MMU-supported EVAs while Fisher operated the remote manipulator arm to help berth the satellites in Discovery's payload bay.
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Identity
- Aliases
- STS 51-ASTS-51-ADiscovery flight 2
- Name
- STS-51A
- Status
- completed
Details
- Astronauts
- Description
- STS-51A was Space Shuttle Discovery's second mission and the Shuttle program's first successful satellite-retrieval flight. The crew deployed Anik D-2 and LEASAT-1, then recovered the stranded Palapa B-2 and Westar VI communications satellites for return to Earth. Allen and Gardner performed two MMU-supported EVAs while Fisher operated the remote manipulator arm to help berth the satellites in Discovery's payload bay.
- End Date
- 1984-11-16
- Landing Facility
- Launch Site
- Outcome
- Completed; Discovery deployed two communications satellites, retrieved Palapa B-2 and Westar VI, and landed safely at Kennedy Space Center.
- Programs
- Start Date
- 1984-11-08
- Vehicle Families
Links
- Official Url
- https://www.nasa.gov/mission/sts-51a/
- Wikipedia Url
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/STS-51-A
Assets & Meta
- Creation Time
- June 30, 2026 at 19:35:58 UTC
- Updated Time
- July 29, 2026 at 08:53:21 UTC
- Image
- Download
Other
- Affiliations
- Space Stations
- -
- Vehicles