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.
Identity
- Aliases
- STS 51-ASTS-51-ADiscovery flight 2
- Name
- STS-51A
- Slug
- sts-51a
- Status
- completed
Details
- 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 Site Id
- qh77aw5j65etxxbah0cm0z7mgd89nygf
- Launch Site Id
- qh7cnwfj9c6qprkty6jm2dztrs85kq8a
- Outcome
- Completed; Discovery deployed two communications satellites, retrieved Palapa B-2 and Westar VI, and landed safely at Kennedy Space Center.
- Program
- Space Shuttle
- Start Date
- 1984-11-08
- Vehicle Family Ids
- nd7sxcspb3czhd8b3vfx56eekh85ksae
- Vehicle Id
- nh7sqgw278t33khbw4fyehw80s85kp3n
Links
- Official Url
- https://www.nasa.gov/mission/sts-51a/
- Wikipedia Url
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/STS-51-A
Assets & Meta
- Creation Time
- 6/30/2026, 7:35:58 PM
- Image
- Download
- Updated Time
- 6/30/2026, 7:37:53 PM
Other
- Activities
- Astronaut Ids
- td759kj15djkbw51r98n99h6kh7njmfztd76nqv7ead0brtk8cfcq4ybgh89m46p
- End Time
- 1984-11-12T06:00:00Z
- Id
- sts-51a-eva-1
- Kind
- eva
- Name
- Palapa B-2 retrieval EVA
- Notes
- Six-hour EVA by Joseph Allen and Dale Gardner using the Manned Maneuvering Unit to retrieve Palapa B-2.
- Start Time
- 1984-11-12T00:00:00Z
- Status
- completed
- Astronaut Ids
- td759kj15djkbw51r98n99h6kh7njmfztd76nqv7ead0brtk8cfcq4ybgh89m46p
- End Time
- 1984-11-14T05:42:00Z
- Id
- sts-51a-eva-2
- Kind
- eva
- Name
- Westar VI retrieval EVA
- Notes
- Five-hour, forty-two-minute EVA by Joseph Allen and Dale Gardner using the Manned Maneuvering Unit to retrieve Westar VI.
- Start Time
- 1984-11-14T00:00:00Z
- Status
- completed
- Affiliations
- Organization Id
- vh76vnx3yy1vy23j7zc3wk80wx7nhx5f
- Role
- operator
- Crew
- Astronaut Id
- td7fjw208wc3vmxvgvq1rfb0rh89nkv0
- Role
- Commander
- Astronaut Id
- td7c2qk4hjy40r00wpbra52w2n89nz1e
- Role
- Pilot
- Astronaut Id
- td759kj15djkbw51r98n99h6kh7njmfz
- Role
- Mission Specialist 1
- Astronaut Id
- td74h78svd7q03xkgvyfj8t86589mz0z
- Role
- Mission Specialist 2
- Astronaut Id
- td76nqv7ead0brtk8cfcq4ybgh89m46p
- Role
- Mission Specialist 3