STS-5

Occurred 42 years ago

The first operational mission of the Shuttle, which deployed two commercial satellites.

Orbiter

Columbia

Mission Duration

5 days, 2 hours, 14 minutes and 26 seconds

Launch

Nov. 11, 1982

Landing

Nov. 16, 1982

S82-36286 (15 Aug. 1982) — These four men were aboard the space shuttle Columbia for NASA’s first operational Space Transportation System (STS) mission. They are astronauts Vance D. Brand (second left), STS-5 commander; Robert F. Overmyer (second right), pilot; and Joseph P. Allen (left) and William B. Lenoir, both mission specialists. They pose with a space shuttle model and the official insignia for STS-5.

NASA

Vance D. Brand

Commander

Astronaut Vance D. Brand was of the 19 astronauts selected by NASA in April 1966. Over his career he flew on four space missions. He was Apollo command module pilot on the Apollo-Soyuz Test Project (ASTP) mission in 1975. Brand later commanded space shuttle flights STS-5, STS-41B, and STS-35 in 1982, 1984 and 1990 respectively. He has logged 746 hours in space.

STS005-07-267 (12 Nov. 1982) — A pre-set 35mm camera’s exposure of all four STS-5 astronaut crew members reveals a bit of their humorous side. The sign held by astronaut Vance D. Brand, crew commander, refers to the successful deployment of two commercial communications satellites on the flight’s first two days. Brand is surrounded by, clockwise, left to right, astronauts William B. Lenoir, mission specialist, Robert F. Overmyer, pilot, and Joseph O. Allen IV, mission specialist, in the middeck area of the Earth-orbiting space shuttle Columbia.

NASA

Mission: Commercial Communications Satellites (ANIK C-3)/Satellite Business Systems (SBS-C)
Space Shuttle: Columbia
Launch Pad: 39A
Launched: Nov. 11, 1982 at 7:19:00 a.m. EST
Landing Site: Edwards Air Force Base, Calif.
Landing: Nov. 16, 1982 at 6:33:26 a.m. PST
Runway: 22
Rollout Distance: 9,553 feet
Rollout Time: 63 seconds
Revolution: 82
Mission Duration: 5 days, 2 hours, 14 minutes and 26 seconds
Returned to KSC: Nov. 22, 1982
Orbit Altitude: 184 nautical miles
Orbit Inclination: 28.5 degrees
Miles Traveled: 2.1 million

Mission Highlights

This first shuttle operational mission deployed two commercial communications satellites, ANIK C-3 for TELESAT Canada and SitS-C for Satellite Business Systems. Each satellite was equipped with a Payload Assist Module-D (PAM-D) solid rocket motor, which fired about 45 minutes after deployment, placing each satellite into a highly elliptical orbit. One Get Away Special and three Shuttle Student Involvement Program (SSIP) experiments were conducted. The first scheduled space walk of the shuttle program was canceled due to a malfunction of the space suit.

Featured Story