STS-62-A
NamesSpace Transportation System
Mission typeDoD satellite deployment (planned)
OperatorNASA
Spacecraft properties
SpacecraftSpace Shuttle Discovery (planned)
Crew
Crew size7
MembersRobert L. Crippen
Guy S. Gardner
Richard M. Mullane
Jerry L. Ross
Dale A. Gardner
Edward C. Aldridge Jr.
Brett Watterson
Start of mission
Launch date15 July 1986 (planned)
Not launched
RocketSpace Shuttle Discovery
Launch siteVandenberg Air Force Base,
SLC-6
ContractorRockwell International
End of mission
Landing date19 July 1986 (planned)
Landing siteVandenberg Air Force Base,
Runway 12
Orbital parameters
Reference systemGeocentric orbit (planned)
RegimeLow Earth orbit
Perigee altitude312 km (194 mi)
Apogee altitude320 km (200 mi)
Inclination48.45°
Period90.90 minutes

Space Shuttle patch

Front row: Guy S. Gardner, Richard M. Mullane, Jerry L. Ross, and Dale A. Gardner
Back row: Edward C. Aldridge Jr., Robert L. Crippen, and Brett Watterson
 

STS-62-A was a planned NASA Space Shuttle mission to deliver a reconnaissance payload (Teal Ruby) into polar orbit. It was expected to use Discovery. It would have been the first crewed launch from Vandenberg Air Force Base, California, and the first crewed mission to go into polar orbit. The mission designation, STS-62-A, meant: 6=fiscal year 1986, 2=Vandenberg (1=Kennedy Space Center), and A=first flight in that fiscal year.

Crew

Position[1] Astronaut
Commander Robert L. Crippen
Would have been fifth spaceflight
Pilot Guy S. Gardner
Would have been first spaceflight
Mission Specialist 1 Richard M. Mullane
Would have been second spaceflight
Mission Specialist 2 Jerry L. Ross
Would have been second spaceflight
Mission Specialist 3 Dale A. Gardner
Would have been third spaceflight
Payload Specialist 1 Edward C. Aldridge Jr.
Would have been first spaceflight
Payload Specialist 2 Brett Watterson, Manned Spacecraft Engineer
Would have been first spaceflight

Post-Challenger accident

The destruction of Challenger and subsequent halt of the Space Shuttle program led to the cancellation of the mission.

Guy Gardner, Jerry Ross, and Mike Mullane were members of the second post-Challenger mission STS-27 — a classified mission for the DoD — during which the Lacrosse-1 radar reconnaissance spacecraft was allegedly deployed.[2][3]

References

  1. ↑ "Crews for First Vandenberg Mission, DoD Flight Named" (PDF) (Press release). NASA Johnson Space Center News. 15 February 1985. Public Domain This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
  2. ↑ Jenkins, Dennis R. (2001). Space Shuttle: The History of the National Space Transportation System The First 100 Missions. Saint Paul, Minnesota: Voyageur Press. p. 329. ISBN 0-9633974-5-1..
  3. ↑ "Display: Lacrosse 1 (1988-106B)". NASA. 7 January 2022. Retrieved 29 January 2022. Public Domain This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
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