STS-51-F - Mission Summary

Mission Summary

STS-51-F's primary payload was the laboratory module Spacelab-2. A special part of the modular Spacelab system, the "igloo", which was located at head of a three-pallet train, provided on-site support to instruments mounted on pallets. The main mission objective was to verify performance of Spacelab systems, determine the interface capability of the orbiter, and measure the environment created by the spacecraft. Experiments covered life sciences, plasma physics, astronomy, high-energy astrophysics, solar physics, atmospheric physics and technology research. Despite mission replanning necessitated by Challenger's abort to orbit trajectory, the Spacelab mission was declared a success.

The flight marked the first time the ESA Instrument Pointing System (IPS) was tested in orbit. This unique pointing instrument was designed with an accuracy of one arcsecond. Initially, some problems were experienced when it was commanded to track the Sun, but a series of software fixes were made and the problem was corrected. In addition, Tony England became the second amateur radio operator to transmit from space during the mission.

The Spacelab Infrared Telescope (IRT) was also flown on the mission. The IRT was a 15.2 cm aperture helium-cooled infrared telescope, observing light between wavelengths of 1.7 to 118 μm. The experiment experienced some problems, such as heat emissions from the Shuttle corrupting data, but still returned useful astronomical data.

In a heavily-publicised marketing experiment, astronauts aboard STS-51-F enjoyed carbonated beverages from specially-designed cans provided by competitors Coca-Cola and Pepsi. Post-flight, the astronauts revealed that they preferred the traditional astronaut's drink Tang, in part because it could be mixed on-orbit with existing chilled water supplies, whereas there was no dedicated refrigeration equipment onboard to chill the soda.