1983-116A
Columbia's 6th flight was the first Spacelab mission. It was launched on 1983 Nov 28 into a 249 x 250 km orbit. At 1942 on Nov 28 the hatch to the Spacelab module was opened for the first time.
On Dec 8, as the RCS jets were tested in preparation for retrofire, one of the GPC computers crashed. Deorbit was delayed after another computer crashed, although it was later restarted. The deorbit burn was sucessful, but at 2345, only 2 minutes before landing, fire broke out in the APUs in the rear fuselage. Despite the close shaves, Columbia landed safely and the fires went out.
A few months after the STS-9 mission, Columbia was transferred back to California for a major refit.
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| STS-9 |
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| Date | Time | Event | Orbit |
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| 1983 Jul 2 | | Begin processing |
| 1983 Sep 23 | | Rollover | VAB/3 |
| 1983 Sep 28 | | ET mate |
| 1983 Sep 28 | | Rollout | LC39A |
| 1983 Oct 17 | | Rollback | VAB/3 |
| 1983 Oct 19 | | Demate, rollover | OPF |
| 1983 Nov 3 | | Rollover | VAB/3 |
| 1983 Nov 7 | | ET mate | |
| 1983 Nov 8 | | Rollout | LC39A |
| 1983 Nov 28 | 1600:00 | Launch | LC39A |
| | 1602:06 | SRB sep, 49.3 km |
| | 1608:29 | MECO, 113.5 km |
| | 1608:47 | ET sep, 115.4 km | 86.67 29 x 189 x 57.0 (dV) |
| | 1610:29 | OMS 1 (1:04) 33.8m/s | 83 x 250 |
| | 1611:33 | OMS-1 CO | 87.80 81 x 249 x 57.0 (dV) |
| | 1630 | ET apogee 189 km |
| | 1640:37 | OMS 2 (1:41) 49.8m/s | |
| | 1642:19 | OMS 2 CO |
| | 1701 | ET-11 reentry |
| | 1729 | PLBD open | 89.49 243 x 255 x 57.0 |
| | 2031 | SL-1 activation complete |
| | 2115 | RCS | |
| 1983 Nov 29 | 0159 | | 89.47 242 x 253 x 57.0 |
| 1983 Nov 30 | 0311 | To cold attitude |
| 1983 Nov 30 | 1239 | | 89.45 242 x 252 x 57.0 |
| 1983 Dec 1 | 0230 | End of cold soak |
| 1983 Dec 2 | 1646 | | 89.37 238 x 248 x 57.0 |
| 1983 Dec 5 | 1443 | | 89.27 235 x 241 x 57.0 |
| | 1825 | Hot soak test |
| 1983 Dec 6 | 0126 | End of hot soak |
| 1983 Dec 6 | 1858 | | 89.25 233 x 240 x 57.0 |
| 1983 Dec 8 | | RCS tests |
| | 0936 | SL-1 deactivated |
| | 1110 | GPC-1 computer failed |
| | 1116 | GPC-2 computer failed |
| | 1335 | GPC-2 restarted |
| | 1642 | IMU-1 failed |
| | 2252:00 | OMS DO (156s) 81.4m/s |
| | 2254:36 | OMS DO CO |
| | 2316:00 | Entry |
| | 2347:24 | Landed | RW17 EAFB |
| | 2347:38 | NGTD |
| | 2348:17 | Wheels stop |
| | 2354 | APU-1 failed |
| | 2358 | APU-2 failed |
| 1983 Dec 14 | 1655 | SCA | Biggs AAF, TX |
| 1983 Dec 14 | | SCA | Kelly AFB TX |
| 1983 Dec 15 | | SCA | Eglin AFB FL |
| 1983 Dec 15 | 1953 | SCA arr. | KSC |
| 1983 Dec 16 | | Rollover | OPF |
| 1984 Jan 26 | | SCA | Kelly AFB TX |
| 1984 Jan 27 | | SCA | Edwards |
| 1984 Jan 28 | | Road transfer | Palmdale |
| 1984 Jan 31 | | Begin OMDP |