1983-026A
Challenger was prepared for its first mission for the remainder of the year, and was rolled out to the launch pad at the end of November. The first 20 second flight readiness firing was carried out in Dec 1982. During this firing, a hydrogen leak was detected in the aft compartment. A second firing in January, with extra instrumentation, led to the discovery of cracks in main engine fuel lines. The engines were changed out, and the go-ahead was given for a full-fledged launch attempt.
Challenger took off on its first flight on 1983 Apr 4. The external tank impacted at 28.2S, 80.34E. The TDRS-1 satellite was deployed early on Apr 5. On Apr 6 Challenger made an RCS burn in a rendezvous rehearsal. On Apr 7, the first Shuttle spacewalk took place. At 1740, the astronauts entered the airlock to begin a test of the spacesuits and inspect the payload bay. The airlock was depressurized at around 2105; Musgrave exited at 2121 and Peterson egressed at 2126. The astronauts returned to the airlock at 0053 and the airlock was repressurized after 4 h 17 min.
| STS-6 | |||
| Date | Time | Event | Orbit |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1982 Jul 5 | OPF Bay 2 | ||
| 1982 Nov 22 | VAB | ||
| 1982 Nov 29 | Mate with ET | VAB Bay 3 | |
| 1982 Nov 30 | Rollout | LC39A | |
| 1982 Dec 18 | FRF | LC39A | |
| 1983 Jan 25 | FRF-2 | LC39A | |
| 1983 Feb 4 | Begin SSME removal | ||
| 1983 Mar 11 | SSMEs reinstalled | ||
| 1983 Apr 4 | 1830:00 | Launch | LC39A |
| 1832:09 | SRB sep, 46.2 km | ||
| 1838:19 | MECO at 110.1 km | ||
| 1838:38 | ET sep, 111.6 km | ||
| 86.09 4 x 156 x 28.5 | |||
| 86.11 4 x 157 x 28.5 (dV) | |||
| 1840:20 | OMS 1 (2:15) 66.4m/s | 88.29 94 x 286 x 28.5 | |
| 1842:35 | OMS 1 CO | 88.34 99 x 284 x 28.5 (dV) | |
| 1913:38 | OMS 2 (1:56) 56.4m/s | ||
| 1915:34 | OMS-2 CO | ||
| 1916 | ET breakup | ||
| 2005 | PLBD open | 90.27 284 x 291 x 28.47 | |
| 2300 | IUS tilt table up | ||
| 1983 Apr 5 | 0431:58 | TDRS deploy | |
| 0450:53 | OMS 3 (21s) 12m/s sep | 90.71 290 x 327 x 28.5 | |
| 2003:47 | OMS 4 (23s) 13m/s | 90.21 280 x 289 x 28.5 | |
| RCS | |||
| 1983 Apr 6 | RCS | ||
| 1983 Apr 7 | 0618 | 90.22 279 x 290 x 28.5 | |
| 2103 | Battery power | ||
| 2105:00 | Depress begin | ||
| 2115? | Depress complete | ||
| 2121 | HO | ||
| 2122 | Peterson egress | ||
| 2126 | Musgrave egress | ||
| 1983 Apr 8 | 0050 | Ingress Peterson | |
| 0053 | Ingress Musgrave | ||
| 0055? | HC | ||
| 0115 | Repress (MR) | ||
| 0122 | Off battery power | ||
| RCS burn (rv practice) 3m/s | 90.12 276 x 284 x 28.5 | ||
| 1930 | 90.13 277 x 284 x 28.5 | ||
| 1983 Apr 9 | 1018 | 90.14 276 x 286 x 28.5 | |
| 1436 | PLBD close | ||
| 1755:00 | OMS DO (145s) 89.0m/s | ||
| 1757:25 | OMS DO CO | ||
| 1823:27 | Entry | ||
| 1853:42 | Landed | RW22 EAFB | |
| 1853:54 | NGTD | ||
| 1854:31 | Wheels stop | ||
| 1983 Apr 14 | 1200 | SCA 905 | EAFB |
| 1800 | SCA 905 | Kelly AFB, TX | |
| 1983 Apr 16 | 1745 | SCA 905 | KSC SLF |
