STS-51-A

STS-51-A

Dale A. Gardner poses in front of a camera with a "For Sale" sign in his hand, jokingly referring to the two broken satellites (Palapa B2 and Westar 6) the crew was sent out on EVA to pick up and return to Earth.
Names	Space Transportation System-14
Mission type	Communications satellites deployment Communications satellites retrieval
Operator	NASA
COSPAR ID	1984-113A
SATCAT no.	15382
Mission duration	7 days, 23 hours, 44 minutes, 56 seconds (achieved)
Distance travelled	5,293,786 km (3,289,406 mi)
Orbits completed	127
Spacecraft properties
Spacecraft	Space Shuttle Discovery
Launch mass	119,442 kg (263,325 lb)
Landing mass	94,123 kg (207,506 lb)
Payload mass	17,375 kg (38,305 lb)
Crew
Crew size	5
Members	Frederick H. Hauck David M. Walker Joseph P. Allen Anna Lee Fisher Dale A. Gardner
EVAs	2
EVA duration	11 hours, 42 minutes First: 6 hours, 0 minute Second: 5 hours, 42 minutes
Start of mission
Launch date	November 8, 1984, 12:15:00 UTC
Rocket	Space Shuttle Discovery
Launch site	Kennedy Space Center, LC-39A
Contractor	Rockwell International
End of mission
Landing date	November 16, 1984, 11:59:56 UTC
Landing site	Kennedy Space Center, SLF Runway 15
Orbital parameters
Reference system	Geocentric orbit[1]
Regime	Low Earth orbit
Perigee altitude	332 km (206 mi)
Apogee altitude	354 km (220 mi)
Inclination	28.45°
Period	90.40 minutes
Instruments
Diffused Mixing of Organic Solutions (DMOS)
STS-51-A mission patch Dale A. Gardner, David M. Walker, Anna Lee Fisher, Frederick H. Hauck, Joseph P. Allen Space Shuttle program ← STS-41-G (13) STS-51-C (15) →

STS-51-A (formerly STS-19) was the 14th flight of NASA's Space Shuttle program, and the second flight of Space Shuttle Discovery. The mission launched from Kennedy Space Center on November 8, 1984, and landed just under eight days later on November 16, 1984.

STS-51-A marked the first time a shuttle deployed two communications satellites, and retrieved from orbit two other communications satellites. The Canadian Anik D2 and Syncom IV-1 satellites were both successfully deployed by the crew of Discovery. Palapa B2 and Westar 6, meanwhile, had been deployed during the STS-41-B mission earlier in the year, but had been placed into improper orbits due to the malfunctioning of their kick motors; they were both safely recovered and returned to Earth during STS-51-A.