Science Fair Project Encyclopedia
STS-61-H
STS-61-H was a United States Space Shuttle mission planned to launch in 1986, however canceled after the Challenger disaster. Originally the flight was scheduled to take place June 24 - July 1.
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Crew
- Commander: Michael L. Coats
- Pilot: John Blaha
- Mission Specialist 1: Anna L. Fisher
- Mission Specialist 2: James F. Buchli
- Mission Specialist 3: Robert C. Springer
- Payload Specialist 1: Nigel Wood
- Payload Specialist 2: Pratiwi Sudarmono
Backup Payload Specialists
- Alternate Payload Specialist: Richard Farrimond
- Alternate Payload Specialist: Taufik Akbar
Mission objectives
The main task of the mission was to bring three commercial satellites into orbit - Skynet 4A, Palaba B3 and Westar 6S. The British Skynet and the Indonesian Palapa were suppossed to be accompanied by an astronaut from the two countries.
After the Challenger disaster the deployment of commercial satellites by the Space Shuttle was stopped, also for several years no international astronauts were nominated anymore. Thus neither the British nor the Indonesian payload specialists got a second chance for a spaceflight. The NASA crew however stayed together and finally flew on STS-29, only Anna Fisher was replaced by James Bagian on that flight.
External links
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