Mission Insignia
Mission Statistics
Mission:	STS-8
Shuttle:	Challenger
Launch Pad:	39-A
Launch:	August 30, 1983 2:32:00 a.m. EDT
Landing:	September 5, 1983 12:40:43 a.m. PDT
Duration:	6 days, 1 hour, 8 minutes, 43 seconds
Orbit Altitude:	191 nautical miles
Orbit Inclination:	28.5 degrees
Total Orbits:	98
Miles Traveled:	2,514,478 miles
Crew Photo
Seated from left to right are Daniel C. Brandenstein, pilot; Richard H. Truly, commander; and Guion S. Bluford, Jr., Mission specialist. Standing from left to right are Dale A. Gardner, mission specialist; and William E. Thornton, mission specialist.

STS-8 was the eighth Space Shuttle mission, the third for Challenger. It conducted the first night launch and night landing.

Crew

• Commander: Richard H. Truly (2)
• Pilot: Daniel C. Brandenstein (1)
• Mission Specialist: Dale A. Gardner (1)
• Mission Specialist: Guion S. Bluford (1)
• Mission Specialist: William E. Thornton (1)

Mission Parameters

• Mass:
  • Orbiter Liftoff: 110,105 kg
  • Orbiter Landing: 92,506 kg
  • Payload: 13,642 kg
• Perigee: 306 km
• Apogee: 313 km
• Inclination: 28.5°
• Period: 90.7 min

Mission Highlights

Bluford became the first African American to fly in space. Astronauts deployed INSAT-1B, a multipurpose satellite for India attached to Payload Assist Module-D (PAM-D) motor. On this mission, guidance held the nose of orbiter away from the sun for 14 hours to test the flight deck area in extreme cold. For the Development Flight Instrumentation Pallet (DFI PLT), the crew filmed performance of an experimental heat pipe mounted in the cargo bay. During the flight, the orbiter dropped to 139 miles altitude to perform tests on thin atomic oxygen to identify the cause of glow that surrounds parts of the orbiter at night. Astronauts tested the Remote Manipulator System to evaluate joint reactions to higher loads than previously examined. The flight included biofeedback experiments with six rats flown in an Animal Enclosure Module to observe animal reactions in space. Other payloads: Continuous Flow Electrophoresis System (CFES); Shuttle Student Involvement Program (SSIP) experiment; Incubator-Cell Attachment Test (I CAT); Investigation of STS Atmospheric Luminosities (ISAL); Radiation Monitoring Equipment (RME); and five Get Away Special experiment packages including eight cans of postal covers. Astronauts and ground control tested communications between Tracking and Data Relay Satellite-I (TDRS-1) and the orbiter using Ku-band antenna, and investigations continued on Space Adaptation Syndrome.

Related articles

• Space science
• Space shuttle
• List of space shuttle missions
• List of human spaceflights chronologically

Reference

• Kennedy Space Center STS-8 Archive