rjnoe@ihlts.UUCP (Roger Noe) (09/05/84)
Space shuttle mission 41-D ended successfully as the orbiter Discovery touched down on dry lake runway 17 at Edwards Air Force Base, California at 6:38 a.m. PDT after a mission elapsed time of 6 days, 56 minutes. All three communications satellites deployed on this mission (SBS-D, Syncom IV-1, and Telstar 3-C) have reached geosynchronous orbital altitude without any problems at all. Also, the OAST-1 folding structure worked at least as well as expected and the continuous flow electrophoresis (CFES) experiment monitored by McDonnell Douglas Astronautics engineer Charles Walker produced valuable pharmaceutical samples despite some problems with the equipment. Apparently the crew experienced no space adaptation syndrome problems and the waste collection system functioned properly until another system clogged its discharge port with ice. The next mission, 41-G, is scheduled to begin October 1 with the launch of the orbiter Challenger. This ten-day mission will be commanded by Robert Crippen and piloted by Jon McBride. Mission specialists David Leetsma, Sally Ride, and Kathryn Sullivan and payload specialists Marc Garneau and Paul Scully-Power will round out the crew to seven, the largest yet for a space shuttle mission. Cargo will include the large format camera Earth resources mapping system and the Earth Radiation Budget Satellite (ERBS). Crew members will conduct a fluid transfer experiment. -- Roger Noe ihnp4!ihlts!rjnoe