![]() ![]() The Payload Flight Test Article (PFTA) had been scheduled for launch in June 1984 on STS-16 in the April 1982 manifest, but by May 1983 it had been brought forward to STS-11. Technical diagram of the Payload Flight Test Article (PFTA) The satellite, with its upper stage, massed a total of 3,377 kg (7,445 lb), with the cradle massing another 1,102 kg (2,429 lb), and had cost around US$50 million. The satellite was carried in the rear of the shuttle's payload bay, and was boosted into a Geostationary transfer orbit (GTO) by a Payload Assist Module (PAM-D), a small solid rocket upper stage, after its release from the orbiter. It was the second in a series of multi-purpose weather and communications satellites to be operated by the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) the first, INSAT-1A, had been launched by a Delta launch vehicle in April 1982, but had to be shut down shortly afterwards due to a failure of the onboard The primary element of the STS-8 mission payload was INSAT-1B. After re-development of the IUS, TDRS-B was eventually re-manifested for the STS-51-L mission, and was lost along with the Space Shuttle Challenger and its crew when the launch failed in January 1986. It was replaced in the manifest by the Payload Flight Test Article. However, following problems with the Inertial Upper Stage (IUS) used to deploy TDRS-A on the STS-6 mission, it was announced in May 1983 that the TDRS was not going to be flown. It was expected to be a three-day mission with four crew members, and would launch INSAT-1B, an Indian satellite, and TDRS-B, a NASA communications relay satellite. Mission plan and payloads INSAT-1B being prepared in a processing facility.Īn early plan for STS-8, released in April 1982, had scheduled it for July 1983. The orbiter carried two Extravehicular Mobility Unit (EMUs) for use in case of an emergency spacewalk if needed, they would be used by Truly and Gardner. His participation on the mission included a series of tests aimed at gathering information on the physiological changes linked with Space Adaptation Syndrome, more commonly known as "space sickness" this had become a focus of attention in NASA, as astronauts succumbed to it during Shuttle missions. As with Truly, he was an Apollo-era recruit, having joined NASA in 1967. The mission had originally been planned for a crew of four, with Thornton added to the crew as a third mission specialist in December 1982, eight months after the crew was originally named. Brandenstein, Gardner and Bluford had all been recruited in 1978, and been training for a mission since 1979. Prior to this, he had worked as a capsule communicator (CAPCOM) for all three Skylab missions and the ASTP mission. The commander, Truly, was the only veteran astronaut of the crew, having flown as the pilot on STS-2 in 1981 and for two of the Approach and Landing Tests (ALT) aboard Enterprise in 1977. ![]() The crew was historically notable for the participation of Guion Bluford, who became the first African-American to fly in space. It was the second mission (after STS-7) to fly with a crew of five, the largest carried by a single spacecraft up to that date. This mission had a crew of five, with three mission specialists. The flight furthermore served as shakedown testing for the previously launched TDRS-1 satellite, which would be required to support the subsequent STS-9 mission. Scientific experiments carried on board Challenger included the environmental testing of new hardware and materials designed for future spacecraft, the study of biological materials in electric fields under microgravity, and research into space adaptation syndrome (also known as "space sickness"). The secondary payload, replacing a delayed NASA communications satellite, was a four-metric-ton dummy payload, intended to test the use of the shuttle's Canadarm (remote manipulator system). The mission's primary payload was INSAT-1B, an Indian communications and weather observation satellite, which was released by the orbiter and boosted into a geostationary orbit. The mission successfully achieved all of its planned research objectives, but was marred by the subsequent discovery that a solid-fuel rocket booster had almost malfunctioned catastrophically during the launch. It also carried the first African-American astronaut, Guion Bluford. It launched on August 30, 1983, and landed on September 5, 1983, conducting the first night launch and night landing of the Space Shuttle program. ![]() STS-8 was the eighth NASA Space Shuttle mission and the third flight of the Space Shuttle Challenger. ![]()
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