#sts-41-c

"View of the launch of the Shuttle Challenger during the STS-41-C mission. The orbiter has cleared the launch pad with a large cloud of smoke covering the bottom part of the frame."

Date: April 6, 1984

A very happy birthday to USAF pilot and NASA astronaut Lt. Col. Francis Richard “Dick” Scobee (May 19, 1939 – January 28, 1986), who would’ve been 79 years old today! Before joining the Astronaut Corps in 1978, Scob was an Air Force test pilot and combat aviator during the Vietnam War. He flew as pilot on STS-41-C in April 1984, and was chosen to command STS-51-L in January 1986, a flight on which Scob and six of his fellow astronauts gave their lives shortly after lift-off. He is still remembered as one of the most capable and hard-working pilots to ever fly the space shuttle.

“The whole world got to see how my dad died. I wish they could have seen how he lived. He was a great father. I was not the most talented kid growing up, but when my dad was around, it was like every pitch I threw was a strike and every time I swung the bat it was a home run. He had a way of making you feel special.” -Maj. Gen. Richard W. Scobee

“He did his job, whatever it was.” -June Scobee Rodgers

“Dick Scobee I thought was one of the very best astronauts there, man or woman. In fact when I had a job to do that was difficult and I didn’t have time to explain it, I would give it to Dick Scobee. I’d say, ‘Look, Dick, we need this. Do whatever you think is right and then tell me what you did,’ because I knew he was as smart as I was or smarter. He would make a better decision or at least as good as mine, so I never worried about it. He’d just come by maybe in two or three weeks and he’d say, ‘I did this and this.’ I never remember ever thinking anything but, ‘Boy, that’s smart, I’m glad he did that.’” -Alan Bean

Reference guide of all the external changes made to the Space Shuttle Orbiter Challenger (OV-099) during her lifetime.

Date: 1983-1985

The crew assigned to this mission included (left to right) Robert L. Crippen, commander; Terry J. Hart, mission specialist; James D. Van-Hoften, mission specialist; George D. Nelson, mission specialist; and Francis R. (Dick) Scobee, pilot.

Launched aboard the Space Shuttle Challenger on April 6, 1984 at 8:58:00 am (EST). This mission marked the first direct ascent trajectory for the Space Shuttle and used her Orbiter Maneuvering System (OMS) engines only once to get a high orbit, circularize its orbit at 331 miles (533 km). The crew deployed the Long Duration Exposure Facility (LDEF). The crew captured and repaired the malfunctioning Solar Maximum Mission ("Solar Max") satellite. It was extended one day due to problems capturing the Solar Max satellite, and the landing at Edwards Air Force Base, instead of at Kennedy Space Center as had been planned.

The crew filmed their satellite repairs on an IMAX movie camera, and the results appeared in the 1985 IMAX movie The Dream is Alive.

Mission duration: April 6-13, 1984, 6 days, 23 hours, 40 minutes, and 7 seconds

This mission was originally intended to be STS-13.

'The mission's sequence number originally had been STS-13, and it has been rumoured that the entire change in the numbering system for Space Shuttle missions after STS-9 was done to avoid having to fly 'STS-13'. NASA still remembered Apollo-13!! The crew, Robert Crippen, Francis 'Dick' Scobee, George 'Pinky' Nelson, Terry J. Hart and James van Hoften decided to challenge fate and Scobee designed a patch showing symbols of bad luck, such as a black cat, the number 13 and a Shuttle flying from underneath the cat to space. The patch has the crew's nicknames, CRIP, DICK, TJ, OX and PINKY on it."

"Photo taken of the STS-41-C flight crew taken in the aft flight deck of the Challenger while in orbit include (left to right) mission commander Robert Crippen, mission specialists Terry Hart, James van Hoften and George Nelson, and mission pilot Francis (Dick) Scobee. Crew in photos are wearing shirts which read `'ACE SATELLITE REPAIR CO.`'"

In the background on the wall, the crew attached the original patch to a panel.

-Rockwell International's commemorative stamp: link

NASA ID: MSFC-8441775, S84-40925

Patch and info from www.spacepatches.nl: link

"CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- This orbiter tribute of space shuttle Challenger, or OV-099, hangs in Firing Room 4 of the Launch Control Center at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Challenger's accomplishments include the first night launch and first African-American in space, Guion Bluford, on STS-8, the first in-flight capture, repair and redeployment of an orbiting satellite during STS-41C, the first American woman in space, Sally Ride, on STS-7, and the first American woman to walk in space, Kathryn Sullivan, during STS-41G. Challenger is credited with blazing a trail for NASA's other orbiters with the first night landing at Edwards Air Force Base in California on STS-8 and the first landing at Kennedy on STS-41B. The spacewalker in the tribute represents Challenger’s role in the first spacewalk during STS-6 and the first untethered spacewalk on STS-41B. Crew-designed patches for each of Challenger’s missions lead from Earth toward a remembrance of the STS-51L crew, which was lost 73 seconds after liftoff on Jan. 28, 1986. Five orbiter tributes are on display in the firing room, representing Atlantis, Challenger, Columbia, Endeavour and Discovery."

Graphic design credit: NASA/Lynda less

Date: July 29, 2010

"Astronaut James D. van Hoften tests the manned maneuvering unit (MMU) in the cargo bay of the space shuttle Challenger as a part of an extravehicular activity (EVA) during STS-41-C. The Solar Maximum Mission Satellite (SMMS), repaired and ready for release into space, is docked at the flight support system (FSS) at the rear."

Date: April 11, 1984