Launch from Cape Canaveral (
KSC); landing on
Edwards
AFB.
First "Shuttle repairing mission"; capture of US satellite "Solar Maximum" in
second attempt. Repairing work in two
EVAs by
Nelson and
van
Hoften on 08.04.1984 (2h 59m) and 11.04.1984 (7h 07m). Three attempts to
clamp the TPAD (Trunnion Pin Acquisition Device - a capture tool) onto the
satellite failed. It began tumbling on multiple axes when
Nelson attempted to grab Solar Max by hand, by a solar array,
and the effort was called off. They replaced the altitude control system and
coronagraph/polarimeter electronics. After that the satellite was again
deployed; also deploying of Long Duration Exposure Facility (
LDEF-01),
carrying 57 experiments.
LDEF- 01
was retrieved during mission
STS-32 in
1990.
Other payloads on this mission were:
IMAX camera; Radiation
Monitoring Equipment (RME); Cinema 360; Shuttle Student Involvement Program
(SSlP) experiment.
The mission duration was extended for one day,
because of problems retrieving Solar Max.
