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45-797: ERBS was launched on October 5, 1984, by the Space Shuttle Challenger during the STS-41-G mission and deactivated on October 14, 2005. It re-entered the Earth's atmosphere on January 8, 2023, over the Bering Sea near the Aleutian Islands . NASA's CERES instruments have continued the ERB data record after 1997. The ERBS spacecraft was deployed from Space Shuttle Challenger on October 5, 1984 (first day of flight) using

90-610: A Structural Test Article , STA-099, that could later be converted to a flight vehicle. The contract for STA-099 was awarded to North American Rockwell on July 26, 1972, and construction was completed in February 1978. After STA-099's rollout, it was sent to a Lockheed test site in Palmdale, where it spent over 11 months in vibration tests designed to simulate entire shuttle flights, from launch to landing. To prevent damage during structural testing, qualification tests were performed to

135-470: A safety factor of 1.2 times the design limit loads. The qualification tests were used to validate computational models, and compliance with the required 1.4 factor of safety was shown by analysis. STA-099 was essentially a complete airframe of a Space Shuttle orbiter, with only a mockup crew module installed and thermal insulation placed on its forward fuselage. NASA planned to refit the prototype orbiter Enterprise (OV-101), used for flight testing, as

180-630: A test article not intended for spaceflight, it was used for ground testing of the Space Shuttle orbiter's structural design. However, after NASA found that their original plan to upgrade Enterprise for spaceflight would be more expensive than upgrading Challenger , the orbiter was pressed into operational service in the Space Shuttle program . Lessons learned from the first orbital flights of Columbia led to Challenger ' s design possessing fewer thermal protection system tiles and

225-442: A Space Shuttle mission. It orbited in a non- Sun synchronous orbit at 610 km (that dropped to 585 km by 1999). It was at an inclination of 57deg which did not provide full Earth coverage. It had a design life of two years, with a goal of three, but lasted 21 years suffering several minor hardware failures along the way. The command memory was subject to random bit flips since launch. The ERBE scanner failed in 1990. There

270-497: A catastrophic structural failure and explosion of the External Tank . The resulting pressure waves and aerodynamic forces destroyed the orbiter, resulting in the loss of all of the crew. Challenger was the first Space Shuttle to be destroyed in a mission disaster. The collected debris of the vessel is currently buried in decommissioned missile silos at Launch Complex 31 , Cape Canaveral Air Force Station . A section of

315-401: A complete cell failure on January 15, 1999. That cell failure caused battery voltage to drop so low that Attitude Control system became unreliable and the satellite went into a very slow tumble. These cell failures and shorts all resulted in a loss of science data for a few days or months. The satellite was recovered and battery 1 was brought back online. Following that, battery 2 was disabled. By

360-585: A failure in July 2000. SAGE II was unable to lock on to either sunrise or sunset events. This was believed to be due to excessively noisy azimuth potentiometer readings in selected azimuth regions. An operational work-around was developed which allowed SAGE II to collect approximately 50 percent of the nominal science data. SAGE-II was powered off in August 2005 in preparation for decommissioning. Space Shuttle Challenger Space Shuttle Challenger ( OV-099 )

405-483: A flight article. Because STA-099's qualification testing prevented damage, NASA found that rebuilding STA-099 into a flightworthy orbiter would be less expensive than refitting Enterprise . Work on converting STA-099 to operational status began in January 1979, starting with the crew module (the pressurized portion of the vehicle), as the rest of the vehicle was still being used for testing by Lockheed. STA-099 returned to

450-433: A lighter fuselage and wings. This led to it being 2,200 pounds (1,000 kilograms) lighter than Columbia , though still 5,700 pounds (2,600 kilograms) heavier than Discovery . During its three years of operation, Challenger was flown on ten missions in the Space Shuttle program, spending over 62 days in space and completing almost 1,000 orbits around Earth. Following its maiden flight, Challenger supplanted Columbia as

495-467: A new territorial law moved Hawaiian Standard Time 30 minutes ahead. Hawaii–Aleutian Standard Time was established to maintain consistency in the scheduling of business and government activities across Hawaii and the Aleutian Islands. French Polynesia uses UTC−10:00 for its major cities. The Cook Islands also use the same time. These areas do not use DST. "Hawaii–Aleutian Time Zone" is

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540-550: The National Aeronautics and Space Administration . Hawaii%E2%80%93Aleutian Time Zone The Hawaii–Aleutian Time Zone observes Hawaii–Aleutian Standard Time (HST) by subtracting ten hours from Coordinated Universal Time ( UTC−10:00 ). The clock time in this zone is based on the mean solar time of the 150th meridian west of the Greenwich Observatory . The zone takes its name from

585-554: The SAGE satellite which lasted from 1979 to 1981. ERBS was one of three satellites in the ERBE and it carried two instruments as part of that effort. The ERBE scanner was a set of three detectors that studied longwave radiation , shortwave radiation and total energy radiating from the Earth along a line of the satellite's path. The ERBE non-scanner was a set of five detectors that measured

630-463: The first African-American astronaut , and the first Canadian astronaut . On its tenth flight in January 1986, Challenger broke up 73 seconds after liftoff, killing the seven-member crew of STS-51-L that included Christa McAuliffe , who would have been the first teacher in space . The Rogers Commission concluded that an O-ring seal in one of Challenger ' s solid rocket boosters failed to contain pressurized burning gas that leaked out of

675-508: The Canadian-built RMS (Remote Manipulator System), a mechanical arm of about 16 m in length. On deployment, one of the solar panels of ERBS failed initially to extend properly. Hence, mission specialist Sally Ride had to shake the satellite with the remotely-controlled robotic arm and then finally place the stuck panel into sunlight for the panel to extend. The ERBS satellite was the first spacecraft to be launched and deployed by

720-578: The Centaur to study the polar regions of the Sun. Challenger flew the first American woman , African-American , Dutchman , and Canadian into space; carried three Spacelab missions; and performed the first night launch and night landing of a Space Shuttle. STS-51-L was the orbiter's tenth and final flight, initially planned to launch on January 26, 1986 (after several technical and paperwork delays). The mission attracted huge media attention, as one of

765-546: The Rockwell plant in November 1979, and the original, unfinished crew module was replaced with the newly constructed model. Major parts of STA-099, including the payload bay doors, body flap, wings, and vertical stabilizer, also had to be returned to their individual subcontractors for rework. By early 1981, most of these components had returned to Palmdale to be reinstalled. Work continued on the conversion until July 1982, when

810-506: The accident, paid 60 percent, or $ 4,641,000. The remainder, $ 3,094,000, was paid by the government. In September 1988 a federal judge dismissed two lawsuits seeking $ 3 billion from Space Shuttle rocket-maker Morton Thiokol Inc. by Roger Boisjoly , a former company engineer who warned against the ill-fated 1986 Challenger launch. * Mission canceled due to loss of Challenger on STS-51-L . [REDACTED]  This article incorporates public domain material from websites or documents of

855-496: The active steps began in September. During decommissioning, the last of the fuel was depleted, the batteries were discharged, the tape recorder was played back one last time, on-board memory was scrubbed and the solar arrays were disconnected from the battery. On the final ERBS contact, during its 114,941st orbit, the attitude and momentum control system was disabled and the power system was put in discharge. The final commands opened

900-541: The booster, causing a structural failure of Challenger ' s external tank and the orbiter's subsequent breakup due to aerodynamic forces . NASA's organizational culture was also scrutinized by the Rogers Commission, and the Space Shuttle program's goal of replacing the United States' expendable launch systems was cast into doubt. The loss of Challenger and its crew led to a broad rescope of

945-563: The crew was a civilian schoolteacher, Christa McAuliffe , who was assigned to carry out live lessons from the orbiter (as part of NASA's Teacher in Space Project ). Other members would deploy the TDRS-B satellite and conduct comet observations. Challenger blasted off at 11:38 am EST on January 28, 1986. Just over a minute into the flight, a faulty booster joint opened up, leading to a flame that melted securing struts which resulted in

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990-399: The end of the mission, battery 2 had experienced 5 cell failures and been disconnected from the main bus; and battery 1 had experienced 3 cell failures. In 2002, the satellite's perigee was lowered more than 50 km to ensure that the vehicle would naturally decay within 25 years after its end of mission. This proved to be wise, because when the spacecraft was finally decommissioned in 2005

1035-606: The fuselage recovered from Space Shuttle Challenger can also be found at the "Forever Remembered" memorial at the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex in Florida. Debris from the orbiter sometimes washes up on the Florida coast. This is collected and transported to the silos for storage. Because of its early loss, Challenger was the only Space Shuttle that never wore the NASA "meatball" logo , and

1080-647: The leader of the Space Shuttle fleet, being the most-flown orbiter during all three years of its operation while Columbia itself was seldom used during the same time frame. Challenger was used for numerous civilian satellite launches, such as the first tracking and data relay satellite , the Palapa B communications satellites, the Long Duration Exposure Facility , and the Earth Radiation Budget Satellite . It

1125-748: The new orbiter was rolled out as Challenger . Challenger , as did the orbiters built after it, had fewer tiles in its Thermal Protection System than Columbia , though it still made heavier use of the white LRSI tiles on the cabin and main fuselage than did the later orbiters. Most of the tiles on the payload bay doors, upper wing surfaces, and rear fuselage surfaces were replaced with DuPont white Nomex felt insulation. These modifications and an overall lighter structure allowed Challenger to carry 2,500 lb (1,100 kg) more payload than Columbia. Challenger ' s fuselage and wings were stronger and lighter than Columbia ' s. The hatch and vertical-stabilizer tile patterns were different from those of

1170-510: The orbiters Discovery and Atlantis joined the fleet, Challenger flew three missions a year from 1983 to 1985. Challenger , along with Atlantis , was modified at Kennedy Space Center to be able to carry the Centaur-G upper stage in its payload bay. If flight STS-51-L had been successful, Challenger ' s next mission would have been the deployment of the Ulysses probe with

1215-463: The other orbiters. Challenger was the first orbiter to have a heads-up display (HUD) system for use in the descent phase of a mission, and the first to feature Phase I main engines rated for 104% maximum thrust. After its first flight in April 1983, Challenger quickly became the workhorse of NASA 's Space Shuttle fleet, flying six of nine Space Shuttle missions in 1983 and 1984. Even when

1260-568: The performance of the two batteries began to diverge. There were battery cell shorts on Battery 1 in August 1992 and again that September, and as a result Battery 1 was taken offline in October. Battery 2 was then supporting all loads and suffered a cell short in June 1993 and then July 1993. There was an attempt to bring battery 1 back online in August 1993, but it failed due to poor load sharing. Another cell failure began in June 1998 which culminated in

1305-579: The program, and numerous aspects – such as launches from Vandenberg , the MMU, and Shuttle-Centaur – were scrapped to improve crew safety; Challenger and Atlantis were the only orbiters modified to conduct Shuttle-Centaur launches. The recovered remains of the orbiter are mostly buried in a missile silo located at Cape Canaveral LC-31 ; one piece is on display at the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex . Challenger

1350-409: The propulsion and attitude control systems had become so degraded that the risks associated with eliminating the remaining fuel by performing post-science mission delta-V maneuvers were deemed too significant, and therefore those maneuvers were not performed. The order to decommission the satellite was issued on July 12, 2005, and efforts began at that time. The instruments were turned off in August and

1395-520: The sea. Prior to re-entry, NASA had estimated the odds that the falling debris would cause any injury at about 1-in-9,400. SAGE II measured the decline in ozone over Antarctica from the time the ozone hole was first described in 1985. That data was key in the international community's decision-making process during the 1987 Montreal Protocol Agreement, which has resulted in a near elimination of CFCs in industrialized countries. It also created an aerosol data record on polar stratospheric clouds (PSC) which

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1440-421: The second operational orbiter; but Enterprise lacked most of the systems needed for flight, including a functional propulsion system, thermal insulation, a life support system, and most of the cockpit instrumentation. Modifying it for spaceflight was considered to be too difficult, expensive, and time-consuming. Since STA-099 was not as far along in the construction of its airframe, it would be easier to upgrade to

1485-404: The thrusters to allow the remaining fuel to seep out, and the transponders were powered off for the last time. The satellite is believed to have re-entered the Earth's atmosphere on January 8, 2023, at 6:04 PM HAST over the Bering Sea near the Aleutian Islands . Most of the satellite is believed to have been burned up in the atmosphere, but some large pieces may have survived and fallen to

1530-568: The total energy from the Sun , and the shortwave and total energy from the entire Earth disk and the area beneath the satellite. The other two ERBE missions were included on the NOAA-9 satellite when it was launched in January 1985, and the NOAA-10 satellite when it was launched in October 1986. The ERBE scanner on ERBS stopped functioning on February 2, 1990, and after numerous attempts to recover it, it

1575-422: The tragedy firsthand. In March 1988 the federal government and Morton Thiokol Inc. agreed to pay $ 7.7 million in cash and annuities to the families of four of the seven Challenger astronauts as part of a settlement aimed at avoiding lawsuits in the nation's worst space disaster, according to government documents. The documents show that Morton Thiokol, which manufactured the faulty solid rocket boosters blamed for

1620-536: The two areas it includes: Hawaii and the portion of Alaska 's Aleutian Islands west of 169° 30 ′ W longitude. During daylight saving time (DST), the Alaskan portion observes Hawaii–Aleutian Daylight Time (HDT, UTC−09:00 ), while Hawaii stays on standard time. Hawaii has not observed daylight saving time since September 1945. Until 1947, UTC−10:30 was used as standard time in Hawaii. On June 8 of that year,

1665-478: Was a Space Shuttle orbiter manufactured by Rockwell International and operated by NASA . Named after the commanding ship of a nineteenth-century scientific expedition that traveled the world, Challenger was the second Space Shuttle orbiter to fly into space after Columbia , and launched on its maiden flight in April 1983. It was destroyed in January 1986 soon after launch in a disaster that killed all seven crewmembers aboard. Initially manufactured as

1710-422: Was a partial memory failure in October 1993. One of two Digital Telemetry Units failed in April 1998. In September 1999, a failure in the elevation gimbal of the non-scanner instrument suspended solar measurements for the solar monitor. Measurements resumed on December 22, 1999, when a new command sequence was defined. Only one of the five gyros was still functioning at the end of the mission, and thruster performance

1755-512: Was also used as a test bed for the Manned Maneuvering Unit (MMU) and served as the platform to repair the malfunctioning SolarMax telescope . In addition, three consecutive Spacelab missions were conducted with the orbiter in 1985, one of which being the first German crewed spaceflight mission . Passengers carried into orbit by Challenger include the first American female astronaut , the first American female spacewalker ,

1800-568: Was crucial to understanding the ozone hole process. SAGE II data was used to understand the impact of volcanic aerosols on climate. ERBS carried three instruments the Earth Radiation Budget Experiment (ERBE) Scanner, the ERBE non-scanner and Stratospheric Aerosol and Gas Experiment (SAGE II). ERBE was a continuation of the Radiation Budget studies carried out by Nimbus-6 and 7. SAGE-II was a follow-on to

1845-662: Was launched in 1997 with NASA's Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission and the last launched with the Joint Polar Satellite System 1 (JPSS-1) in 2017. The other instrument on ERBS was the Stratospheric Aerosol and Gas Experiment (SAGE II). SAGE II was the 2nd of 4 SAGE missions, with the most recent one SAGE III-ISS having been installed on the International Space Station in 2017. The SAGE II instrument experienced

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1890-527: Was named after HMS Challenger , a British corvette that was the command ship for the Challenger Expedition , a pioneering global marine research expedition undertaken from 1872 through 1876. The Apollo 17 Lunar Module , which landed on the Moon in 1972, was also named Challenger . Because of the low production volume of orbiters, the Space Shuttle program decided to build a vehicle as

1935-556: Was never modified with the MEDS "glass cockpit". The tail was never fitted with a drag chute, which was fitted to the remaining orbiters in 1992. Challenger and sister ship Columbia are the only two shuttles that never visited the Mir Space Station or the International Space Station. In September 2020 Netflix released Challenger: The Final Flight , a four-part miniseries created by Steven Leckart and Glen Zipper documenting

1980-508: Was powered off for good in March 1991. The non-scanner lost the ability to perform bi-weekly internal and Solar-calibrations, but no degradation in data quality was detected as a result. The non-scanner was powered off on August 22, 2005, in preparation for decommissioning. The Clouds and the Earth's Radiant Energy System (CERES) missions use an enhanced legacy instrument that continues the data record of ERBE. The first of seven CERES instruments

2025-478: Was unstable. During decommissioning, it was discovered that the fuel tank bladder had failed. Battery failures led to the ultimate decision to decommission the spacecraft. Despite estimates that the satellite could continue to work until 2010, there was concern that if the satellite lost power before the batteries were disconnected from the solar arrays, the batteries could explode, creating a cloud of space debris that would endanger other satellites. In September 1989,

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