STS-28

STS-28
Infrared view of Columbia's left wing during reentry, photographed by the SILTS experiment.
NamesSpace Transportation System-28
STS-28R
Mission typeDoD satellites deployment
OperatorNASA
COSPAR ID1989-061A Edit this at Wikidata
SATCAT no.20164Edit this on Wikidata
Mission duration5 days, 1 hour, 8 seconds
Distance travelled3,400,000 km (2,100,000 mi)
Orbits completed81
Spacecraft properties
SpacecraftSpace Shuttle Columbia
Landing mass90,816 kg (200,215 lb)
Payload mass19,600 kg (43,200 lb)
Crew
Crew size5
Members
Start of mission
Launch dateAugust 8, 1989, 12:37:00 (August 8, 1989, 12:37:00) UTC (8:37 am EDT)
Launch siteKennedy, LC-39B
ContractorRockwell International
End of mission
Landing dateAugust 13, 1989, 13:37:08 (August 13, 1989, 13:37:08) UTC (6:37:08 am PDT)
Landing siteEdwards, Runway 17
Orbital parameters
Reference systemGeocentric orbit
RegimeLow Earth orbit
Perigee altitude289 km (180 mi)
Apogee altitude306 km (190 mi)
Inclination57.00°
Period90.50 minutes
Instruments
  • In-flight Radiation Dose Distribution (IDRD)
  • Shuttle Lee-side Temperature Sensing (SILTS)

STS-28 mission patch

Standing: Brown and Adamson
Seated: Richards, Shaw and Leestma
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STS-34 (31) →

STS-28 was the 30th NASA Space Shuttle mission, the fourth shuttle mission dedicated to United States Department of Defense (DoD) purposes, and the eighth flight of Space Shuttle Columbia. The mission launched on August 8, 1989, and traveled 3,400,000 km (2,100,000 mi) during 81 orbits of the Earth, before landing on runway 17 of Edwards Air Force Base, California, on August 13, 1989. STS-28 was also Columbia's first flight since January 1986, when it had flown STS-61-C, the mission directly preceding the Challenger disaster of STS-51-L. The mission details of STS-28 are classified, but the payload is widely believed to have been the first SDS-2 relay communications satellite. The altitude of the mission was between 295 km (183 mi) and 307 km (191 mi).[1]

The mission was officially designated STS-28R as the original STS-28 designator belonged to STS-51-J, the 21st Space Shuttle mission. Official documentation for that mission contained the designator STS-28 throughout. As STS-51-L was designated STS-33, future flights with the STS-26 through STS-33 designators would require the R in their documentation to avoid conflicts in tracking data from one mission to another.

  1. ^ "STS-28 payload". Archived from the original on February 4, 2015. Retrieved February 3, 2015.