Space Transportation System Mission STS-7

Abstract

The second flight of Challenger was another exceptional flight in that 11 major objectives were accomplished. The TELESAT-F and PALAPA-B1 were deployed exactly on time. The SPAS-01 attached and detached operations went extremely well despite some heating problems with the SPAS. The OSTA-2 experiments for the Material Experiments Assembly and Material Wissenschaftliche Autone Unter Schwerelosigkeit were activated as planned with no indications of anomalies, and the MLR and CFES experiment packages in the middeck area were operated by the crew as planned. Ninety-six percent (56 of 58) of the assigned flight test objectives were completed. The turnaround time was accomplished in the least time to date (only 99.5 hours) and the return to KSC was completed with a total of only 5 days loss of program time.