Launch from Cape Canaveral (
KSC);
landing on Edwards
AFB.
STS-41C marked the first "Shuttle
repairing mission". The capture of US satellite "Solar Maximum" was done in the
second attempt. Repairing work was performed in two
EVAs
by George
Nelson and James
van
Hoften on April 08, 1984 (2h 59m) and April 11, 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 George
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.
The crew also deployed the 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, due of problems retrieving Solar Max.
