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.
