Search results
Apr 12, 2017 · On the first space shuttle mission in 1981, NASA called on a secret eye in the sky. Rowland White. April 12, 2017. Ground-based cameras captured the ascent of Columbia during the first space ...
- Rowland White
Between 1982 and 1992, NASA launched 11 shuttle flights with classified payloads, honoring a deal that dated to 1969, when the National Reconnaissance Office—an organization so secret its name ...
- Michael Cassutt
- Joint Operations
- STS-4 Columbia
- STS-51C Discovery
- STS-51J Atlantis
- STS-62A Discovery
- STS-27 Atlantis
- STS-28 Columbia
- STS-33 Discovery
- STS-36 Atlantis
- STS-38 Atlantis
In the early days of the space shuttle program, some of the missions were run jointly by NASA and the military. This was in part because the National Reconnaissance Office had successfully requested the shuttle's payload bay — the part of the shuttle that carried satellites be carried into space — be enlarged to accommodate large military satellite...
The classified payload was known as Cryogenic Infrared Radiance Instrument for Shuttle (CIRRIS), which was supposed to test infrared sensors for a future surveillance satellite called Teal Ruby, according to America Space. The lens cap on CIRRIS failed to open, and the experiment failed. America Space added that Teal Ruby ended up being cancelled a...
Little is known about STS-51C's payload officially besides this terse line on the NASA website: "The U.S. Air Force Inertial Upper Stage (IUS) booster was deployed and met the mission objectives." Multiple sources suggest that the satellite deployed was called Magnum/ORION ELINT, a signals intelligence program about which little is known. Before la...
Two Defense Satellite Communications System satellites were released on this mission, according to NASA. The system is intended to support secure data and voice transmissions for military users from across the globe.
This mission was supposed to be the first one using the Air Force pad in Vandenberg, Calif., but it was cancelled after the Challenger explosion. Its main mission was to put Teal Ruby into orbit, according to NASASpaceflight.com.
It's probable that the crew released a satellite called ONYX, which had radar on board capable of observing targets on the ground through any kind of weather or cloud cover. According to Air&Space Magazine, one of the satellite's antenna dishes did not open and the crew possibly — although it's not confirmed officially — did a spacewalk to fix the ...
Air&Space Magazine reports that STS-28 hauled the Satellite Data System spacecraft into orbit; SDS was supposed to relay imagery from other military satellites. The magazine got confirmation on this from an Air Force officer, who was not named in the story.
NASA's website simply says this was a Department of Defense mission. The payload has not been confirmed.
There are many theories as to what STS-36 carried, but nothing has been officially confirmed. The shuttle's ground track took it as high as 62 degrees, which is a record for the shuttle program.
NASA's website only says that this was a Department of Defense mission. No confirmed information about the payload is available.
People also ask
Did mission managers know if the Space Shuttle was damaged?
Why did NASA create the Space Shuttle task group?
What was the first Space Shuttle mission?
What control system did the Space Shuttle use?
The Space Shuttle is a retired, partially reusable low Earth orbital spacecraft system operated from 1981 to 2011 by the U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) as part of the Space Shuttle program. Its official program name was Space Transportation System (STS), taken from a 1969 plan for a system of reusable spacecraft where ...
LeRoy Edward Cain (born February 4, 1964) is an American aerospace engineer who worked for NASA as a flight director, launch integration manager and deputy manager of the Space Shuttle Program. Cain may be best known to the public from footage and documentaries showing his work as the entry flight director for STS-107, the mission that ended in ...
Jan 29, 2023 · Wilson served as a mission specialist on three Space Shuttle flights, including the first flight after the 2003 Columbia disaster, which killed seven astronauts.
Jan 31, 2013 · Wayne Hale, who later became space shuttle program manager, struggled with this question after the deaths of the Columbia crew 10 years ago. Recently he wrote about the debate in his blog ...
