STS-61-H
| Mission type | Satellite deployment | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mission duration | 7 days, 7 hours, 51 minutes, 51 seconds | ||||
| Spacecraft properties | |||||
| Spacecraft | Space Shuttle Columbia | ||||
| Crew | |||||
| Crew size | 7 | ||||
| Members |
Michael L. Coats John Blaha Robert C. Springer Anna L. Fisher James F. Buchli Pratiwi Sudarmono Nigel R. Wood | ||||
| Start of mission | |||||
| Launch date | 24 June 1986, 13:09:00 UTC | ||||
| Launch site | Kennedy LC-39B | ||||
| End of mission | |||||
| Landing date | 1 July 1986, 21:00:51 UTC | ||||
| Landing site | Kennedy Runway 15 | ||||
| Orbital parameters | |||||
| Inclination | 28.5 degrees | ||||
 
| |||||
STS-61-H was a United States Space Shuttle mission planned to launch on June 24, 1986 using Columbia. However, it was cancelled after the Challenger disaster.
Crew
| Position | Astronaut | |
|---|---|---|
| Commander | Michael L. Coats Second spaceflight | |
| Pilot | John E. Blaha First spaceflight | |
| Mission Specialist 1 | Robert C. Springer First spaceflight | |
| Mission Specialist 2 | Anna L. Fisher Second spaceflight | |
| Mission Specialist 3 | James F. Buchli Third spaceflight | |
| Payload Specialist 1 | Pratiwi Sudarmono First spaceflight | |
| Payload Specialist 2 | Nigel R. Wood First spaceflight | |
Backup crew
| Position | Astronaut | |
|---|---|---|
| Payload Specialist 1 | Taufik Akbar First spaceflight | |
| Payload Specialist 2 | Richard Farrimond First spaceflight | |
Crew notes
Before James Buchli was assigned to STS-61-H, Norman Thagard was the potential Mission Specialist 3 for this flight.
Mission objectives
The main task of the mission was to bring two commercial satellites into orbit – Palapa B3 and Westar 6S, and military communication satellite - Skynet 4A, The British Skynet and the Indonesian Palapa were supposed to be accompanied by an astronaut from the two countries.
After the Challenger disaster the deployment of commercial satellites by the Space Shuttle was stopped, also for several years no international astronauts were nominated anymore. Thus neither the British nor the Indonesian payload specialists got a second chance for a spaceflight. The NASA crew however stayed together and participated in a 56-hour-long simulated mission known as STS-61-MT in 1986. The crew finally flew on STS-29, with Anna Fisher being replaced by James Bagian.
Skynet 4A was launched on 1 January 1990 with a Titan III, Westar 6S was renamed Galaxy 6 and launched on 12 October 1992 by an Ariane 44L. Palapa B3 was renamed to Palapa B2P and was launched on 20 March 1987 with a Delta-3920.