Challenger
Orbiter OV-099
See also
Space Transportation System and
space shuttle
This orbiter was destroyed.
Entered service April 4, 1983.
Destroyed January 28, 1986, during its 10th mission.
Flights:
STS-6 04/04/83
STS-7 06/18/83
STS-8 08/30/83
STS-41B 02/03/84
STS-41C 04/06/84
STS-41G 10/05/84
STS-51B 04/29/85
STS-51F 07/29/85
STS-61A 10/30/85
STS-51L 01/28/86
When
Rockwell was granted the
contract to build
orbiters for the
Space Transportation System, two static test articles and two operational
orbiters were approved for
construction. The second of the two operational
shuttle orbiters was
Columbia, designated OV-102. The first was
Enterprise, OV-101, which had been built for approach and landing tests. The original plan was to convert
Enterprise to a fully operational
orbiter, thus fulfilling the contract. However, in 1978, a decision was made to not modify OV-101, leaving
Columbia the only operational
orbiter vehicle. Challenger was built from one of the two static test articles, STA-099. This is the reason for Challenger's unusual designation: OV-099.
Challenger had a special modification in its
payload bay which would allow it to carry a
Centaur launch vehicle upper stage into orbit. This involved adding extra
fuel piping into the bay, since the
Centaur upper stage has a
liquid-fuel rocket engine, as well as controls in the
aft deck to control and monitor the
rocket.
Discovery has the same modification, but this has since been deemed to risky and there are no plans to use this functionality.
In one of the most tragic accidents in the history of the
United States space program, Challenger was lost on January 28, 1986. The vehicle was destroyed, and all seven crew members aboard were lost. More detailed information on the accident can be found in some of the above write-ups. Until the loss of
Columbia on February 1, 2003, Challenger was the only
United States manned spacecraft to be lost during a mission. (Three astronauts were lost in a fire during a training operation during the
Apollo program, but not during an actual mission.)
The rest of the orbiter fleet:
Enterprise *
Columbia *
Discovery *
Atlantis *
Endeavour