Space Shuttle Atlantis Makes Its First Flight

On 3 October 1985, space shuttle Atlantis lifted off from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on its first journey into orbit. Designated STS-51-J, the mission began a spaceflight career that would span more than a quarter of a century and conclude with the final flight of the entire Space Shuttle programme.

A New Member of the Shuttle Fleet

Atlantis was the fourth space-qualified orbiter to join NASA’s fleet, following Columbia, Challenger and Discovery. It took its name from a research vessel operated by the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, carrying a tradition of exploration from the oceans into space.

Delivered to Kennedy Space Center in April 1985, the new shuttle underwent months of preparation. Engineers tested its systems and engines, while the crew rehearsed the countdown before the October launch.

Liftoff on a Classified Mission

Atlantis launched from Pad 39A at 11:15 a.m. EDT, carrying five crew members. Commander Karol “Bo” Bobko led the mission alongside pilot Ronald Grabe, mission specialists Robert Stewart and David Hilmers, and payload specialist William Pailes.

STS-51-J was the twenty-first flight of the Space Shuttle programme and its second mission dedicated to the US Department of Defense. Because the flight was classified, the public received relatively little information about activities in orbit.

Details released in 1998 identified the principal payload as two Defense Satellite Communications System III satellites. An upper-stage rocket carried them onwards after deployment from the shuttle’s payload bay.

Four Days in Orbit

Atlantis completed 64 orbits of Earth before returning on 7 October 1985. Bobko guided the spacecraft to a landing at Edwards Air Force Base in California, ending a mission lasting just over four days.

The successful flight brought Atlantis into operational service and completed NASA’s original fleet of four orbiters capable of spaceflight.

The Beginning of a Long Career

Atlantis would go on to launch planetary spacecraft, visit the Russian space station Mir, support the International Space Station and carry astronauts to service the Hubble Space Telescope.

Its thirty-third and final mission, STS-135, ended on 21 July 2011, bringing the Space Shuttle programme to a close. The launch in October 1985 marked the opening chapter of that remarkable career.