Tag Archives: Lacrosse I (USA-34)

2 December 1988, 14:30:34 UTC

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Space Shuttle Atlantis lifts off at LC-39B, 2 December 1998. (NASA)
Space Shuttle Atlantis (STS-27) lifts off at LC-39B, 2 December 1998. (NASA)

2 December 1988, 14:30:34 UTC: At 9:30 a.m., EST, Space Shuttle  Atlantis (OV-104) launched from Pad 39B, Kennedy Space Center, Cape Canaveral, Florida, on mission STS-27. This was the deployment of the first of five Lockheed Martin Lacrosse I reconnaissance satellites, USA-34, for the U.S. National Reconnaissance Office and the Central Intelligence Agency.

Space Shuttle Atlantis climbs from LC-39 on Mission STS-27, 2 December 1988. (NASA STS027-S-006)

STS-27 was the third flight for Atlantis. It would eventually be flown 33 times.

Seated, left to right, are Guy S. Gardner, pilot; Robert L. Gibson, commander and Jerry L. Ross, mission specialist. On the back row, left to right, are mission specialists William M. Shepherd and Richard M. Mullane.
SFlight crew of Space Shuttle Atlantis (STS-27): seated, left to right, are Colonel Guy S. Gardner, USAF, pilot; Captain Robert L. Gibson, USN, mission commander, and Colonel Jerry L. Ross, USAF, mission specialist. Standing, left to right, are mission specialists Captain William M. Shepherd, USN, and Colonel Richard M. Mullane, USAF. (NASA)

Space Transport System Flight STS-27 was commanded by Captain Robert Lee Gibson, United States Navy, with Colonel Guy S. Gardner, United States Air Force, as the shuttle pilot. Three mission specialists were aboard for the mission: Colonel Richard M. Mullane, USAF; Colonel Jerry L. Ross, USAF; and Captain William B. Shepherd, a United States Navy SEAL.

Atlantis STS-27 lands at Edwards Air Force Base. The damage to heat-protective tiles is clearly visible. (NASA)
Atlantis STS-27 accelerates toward orbit. (NASA)

Approximately 1 minute, 25 seconds after liftoff, insulating material from the right solid rocket booster (SRB) came off and struck the orbiter. The damage to the thermal tiles on the shuttle’s right side was extensive. More than 700 tiles were damaged and one was completely missing.

This image is believed to be of a Lockheed Martin Lacrosse reconnaissance satellite. Two technicians give scale to the Lacrosse.

Atlantis completed 68 orbits during this mission. It landed on Runway 17, Edwards Air Force Base, California, 6 December 1988, at 23:36:11 UTC (4:36 p.m., PST). The duration of the flight was 4 days, 9 hours, 5 minutes, 37 seconds.

Sts-27_Landing
Atlantis touches down on Rogers Dry Lake, on the afternoon of 6 December 1988. (NASA)

© 2018, Bryan R. Swopes