STS - 26 - Wikipedia STS - 26 This article includes a list of references, but its sources remain unclear because it has insufficient inline citations. Please help to improve this article by introducing more precise citations. ( May 2008 ) STS - 26 STS - 26 launches from Kennedy Space Center, 29 September 1988. Operator NASA COSPAR ID 1988 - 091A SATCAT no. 19547 Mission duration 4 days, 1 hour, 11 seconds Distance travelled 2,703,000 kilometers ( 1,680,000 mi ) Orbits completed 64 Spacecraft properties Spacecraft Space Shuttle Discovery Launch mass 115,487 kilograms ( 254,605 lb ) Landing mass 88,078 kilograms ( 194,179 lb ) Payload mass 21,082 kilograms ( 46,478 lb ) Crew Crew size 5 Members Frederick H. Hauck Richard O. Covey John M. Lounge David C. Hilmers George D. Nelson Start of mission Launch date 29 September 1988, 15 : 37 : 00 ( 1988 - 09 - 29UTC15 : 37Z ) UTC Launch site Kennedy LC - 39B End of mission Landing date 3 October 1988, 16 : 37 : 11 ( 1988 - 10 - 03UTC16 : 37 : 12Z ) UTC Landing site Edwards Runway 17 Orbital parameters Reference system Geocentric Regime Low Earth Perigee 301 kilometres ( 187 mi ) Apogee 306 kilometres ( 190 mi ) Inclination 28.5 degrees Period 90.6 min Back row, L-R : Lounge, Hilmers, Nelson. Front row, L-R : Covey and Hauck. Space Shuttle program ← STS - 51 - L STS - 27 → STS - 26 was the 26th NASA Space Shuttle mission and the seventh flight of the orbiter Discovery. The mission launched from Kennedy Space Center, Florida, on 29 September 1988, and landed four days later on 3 October. STS - 26 was declared the `` Return to Flight '' mission, being the first mission after the Space Shuttle Challenger disaster of 28 January 1986. It was the first mission since STS - 9 to use the original STS numbering system, the first to have all its crew members wear pressure suits for launch and landing since STS - 4, and the first mission with bailout capacity since STS - 4. STS - 26 was also the first all - veteran crew mission since Apollo 11, with all of its crew members having flown at least one prior mission. Contents 1 Crew 2 Mission summary 2.1 Payloads and experiments 2.2 List of payloads 2.2. 1 Primary payload 2.2. 2 Secondary payloads 2.3 Damage to thermal protection 3 Wake - up calls 4 Gallery 5 See also 6 References 7 Bibliography 8 External links Crew Position Astronaut Commander Frederick H. Hauck Third and last spaceflight Pilot Richard O. Covey Second spaceflight Mission Specialist 1 John M. Lounge Second spaceflight Mission Specialist 2 David C. Hilmers Second spaceflight Mission Specialist 3 George D. Nelson Third and last spaceflight The crew roster for STS - 26 was based on the original crew assignment for STS - 61 - F, which would have launched the Ulysses probe from Challenger in 1986. Ulysses was eventually launched on STS - 41. Hauck, Lounge and Hilmers were all assigned to that flight, with Roy D. Bridges, Jr. as pilot. Bridges never flew again after the Challenger disaster, but would eventually become the Director of Langley Research Center. Covey was the CAPCOM operator during the STS - 51 - L launch who uttered the words, `` Challenger, go at throttle up '', shortly after which the orbiter disintegrated. He also would have been the CAPCOM operator for the canceled STS - 61 - F mission during launch and landing. Mission summary Space Shuttle Discovery lifted off from Pad B, Launch Complex 39, Kennedy Space Center, at 11 : 37 am EDT on 29 September 1988, 975 days after the Challenger disaster. The launch was delayed by one hour and 38 minutes due to unseasonable and unusual light winds, and the need to replace fuses in the cooling systems of two crew members ' flight suits. The suits were repaired, and a waiver was issued for the wind conditions after officials determined there was a sufficient safety margin for wind loads on the orbiter 's wing leading edges. At T - 1 : 30, it was proposed that the launch be delayed at T - 0 : 31 due to a cabin air pressure issue. It was quickly determined that the cabin pressure had been increased slightly by the activation of the oxygen systems in the crew 's flight suits, and the launch was conducted without further delay. The shuttle crew, all veteran astronauts, included Commander Frederick H. `` Rick '' Hauck, Pilot Richard O. Covey, and Mission Specialists John M. `` Mike '' Lounge, George D. `` Pinky '' Nelson and David C. Hilmers. The primary payload for the STS - 26 mission, a Tracking and Data Relay Satellite ( TDRS ), was successfully deployed, and 11 scheduled mid-deck scientific and technological experiments were carried out. The orbiter sustained only minor Thermal Protection System tile damage, and the redesigned post-Challenger solid rocket boosters showed no signs of leakage or overheating at any of the joints. Two minor problems occurred during the flight. After ascent, the Flash Evaporator System for cooling the orbiter iced up and shut down, increasing the crew cabin temperature to approximately 87 ° F ( 31 ° C ). The problem was resolved on Flight Day 4 and cooler temperatures resulted. A K - band antenna for communications was deployed on Flight Day 2, but it failed to respond properly and had to be stowed for the remainder of the mission. During STS - 26, Discovery became the first spacecraft to fly in space equipped with a VCU ( Voice Control Unit ), a computer capable of recognising and responding to human speech. The VCU was created by SCI Systems in Huntsville, Alabama, and was based on technology licensed from the Votan company. This speech recognition system controlled the cameras and monitors that were used by the crew to monitor the Canadarm mechanical arm mounted in the cargo bay. Because of the experimental nature of speech recognition at the time, this system was not used for any critical operations. Initial problems almost sidelined the tests when the voice templates that were created prior to liftoff were found to have less than 60 % recognition for one crew member and less than 40 % recognition for another. This problem was corrected by retraining the templates. It was retested and found to be operational with a recognition success rate of over 96 %. It was concluded that weightless conditions caused a fundamental change in human speech, making the templates created prior to liftoff virtually useless. Besides conducting the mission 's various experiments, crew members practiced suiting up in new partial - pressure `` launch - and - entry '' flight suits, and also practiced the unstowing and attaching of the new crew escape system. On 2 October, the day before the mission ended, the five - man crew paid tribute to the seven crew members lost in the Challenger disaster. Discovery landed on Runway 17, Edwards Air Force Base, California, at 12 : 37 pm EDT on 3 October 1988, after a mission duration of approximately 4 days and 1 hour. Capsule Communicator Blaine Hammond Jr. welcomed the crew, saying it was `` a great ending to a new beginning. '' Payloads and experiments TDRS - 3 after deployment. TDRS - C, which became TDRS - 3 in orbit, and its attached Inertial Upper Stage ( IUS ), were deployed from Discovery 's cargo bay six hours and 13 minutes into the flight. The first stage of the IUS placed TDRS - 3 in a transfer orbit, and the second stage placed it in a geosynchronous orbit on 30 September. TDRS - 3 moved into position over the Pacific Ocean south of Hawaii at 171 degrees west longitude. It joined TDRS - 1 in tracking Earth - orbiting spacecraft ; a sister satellite, TDRS - B, was lost in the Challenger accident. Also in the payload bay was the Orbiter Experiments Autonomous Supporting Instrumentation System ( OASIS ). OASIS recorded environmental data on the orbiter and the TDRS payload during various inflight phases. All the mission 's mid-deck experiments were deemed to have been performed successfully. However, there were some glitches with two of the five materials science experiments. In the Protein Crystal Growth experiment, two of the 11 proteins processed -- including an enzyme believed to be key to the replication of AIDS -- did not produce crystals suitable for analysis. Also, there were some equipment problems with the Automated Directional Solidification Furnace, an experiment to investigate the melting and solidification of various materials in zero - gravity. The materials processing experiments included two Shuttle Student Involvement Projects, one on titanium grain formation and the other on controlling crystal growth with a membrane. Another materials science experiment, the Physical Vapor Transport of Organic Solids, was a joint project of NASA 's Office of Commercial Programs and the 3M Company. Three life sciences experiments were conducted, including one on the aggregration of red blood cells, intended to help determine if microgravity can play a beneficial role in clinical research and medical diagnostic tests. Two further experiments involved atmospheric sciences, while one was in communications research. List of payloads The TDRS is prepared for deployment. Primary payload NASA 's Tracking and Data Relay Satellite - 3 ( TDRS - 3 ), attached to an Inertial Upper Stage ( IUS ), became the second TDRS deployed. After deployment, the IUS propelled the satellite into a geosynchronous orbit. Secondary payloads Physical Vapor Transport of Organic Solids ( PVTOS ) Protein Crystal Growth ( PCG ) Infrared Communications Flight Experiment ( IRCFE ) Aggregation of Red Blood Cells ( ARC ) Isoelectric Focusing Experiment ( IFE ) Mesoscale Lightning Experiment ( MLE ) Phase Partitioning Experiment ( PPE ) Earth - Limb Radiance Experiment ( ELRAD ) Automated Directional Solidification Furnace ( ADSF ) Two Shuttle Student Involvement Program ( SSIP ) experiments Voice Control Unit test and evaluation ( VCU ) Damage to thermal protection Discovery suffered severe damage to its thermal protection tiles in the underwing area. Post-flight analysis showed that the impact of a 12 - inch long piece of cork insulation during ascent was the culprit. The origin of the debris was the forward field joint on the right - hand SRB. The damage was such that, during re-entry, the thermal protection tile eroded almost completely. Wake - up Calls NASA began its longstanding tradition of waking up astronauts with music during Apollo 15. Each track is specially chosen, often by the astronauts ' families, and usually has a special meaning to an individual member of the crew, or is applicable to their daily activities. Flight Day Song Artist / Composer Day 2 `` Gooooooood Morning Discovery ! ! '' Robin Williams Day 3 `` I Get Around '' parody Mike Cahill Day 4 `` Fun, Fun, Fun... '' parody Mike Cahill Gallery Discovery launches from Kennedy Space Center. A view of the shuttle 's cargo bay. The tilt table in its deploy position. The release of the TDRS. The Hawaiian Islands imaged from orbit. Chad imaged from orbit. Jebel Marra, Sudan, imaged from orbit. Discovery landing at the end of STS - 26. See also Spaceflight portal List of human spaceflights List of Space Shuttle missions References This article incorporates public domain material from websites or documents of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. Jump up ^ Young, ch. 22 ^ Jump up to : Fries, Colin ( 20 April 2010 ). `` Chronology of Wakeup Calls '' ( PDF ). NASA. Retrieved 24 May 2010. Bibliography Young, John W. ( 16 September 2012 ). Forever Young : A Life of Adventure in Air and Space. University Press of Florida. p. 432. ISBN 978 - 0813042091. External links NASA mission summary STS - 26 Video Highlights Space Shuttle Discovery ( OV - 103 ) Completed flights STS - 41 - D STS - 51 - A STS - 51 - C STS - 51 - D STS - 51 - G STS - 51 - I STS - 26 STS - 29 STS - 33 STS - 31 STS - 41 STS - 39 STS - 48 STS - 42 STS - 53 STS - 56 STS - 51 STS - 60 STS - 64 STS - 63 STS - 70 STS - 82 STS - 85 STS - 91 STS - 95 STS - 96 STS - 103 STS - 92 STS - 102 STS - 105 STS - 114 STS - 121 STS - 116 STS - 120 STS - 124 STS - 119 STS - 128 STS - 131 STS - 133 Status Retired On display Steven F. Udvar - Hazy Center, Washington, D.C. U.S. Space Shuttle missions Completed 1970s 1977 ALT 1980s 1981 STS - 1 STS - 2 1982 STS - 3 STS - 4 STS - 5 STS - 6 STS - 7 STS - 8 STS - 9 1984 STS - 41 - B STS - 41 - C STS - 41 - D STS - 41 - G STS - 51 - A 1985 STS - 51 - C STS - 51 - D STS - 51 - B STS - 51 - G STS - 51 - F STS - 51 - I STS - 51 - J STS - 61 - A STS - 61 - B 1986 STS - 61 - C STS - 51 - L † 1988 STS - 26 STS - 27 1989 STS - 29 STS - 30 STS - 28 STS - 34 STS - 33 1990s STS - 32 STS - 36 STS - 31 STS - 41 STS - 38 STS - 35 1991 STS - 37 STS - 39 STS - 40 STS - 43 STS - 48 STS - 44 STS - 42 STS - 45 STS - 49 STS - 50 STS - 46 STS - 47 STS - 52 STS - 53 STS - 54 STS - 56 STS - 55 STS - 57 STS - 51 STS - 58 STS - 61 STS - 60 STS - 62 STS - 59 STS - 65 STS - 64 STS - 68 STS - 66 1995 STS - 63 STS - 67 STS - 71 STS - 70 STS - 69 STS - 73 STS - 74 STS - 72 STS - 75 STS - 76 STS - 77 STS - 78 STS - 79 STS - 80 STS - 81 STS - 82 STS - 83 STS - 84 STS - 94 STS - 85 STS - 86 STS - 87 1998 STS - 89 STS - 90 STS - 91 STS - 95 STS - 88 1999 STS - 96 STS - 93 STS - 103 2000s 2000 STS - 99 STS - 101 STS - 106 STS - 92 STS - 97 STS - 98 STS - 102 STS - 100 STS - 104 STS - 105 STS - 108 2002 STS - 109 STS - 110 STS - 111 STS - 112 STS - 113 2003 STS - 107 † 2005 STS - 114 2006 STS - 121 STS - 115 STS - 116 2007 STS - 117 STS - 118 STS - 120 2008 STS - 122 STS - 123 STS - 124 STS - 126 2009 STS - 119 STS - 125 STS - 127 STS - 128 STS - 129 2010s STS - 130 STS - 131 STS - 132 2011 STS - 133 STS - 134 STS - 135 Cancelled STS - 41 - F STS - 61 - E STS - 61 - F STS - 61 - G STS - 62 - A STS - 61 - M STS - 61 - H STS - 144 STS - 3xx STS - 400 Others Orbiters Enterprise Columbia disaster Challenger disaster Discovery Atlantis Endeavour indicates failure missions. ← 1987 Orbital launches in 1988 1989 → Kosmos 1908 Kosmos 1909 Kosmos 1910 Kosmos 1911 Kosmos 1912 Kosmos 1913 Kosmos 1914 Gorizont No. 25L Progress 34 Kosmos 1915 Meteor - 2 No. 20 USA - 29 Kosmos 1916 USA - 30 Kosmos 1919 Kosmos 1917 Kosmos 1918 Kosmos 1920 Kosmos 1921 Sakura 3a Kosmos 1922 Zhongxing - 1 Kosmos 1923 Kosmos 1924 Kosmos 1925 Kosmos 1926 Kosmos 1927 Kosmos 1928 Kosmos 1929 Kosmos 1930 Kosmos 1931 Molniya - 1 No. 65 Spacenet 3R Telecom 1C Kosmos 1932 Kosmos 1933 IRS - 1A Molniya - 1 No. 64 Kosmos 1934 Progress 35 Kosmos 1935 San Marco 5 Kosmos 1936 Gorizont No. 26L Kosmos 1937 Kosmos 1938 Foton No. 4L Kosmos 1939 Transit - O 23 Transit - O 32 Kosmos 1940 Kosmos 1941 Ekran No. 31L Kosmos 1942 Progress 36 Kosmos 1943 Intelsat VA F - 13 Kosmos 1944 Kosmos 1945 Kosmos 1946 Kosmos 1947 Kosmos 1948 Molniya - 3 No. 49 Kosmos 1949 Kosmos 1950 Kosmos 1951 Soyuz TM - 5 Kosmos 1952 Kosmos 1953 Meteosat 3 PAS - 1 OSCAR - 13 Nova 2 Kosmos 1954 Kosmos 1955 Kosmos 1956 Okean - O1 No. 5 Kosmos 1957 Fobos 1 Unnamed Fobos 2 SROSS - B Kosmos 1958 Progress 37 Kosmos 1959 INSAT - 1C ECS - 5 Meteor - 3 No. 3 Resurs - F1 No. 30 Kosmos 1960 Kosmos 1961 Fanhui Shi Weixing I - 02 Kosmos 1962 Molniya - 1 No. 66 Kosmos 1963 Gorizont No. 28L Kosmos 1964 Kosmos 1965 Transit - O 25 Transit - O 31 Soyuz TM - 6 Kosmos 1966 USA - 31 USA - 32 Kosmos 1967 Fengyun I - 01 GStar - 3 SBS - 5 Kosmos 1968 Progress 38 Kosmos 1969 Kosmos 1970 Kosmos 1971 Kosmos 1972 Sakura 3b Ofek - 1 Kosmos 1973 NOAA - 11 Molniya - 3 No. 51 STS - 26 ( TDRS - 3 ) Kosmos 1974 Kosmos 1975 Kosmos 1976 Gran ' No. 34L Kosmos 1977 Kosmos 1978 TDF - 1 USA - 33 Unnamed Buran 1K1 ( 37KB No. 3770 ) Kosmos 1979 Kosmos 1980 Kosmos 1981 Soyuz TM - 7 Kosmos 1982 STS - 27 ( USA - 34 ) Kosmos 1983 Ekran - M No. 12L Skynet 4B Astra 1A Kosmos 1984 Zhongxing - 2 Molniya - 3 No. 52 Kosmos 1985 Progress 39 Molniya - 1 No. 63 Kosmos 1986 Payloads are separated by bullets ( ), launches by pipes ( ). Manned flights are indicated in bold text. Uncatalogued launch failures are listed in italics. Payloads deployed from other spacecraft are denoted in ( brackets ). Retrieved from `` https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=STS-26&oldid=813110716 '' Categories : Space Shuttle missions Edwards Air Force Base 1988 in the United States Spacecraft launched in 1988 Hidden categories : Use dmy dates from May 2011 Articles lacking in - text citations from May 2008 All articles lacking in - text citations Wikipedia articles incorporating text from NASA Use American English from January 2014 All Wikipedia articles written in American English Talk Contents About Wikipedia Bân - lâm - gú Български Català Čeština Dansk Deutsch Eesti Español فارسی Français Galego 한국어 Italiano עברית Magyar Nederlands 日本 語 Norsk Norsk nynorsk Polski Português Русский Slovenčina Svenska ไทย Українська Yorùbá 中文 20 more Edit links This page was last edited on 1 December 2017, at 20 : 53 ( UTC ). About Wikipedia

Question: when did us space program resumes after challenger tragedy
Answer: 29 September 1988