STS-51I Launch Space Shuttle Discovery

from: www.shuttlesource.com

STS-51I was the 20th space shuttle mission and 6th mission using orbiter Discovery.
First retrieval, repair, and relaunch of a satellite in orbit.

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[Neptuneaus]

@av8n4life Perhaps I am wrong, then. Your passion for the space program truly comes through in your writing -- we definitely have that in common! :) Wow, imagine the crew really loosening their straps thinking that there was no way LC would give a go! :)

[av8n4life]

@Neptuneaus I read your poorly-researched comment just fine, thank you. ;-) You specifically stated that this report was "pure fiction"--while it was demonstrably true. So you were incorrect. Just because you think something is protocol doesn't mean it always happens that way 100% of the time.  If you think this is bad, the things some crews have done during entry would shock you. ;-) Furthermore, you stated that the only time the crew upstraps [sic] themselves is on orbit--also false.

[Neptuneaus]

@av8n4life You did not read my post carefully. I did not say that crew members are not ABLE to loosen their straps. Protocal is for White Room Techs to assist crew members following a launch srub and, of course, on entry and strap in. This is due to the awkward position in which the crew are positioned in the orbiter.

Obviously, an RSLS abort is another matter. Thankfully, shuttle crews have not faced a situation in which they actually needed to perform an emergency egress.

[av8n4life]

@Neptuneaus Incorrect. This factoid is true--cited by CDR Engle in one of his JSC Oral History reviews. All crew is able to unstrap at any time during the count--how do you think they egress in the event of an abort? One of the first things a mid-deck crew member does in the event of, say, an RSLS abort is unstrap and prepare to open the hatch for emergency egress.

[Zoomer30]

I think this was the launch that John Young was really peeved about, he could not beleive they would launch in such bad weather, would have been very dicey if they had had to do a RTLS abort and come back into a downpour.

This was the first hint of troble with NASA decision making process, only got worse up to 51-L (with an encore bonehead play that casued the Columbia Accident)

[englishguy2005]

Commander Joe Engle - the astronaut robbed of his chance to walk on the moon! He was the original Lunar Module Pilot for Apollo 17 but as NASA has deemed this the last moon flight, they bowed to the pressure from NASA scientists to put one of their own on the moon, so they took Engle off Apollo 17 and replaced him with Harrison Schmitt.

[Neptuneaus]

The report about the crew "loosening their straps" is pure fiction. Crew members do not loosen their straps in the event of a scrub...this is done by the crew in the White Room who must re-open the hatch (takes 30 minutes). Only time the crew upstraps themselves is shortly after reaching orbit. I don't doubt that they were surprised at the GO for launch, however, considering the conditions.

[alb3rtlattimor3]

STS-51I was the 20th space shuttle mission and 6th mission using orbiter Discovery.

First retrieval, repair, and relaunch of a satellite in orbit.

[151L107]

This was the last time "Discovery" would fly in space before the accident. It would not fly again during NASA's return to flight mission in 1988.

[Zoomer30]

I hear that John Young was more than a litte pissed off about this flight, he could not BELEIVE how they bent the rules. The rule is you dont go in rain, but they went in rain. The tiles cant take rain.