STS-28

STS-28

Infrared view of Columbia's left wing during reentry, photographed by the SILTS experiment.
Names	Space Transportation System-28 STS-28R
Mission type	DoD satellites deployment
Operator	NASA
COSPAR ID	1989-061A
SATCAT no.	20164
Mission duration	5 days, 1 hour, 8 seconds
Distance travelled	3,400,000 km (2,100,000 mi)
Orbits completed	81
Spacecraft properties
Spacecraft	Space Shuttle Columbia
Landing mass	90,816 kg (200,215 lb)
Payload mass	19,600 kg (43,200 lb)
Crew
Crew size	5
Members	Brewster H. Shaw Richard N. Richards James C. Adamson David Leestma Mark N. Brown
Start of mission
Launch date	August 8, 1989, 12:37:00 (August 8, 1989, 12:37:00) UTC (8:37 am EDT)
Launch site	Kennedy, LC-39B
Contractor	Rockwell International
End of mission
Landing date	August 13, 1989, 13:37:08 (August 13, 1989, 13:37:08) UTC (6:37:08 am PDT)
Landing site	Edwards, Runway 17
Orbital parameters
Reference system	Geocentric orbit
Regime	Low Earth orbit
Perigee altitude	289 km (180 mi)
Apogee altitude	306 km (190 mi)
Inclination	57.00°
Period	90.50 minutes
Instruments
In-flight Radiation Dose Distribution (IDRD) Shuttle Lee-side Temperature Sensing (SILTS)
STS-28 mission patch Standing: Brown and Adamson Seated: Richards, Shaw and Leestma Space Shuttle program ← STS-30 (29) STS-34 (31) →

STS-28 was the 30th NASA Space Shuttle mission, the fourth shuttle mission dedicated to United States Department of Defense (DoD) purposes, and the eighth flight of Space Shuttle Columbia. The mission launched on August 8, 1989, and traveled 3,400,000 km (2,100,000 mi) during 81 orbits of the Earth, before landing on runway 17 of Edwards Air Force Base, California, on August 13, 1989. STS-28 was also Columbia's first flight since January 1986, when it had flown STS-61-C, the mission directly preceding the Challenger disaster of STS-51-L. The mission details of STS-28 are classified, but the payload is widely believed to have been the first SDS-2 relay communications satellite. The altitude of the mission was between 295 km (183 mi) and 307 km (191 mi).^[1]

The mission was officially designated STS-28R as the original STS-28 designator belonged to STS-51-J, the 21st Space Shuttle mission. Official documentation for that mission contained the designator STS-28 throughout. As STS-51-L was designated STS-33, future flights with the STS-26 through STS-33 designators would require the R in their documentation to avoid conflicts in tracking data from one mission to another.