On this day in aviation history, 43 years ago (April 7, 1983), STS-6 (Space Transportation System-6) became the first Space Shuttle mission to perform a spacewalk. Space Shuttle Challenger launched from Kennedy Space Center’s LC-39A pad on April 4, 1983, at 1:30 p.m. EST. A crew of four astronauts was aboard Challenger for the flight: Commander Paul J. Weitz, Pilot Karol J. Bobko, Mission Specialist 1 F. Story Musgrave, and Mission Specialist 2/Flight Engineer Donald H. Peterson.
STS-6 deployed the first Tracking and Data Relay Satellite, TDRS-1, into orbit. This satellite was used to enhance communications between crews in space and the ground control facilities. The crew of Challenger became the first to conduct an “extravehicular activity” or spacewalk from a Space Shuttle. Additionally, STS-6 was the first Shuttle mission to use an Extravehicular Mobility Unit (EMU). The spacewalk was performed by Musgrave and Peterson, who conducted various tests in the orbiter’s payload bay. Their walk lasted for 4 hours and 17 minutes.
The deployment of TDRS-1 was initially a success, but its two-stage booster rocket, the Inertial Upper Stage (IUS), caused the craft to tumble away from the planned orbit. Using extra fuel from the satellite’s attitude control thrusters, NASA crews were able to get TDRS-1 back on course by firing the thrusters at carefully planned intervals. On April 9, 1983, STS-6 and crew made a successful return to Earth, landing on Runway 22 at Edwards Air Force Base at 10:53:42 a.m. PST. With this mission now complete, NASA had successfully run their first spacewalk since Skylab 4 almost a decade earlier.
