Atlantis STS 51-J / Atlantis Rising

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The newest U.S. Space Shuttle Atlantis ended its first flight today with a successful landing at Edwards Air Force Base in California. It was a perfect landing on the soft sands of a desert runway, ending a mission that was cloaked in secrecy. NASA kept details of the flight under tight control and gave out no information except for lift-off and touchdown. Atlantis, the fourth and final member of the shuttle fleet, dropped out of the sky at midmorning, rather than usual dawn-landings of the more publicized flights, and contrary to usual practice there was no civilian audience. The classified mission of shuttle Atlantis was purportedly to launch a pair of radiation-resistant satellites for the military. Mission Control permitted television coverage of the landing. There was no comment on the flight, except for the words of shuttle chief Jesse Moore, who called the new spacecraft “just an outstanding bird.” He said, “We have been very pleased with the inaugural flight of Atlantis.” (Lee Hall, VOA News – Los Angeles, Oct. 7, 1985)

Atlantis was reported in "excellent" shape and the crew was in good spirits following the orbiter's 1 p.m. EDT landing. "Of course I can't say anything about our mission," said Cmdr. Karol Bobko, an Air Force colonel, "but I can say that the Atlantis performed superbly. I've flown Challenger, Atlantis and Discovery now, and I think NASA really has quite a fleet of orbiters and we have a great national asset." Even an inquiry about the shuttle's routine de-orbit rocket burn to return to Earth was met with an "it's classified" from shuttle director Jesse Moore. With a grin, he said, "We've been delighted with the (news) coverage of this mission," (FLORIDA TODAY, Oct. 8, 1985)

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October 11: The space shuttle Atlantis is expected to return to Kennedy Space Center from California today at 6 p.m.; the Atlantis aboard its 747 transport plane left Edwards Air Force Base in California shortly after 7 a.m. (FLORIDA TODAY, Oct. 11, 1985)

October 15: Ceremonies at the Vandenberg Launch Site commemorated the transition of the new facility from an activation status to an operational mode. A press conference featuring Under Secretary of the Air Force, Edward C. Aldridge, was held at the Orbiter Maintenance and Checkout Facility. Aldridge, who is a payload specialist on 62-A (the first scheduled Vandenberg launch), was accompanied by the rest of the crew: Mission Commander, Capt. Bob Crippen, USN; Pilot, Lt. Col. Guy Gardner, USAF; Mission Specialists, Cmdr. Dale A. Gardner, USN; Col. Richard Mullane, USAF; and Maj. Jerry Ross, USAF; and payload specialist, Maj. John Waterson, USAF. (STAR GAZER, Oct. 17, 1985)

October 16: A delegation of U.S. congressmen and aerospace officials received a definitive "nyet" (no) from Soviet President Andrei Gromyko on their proposal to renew superpower space cooperation. Gromyko told the group "the United States would have to back off of militarization of space," before U.S.-Soviet space cooperation could be renewed, Nelson said. Gromyko's reference to space militarization of space refers to U.S. efforts through the Strategic Defense Initiative to match the Soviet Union's missile defense research and testing efforts which have been underway for several years. (FLORIDA TODAY, Oct. 17, 1985)

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November 4: Enterprise, the life-size prototype that was NASA's space shuttle test craft, will be leaving Kennedy Space Center for its permanent home in Washington, D.C., on Nov. 16. KSC officials announced that the engineless Enterprise, currently on public display by a horizontal Saturn V rocket near the Vehicle Assembly Building, will be mated to its Boeing 747 carrier aircraft November 15, leave the following day, and be removed from the 747 on Nov. 17 at Dulles Airport. (FLORIDA TODAY, Nov. 5, 1985)

November 18: Enterprise, NASA's prototype Space Shuttle, left Kennedy Space Center at 11:46 a.m. and arrived in Washington, D.C., about 4 p.m. atop the special Boeing 747 designed to ferry shuttles around the country. Enterprise's flight plan called for it to be flown as far north as Baltimore, then circle the Capital Beltway and the evening rush hour before landing at Dulles International Airport. (FLORIDA TODAY, Nov. 19, 1985)

And yet, as we all know, Enterprise’s mission was far from over – soon after the Challenger accident she would play a role in testing out new methods of making shuttle landings safer. And when we lost another member of the shuttle fleet she made a major contribution to finding the smoking gun, leading to the reasons why that had happened…

[Ares67]

That's all for now. Of course you know where to find high-res pictures:

http://forum.nasaspaceflight.com/index.php?topic=11506.0

A Mission 61-B presentation is already in work and will follow soon.

 

[Beemer]

Keep 'em coming Ares67! 

[Ronsmytheiii]

[catdlr]

Atlantis Delivery - 747/Shuttle Combination Refueling Stop at Ellington Field Texas 1985

Jun 22, 2025
Space Shuttle Atlantis made a refueling stop during its first delivery flight from Palmdale, California. The shuttle, mounted atop a 747 Shuttle Carrier Aircraft, departed Edwards Air Force Base on April 12, 1985, en route to Ellington Field in Houston. It arrived at Kennedy Space Center the following day, April 13 in preparation for its first flight STS-51J.

Video courtesy NASA/National Archives, no audio.