physics

STS-27

STS-27 is a physics topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand STS-27 rather than just read about it. In short: STS-27 was the 27th NASA Space Shuttle mission, and the third flight of Space Shuttle Atlantis. Launching on December 2, 1988, on a four-day mission, it was the second shuttle flight after the Space Shuttle Challenger disaster of January 1986.

Key takeaways

STS-27 belongs to physics; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect STS-27 to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of STS-27 from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

STS-27 was the 27th NASA Space Shuttle mission, and the third flight of Space Shuttle Atlantis. Launching on December 2, 1988, on a four-day mission, it was the second shuttle flight after the Space Shuttle Challenger disaster of January 1986. STS-27 carried a classified payload for the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD), ultimately determined to be a Lacrosse surveillance satellite. The vessel's heat shielding was substantially damaged during lift-off, and crew members thought that they would die during reentry. This was a situation that was similar to the one that would prove fatal 15 years later on STS-107. Compared to the damage that Columbia sustained on STS-107, Atlantis experienced more extensive damage. However, this damage was experienced over less critical areas, and the missing tile was over an antenna which gave extra protection to the spacecraft structure. The mission landed successfully, although intense heat damage necessitated extensive repairs. The mission is technically designated STS-27R, as the original STS-27 designator belonged to STS-51-I, the twentieth Space Shuttle mission. Official documentation for that mission contained the designator STS-27 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.

Crew

Prior to the Challenger disaster, this mission was slated to launch in July 1986 as STS-62-A with Discovery as the orbiter, and was slated to launch at Vandenberg Space Force Base in Santa Barbara County, California. Dale A. Gardner was originally assigned to be as mission specialist, which would have been his third spaceflight. Gardner chose to retire from NASA in October 1986, he was replaced by rookie William Shepherd. Space launches to be scheduled in Vandenberg were eventually cancelled permanently in December 1989, nearly four years following the Challenger disaster.

Crew seat assignments

Mission summary

The Space Shuttle Atlantis (OV-104), at the time the youngest in NASA's shuttle fleet, made its third flight on a classified mission for the United States Department of Defense (DoD). It deployed a single satellite, USA-34. NASA archival information has identified USA-34 as Lacrosse 1, a side-looking radar, all-weather surveillance satellite for the U.S. National Reconnaissance Office (NRO) and the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA). The mission was originally scheduled to launch on December 1, 1988, but the launch was postponed one day because of cloud cover and strong wind conditions at the launch site. Liftoff occurred from LC-39B at Kennedy Space Center, Florida, on December 2, 1988, at 09:30:34 a.m. EST. Atlantis touched down on December 6, 1988, on Runway 17 at Edwards Air Force Base, California, at 18:36:11 EST. The total mission elapsed time at wheels-stop was 4 days, 9 hours, 5 minutes, and 37 seconds. Atlantis was returned to the Kennedy Space Center on December 13, 1988, and moved into an OPF on December 14, 1988. There has been speculation that an EVA was conducted during this mission. Interviews with members of the crew several years after the flight confirmed there had been a problem with the satellite upon release, whereupon a rendezvous with the satellite was effected and repairs performed. These unspecified repairs could have necessitated a spacewalk, likely performed by Ross and Shepherd. As a classified DoD mission, details or confirmation of such an EVA remain unreleased. The day after Atlantis landed, the 1988 Armenian earthquake killed tens of thousands in the Soviet Union. At an astronaut meeting Gibson said, "I know many of you may have been very curious about our classified payload. While I can't go into its design features, I can say Armenia was its first target! And we only had the weapon set on stun!"

Tile damage

… excerpt ends here. Continue reading the full article.

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with STS-27

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what STS-27 claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In physics, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to STS-27 before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about STS-27 ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of STS-27

In research: STS-27 appears in physics research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses STS-27 in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: STS-27 is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 1988 in military history, 1988 in the United States, Department of Defense Space Shuttle missions, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for STS-27 outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study STS-27 in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what STS-27 means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain STS-27 out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is STS-27 in simple terms?

Why does STS-27 matter?

Because it connects several physics ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study STS-27?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on STS-27.