Space shuttle Challenger, mission STS-6, seen here climbing the ramp to the launchpad at Kennedy Space Centre, Florida. STS-6 was Challenger's first f

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Space shuttle Challenger, mission STS-6, seen here climbing the ramp to the launchpad at Kennedy Space Centre, Florida. STS-6 was Challenger's first flight, commencing on 5th April 1983 and ending five days later. The mission saw the launch of the TDRS-1 space communications satellite using the Interim Upper Stage (IUS). This is a booster attached to the satellite allowing injection from the Shuttle's low altitude orbit into one sufficiently high for geostationary positioning. The mission also saw the Shuttle's first 'space walks', by D Peterson and S Musgrave.

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Photo credit: © NASA/SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
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Keywords: challenger, launch, manned, mission, shuttle, space, spaceflight, sts-06