STS-61-M

STS-61-M was a proposed NASA Space Shuttle program mission, planned for July 1986 but canceled following the Space Shuttle Challenger disaster (STS-51-L).

STS-61-M

Names	Space Transportation System
Mission type	TDRS-D satellite deployment (planned)
Operator	NASA
Spacecraft properties
Spacecraft	Space Shuttle Challenger (planned)
Crew
Crew size	6
Members	Loren J. Shriver Bryan D. O'Connor Mark C. Lee Sally K. Ride William Frederick Fisher Robert Wood
Start of mission
Launch date	July 15, 1986 (planned)[1] Not launched
Rocket	Space Shuttle Challenger
Launch site	Kennedy Space Center, LC-39A
Contractor	Rockwell International
Orbital parameters
Reference system	Geocentric orbit (planned)
Regime	Low Earth orbit
Perigee altitude	285 km (177 mi)
Apogee altitude	295 km (183 mi)
Inclination	28.45°
Period	90.40 minutes
Space Shuttle patch Space Shuttle program ← STS-51-L (25) STS-26 → Cancelled Shuttle missions ← STS-62-A STS-61-J →

The payload manifest was to have been TDRS-D, INSAT-1C, and EOS-1 (Electrophoresis Operations in Space).^[1] EOS-1 was a payload developed by McDonnell Douglas that would have demonstrated the production in space of ultra-pure erythropoietin through electrophoresis.^[2] Robert Wood, a McDonnell Douglas engineer, was assigned as the payload specialist for EOS-1 with fellow engineer Charles D. Walker assigned as his backup.^[3]

If flown, this would have been Sally Ride's third spaceflight. After the Challenger disaster, Ride was named to the Rogers Commission investigating the disaster and left NASA afterwards in 1987.^[4]

Primary Crew

Position	Astronaut
Commander	Loren J. Shriver Would have been second spaceflight
Pilot	Bryan D. O'Connor Would have been second spaceflight
Mission Specialist 1	Mark C. Lee Would have been first spaceflight
Mission Specialist 2	Sally K. Ride Would have been third spaceflight
Mission Specialist 3	William F. Fisher Would have been second spaceflight
Payload Specialist 1	Robert Wood Would have been first spaceflight

Backup Crew

Position	Astronaut
Payload Specialist 1	Charles D. Walker Would have been fourth spaceflight

See also

• Spaceflight portal

• Canceled Space Shuttle missions
• STS-144
• STS-61-H