STS-62-A

STS-62-A was a planned NASA Space Shuttle mission to deliver a reconnaissance payload (Teal Ruby) into polar orbit. It was expected to use Discovery. It would have been the first crewed launch from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, and the first crewed mission to go into polar orbit.

STS-62-A

Space Shuttle Discovery atop Shuttle Carrier Aircraft 905, flies over Vandenberg Space Launch Complex 6 in November 1984, for testing of infrastructure at the base ahead of the mission
Names	Space Transportation System
Mission type	DoD satellite deployment (planned)
Operator	NASA
Spacecraft properties
Spacecraft	Space Shuttle Discovery (planned)
Crew
Crew size	7
Members	Robert L. Crippen Guy S. Gardner Richard M. Mullane Jerry L. Ross Dale A. Gardner Edward C. Aldridge Jr. Brett Watterson
Start of mission
Launch date	July 15, 1986 (planned, not launched)
Rocket	Space Shuttle Discovery
Launch site	Vandenberg, SLC-6
Contractor	Rockwell International
End of mission
Landing date	July 19, 1986 (planned)
Landing site	Vandenberg, Runway 12/30
Orbital parameters
Reference system	Geocentric orbit (planned)
Regime	Low Earth orbit
Perigee altitude	312 km (194 mi)
Apogee altitude	320 km (200 mi)
Inclination	48.45°
Period	90.90 minutes
Back row: Aldridge, Crippen and Watterson Front row: G. Gardner, Mullane, Ross and D. Gardner Space Shuttle program ← STS-51-L (25) STS-26 → Cancelled Shuttle missions ← STS-61-H STS-61-M →

The mission designation, STS-62-A, meant: 6=fiscal year 1986, 2=Vandenberg (1=Kennedy Space Center), and A=first flight in that fiscal year.

Crew

Position[1][2]	Astronaut
Commander	Robert L. Crippen Would have been fifth spaceflight
Pilot	Guy S. Gardner Would have been first spaceflight
Mission Specialist 1	Richard M. Mullane Would have been second spaceflight
Mission Specialist 2	Jerry L. Ross Would have been second spaceflight
Mission Specialist 3	Dale A. Gardner Would have been third spaceflight
Payload Specialist 1	Edward C. Aldridge Jr. Would have been first spaceflight
Payload Specialist 2	Brett Watterson, MSE Would have been first spaceflight

Post-Challenger accident

The destruction of Challenger and subsequent halt of the Space Shuttle program led to the cancellation of the mission.

Guy Gardner, Jerry Ross, and Mike Mullane were members of the second post-Challenger mission STS-27 — a classified mission for the DoD — during which the Lacrosse-1 radar reconnaissance spacecraft was allegedly deployed.^[3][4]