Day 7: STS-41-G crew conducts first woman EVA 1984

On Day 7 of Challenger's (STS-41-G) historic flight, the crew wok up to Take Me Home, Country Roads by John Denver.  David Leestma and Kathryn Sullivan donned their space suits, with help from Jon McBride, to conduct an EVA.  They maneuvered to the ORS, situated at the rear of the cargo bay.  Leestma installed a valve assembly into the simulated Landsat propulsion plumbing.  

Sullivan secured the Ku antenna as they headed back to the air lock.  One of the two motors that steered the Ku antenna failed on the first day, but Mission Control managed to devise a workaround for it so it would point at the TDRS satellite and send the stored data to NASA. The EVA lasted 3 hours and 29 minutes and Sullivan became the first American woman to conduct a spacewalk. 

Day 3: STS-41-G crew continue Earth-observing observations 1984

 

Shuttle Imaging Radar-B deployment

The crew woke up to John Denver’s Leaving on a Jet Plane on Day 3, October 7.  They lowered Challenger’s orbit to 140 miles, which was the optimal altitude for the Shuttle Imaging Radar-B (SIR-B) and other Earth-observing instruments. Garneau continued his CANEX investigations.  Leestma conducted several scheduled ORS fuel transfers.  Scully-Power continued his oceanography studies. 

Day 2: STS-41-G crew begin experiments 1984

Canadian astronaut Marc Garneau with the Sunphotometer

The second day of flight STS-41-G, the Challenger crew woke up to Irene Cara’s Flashdance…What a Feeling.  Starting with Apollo 15, NASA started playing music to wake up the flight crew.  Each song is chosen specifically by the astronauts’ families and typically has a special meaning to their family member or the crew.  Or it can be applicable to their daily activities.  I haven’t found which astronaut is connected to this song.

The crew lowered the Challenger’s orbit to an altitude of 151 miles, down from 218 miles the day before. Marc Garneau began the Canadian experiments (CANEX), sponsored by the National Research Council (NRC) of Canada.  His experiments included investigations into medical, atmospheric, climatic, materials, and robotic sciences.  One piece of equipment Garneau used was the Sunphotometer, a handheld instrument which measures solar radiation at several wavelengths.  The Canadian Atmospheric Environment Service used the readings to measure local atmospheric constituents and to monitor acidic haze.

Paul Scully-Power (Australian-American astronaut) began oceanographic observations, and successfully photographed spiral eddies in the world’s oceans.

David Leestma completed tests on the Orbital Refueling System remote-controlled hydrazine fuel transfer. The structure was designed to develop and demonstrate equipment and techniques for refueling satellites in orbit.