LAUNCH CENTER

Success

Fri Dec 02 1988

Lockheed Space Operations Company

STS-27

Launch Successful

Launch Time

(2:30 PM UTC)

Launch Window Start

(2:30 PM UTC)

Launch Window End

(2:30 PM UTC)

Location

No Recovery Specified

Type

No Recovery Specified

Space Shuttle

Type: Government/Top Secret
STS-27 was the twenty-seventh and the third for Atlantis. It carried a classified payload for the Department of Defence. The heat shielding was substantially damaged during lift-off, impacting the right wing. The crew narrowly survived re-entry with a steal bar taking the brunt of the heat before beginning to burn through the aluminum structure.

Location

Kennedy Space Center, FL, USA

Pad

Launch Complex 39B