STS-51-C

STS-51-C (formerly STS-10) was the 15th flight of NASA's Space Shuttle program, and the third flight of Space Shuttle Discovery. It launched on January 24, 1985, and made the fourth shuttle landing at the Shuttle Landing Facility at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida on January 27, 1985. STS-51-C was the first shuttle mission dedicated to the United States Department of Defense (DoD), and consequently many details remain classified. NASA reported that a satellite (USA-8) was deployed during the mission using an Inertial Upper Stage booster and met mission objectives. At just over three days, the mission was shorter in duration than most civilian missions and was the shortest of Discovery's career. STS-51-C launched from Kennedy Space Center (KSC) on January 24, 1985, at 19:50:00 UTC, and was the first of nine shuttle missions in 1985. It was originally scheduled for January 23, 1985, but was delayed because of freezing weather. Challenger had been scheduled for this flight, but Discovery was substituted when problems were encountered with Challenger's thermal protection tiles. STS-51-C marked the 100th human spaceflight to achieve orbit. The mission's length of three days was shorter than the week or longer of most civilian shuttle flights.