The 11th US space shuttle mission (41-C) is a spectacular success as the defective Solar Maximum Mission satellite (Solar Max) is repaired in orbit. After mission specialist George D. Nelson fails to capture the satellite on his spacewalk, Terry J. Hart uses Challenger’s remote manipulator arm to catch Solar Max on the fly. Nelson and James D.A. van Hoften repair the satellite in the shuttle’s payload bay before it is released.
The Air Force is on track to reach its annual goal of graduating 1,500 new pilots that had proved elusive to this point, one year after the service launched a sweeping overhaul of its undergraduate pilot training program, Air Education and Training Command said Sept. 14.
