Shuttle Fired Into Orbit on Spy Mission : Atlantis Expected to Deploy Satellite; Details Kept Secret

The space shuttle Atlantis blasted off Friday on a black voyage toward the deep black of space.

The 27th flight of the shuttle carried a classified Defense Department cargo, presumed to be a $500-million satellite built to peer down on military activity in the Soviet Union and its allies.

It was the third “black,” or secret, military shuttle mission since the reusable manned orbiter began flying in 1981 and the second successful launch since the Challenger explosion in January, 1986.

The liftoff came at 6:30 a.m., when fierce high-altitude winds abated just before the window for launching was to close. It took place against a pale blue sky under scattered puffy clouds. Although few details of the flight’s progress were released Friday, a senior NASA manager described the launch and early minutes of the mission as “great.”

Last-Minute Announcement

The actual launching time was not announced until nine minutes before blastoff. Secrecy was imposed to thwart Soviet efforts to track Atlantis’ launch path and guess its mission, the Air Force said.

“We have a consistent policy for protecting those missions that are sensitive to national security,” said Lt. Col. Joe Purka, an Air Force spokesman. “Our objective is to ensure that any potential adversary has some doubt as to what the payload is, and what its purpose is.”

The exact launch trajectory and flight path were not announced Friday and will remain secret for the duration of the flight. Running commentary, cockpit chatter and regular briefings about the mission--provided for all civilian space shots--will not be released.

Four hours and three minutes into the flight, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration reported that “all systems of the orbiter are performing satisfactorily” and said the mission was “go for orbit operations.”

No further updates were expected until the landing time at California’s Edwards Air Force Base is announced 24 hours before touchdown. The landing is expected to come Monday or Tuesday.

It was clear from the direction of the launch, however, that Atlantis was headed toward a “high inclination” orbit that will allow its satellite cargo to fly over about 80% of the Soviet Union.

Nine seconds after launch, Atlantis executed a dramatic and unusual roll to carry it toward an orbit that will run between 57 degrees north and south latitude.

Civilian experts said the launch path confirmed earlier reports that the payload was probably a “Lacrosse” reconnaissance satellite that uses ultrasophisticated imaging radar to “see” objects on the ground at night, in all weather and even through dense foliage.

Sees 3-Foot Objects

The Lacrosse is capable of resolving objects as small as 3 feet across, allowing it to track in great detail Soviet mobile missiles, troop movements and industrial activity, according to independent space specialists.

The spaceship was piloted by Navy Cmdr. Robert L. (Hoot) Gibson, 42, a veteran of two previous shuttle flights.

The four other crew members are all active-duty military officers. The co-pilot is Guy S. Gardner, 40, an Air Force colonel making his first flight. Also aboard are mission specialists Air Force Col. Richard M. Mullane, 43; Air Force Lt. Col. Jerry L. Ross, 40, and Navy Cmdr. William M. Shepherd, 39, a SEAL commando making his first space voyage.

Little Drama

A space shot is always thrilling, but Friday’s launch held none of the drama of the two previous shuttle missions.

On Jan. 28, 1986, Challenger rose from the pad here with a cluster of New Hampshire schoolchildren cheering as their teacher, Sharon Christa McAuliffe, soared toward space. Their exhilaration turned to horror 73 seconds into the flight when the orbiter exploded in a burst of white smoke, killing all aboard and crippling the American space program.

Thirty-two months later, after a soul-searching redesign of the shuttle hardware and the manned space program itself, the nation watched breathlessly as America attempted to return to space aboard the ship Discovery. The simple, four-day mission with an all-military crew went off without a hitch.

Atlantis’ mission sparked considerably less interest, partly because the Pentagon clamped down on news of the flight’s progress and payload.

Few Spectators

Nearly 2,500 reporters and scores of dignitaries showed up to witness Discovery’s launch, which was broadcast live on nationwide television with great fanfare. But only 513 journalists and a handful of politicians watched Atlantis go up.

Local officials estimated the crowds for Discovery’s liftoff at 250,000; by contrast, only about 10,000 onlookers watched Atlantis on Friday.

Friday’s launching was originally set for Thursday, but high-altitude wind shear forced a 24-hour postponement.

Similar conditions Friday almost caused a second scrub, but as the end of the three-hour launch window neared, the winds calmed enough to meet NASA criteria.

The launching was further delayed by clouds at emergency landing sites in Spain and Morocco, but eventually conditions cleared sufficiently at the U.S. airfield at Zaragoza, Spain.

“The window was closing quickly” when mission managers gave the final go-ahead, said J. R. Thompson, director of NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center. “We took it right to the wire.”

The limits of the launch window were set by unspecified mission concerns, as well as the ability of the astronauts to tolerate hours cooped up in the orbiter, flat on their backs in bulky pressure suits.

Air Force officials refused to

disclose when the astronauts would carry out what is presumed to be their primary mission--deploying the satellite. But John Pike, director of space policy at the Federation of American Scientists, predicted that it would be hoisted into orbit by the shuttle’s remote-controlled cargo arm on the mission’s second day.

Space Walk Possible

Air Force officials refused to confirm reports that the flight would also include a space walk by one or more astronauts to check to see whether the satellite’s 150-foot arms unfold properly. The extravehicular activity may also include practice at servicing or fueling the satellite, sources said.

The satellite will orbit at a constant altitude of about 225 miles, Pike said.

The Lacrosse--if that is in fact what it is--will fill a critical gap in the U.S. space reconnaissance network.

The spy craft was one of two dozen sitting on the ground waiting for a lift into space, Air Force officials have said. The military satellite program is slowly returning to business after a 2 1/2-year delay caused by the Challenger explosion and back-to-back failures of unmanned Air Force boosters.

Unexpected Longevity

Senior Air Force officials said that only luck--the unexpected longevity of a number of existing satellites--saved the U.S. military from going blind in space.

Among the new satellite’s missions, according to Pike and other space experts, will be to verify arms control agreements and to find targets for the Air Force’s latest strategic bomber, the B-2 stealth.

Other consumers of intelligence data from the satellite will be the CIA, the National Security Agency and the super-secret National Reconnaissance Office, sources said.

After deploying the satellite, the Atlantis astronauts also are expected to carry out a number of experiments to demonstrate the military utility of men in space. They will test the use of high-power binoculars or telescopes to see what they can see on the ground.