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Atlantis Ready For Its Final Mission
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1 - 3 October 1985 - STS-51-J - 39A - Edwards AFB - 4 days, 1 hour, 44 minutes, 38 seconds - 1,682,641 miles (2,707,948 km) - First Atlantis mission; mission dedicated to Department of Defense. Deployed two DSCS-III (Defense Satellite Communications System) satellites into stationary orbit.
2 - 26 November 1985 - STS-61-B - 39A - Edwards AFB - 6 days, 21 hours, 4 minutes, 49 seconds - 2,466,956 miles (3,970,181 km) - 3 communications satellites deployed: MORELOS-B, AUSSAT-2 and SATCOM KU-2
3 - 2 December 1988 - STS-27 - 39B - Edwards AFB - 4 days, 9 hours, 5 minutes, 37 seconds - 1,812,075 miles (2,916,252 km) - Mission dedicated to Department of Defense. Deployed the Lacrosse 1 satellite, for the US National Reconnaissance Office (NRO) and the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA). Atlantis' Thermal Protection System tiles sustained unusually severe damage during the flight; over 700 damaged tiles were noted, and one tile was missing.
4 - 4 May 1989 - STS-30 - 39B - Edwards AFB - 4 days, 0 hours, 56 minutes, 28 seconds - 1,477,500 miles (2,377,800 km) - Deployed the Magellan probe bound for Venus.
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