1984 Dale Gardner Astronaut Space Walk Satellite
Astronaut Dale Gardener’s untethered space walk to a stranded satellite took place during NASA’s STS-51-A mission, and it’s a fascinating story of human ingenuity and space exploration. Put simply, the mission involved deploying two communications satellites—Anik D2 and Syncom IV-1 (Leasat 1)—and then retrieve two others that had been stranded in low Earth orbit due to earlier deployment failures: Palapa B2 and Westar VI.



These two satellites were launched during the STS-41-B mission earlier that year and had malfunctioned Payload Assist Modules (PAM), leaving them in useless orbits about 210 miles above Earth after their perigee motors misfired. The retrieval operation involved astronauts Joseph P. Allen and Dale A. Gardner, who used the Manned Maneuvering Unit (MMU)—a nitrogen-propelled, hand-controlled backpack—to perform untethered spacewalks.

LEGO Icons NASA Space Shuttle Discovery 10283 Model Building Set - Spaceship Collection with Hubble...

LEGO Icons NASA Space Shuttle Discovery 10283 Model Building Set – Spaceship Collection with Hubble…

  • LEGO NASA Space Set – This adult LEGO set features the Space Shuttle Discovery and the Hubble Space Telescope from NASA’s 1990 STS-31 mission,…
  • Solar System Exploration – Unlock the mysteries of our solar system with this engaging 2,354-piece project, packed with authentic details and…
  • Shuttle Features Galore – The space shuttle model has an opening payload bay, retractable landing gear, opening cockpit, moving elevons, space arm,…

1984 Dale Gardner Astronaut Space Walk Satellite
On November 14, 1984, Gardner donned the MMU and went after Westar VI. This retrieval went relatively smoothly, as he used the Stinger to capture the satellite, and with Allen’s help, secured it into the payload bay. The EVA took around 5 hours. In a lighthearted moment, Gardner held up a “For Sale” sign next to Westar VI, a nod to the satellites’ troubled history (Westar VI was later sold to AsiaSat). Together, Allen and Gardner logged over 11 hours of untethered spacewalking across these two EVAs, salvaging hardware worth roughly $180 million at the time.
[Source]