WIKIARCHIVES.SPACE

ANIK C-3 is gently lowered onto its Payload Assist Module as workmen prepare the Canadian satellite for its flight into orbit onboard the Space Shuttle Columbia, scheduled for launch in November. The ANIK satellite, which is being launched for Telesat Canada, is one of two satellites which will be lifted into space in the cargo bay of the Columbia during its fifth mission [STS 5], the first time a commercial payload will be transported by the Space Shuttle. Once in orbit, the Payload Assist module [PAM- D] will boost the satellite into geosynchronous orbit, where the spacecraft will appear to hover over an area of the Earth, while actually completing one orbit every 24 hours.