Discovery Astronaut Dale A. Gardner Satellites "For Sale" sign - GPN-2000-001036
On November 14, 1984, Astronaut Dale A. Gardner, having just completed the major portion of his second extravehicular activity (EVA) period in three days, holds up a "For Sale" sign referring to the two satellites, Palapa B-2 and Westar 6 that they retrieved from orbit after their Payload Assist Modules (PAM) failed to fire.
Astronaut Joseph P. Allen IV, who also participated in the two EVAs, is reflected in Gardner's helmet visor. A portion of each of two recovered satellites is in the lower right corner, with Westar 6 nearer Discovery's aft.
STS-51-A was the 14th flight of NASA's Space Shuttle program, and the second flight of Space Shuttle Discovery.
The mission launched from Kennedy Space Center on November 8, 1984 and landed just under eight days later on November 16.
STS-51-A marked the first time a shuttle deployed two communications satellites, and retrieved from orbit two other communications satellites.
The Canadian Anik D2 and Syncom IV-1 satellites were both successfully deployed by the crew of Discovery.
Palapa B2 and Westar 6, meanwhile, had been deployed during the STS-41-B mission earlier in the year, but had been placed into improper orbits due to the malfunctioning of their kick motors; they were both safely recovered and returned to Earth during STS-51-A.
