Seconds From Disaster | The Amazing Story Of A Shuttle Secret Mission

Space Shuttle secret mission STS-27, just seconds from disaster. Get the story from astronaut Hoot Gibson.
STS-27 was the 27th NASA Space Shuttle mission and the third flight of Space Shuttle Atlantis. Launching on December 2, 1988, on a four-day mission, it was the second shuttle flight after the Space Shuttle Challenger disaster of January 1986. STS-27 carried a classified payload for the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD), ultimately determined to be a Lacrosse surveillance satellite. The vessel's heat shielding was substantially damaged during lift-off, and crew members thought that they would die during re-entry.