Manned five crew. Deployed a classified payload. Orbits of Earth: 68. Landed at: Runway 17 dry lake bed at Edwards Air Force Base, . Landing Speed: 359 kph. Touchdown miss distance: 447.00 m. Landing Rollout: 2,171.00 m. Payloads: DoD Mission.

NASA Official Mission Narrative

Mission Name: STS-27 (27)
Atlantis (3)
Pad 39-B (8)
27th Shuttle mission
3rd Flight OV-104

Crew:
Robert L. Gibson (3), Commander
Guy S. Gardner (1), Pilot
Richard M. Mullane (2), Mission Specialist 1
Jerry L. Ross (2), Mission Specialist 2
William M. Shepherd (1), Mission Specialist 3

Milestones:
OPF - March 20, 1987
VAB - Oct. 22, 1988
PAD - Nov. 2, 1988

Payload:
DoD(3)
Mission Objectives:

Launch:
December 2, 1988, 9:30:34 a.m. EST. Launch set for Dec. 1 during classified window lying within launch period between 6:32 a.m. and 9:32 a.m., postponed due to unacceptable cloud cover and wind conditions and reset for same launch period on Dec. 2. Launch Weight: Classified.
Orbit:
Altitude: Classified
Inclination: 57.0 degrees
Orbits: 68
Duration: 4 days, 9 hours, 5 minutes, 37 seconds.
Distance: 1,820,000 miles

Hardware:
SRB: BI-030
SRM: 360L002
ET : 23/LWT-16
MLP : 1
SSME-1: SN-2017
SSME-2: SN-2030
SSME-3: SN-2029

Landing:
December 6, 1988, 3:36:11 p.m. PST, Runway 17, Edwards Air Force Base, Calif. Rollout distance: 7,123 feet. Rollout time: 43 seconds. Orbiter returned to KSC Dec. 13, 1988. Landing Weight: 190,956 lbs.

Mission Highlights:
Third mission dedicated to Department of Defense. References: 1 , 2 , 5 , 6 , 7 .