The Space Shuttle Atlantis (OV-104) lifted off on the first Shuttle mission of 1991 on April 5 at 9:22:44 a.m. EST from Pad B, Launch Complex 39, KSC. The primary payload, the Gamma Ray Observatory (GRO), was deployed on third day of the flight, with the aid of astronauts during an unscheduled contingency spacewalk. The 39th
Space Shuttle mission was the eighth flight of the Orbiter Atlantis.
STS-37 originally was targeted as the second mission of the year, but it moved up to first place when small cracks were found in the Orbiter Discovery's four lug hinges on the left and right external tank umbilical door drive mechanisms. Similar but much smaller cracks were then noticed in the Orbiters Atlantis, Columbia and the never-flown Endeavor, but NASA managers decided that Atlantis could fly safely with the tiny cracks.
Landing was scheduled for April 10, but was delayed one day because of high winds at Edwards Air Force Base (EAFB), CA. KSC had unacceptable weather conditions on April 11th. Touchdown on April 11th, on EAFB's lakebed Runway 33 at 9:55:29 a.m. EDT, after a flight duration of five days, 23 hours, 32 minutes, and 45 seconds.
The five crew members for this mission was Commander Steven R. Nagel, Pilot Kenneth D. Cameron, and Mission Specialists Jay Apt, Linda M. Godwin and Jerry L. Ross. This was the first flight for Cameron, Apt and Godwin. Nagel and Ross made their third flight. Ross, also a spacewalker on STS 61-B, became the astronaut with the most Space Shuttle EVA total time, 23 hours and nine minutes.
GRO is the second of NASA's four Great Observatories. The Hubble Space Telescope, deployed during Mission STS-31 in April 1990, was the first. GRO was launched on a two-year mission to search for the high-energy celestial gamma ray emissions, which cannot penetrate Earth's atmosphere. At about 35,000 pounds, GRO
was the heaviest satellite to be deployed into low-Earth orbit from the Shuttle. It is also the first satellite that can be refueled in orbit by Shuttle crews. Five months after deployment, NASA renamed the satellite the Arthur Holly Compton Gamma Ray Observatory, or Compton Observatory, after the Nobel Prize-winning physicist who did important work in gamma ray astronomy.
The first U.S. extravehicular activity (EVA) or spacewalk since 1985 was performed by Mission Specialists Jerry L. Ross and Jap Apt after six failed attempts to deploy the satellite's high-gain antenna. Repeated commands by ground controllers at the Payload Operations Control Center, Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD, and maneuvering of Atlantis and its Remote Manipulator System (RMS) robot arm, as well as GRO's antenna dish, were to no avail in dislodging the boom. Ross and Apt were
prepared for such a contingency, and Ross freed the antenna boom within 17 minutes after beginning the spacewalk. It was the first unscheduled contingency EVA since STS 51-D in April 1985. Deployment occurred about 6:35 p.m. EST, approximately 4 ½
hours after it was scheduled.
The following day, on April 8, Ross and Apt made the first scheduled EVA since Mission STS 61-B in November 1985. The spacewalk was to test methods of moving crew members and equipment around the future Space Station Freedom. One of the
experiments was to evaluate manual, mechanical and electrical power methods of moving carts around the outside of large structures in space. Although all three methods worked, the astronauts reported that propelling the cart manually or hand-over-hand worked best. With both EVAs, Ross and Apt logged ten hours and 49 minutes walking in space during STS-37.
The Space Station Heat Pipe Advanced Radiator Experiment (SHARE II) initially formed bubbles in its plexiglass tubes, which was a problem in the first SHARE experiment flown on STS-29. However, troubleshooting procedures stopped the bubbles from developing. SHARE II has a new manifold design for a heat-radiating device
for Space Station Freedom.
Among the other payloads flown was the first flight of the Bioserve Instrumentation Technology Associates Materials Dispersion Apparatus (BIMDA) to explore the commercial potential of experiments in the biomedical, manufacturing processes and fluid sciences fields, and the Protein Crystal Growth experiment,
which has flown eight times before in various forms. Astronaut Pilot Kenneth Cameron was the primary operator of the Shuttle Amateur Radio Experiment (SAREX), although all five crew members participated as amateur radio operators.
The Space Shuttle Discovery (OV-103) lifted off April 28, from Pad A, Launch Complex 39, KSC, on an unclassified Department of Defense (DOD)-dedicated mission, primarily to test and verify sensor and tracking technologies for the DOD. Launch of the 40th Shuttle mission occurred at 7:33:14 a.m. EDT. It was the 12th flight of Discovery, which has flown more times than any other Space Shuttle orbiter.
Originally scheduled to be the first mission of 1991, STS-39 was postponed from its March 9th, liftoff date when cracks were discovered in all four lug hinges on the two external tank umbilical door drive mechanisms. Much smaller cracks subsequently were discovered on the Orbiters Atlantis and Columbia, as well as the new Orbiter Endeavor, which was still under construction in California. The tiny cracks found on Atlantis would pose no threat during liftoff or flight, NASA decided. The hinges for the
other orbiters would be repaired and reinforced.
Discovery was rolled back from Launch Pad 39A to the Vehicle Assembly Building on March 7th, where it was disconnected from its external tank and two solid rocket boosters. It was then transported to the Orbiter Processing Facility for repairs. NASA replaced the cracked hinges with reinforced units from the Orbiter Columbia. Columbia then was given Endeavor's units and Endeavor, which was not scheduled to fly until 1992, had new ones installed.
The vehicle was rolled back to the pad on April 1st, and launch was rescheduled for April 23. The mission was postponed during tanking of the external tank only about six hours before targeted liftoff because of the failure of a transducer on the
high pressure oxidizer turbopump for main engine number three. The transducer and its cable harness were replaced and tested before launch was rescheduled for April 28.
Liftoff on April 28th, was delayed for 32 minutes when an onboard orbiter and payload recorder unexpectedly began to record. The recorder later began to operate normally but, in any case, managers decided it would not affect the launch.
The flight was scheduled to land May 6th, at Edwards Air Force Base (EAFB), CA, but high winds forced a switch to Kennedy Space Center. Landing was on KSC's concrete Runway 15 at 2:55:35 p.m. EDT on May 6th. The flight duration was 8 days, 7 hours, 23 minutes, and 17 seconds.
The seven crew members were Commander Michael L. Coats, Pilot L. Blaine Hammond, and Mission Specialists Gregory J. Harbaugh, Donald R. McMonagle, Guion S. Bluford Jr., Richard J. Hieb and Charles Lacy Veach. Coats and Bluford flew twice
previously. The other five crew members made their first flight. This was the first Shuttle crew of seven who were all NASA astronauts.
STS-39 was the first unclassified DOD dedicated Space Shuttle mission. There had previously been seven Shuttle missions dedicated to the DOD, but those were
considered classified and information about the operation or success of the payloads or experiments was not released. For STS-39, only the payload in the Multi-Purpose Experiment Canister (MPEC) was listed as classified.
The crew was divided into two teams for around-the-clock operations. Among other activities, the crew made observations of the atmosphere and gas releases, Discovery's orbital environment, and firings of the orbiter's engines, in wavelengths ranging from infrared to far ultraviolet. As part of the sophisticated experiments, five spacecraft or satellites were deployed from the payload bay, and one was retrieved later during the mission.
Carried in the orbiter's cargo bay were: Air Force Program-675 (AFP-675); Infrared Background Signature Survey (IBSS); Space Test Program-01 (STP-01); and the MPEC. Inside the crew cabin were the Cloud Logic to Optimize the Use of Defense
Systems-1A (CLOUDS 1-A) experiment and the Radiation Monitoring Equipment-III (RME-III).
The Remote Manipulator System arm in the payload bay was used to deploy the Shuttle Pallet Satellite-II (SPAS-II) on which the IBSS was mounted. Among other observations, the SPAS-II/IBSS watched Discovery as it performed some aerial maneuvers including the "Malarkey Milkshake." The deployment of IBSS was delayed a
day, until Flight Day Four, to give priority to the completion of the CIRRIS (Cryogenic Infrared Radiance Instrumentation for Shuttle) experiment which was depleting its liquid helium coolant supply faster than expected while making observations of auroral
and airglow emissions.
As usual, crew members faced some unexpected challenges during the mission. After working only about four hours, two tape recorders could not be reactivated. The tape recorders were designed to record observations made by three instruments on
AFP-675. In a complicated two-hour bypass repair operation, the astronauts had to route wires and attach a splice wire to a Ku-band antenna system so the data could be sent directly to a ground station.
The high orbital inclination of the mission, 57 degrees with respect to the equator, allowed the crew to fly over most of Earth's large land masses and observe and record environmental resources and problem areas.
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The Space Shuttle Columbia (OV-102), carrying the Spacelab orbiting laboratory in its payload bay, lifted off from Pad B, Launch Complex 39, KSC, at 9:24:51 a.m. EDT, on June 5, 1991. It was the 41st Shuttle mission and the 11th flight of Columbia, the
oldest orbiter.
Launch was originally scheduled for May 22nd, but was postponed twice. On May 21, NASA managers decided to delay the mission when it was revealed that a leaking liquid hydrogen temperature transducer in the orbiter's main propulsion system
that had been removed and replaced during testing the previous year had failed an analysis by the manufacturer. The nine transducers in the system protrude into the fuel and oxidizer lines. If one or more broke inside the propellant lines, the
pieces could go into the turbo pumps and, eventually, one of the three main engines, resulting in an engine failure. Also, anomalies were detected in one of the orbiter's five General Purpose Computers, as well as one of 23 Multiplexers/Demultiplexers
which control functions for the solid rocket booster and orbiter hydraulics, ordnance and the Orbital Maneuvering System and Reaction Control System.
NASA installed and tested a new computer and a Multiplexer/Demultiplexer, and replaced six of the transducers (the openings at the other three were plugged). The launch was rescheduled for June 1st, but was postponed less than 20 minutes prior to liftoff after several unsuccessful attempts to calibrate Inertial Measurement Unit No. 2, one of three units which provide critical flight navigation and orientation data. The IMU was replaced and the launch was targeted for June 5.
With a flight duration of nine days, two hours, 15 minutes, and 14 seconds. Columbia landed June 14, 1991, on concrete Runway 22, Edwards Air Force Base (EAFB), CA, at 11:39:11 a.m. EDT.
The three orbiter crew members included Commander Bryan D. O'Connor, who flew once before, and Pilot Sidney M. Gutierrez and Mission Specialist Tamara E. Jernigan, both space rookies. The four-member science crew, all chosen for their expertise in biological science, were Mission Specialists Margaret Rhea Seddon
and James P. Bagian, who each flew once before; and Payload Specialists Francis Andrew "Drew" Gaffney and Millie Hughes-Fulford, (career scientists rather than astronauts) who made their first flight.
The first Spacelab mission dedicated to life sciences research was termed an "exceptional success." It produced the most detailed and interrelated physiological measurements in space since the Skylab flights in 1973 and 1974. Spacelab Life
Sciences-1 (SLS-1) was the first time in the history of manned space flight that physiological data was obtained from the crew members during the first critical hours of adaptation to microgravity. The SLS-1 investigations expanded on information gathered from earlier experiments, and took many new measurements to study the human body as a whole and its reaction to microgravity. Rodents and jellyfish also were subjects of some
experiments. This was the first flight since 1985, of the long Spacelab module, with its pressurized, shirt-sleeve environment.
Besides examining the effects of space flight on the human body, many of the experiments also are expected to have applications to treating and understanding terrestrial diseases and disorders.
Twelve containers in the Small Self-Contained Payloads Program, also known as the Get Away Special (GAS) canisters, flew on a special structure mounted in the orbiter's payload bay.
The crew experienced some problems during the nine-day flight. Crew members had to be awakened four times one night to troubleshoot problems with the cooling loop on the Research Animal Holding Facility (RAHF) and three balky refrigerator/freezers used for maintaining biological samples at low temperatures. Urine and blood samples had to be moved among the refrigerator/freezers to preserve them. One of the units,
located in the orbiter mid-deck, was powered off because of an offensive odor. Crew members had to reconfigure the cooling system for the RAHF when one of the pumps shut down.
On day one of the flight, flight controllers noticed in remote camera images that a small section of the environmental seal along the port payload bay door had become dislodged. Mission controllers worried that the loose seal could interfere with the closing of the payload bay doors at the end of the mission. In that case, a spacewalk would be needed to correct the problem. However, managers concluded that the doors could be closed safely with the loose seal after on-ground tests were performed in KSC's Orbiter Processing Facility by astronaut Kathy Sullivan and engineers.
Two Gas Analyzer/Mass Spectrometer (GAMS) units experienced problems including moisture accumulation during the flight, and one had to be shut down for the rest of the mission. But the GAMS experimenters reported that all their scientific objectives were met. The orbiter's Text and Graphics System jammed during the
mission, and messages between the crew and mission control had to be routed through the onboard teleprinter.
An unexpected bonus to the science investigations became apparent by Flight Day 7th. Earlier conservative use of consumables enabled the crew to continue working in the Spacelab module, though it had been scheduled to be powered down for that day.
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Atlantis lifted off on its ninth Space Shuttle mission from Pad A, Launch Complex 39, KSC, on Aug. 2nd, 1991, at 11:01:59 a.m. EDT. The primary objective, deployment of the fifth Tracking and Data Relay Satellite (TDRS-E), was accomplished on schedule
slightly more than six hours into the mission. It was the 42nd Space Shuttle flight.
The launch originally was scheduled for July 23, but was postponed one day to repair and test a faulty Integrated Electronics Assembly, an electrical circuit which controls the separation of the external tank from the orbiter.
The mission was again delayed about five hours before the targeted launch on July 24th, because of the failure of the main engine controller, a critical component of engine # three. The malfunctioning unit was replaced and retested and liftoff was
rescheduled for Aug. 1st. Launch that day was put off twice, first because of a cabin pressure vent valve reading and then due to unacceptable weather conditions in case of a
return-to-launch-site (RTLS) situation. Liftoff was rescheduled for Aug. 2nd.
The first planned end-of-mission landing at KSC in more than five years occurred as targeted on Aug. 11, at 8:23:25 a.m. EDT, on concrete Runway 15. The mission elapsed time was eight days, 21 hours, 22 minutes, and 27 seconds.
The five crew members were Commander John E. Blaha, Pilot Michael A. Baker, and Mission Specialists James C. Adamson, G. David Low and Shannon W. Lucid. All but Baker had previous Shuttle flight experience.
TDRS E, which became TDRS-5 on orbit, was successfully boosted to geosynchronous orbit at more than 22,000 miles above Earth by two firings of the Inertial Upper Stage (IUS) booster, the last of which occurred approximately 12 ½ hours into the mission. TDRS then deployed its antennas and solar panels, and
separation from the IUS took place less than 45 minutes later.
The TDRS network of satellites provides the vital communication link between Earth and low-orbiting spacecraft such as the Space Shuttle. Until the STS-43 deployment, there were three TDRS spacecraft on orbit above the equator: two were in the west position over the Pacific Ocean, southwest of Hawaii. TDRS-4 is in the east position over the northeast corner of Brazil. TDRS-B was lost in the Challenger accident in 1986. After STS-43, the two satellites in the west became on-orbit spares; TDRS-5, after activation, checkout and calibration, officially became the
primary provider of services in the west location on Oct. 7th, 1991. It is stationed at 175 degrees west longitude.
Previously, orbiting spacecraft could communicate with Earth only when in sight of a ground tracking station about 15 percent of each orbit. The TDRS network allows communication from 85 to 100 percent of an orbit, depending on the spacecraft's
altitude.
The crew was kept busy with the operation of varied experiments during the nine-day flight. The Space Station Heat Pipe Advanced Radiator Element II (SHARE-II) experiment tested a natural cooling process for transferring thermal energy that could serve as a cooling system for Space Station Freedom. The Solid Surface Combustion Experiment provided some answers about how fire behaves in microgravity. The crew also activated other previously flown materials science experiments and participated in medical experiments in support of long-duration flights. One
test showed that optical fibers could provide video and audio links between the flight deck and the payload bay.
The crew experienced some minor problems, none of them critical to the safety or success of the mission. A cooling system for Auxiliary Power Unit (APU) 2 failed to activate during an on-orbit test. APU 2 is one of three redundant systems which
provide hydraulic pressurization to orbiter steering systems during entry and landing. APU 2 was still available for use in landing.
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The Space Shuttle Discovery, carrying the first satellite in NASA's Mission to Planet Earth program, was launched Sept. 12th, 1991 on Mission STS-48. Liftoff was at 7:11:04 p.m. EDT from Pad A, Launch Complex 39, KSC. The primary objective, deployment of the Upper Atmosphere Research Satellite (UARS), was achieved. The
43rd Space Shuttle flight also was the 13th mission for Discovery.
On day four of the flight, Discovery's crew had to maneuver the space plane to avoid a potential collision with a Soviet Cosmos 955 upper stage booster. It was determined that the body of the Cosmos would pass approximately 2.2 kilometers from Discovery, a violation of NASA flight rules. It was believed to be the first time a manned spacecraft was moved to avoid a possible collision.
STS-48 was scheduled to be the first night Shuttle landing at KSC. However, rapidly changing weather conditions and the movement of rain showers in the area shifted the landing site to Edwards Air Force Base (EAFB) in California. Discovery's main landing gear touched down on EAFB's concrete Runway 22 at 3:38:42 a.m. EDT, Sept. 18. Flight duration was five days, eight hours, 27 minutes and 51 seconds.
The five-member crew included Commander John O. Creighton, Pilot Kenneth S. Reightler Jr., and Mission Specialists James F. Buchli, Mark N. Brown and Charles D. "Sam" Gemar. All but Reightler have flown at least once before. Buchli flew three
times before; Creighton flew twice previously; and Brown and Gemar each flew once before.
UARS is the first major element in a multi-year global research program to study the Earth's environment, and the effect of human activity on the planet's atmosphere. The UARS mission, planned for at least 18 months, was to examine man's impact on
the atmosphere's upper regions, particularly the depletion of the ozone layer in the stratosphere by human-developed chemicals. Ozone, a molecule composed of three oxygen atoms, blocks most of the sun's ultraviolet light that can cause skin cancer and damage food crops.
Astronaut Mark N. Brown operated the cargo bay's Remote Manipulator System arm from the aft flight deck to deploy the (seven-ton) 14,500-pound observatory on Sept. 15. UARS was on station in its 354-statute-mile-high orbit at approximately 12:23
a.m. EDT.
One of the major investigations of the mission was the Mid-deck 0-Gravity Dynamics Experiment (MODE), which tests the behavior of mechanical structures and fluids in space. Four different models of truss structures for Space Station Freedom
were tested, as well as the dynamics of water and silicon oil in partially filled cylinders.
The Protein Crystal Growth investigation experienced problems when the plugs for the syringes did not completely retract and, in some cases, droplets were not deployed. However, some crystals did form. The Physiological and Anatomical Rodent
Experiment studied muscle atrophy in microgravity.
Among the various photographic activities performed by the crew was the first on-orbit test of an electronic still camera which captures and digitizes black-and-white images with a resolution approaching film quality. Crew members transmitted
about 200 images to Mission Control.
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11/24/91
The sixth and final Space Shuttle mission in 1991 began Nov. 24th, with liftoff of the Orbiter Atlantis from Pad A, Launch Complex 39, KSC. Launch of STS-44 was at 6:44:00 p.m. EST. The primary objective, deployment of the Defense Support Program
(DSP) satellite, was accomplished as scheduled on Flight Day One.
Originally targeted for a Nov. 19th launch, STS-44 was postponed prior to the on-pad tanking operation because of a malfunctioning guidance and navigation component of the Inertial Upper Stage (IUS), which boosts the DSP satellite to a higher
orbit after deployment. After removal of the old Redundant Inertial Measurement Unit, replacement with the new unit, and testing, liftoff was rescheduled for Nov. 24th. There was a 13-minute delay that evening to replenish the liquid oxygen (LOX) flow to the external tank after minor repairs were made to a sticking valve in the liquid oxygen replenishment system. About 15,000 gallons of LOX boiled off when the tanking was halted to repair the valve.
For the second consecutive mission, the crew had to fire its maneuvering thrusters to avoid a possible collision with a spent Soviet Cosmos rocket body. Astronauts on the previous Shuttle flight, STS-48, also had to dodge the Cosmos vehicle launched in
1976.
Russian cosmonauts on the Mir space station monitored the launch and sent greetings to the STS-44 crew via a ham radio operator, and the American astronauts responded with wishes for a successful mission for the Mir crew. Atlantis passed within 25 statute miles of Mir during the second day on orbit.
Landing for the planned 10-day mission was scheduled Dec. 4th, at Kennedy Space Center, but the mission was shortened by three days when one of three Inertial Measurement Units on the orbiter malfunctioned. Flight rules mandate that the mission be placed in a minimum duration status, and the landing site switched to
Edwards Air Force Base (EAFB), CA, if even one IMU fails. Atlantis landed Dec. 1 at 5:34:12 p.m. EST, on lakebed Runway 05R, EAFB, after a flight duration of 6 days, 22 hours, 52 minutes and 27 seconds. It was only the second time in 44 Shuttle
flights that an orbiter was brought back earlier than planned because of equipment malfunction.
The six-member crew included Commander Frederick D. Gregory, Pilot Terence T. Henricks, Mission Specialists Story Musgrave, Mario Runco Jr. and James S. Voss, and Payload Specialist Thomas J. Hennen. Gregory flew twice before, and Musgrave flew three times previously. The rest of the crew made their first flight. Musgrave established record for the most hours -- 596 -- flown on Space Shuttle missions.
The 5,200-pound DSP satellite was deployed at about 12:03 a.m. on Nov. 25, 1991, six hours and 13 minutes after liftoff. The IUS booster motor fired as scheduled approximately 12 hours and 32 minutes into the mission, propelling DSP into
geosynchronous orbit, and then separated from the satellite about 23 minutes later.
DSP satellites detect and report on real-time space liftoffs, missile launches and nuclear detonations. Infrared sensors detect heat from missile plumes. The satellites have comprised the space borne segment of NORAD's (North American Air Defense Command) Tactical Warning and Attack Assessment System since 1970.
Weather conditions obscured some targets for experiments Terra Scout and M88-1. A hand-held transceiver used for direct communication between the M-88 project person and the military ground sites below was stowed for part of the mission because of intermittent communications. Communication was still possible through the normal Shuttle air-to-ground network.
Crew members participated in a series of medical experiments designed to test human performance in space, and readjustment to gravity, for long-duration missions. An exercise treadmill stopped working on third day of the flight so crew members, in conjunction with experimenters and the medical community on the ground below, devised an alternate form of exercise to fulfill the experiment requirements. The experiment measures changes in aerobic and anaerobic metabolism during in-flight exercise, by comparison with measurements taken before and after the flight.
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This mission made a mark in the history books by being the first Shuttle mission to go up and retrive and repair a non Shuttle launched satellite. The satellite that was repaired was the VI-F3 communications satellite that was launched into orbit by the Titan III rocket. The satellite is very big so it took up the space usually used by two satellites. When the VI-F3 was launched the ground controllers had to jettison both pieces(the satellite and the rocket that would have carried it to orbit).
The Shuttles crew's mission was to catch the VI-F3 and attach a new rocket booster to it. NASA created special devices to grab the satellite and on two spacewalks they failed. Then the on board crew devised a plan. If the plan was two work there had to be three astronauts out on a spacewalk. This was the first three person spacewalk in history. As the Shuttle move toward the satellite the three of them grabbed the satellite with their hands. After the three of them held the satellite steady for half an hour, Richard Hieb let go and attached a capture bar. Then the satellite was grabbed by the remote arm and was set on top of its new booster.
There it was a seated a top a bran new booster. The button to eignite the booster is hit. The engine does not fire. The crew tries the back up circuit, and once again nothing happens. After mission control called up new ways too reroute the release signals, the spring-loaded launcher finally popped the satellite out of the cargo bay. Then set off to geosynchronous orbit.
For this little task NASA charged Intelsat $93 million for the rescue. While it costed us (tax payers) over $500 million. The next time something like this goes on the tax payers will be cominsated for their tax dollars with profits made by the satellite.
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STS-50 was the first extened duration Shuttle mission, staying in orbit almost 14 days. The five man, two woman crew worked in the U.S. Microgravity Laboratory in the cargo bay, which they entered via a tunnel from the orbiter's cabin.
The laboratory carried a crystal growth furnace, gear to study the physics of liquid drops in a zero G environment. The lab was equipt to analyze solid surface combustion in space, and generic bioprocessing apparatus with 132 seperate experiments.
Other experiments grew zeolite crystals of silica and alumina. Because zeolite crystals can selectively absorb elements or compounds, they are used on Earth as molecular sieves in catalysts, filters, adsorbents or ion exchange materials. In space, perfect crystals can be grown to larger sizes than on Earth.
On this mission NASA planned to revele a small sphere on a 12.4 mile wire. As the wire cut through the Earth's magnetic field, it would generate and electrical current. NASA expected to see 5,000 volts and one ampere created.
But as the small satellite moved up and away from the Shuttle, its wire got tangled on a bolt head. The bolt that the wire got cought on was added at the last momment, as engineers tried to stiffen the apparatus. Because the chane was so minor, no one bothered to test and see if it still worked.
If the satellite had been unreeled to the full lenght of 12 miles, it would have experienced a pull of about ten pounds from the Shuttle. That's because in its higher orbit, the satellite had farther distance to travel than the Shuttle. The reason it had a farther distance to trival was because of its high orbit.
If the wire had been released, the satellite would have been flung up to a higher orbit that matched ists higher speed. The Shuttle would have settled down to a lower orbit. By doing it this way the satellite will tether giving the it a chance to change altitude without the assistance of rocket fuel. If a satellite doesn't make it to right alititude with the fuel it was provided, the Shuttle can give some of its fuel to it. Since the Shuttle will be returning back to Earth anyways.
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The second flight for the Shuttle orbiter Endeavour was also the 50th Space Shuttle flight. Endeavour was launch from Launch pad 39-B on Sept. 12, 1992, 10:23:00.0680 a.m. EDT. Endeavour orbit the Earth at an Altitude of 166nm. After a 126 orbits around the Earth, 3,271,844 miles, and a mission duration of seven days, 22 hours, 30 minutes, and 23 seconds Endeavour landed at KSC FL. on Sept. 20, 1992, 8:53:24 a.m. EDT, Runway 33, Kennedy Space Center. FL.
The crew for this mission was Commander Robert L. Gibson, Pilot Curtis L. Brown Jr., Payload Commander Mark C. Lee, Mission Specialist N. Jan Davis, Mission Specialist Jay Apt
Mission Specialist Mae C. Jemison, and Payload Specialist Mamoru Mohri, All of these gentle men worked together to complete this mission.
The payload for this mission was the SPACELAB-J, a GAS-BRIDGE, ISAIAH, SSCE, SAREX-II, AMOS, UVPI.
The Spacelab-J was a joint NASA and National Space Development Agency of Japan (NASDA) mission. The group was utilizing a manned Spacelab module to conducted micro gravity investigations in materials and life sciences. Spacelab-J included 24 materials in science and 2O life sciences experiments, of which 35 were sponsored by NASDA, 7 by NASA and two collaborative efforts.
Twelve Get Away Special (GAS) canisters (10 with experiments, 2 with ballast) were carried in the payload bay. Middeck experiments were: Israeli Space Agency Investigation About Hornets (ISAIAH), Solid Surface Combustion Experiment (SSCE), Shuttle Amateur Radio Experiment (SAREX II), Air Force Maui Optical Site (AMOS), and Ultraviolet Plume Imager (UVPI).
The mission was successful to say the least part. Most of the mission objectives were meet.
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