22 January 1992 14:52 GMT. Landing Date: 1992-01-30 16:07:33. Flight Time: 8.05 days. Flight Up: STS-42. Flight Back: STS-42. Call Sign: Discovery. Crew: Bondar, Grabe, Hilmers, Merbold, Oswald, Readdy, Thagard. Program: Spacelab. Manned seven crew. Carried International Microgravity Laboratory-1. Payloads: International Microgravity Laboratory (lML)-1, getaway special (GAS) bridge with 10 getaway specials, IMAX camera, Gelation of Sols: Applied Microgravity Research (GOSAMR)-1, Investigations Into Polymer Mem-brane Processing (IPMP), Radiation Monitoring Equipment (RME)-lll, Student Experiment 81-09: Convection in Zero Gravity, Student Experiment 83-02: Capillary Rise of Liquid Through Granular Porous Media. Orbits of Earth: 129. Distance traveled: 5,407,122 km. Orbiter Liftoff Mass: 110,402 kg. Orbiter Mass at Landing: 98,888 kg. Payload to Orbit: 13,001 kg. Payload Returned: 13,001 kg. Landed at: Concrete runway 22 at Edwards Air Force Base, Cali. Landing Speed: 368 kph. Touchdown miss distance: 864 m. Landing Rollout: 2,990 m.
NASA Official Mission NarrativeMission Name: STS-42 (45) Discovery (14) Pad 39-A (44) 45th Shuttle Mission 14th Flight OV-103 Crew: Ronald J. Grabe (3), Commander Stephen S. Oswald (1), Pilot Norman E. Thagard (4) , Mission Specialist 1 David C. Hilmers (4), Mission Specialist 2 William F. Readdy (1), Mission Specialist 3 Roberta L. Bondar (1), Payload Specialist 1 (Canada) Ulf D. Merbold (2), Payload Specialist 2 (ESA/Germany) Milestones: OPF: 9/27/91 VAB: 12/12/91 PAD: 12/19/91 Payload: IML-01,IMAX-05,GAS(x10),SSIP(x2),GOSAMR,IPMP, Mission Objectives: Launch: Jan. 22, 1992, 9:52:33 a.m. EST. Launch delayed one hour due to weather constraints. Launch Weight: 243,396 lbs. Orbit: Altitude: 163nm Inclination: 57.0 degrees Orbits: 129 Duration: 8 days, 1 hour, 14 minutes, 44 seconds. Distance: 2,921,153 miles Hardware: SRB: BI-O48 SRM: 360L/Q020 ET : 52/LWT-45 MLP : 3 SSME-1: SN-2026 SSME-2: SN-2022 SSME-3: SN-2027 Landing: Jan. 30, l992, 8:07:17 a.m. PST Runway 22, Edwards AFB, Calif., Rollout distance: 9,811 feet. Mission extended one day for continued scientific experimentation. Orbiter returned to KSC on Feb. 16, 1992. Landing Weight: 218,016 lbs. Mission Highlights: Carried into orbit the International Microgravity Laboratory-1 (IML-1), a pressurized manned Spacelab module, to explore in depth the complex effects of weightlessness on living organisms and materials processing. The international crew, divided into Red and Blue teams, conducted experiments on the human nervous system's adaptation to low gravity and the effects of microgravity on other life forms such as shrimp eggs, lentil seedlings, fruit fly eggs and bacteria. Low gravity materials processing experiments included crystal growth from a variety of substances such as enzymes, mercury iodine and a virus. Other payloads included 10 Get Away Special (GAS) canisters, a number of middeck payloads and two Shuttle Student Involvement Program (SSIP) experiments. Middeck payloads included Gelation of SOLS: Applied microgravity research (GOSAMR), Investigations into Polymer Membrane Processing (IPMP) and the Radiation Monitoring Experiment (RME-III). STS-42 Chronology - 1992 Jan 22 - STS-42 Crew: Bondar, Grabe, Hilmers, Merbold, Oswald, Readdy, Thagard. Spacecraft: Discovery. Payload: Discovery F14 / GBA-3. Mass: 13,001 kg (28,662 lb). Launch Site: Cape Canaveral. Launch Vehicle: Shuttle. Duration: 8.05 days. Perigee: 291 km (180 mi). Apogee: 307 km (190 mi). Inclination: 57.00 deg. Period: 90.50 min.
Manned seven crew. Carried International Microgravity Laboratory-1. Payloads: International Microgravity Laboratory (lML)-1, getaway special (GAS) bridge with 10 getaway specials, IMAX camera, Gelation of Sols: Applied Microgravity Research (GOSAMR)-1, Investigations Into Polymer Mem-brane Processing (IPMP), Radiation Monitoring Equipment (RME)-lll, Student Experiment 81-09: Convection in Zero Gravity, Student Experiment 83-02: Capillary Rise of Liquid Through Granular Porous Media.
Bibliography and Further Reading
- McDowell, Jonathan, Jonathan's Space Home Page, Harvard University, 1997-present. Jonathan McDowell's complete on-line listing of all objects orbited and over 20,000 rocket launches Accessed at: http://www.planet4589.org/jsr.html.
|