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The manned reusable space system which was designed to slash the cost of space transport and replace all expendable launch vehicles. It did neither, but did keep NASA in the manned space flight business for 30 years (and counting...) Redesign of the shuttle with reliability in mind after the Challenger disaster reduced maximum payload to low earth orbit from 27,850 kg to 24,400 kg. In the mid-1960's the US Air Force conducted a series of classified studies on next-generation space transportation systems. These were to reduce the cost of launching military payloads while supporting a projected robust manned military presence in space - including large space stations and reconnaissance and strike missions. These Air Force studies finally concluded that a partially reusable vehicle was the most attractive, epitomized by Lockheed's Starlifter, which had a large drop tank but returned the engines and avionics of the vehicle for reuse. The Air Force probably spent around $ 1 billion on 'black' technology development tests at this time, including work on linear aerospike engines and high fineness lifting body shapes that would re-emerge again 30 years later in Lockheed's X-33 space shuttle successor. NASA also had ambitious plans - for large space stations, lunar bases, nuclear interplanetary rocket stages, and manned Mars expeditions. NASA went through a long iterative process in designing and selecting the space shuttle, leading ultimately to the same conclusion as the Air Force. By mid-1969, the ambitious new NASA Administrator, Tom Paine, had proposed an extensive manned space exploration program as the logical follow-on to Apollo. A new, modular, reusable space transportation system would be required to set up bases on the Moon and Mars during the 1970s and 1980s. This system would consist of a reusable space shuttle to low earth orbit space stations and interorbital and interplanetary nuclear and chemical space tugs. The first major goal was a 12-man space station by 1975. NASA awarded $2.9-million study contracts to North American Rockwell and McDonnell-Douglas in July 1969. The space station was to evolve into a 50-man space base by 1980. Additional way-stations to Mars would be deployed in geostationary, lunar and Mars orbit during the 1980s. George Mueller headed the space shuttle portion of this effort, which accelerated as the Apollo project grew to a close. NASA awarded four $0.3-million space shuttle / Integral Launch and Re-entry Vehicle ILRV Phase A study contracts to North American Rockwell, McDonnell-Douglas, Lockheed and General Dynamics in January 1969. Martin Marietta's bid was rejected, but the company continued to participate using its own funds. The ILRV requirement was for a booster/spacecraft combination with 12-crew / 2.3 - 22.7 metric ton payload capability, a 720 km re-entry cross range, and first flight by 1974. The most important mission was expected to be space station resupply payloads weighing about 11,300 kg. 120 different permutations were investigated by the contractors. The assumption of a massive cost-is-no-object future space program was that only fully reusable vertical takeoff/horizontal landing, two-stage-to-orbit concepts for the space shuttle were considered at first. NASA's Shuttle task group had already calculated the potential life-cycle costs of three classes of 22,680-kilogram payload reusable launch vehicles based on prior USAF studies:
Space Shuttle Mission Model (mid-1969)
Space Shuttle Mission Requirements (mid-1969)
In August 1969, in post-moon landing euphoria, NASA directed the Phase A contractors to concentrate only on fully reusable shuttle concepts. These were two stages, both either winged or lifting bodies, and both recovered at the launch site for reuse. Only as an afterthought, some alternate concepts were still evaluated, including Lockheed's LS200 single orbiter with drop tank, and Chrysler's SERV ballistic single-stage-to-orbit vehicle. The Phase B designs were more refined but still used the same two-stage approach. Mueller set up a NASA space shuttle task group headed by LeRoy Day to evaluate potential uses of the vehicle. The shuttle requirements had changed considerably as a result of the new post-Apollo program which required a total of 546 shuttle launches in 1975-85. In May 1970, Mueller instructed the task group to increase the payload capability to 22,680 kg to comply with US Air Force requirements, but also because there would be a need to launch vast quantities of low-density rocket propellants into Earth orbit for future space stations in geostationary and lunar orbit. The mission requirements also grew significantly more complex and diverse as the Shuttle also now had to be capable of launching unmanned satellites and planetary probes. At this point a controversy developed over the basic design approach. There were over large cross-range winged designs, medium cross-range lifting body designs, and minimal cross-range stub-wing designs. NASA's Max Faget, who had dictated the spacecraft design for the Mercury, Gemini, and Apollo programs, advocated the stub-wing design. Then the Nixon administration burst NASA's balloon. The future NASA budget would be only a fraction of Apollo-program levels. There would be no moon bases, no flights to Mars, no nuclear interplanetary stages, no space stations, no more Saturn V's, no space tugs. There wouldn't even be a space shuttle unless NASA could get the development cost down and also convince the US Air Force to use the shuttle for its launch requirements. A USAF requirement was a large cross-range to allow recovery of the shuttle orbiter at the Vandenberg AFB launch point after a single polar orbit of the earth. This was necessary for abort-once-around, quick satellite deployment, strike, or quick-look reconnaissance scenarios. This, together with wind tunnel studies indicating that Faget's straight wing was unstable at re-entry speeds, drove NASA to the delta wing. The reduction in development cost led NASA to throw away the concept of reusing anything but the engines and guidance systems. Instead the shuttle would be boosted by cheap solid fuel boosters and, taking a concept from the Air Force, the propellants would be put in a big expendable drop tank. Following the usual charade of competitive bidding, NASA picked the same prime contractor as for X-15 and Apollo, who could be trusted to build precisely the vehicle NASA had in mind. North American Rockwell was selected to build the orbiter, with its Rocketdyne Division making the main engines. Thiokol was selected on political grounds for the solid rocket boosters. Martin Marietta would build the External Tank, but at the government Saturn IC factory at Michoud. To finance the Shuttle, already-built Apollo hardware that would have supported a second Skylab mission was sent to museums and American manned space flight went into a long hiatus in the 1970's. Budget cuts and overruns eventually reduced the number of shuttles built from five to four and delayed the first flight from 1978 to 1981 (thereby ruining the plan to save Skylab 1 on an early shuttle mission). But the development cost was indeed minimized - the shuttle ended up costing $ 6.744 billion in 1971 dollars, versus $ 5.15 billion estimated - less than a quarter of the Apollo program cost and a very modest overrun in comparison to some other programs. The pretext for the shuttle was that it would be much cheaper than expendable launch vehicles and would replace them all. Production was accordingly terminated by the US government of Delta, Atlas, and Titan vehicles. NASA staff and contractors were under incredible pressure to justify this decision by increasing the shuttle launch rate, lowering the turn-around time, and thereby reducing the cost per launch. When the shuttle Challenger exploded and the entire US space lift program was shut down for almost a year, the fallacy of this decision was exposed. The US Air Force and commercial users returned to use of expendable launch vehicles. When the shuttle began flying again, it was only for NASA programs. In the final analysis the shuttle came up short in three areas. First, the shuttle orbiter ended up almost 20% over its specified weight - resulting in it being unable to boost the US Air Force's payloads into polar orbits from Vandenberg. Lighter filament-wound casing Solid Rocket Boosters were being developed for use in flights from Vandenberg, but even this did not seem enough. After the Challenger explosion the USAF was able to extricate itself from the Shuttle program. The Vandenberg launch complex, built at the cost of billions, was mothballed. The Air Force started a new costly development program to design the Titan 4 expendable rocket for its large military payloads. The second shortcoming of the shuttle was that it failed utterly to reduce the cost of putting payloads into orbit. The shuttle program inherited from Apollo huge fixed costs - the Manned Spaceflight Center in Houston, the cadres of government and contractor workers at the Kennedy Space Center, and so on. The result was that there was a fixed base cost of around $ 2.8 billion per year, just to keep all those people and facilities in place, even if no flights were undertaken at all (as occurred after the shuttle disaster). The marginal cost of each flight added to this base was under $ 100 million. Seen this way the shuttle was almost competitive expendable boosters - but didn't come anywhere near the reductions NASA promised when development started. But if the usual number of flights per year was divided by the total annual costs, the cost per launch was $ 245 million, significantly more than a Titan or Proton launch with the same payload. The final shortcoming was that the shuttle was designed as if it had the inherent operating safety of an airliner. It was not equipped with any provision for crew rescue in case of booster failure during ascent to orbit, or being stranded in orbit, or structural failure during re-entry. The crew was not even provided with spacesuits, despite the lessons of the Soviet space program. This seemed an extraordinary act of engineering hubris, given that contemporary military aircraft were equipped with pressure suits and ejection seats. But the weight problem also meant that there was no margin for crew safety measures without (to NASA) unacceptable impact to the net payload. If the shuttle failed as a space truck, it succeeded in keeping America in the manned spaceflight business in the face of low public interest and political support. With the excuse of delivering payloads to orbit, NASA got to fly up to seven astronauts and run a host of supplementary experiments and payloads with each flight. With construction of the international space station beginning, NASA was looking forward to finally using the shuttle for its intended purpose. Due to the lower than planned flight rate, NASA's contractors were confident they could keep the existing shuttles flying through 2030. The real test came when (as was inevitable) another shuttle was lost. Following the Columbia disaster, NASA finally realized it could not make the shuttle safe. The only way to continue American manned spaceflight would be to develop a replacement manned spacecraft with an escape system, and meanwhile fly the shuttle as little as possible. NASA decided to complete the International Space Station in order to keep its international partners happy, then retire the shuttle by 2010. It was to be replaced by a modernized Apollo capsule, dubbed the Orion. The shuttle turned out to be a fifty-year detour to nowhere. When the Orion program started, NASA hoped to have the sort of lunar base by 2020 they would have had by 1980 if it had continued with Apollo rather than started the shuttle program. Yet even that dream receded further into the future, as Manufacturer: NASA. Launches: 120. Failures: 1. Success Rate: 99.17%. First Launch Date: 1981-04-12. Last Launch Date: 2007-10-23. Launch data is: continuing. LEO Payload: 24,400 kg (53,700 lb). to: 204 km Orbit. at: 28.50 degrees. Payload: 12,500 kg (27,500 lb). to a: space station orbit, 407 km, 51.6 deg inclination trajectory. Apogee: 600 km (370 mi). Associated Spacecraft: ACTS, AERCam, AFP-675, AS 4000, ASC, Atlantis, BremSat, Challenger, Chandra, Columbia, CRO, CTA, Discovery, DSCS III, DSP Block 14, Endeavour, ERBS, Eureca, Galileo, Galileo Probe, GLOMR, GRO, HS 376, HS 381, HS 601, HST, IAE, IBSS, Insat 1, IRT. Other Associated Spacecraft: ISS Unity, KH-12, Lacrosse, Lageos, LDEF, Magellan, Magnum, Mightysat 1, Mir-Shuttle Docking Module, MPEC, NUSAT, OAST-Flyer, ODERACS, ORFEUS, PAMS, PDP, SAC-A, SDS-2, Simplesat, Spacebus 100, Spacehab, Spacelab, Spartan, SPAS, SSF, Starshine, TDRS, TSS. Further Associated Spacecraft: UARS, Ulysses, WSF, NASDA Japanese Experiment Module, Transhab Module, Space Station Options 1993, Alpha Lifeboat, Spacedock, X-38, International Space Station, NASA ACRV, Space Station Fred, Industrial Space Facility. Liftoff Thrust: 25,751.600 kN (5,789,190 lbf). Total Mass: 2,029,633 kg (4,474,574 lb). Core Diameter: 8.70 m (28.50 ft). Total Length: 56.00 m (183.00 ft). Development Cost $: 10,100.000 million. in: 1977 average dollars. Launch Price $: 245.000 million. in: 1988 price dollars. Total Production Built: 5. Flyaway Unit Cost $: 63.000 million. in: 1988 unit dollars. Cost comments: Shuttle has high fixed costs and low marginal costs. Cost per mission dependent on rate. Flyaway cost is marginal cost for extra mission. Launch cost is cost per flight at 6 per year.
Shuttle ASRM.
Shuttle using Advanced Solid Rocket Motors (development cancelled 1993).
Liftoff Thrust: 28,193.000 kN (6,338,038 lbf). Total Mass: 2,100,293 kg (4,630,353 lb). Core Diameter: 8.70 m (28.50 ft). Total Length: 56.00 m (183.00 ft). Flyaway Unit Cost $: 829.000 million. in: 1985 unit dollars.
Shuttle ISS.
Redesign of the shuttle with reliability in mind after the Challenger disaster reduced maximum payload to low earth orbit from 27,850 kg to 24,400 kg. When the decision was made to move the International Space Station to a high-inclination 51.6 degree orbit, net payload to the more challenging orbit dropped to unacceptable limits. The situation was improved by introduction of the Super Lightweight External Tank, which used 2195 Aluminium-Lithium alloy as the main structural material in place of the 2219 aluminium alloy of the original design. This saved 3,500 kg in empty mass, increasing shuttle payload by the same amount. The tank was first used on STS-91 in June 1998.
LEO Payload: 27,500 kg (60,600 lb). to: 204 km Orbit. at: 28.50 degrees. Payload: 16,050 kg (35,380 lb). to a: space station orbit, 407 km, 51.6 deg inclination trajectory. Liftoff Thrust: 28,190.000 kN (6,337,360 lbf). Total Mass: 2,040,000 kg (4,490,000 lb). Core Diameter: 8.70 m (28.50 ft). Total Length: 56.00 m (183.00 ft).
Shuttle FR-3.
General Dynamics shuttle proposal phase A of October 1969. Unwinged flat-bottom configuration booster and orbiter with V butterfly-tails. General Dynamics received a $0.15-million Phase-A extension from NASA/Marshall to further study its shuttle concepts. The Triamese design was abandoned in September 1969 after more detailed analysis indicated that the development cost showed no considerable advantages vs. traditional two-stage systems. It had proven difficult to have one aerodynamic shape serve both as booster and orbiter; too many compromises had to be made. The designers then tried to "stretch" the Triamese orbiter but this, in turn, reduced the design commonality and hence cost savings. The company finally settled for a similar "FR-3A" two-stage design with V-tails to provide hypersonic roll control and aerodynamic stability. The booster/orbiter staging point was at 56.7km altitude and 193 seconds after launch when the vehicles were flying at 3325 meters/second. The straight-sided bodies were designed to accommodate cylindrical propellant tanks efficiently. Variable geometry switch-blade wings would still be used for subsonic flight and landing. This would have reduced the thermal protection system requirement (GD was the only company that still proposed a "hot structure" metallic TPS at the end of Phase A) . But the General Dynamics concept also had the same problem as MSC’s/North American’s DC-3 design since it had comparatively poor re-entry cross range capabilities Manufacturer: Convair. Liftoff Thrust: 30,243.000 kN (6,798,896 lbf). Total Mass: 2,557,880 kg (5,639,160 lb). Core Diameter: 11.19 m (36.71 ft). Total Length: 86.00 m (282.00 ft).
Shuttle LS A.
Lockheed shuttle proposal phase A of December 1969. X-24B lifting body orbiter with delta-wing booster. Lockheed’s $0.15-million shuttle Phase-A contract with NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center concentrated on fully reusable versions of the Starclipper after NASA rejected all partially reusable concepts in August 1969. The final design consisted of a delta-planform lifting-body orbiter and a body-wing first stage booster. Lockheed also considered a "triamese" configuration of its lifting body design, but ultimately rejected the approach since the booster/orbiter propellant crossfeed system only produced a marginal performance advantage while introducing additional complexity and operational risk into the design. The orbiter’s large wingtip fins were expect to increase the vehicle’s subsonic lift-to-drag ratio and provide increased stability over the entire speed range. An additional plus was the lifting-body delta-wing concept would meet Air Force cross range requirements. Lockheed recommended a 22,680kg payload capability although a smaller 11,340-kg version also was investigated. Another important Lockheed contribution was a new thermal protection system made of silica fiber "tiles" which provided better insulation than metallic "shingles" and Lockheed therefore proposed to build the basic structure of aluminium rather than titanium. The final Space Shuttle design would use this approach and by the end of 1969, all Phase-A contractors except General Dynamics were proposing a silica-tile based TPS. The Lockheed Phase-A shuttle would have cost $5.51 billion (=$25B at 1999 rates) to develop. This cost included five booster/orbiter pairs for 175 horizontal and 25 vertical flights. Two boosters+orbiters would have been transformed into operational vehicles and Lockheed would have built five additional orbiters & two boosters for the fleet. The cost per flight would have been $1.255 million ($5.7M in 1999 $’s), and the inflation-adjusted transportation cost per kilogram was to be $251/kg over 1000 flights including R&D amortisation. Manufacturer: Lockheed. Liftoff Thrust: 28,463.700 kN (6,398,894 lbf). Total Mass: 1,632,012 kg (3,597,970 lb). Core Diameter: 10.00 m (32.00 ft). Total Length: 80.00 m (262.00 ft).
Shuttle MDC.
The McDonnell Douglas Space Shuttle Phase A studies were conducted under contract NAS9-9204. Their baseline Class III vehicle design was completed in November 1969 after 13 alternate configurations had been considered. The two-stage-to-orbit vehicle had a gross mass of 1,550,000 kg and a 11,300 kg payload was accommodated in a 4.6 m x 9.2 m payload bay. Both the booster and orbiter would be towed horizontally to the pad, then tilted vertically and mated on the pad. The entire vehicle would lift off vertically, with the orbiter separating at 64 km altitude and 9800 kph. This staging velocity was slightly lower than that of the North American Phase A concept since the McDonnell Douglas orbiter had a slightly higher propellant mass fraction due to its lightweight design. The booster stage was a delta-winged vehicle, 59.5 m long, powered by ten Pratt & Whitney 188,000 kgf engines. The 15% thick wing included fuel tanks for the JP-4 fuel for the turbojet fly back engines. The liquid oxygen tank was positioned forward to minimise engine gimbal requirements during boost. The heat protection system consisted of titanium structural panels, with Rene-41 shingles on the hottest areas. The orbiter was a lifting body using the HL-10 shape, 32.6 m long, powered by two 188,000 kgf engines, with the payload bay at the centre of gravity. A two-man crew would fly the orbiter. The orbiter's main engines would shut down at an altitude of 80 km, putting the vehicle into an itinital 80 x 185 km orbit. They would be restarted at 10% thrust at apogee half a world away, circulising the orbit at 185 km. The liquid oxygen tanks were forward, and three liquid hydrogen tanks aft. All the tanks were integral with the orbiter structure. Re-entry would be at a -1.5 deg flight path angle, at 50 deg angle of attack held until the lower fuselage reached 1200 deg C. Then the lifting body's bank angle controller would turn the vehicle to ensure that the 1200 deg C temperature would not be exceeded. In order to achieve the 725 km maximum cross range specified, the lifting body would bank after re-entry but while still travelling between 7400 and 4500 kph. The all-metallic thermal protection system used materials as appropriate to the heating rates on each portion of the external surface - titantium, Rene-41, nickel-chromium, with columbium-752 shingles on the hottest areas. For ferrying of the orbiter on earth, a special wing with 2 x 10,000 kgf TF39 turbofans would be bolted into the payload bay. McDonnell Douglas estimated the total development program would cost $ 5.946 billion and be completed in 21 months (!) This would include production of two orbiters and two boosters. For operations a fleet of three orbiters and two boosters would be used. Assuming 12 flights were made per year, delivery cost to orbit would be $54 per kg. At a 100 flight per year rate, this would drop to $30 per kg. The preferred launch site was McConnell AFB, Kansas. Manufacturer: Douglas. Liftoff Thrust: 19,213.400 kN (4,319,344 lbf). Total Mass: 1,578,231 kg (3,479,403 lb). Core Diameter: 8.00 m (26.20 ft). Total Length: 71.00 m (232.00 ft). Flyaway Unit Cost $: 48.000 million. in: 1985 unit dollars.
Shuttle MDC A Alternate.
McDonnell-Douglas shuttle proposal phase A of November 1969. Delta wing first stage and HL-10 lifting body second stage. McDonnell-Douglas (McDAC) decided not to pursue the Langley HL-10 design any further and instead proposed a number of comparatively low-cost straight wing orbiter designs. Typical was the company’s "drawbridge wing" shuttle orbiter from late 1969. It would have re-entered with folded wings for high-crossrange (2800km) military missions. The cross range with extended wings would have been only 400km but the re-entry heat loads also would be less severe. The gross lift-off weight of this system was 1,587.5 t and McDonnell-Douglas estimated it would cost $6.5 billion to develop in 1969 dollars (=$29.5B at 1999 rates). Marginal cost per mission would be: $3.5-4.5M (at 1969 rates; $1000-$1250/kg in 1999) assuming 100 reuses of each vehicle. Besides the primary drawbridge shuttle concept, McDonnell-Douglas proposed a smaller alternative orbiter design derived from the 1968 ILRV concept. Its 4.57 * 18.3-meter cargo bay would contain a small propellant tank on some missions. It could then be capable of deploying 9,072-kilogram 7.3 meter long payloads in a fully reusable mode. 22,680-kilogram payloads occupying the entire cargo bay could still be launched if expendable external drop tanks were used. The empty tanks could be returned to Earth inside the cargo bay on some missions, or alternatively be discarded. This system actually would have been only marginally more expensive to operate ($4-5.5M/flight vs. $3.5-4.5 million for the drawbridge orbiter concept). The specific launch cost would be less, since the drop-tank orbiter would carry a significantly larger payload than the drawbridge version. The drop tank orbiter would have used a scaled-down version of the drawbridge configuration booster. This smaller system would have cost $5.5 billion ($25B at 1999 rates) to develop. McDAC also proposed a simpler and less expensive unmanned tow-back winged booster to further reduce the weight and cost the booster as well as the entire system, down to $4 billion (=$18 billion in 1999 $'s). The booster would have been snagged by a C-5A Galaxy following re-entry and then towed back to base. McDAC also investigated even simpler and cheaper interim recoverable and expendable ballistic boosters. Manufacturer: Douglas. LEO Payload: 19,958 kg (43,999 lb). to: 555 km Orbit. at: 55.00 degrees. Liftoff Thrust: 19,213.400 kN (4,319,344 lbf). Total Mass: 1,600,727 kg (3,528,998 lb). Core Diameter: 8.00 m (26.20 ft). Total Length: 71.00 m (232.00 ft). Flyaway Unit Cost $: 48.000 million. in: 1985 unit dollars.
Version: Shuttle NAR A.
North American's Phase A shuttle design was completed under contract NAS9-9205 in December 1969. North American had learned that the way to win a NASA design competition was to adhere to the design favoured by Max Faget, so they proposed a two-stage-to-orbit vehicle, with both booster and orbiter being of Faget's straight-wing, low cross-range configuration. Faget disliked the Lockheed Starclipper and other lifting-body designs since they had poor low-speed handling characteristics and would be difficult to develop since the structure was tightly coupled with the aerodynamics. Faget preferred a simple winged design. His solution was dubbed the 'DC-3' and sought to alleviate the problem of re-entering at a 60 deg angle of attack, essentially accomplishing a ballistic re-entry like an Apollo capsule. This would only expose the flat underside of the vehicle to high heating rates, as most of the thermal energy would go into the shock wave forming in front of the vehicle. The high drag also shortened the duration of the heat pulse, yet did not exceed acceptable crew deceleration load factors beyond 2 g's. The DC-3 wing would only be optimised for subsonic flight and landing. But the low lift-to-drag ratio re-entry profile advocated by Faget would limit the DC-3's cross range to 430 km, far less than the USAF requirement. The gross lift-off mass of North America's elaboration of Faget's concept was 2,030,000 kg. Both booster and orbiter would be towed horizontally to the launch complex, and be lifted vertically and mated on the pad. The booster was 85.4 m long, with a 2219-Al aluminium structure, with a thermal protection system consisting of Lockheed LI-1500 tiles with a density of 63 kg/sq m. The wing had a span of 74.4 m and was built of 6A1-4V titanium. 11 x 230,000 kgf Rocketdyne Lox/LH2 engine provided boost at lift-off. 4 x JT9D-15 turbojet engines, fed by 26,200 kg of fuel, provided a 500 km cruise back range. The booster was unmanned during space missions, but there were provisions for two crew to fly the aircraft during ferry flights. The orbiter was 61.6 m long, and had a 263 sq m wing with a span of 44.5 m. Two crew plus ten passengers could be accommodated in the orbiter, plus 5,580 kg cargo in a 4.6 m x 18.3 m payload bay. The orbiter was equipped with 2 x 231,000 kgf Rocketdyne Lox/LH2 engines. It was anticipated that improved engines would increase the rated payload to orbit by 4500 kg. For atmospheric cruise, 4 x JT3D-7 jet engines, rated at 8600 kgf each, were mounted in nacelles on the upper wing surface. Internally, the payload bay was placed at the centre of gravity, with the two liquid hydrogen tanks aft, and the liquid oxygen tank forward. The propellant tanks were suspended within the orbiter structure and made of 2219-Al aluminium. The structure was built of 6A1-5V titanium, and the thermal protection system consisted of LI-1500 tiles (with a density of 63 kg/sq m), developed by Lockheed. The orbiter would separate from the booster at 61 km altitude and 3,300 m/sec velocity. The orbiter's main engines would fire until the spacecraft was placed in a minimum 92 x 185 km orbit. It was expected that orbital operations - circularisation, rendezvous and docking with a space station in a 480 km circular orbit, deorbit - would take 370 m/sec delta-V. The orbiter was designed to accomplish a total 600 m/sec delta-v - a 60% margin. Expected re-entry heating rates on the orbiter were 1650 deg C on the leading edge, and 790 deg C over 80% of the lower surface. North American estimated their space launcher would take 4.5 years to develop and productionise, at a cost under the $5.912 billion ceiling set by Faget. In order to fly 50 missions per year, it was estimated that six vehicles would be required, together with 200 maintenance staff. Manufacturer: North American. Liftoff Thrust: 24,948.000 kN (5,608,533 lbf). Total Mass: 2,036,734 kg (4,490,229 lb). Core Diameter: 9.88 m (32.41 ft). Total Length: 102.00 m (334.00 ft).
Shuttle DC-3.
Marshall Spaceflight Center shuttle concept of April 1970 using Faget low cross range stub-winged booster and orbiter. Payload for the Faget vehicle was to be only 5,700 to 6,800 kg to low earth orbit, and the system was to be operational by the end of 1975, after the last Apollo flight. MSC-001 was the first in a long series of Faget straight-wing designs. It featured an 2.4 m x 9.1 m payload bay, and a cross-range of just 300 km. The orbiter was equipped with two booster engines (XLR-129 modifications with 134,700 kgf), 2 orbital manoeuvring engines (RL10's with 6800 kgf), and six air-breathing engines (RB162-86's of 2,400 kgf burning JP-4 jet fuel). The booster would be equipped with booster engines, and Pratt and Whitney TF-B turbofan engines of 8,100 kgf for flyback. The launch scenario was for the booster to take the orbiter to altitude, release it, and then land at a down-range airfield. It would be refuelled there with jet fuel and fly back on its turbofan engines to the launch site. The orbiter had a 27.7 m wingspan with a 14 deg wing leading-edge sweep. The aluminium structure was protected by a silica-based thermal protection system. The booster would be 61.9 m long, have a 43 m wingspan with the same 14 degree sweep, and a total wing area of 264 square m. The leading edge would be protected by a pyrolised carbon laminate, and the lower surface by a silica-based thermal protection system. The payload would be delivered into a 500 km orbit at a 51 deg inclination. It was expected a fleet of six orbiters and four boosters would undertake 30 flights per year, each spacecraft having a life of 100 flights. It was expected a 48-hour reaction time between order for launch and launch would be possible. Total development cost of the orbiter was estimated as $2.77 billion, with the first article costing $171.2 million. The booster would cost $3.142 billion to develop, with a first article cost of $236 million. LEO Payload: 5,700 kg (12,500 lb). to: 500 km Orbit. at: 28.00 degrees. Liftoff Thrust: 11,433.200 kN (2,570,286 lbf). Total Mass: 998,775 kg (2,201,921 lb). Core Diameter: 5.08 m (16.66 ft). Total Length: 74.00 m (242.00 ft). Flyaway Unit Cost $: 38.000 million. in: 1985 unit dollars.
SERV.
Chrysler ballistic single stage to orbit alternate shuttle proposal of June 1971. This was the most detailed design study ever performed on a VTOVL SSTO launch vehicle. The 2,040 tonne SERV was designed to deliver a 53 tonne payload to orbit in a capacious 7 m x 18 m payload bay. The Chrysler SERV single-stage-to-orbit ballistic vehicle was the subject of a six-volume report produced under the $ 1.9 million NASA contract NAS8-26341. The booster could be launched from the existing LC39 built for the Saturn V. SERV would be built at NASA's Michoud facility and transported by a 'Bay'-class vessel modified to carry the wide load through the existing inland waterway system between Michoud and Cape Canaveral. SERV was a squat 27.4 m in diameter and 20.3 m tall. A payload of 52,800 kg, housed in a 7 m x 18.3 m cargo bay, could be transported to a 185 km/28.5 deg orbit. The vehicle was powered by a 12-module aerospike engine, 26.6 m in diameter and 2.5 m tall, producing 2.45 million kilograms of thrust at a specific impulse of 347 seconds at lift-off. The engine could be throttled to 80%, and the turbopumps were interlinked, so that the failure of any one pump could be compensated for by bringing the others up to 120% of their rated capacity. Protective doors covered the engine during the base-first re-entry, which would be accurate enough to bring the booster to within 6500 m of the aim point.. After slowing to subsonic speed,. 28 x 11,400 kgf turbojet engines powered by JP-4 fuel braked the spacecraft to a hover and soft touchdown on landing pads 2.8 km from the Vertical Assembly Building at the Kennedy Space Center. For manned missions, a MURP spaceplane would be used for separate return of the crew to earth. Total development costs was estimated as $3.565 billion, with each SERV costing $350 million in FY1971 dollars, and being rated for 100 flights over a 10 year service life. As had Philip Bonob at Douglas before them, the Chrysler team, led by Charles Tharratt, fervently believed that they had the best solution to providing America with routine access to space. But NASA was wedded to the concept of a winged shuttle and never gave SERV any serious consideration. Manufacturer: Chrysler. LEO Payload: 52,800 kg (116,400 lb). to: 185 km Orbit. at: 28.50 degrees. Liftoff Thrust: 25,795.300 kN (5,799,014 lbf). Total Mass: 2,040,816 kg (4,499,229 lb). Core Diameter: 27.40 m (89.80 ft). Total Length: 20.30 m (66.60 ft). Development Cost $: 3,565.000 million. in: 1971 average dollars. Flyaway Unit Cost $: 350.000 million. in: 1971 unit dollars.
Shuttle H33. Status: Study 1971. Grumman/Boeing alternate shuttle proposal of July 1971. Shuttle orbiter with drop tanks, delta booster. On 29 December 1970 Grumman and Boeing received contract NAS9-11160 to study two-stage-to-orbit shuttle configurations using both internal and external liquid hydrogen tanks. Reviews with NASA in January and March 1971 showed there could be significant weight, risk, and cost reductions through use of a booster with a heat-sink airframe and an orbiter equipped with an external liquid hydrogen tank. In April 1971 NASA authorised the contractors to make a detailed study of the most promising configuration - a three-engine orbiter with an external liquid hydrogen tank and heat-sink booster. Staging would be at 7660 kph instead of the 11,000 kph optimum for the all-recoverable two-stage-to-orbit designs. This lower separation velocity meant a smaller booster requiring less thermal protection and using less JP-4 fuel for the return to base. The team quickly established that using 2 x 250,000 kgf engines on the 405 tonne orbiter resulted in unacceptable abort constraint. Therefore 3 x 188,000 kgf baseline Phase B engines would have to be used. Configurations used in the trade study were the H-33 three-engine orbiter with an external tank and the G-3 three-engine fully-reusable orbiter. The H-33 orbiter used 3 x 188,000 kgf main engines and 4 x JTF22A-4 turbofans. The orbiter's 55 deg sweep delta wing provided a cross range of 2040 km and a landing speed of 333 kph. Ferry range would be 556 km using the jet engines. The orbiter weighed 89,300 kg empty and had two internal liquid oxygen tanks with a capacity of 320,044 kg below the payload bay. Two external liquid hydrogen tanks, each 31 m long and 4.5 m in diameter, held 2 x 27,000 kg of the low-density fuel. The orbiter used titanium as its basic structural material. The H-33 booster weighed 99.835 kg empty. It was equipped with 12 SSME and 12 x GE F101 or P&W JTF22A-4 turbofan engines, which gave it a 715 km ferry range. The 10 m diameter fuselage used Saturn S-IC propellant tanks, mounted in a hot structure that required no thermal protection system. R&D was estimated at $ 2.674 billion for the orbiter, $ 32.6 million for the external tanks, $ 2.181 billion for the booster, and $ 893 million for flight test and project management, a total of $ 5.878 billion. This did not include $1.0165 billion of government furnished equipment (primarily engines). Grumman estimated that production orbiters would cost $615 million each; boosters $ 274 million; and each pair of expendable external tanks, $740,000. The marginal costs for each H-33 flight were calculated as $ 4.2 million. Given a March 1972 go-ahead, first orbital flight could be accomplished by April 1978. The team estimated 3,000 people would be needed to support a launch rate of 75 flights per year, working out to $540,000 per flight costs for manpower. Manufacturer: Grumman, Boeing. Liftoff Thrust: 22,148.000 kN (4,979,068 lbf). Total Mass: 1,963,916 kg (4,329,693 lb). Core Diameter: 10.00 m (32.00 ft). Total Length: 90.00 m (295.00 ft).
Shuttle HCR.
McDonnell-Douglas/Martin Marrietta shuttle high cross-range proposal phase B of December 1970. Swept wing booster, delta wing orbiter. The McDonnell Douglas/Martin Marrietta Phase B shuttle proposal was designed under Contract NAS9-100959. The team proposed that the originally requested 6,800 kg payload would be achieved in the prototype, with the revised 11,500 kg payload to be obtained by making changes to lighten the orbiter as a result of development findings. The high cross range orbiter had a 92,300 pound empty mass and the same engine configuration as the low cross range orbiter (2 x 188,000 kgf engines and 4 x 8,200 kgf turbofan air-breathing engines). But the aerodynamics gave it a 2784 km cross range and a 300 kph landing speed. It also had a titanium structure enclosing aluminium propellant tanks, but the thermal protection system was made of a metallic cobalt super alloy, with columbium leading edge panels. The booster for both versions was the low cross range configuration design used by the same contractors in Phase A. This had a high wing to the rear, and canards forward. The empty weight of the low cross range version was 205,353 kg. The10-m body diameter was intended to allow use of existing Saturn V tooling to fabricate the propellant tanks. The high cross range booster was slightly larger and heavier to accommodate the heavier high cross-range orbiter. A number of expendable upper stages were considered that could replace the manned orbiter for cargo missions. These included:
The team also examined the costs to establish launch facilities. A Kennedy Space Center shuttle launch facility, taking advantage of existing Saturn V and Apollo infrastructure, would cost $ 87 million and take five years to build. One at Vandenberg AFB would cost $ 285 million, and one at White Sands would cost $ 317 million and take seven years to build. Manufacturer: Douglas, Martin. Liftoff Thrust: 25,839.700 kN (5,808,996 lbf). Total Mass: 1,977,415 kg (4,359,453 lb). Core Diameter: 10.00 m (32.00 ft). Total Length: 85.00 m (278.00 ft).
Shuttle LCR. Status: Study 1969. McDonnell-Douglas/Martin Marrietta shuttle low cross-range proposal phase B of December 1970. Swept-wing booster, Faget straight wing orbiter. The McDonnell Douglas/Martin Marrietta Phase B shuttle proposal was designed under Contract NAS9-100959. The team proposed that the originally requested 6,800 kg payload would be achieved in the prototype, with the revised 11,500 kg payload to be obtained by making changes to lighten the orbiter as a result of development findings. The low cross range orbiter was 113.8' WS x 147.6' x 21', a Faget configuration with a dry empty mass of 85,500 kg, equipped with 2 x 188,000 kgf engines and 4 x 8,200 kgf turbofan air-breathing engines. It had a cross range of only 370 km (less than an Apollo capsule) and a landing speed of 330 kph. The structure was built of titanium, with a columbium thermal protection system and carbon-carbon leading edge panels. The booster for both versions was the low cross range configuration design used by the same contractors in Phase A. This had a high wing to the rear, and canards forward. The empty weight of the low cross range version was 205,353 kg. The10-m body diameter was intended to allow use of existing Saturn V tooling to fabricate the propellant tanks. The high cross range booster was slightly larger and heavier to accommodate the heavier high cross-range orbiter. A number of expendable upper stages were considered that could replace the manned orbiter for cargo missions. These included:
The team also examined the costs to establish launch facilities. A Kennedy Space Center shuttle launch facility, taking advantage of existing Saturn V and Apollo infrastructure, would cost $ 87 million and take five years to build. One at Vandenberg AFB would cost $ 285 million, and one at White Sands would cost $ 317 million and take seven years to build. Manufacturer: Douglas, Martin. Liftoff Thrust: 23,994.000 kN (5,394,065 lbf). Total Mass: 1,834,830 kg (4,045,100 lb). Core Diameter: 10.00 m (32.00 ft). Total Length: 90.00 m (295.00 ft).
Shuttle LS200.
Lockheed Skunk Works alternate shuttle proposal of June 1971. X-24B lifting body orbiter with wrap-around external tank. Lockheed designed a version of their earlier 1.5 stage-to-orbit 'Starlifter' concepts meeting NASA requirements. Two versions were proposed: an LS-200-10, which would be a 1.5 stage to orbit vehicle, and the LS-200-8 and -5, which could later be uprated to the LS-400-7A two-stage-to-orbit. The Lockheed designs were all high-fineness lifting bodies derived from their 1968 LSC-8MX design for the USAF ILRV requirement. The 47.7 m long orbiter was surrounded at launch by a 58.5 m high x 8.23 m diameter V-shaped drop tank. The advantages of the design were that only a single complex vehicle needed to be designed, built, flight tested and maintained. At the same time, if at a later time an all-recoverable two-stage-to-orbit launcher was needed, the already developed and paid for orbiter could serve as the second stage of such a system. Lockheed also maintained that their delta-body design would be 9,000 kg lighter than an equivalent delta wing, while still having the same 2783 km cross-range. The Lockheed design featured an aluminium airframe, a titanium thrust structure, an LI-1500 tile thermal protection system, and a tantalum alloy nose-cap able to withstand 1650 deg C. The V-tank would be dropped at 19,800 kph, at a zero aerodynamic pressure. The booster for the two-stage variant was a scaled-up version of the McDonnell Douglas/Martin Marietta Phase B design. The orbiter in the two-stage version would delete the drop tank, seven of the nine engines, and two turbojets. The positions of the internal tanks would be reversed to compensate for the centre of gravity change created by deletion of the seven engines. Lockheed estimated there would be an 5200 kg weight penalty for an orbiter created for 1.5 stage to orbit and later used for two stage to orbit, as opposed to one designed only as the second stage. Lockheed planned to built two ground and three flight test vehicles in an $ 8 billion development program which would lead to a first flight by April 1975. The expendable drop tank would consume 24% of this amount. Cost per flight was estimated as $ 7.1 million, declining to $6.3 million by the 416th flight. Manufacturer: Lockheed. Liftoff Thrust: 21,214.400 kN (4,769,187 lbf). Total Mass: 1,730,803 kg (3,815,767 lb). Core Diameter: 4.57 m (14.99 ft). Total Length: 57.00 m (187.00 ft).
Shuttle R134C.
Rockwell/General Dynamics shuttle proposal phase B, November 1970. Delta wing high-cross range orbiter and booster. The North American Phase B design was prepared under contract NAS9-10960 and reflected the final revised shuttle specification of 11 November 1970. NAR-134-B was North American's original high cross range configuration. The delta wing had turned-up wingtips, as on the X-20 Dynasoar spaceplane of the 1960's. The orbiter was 43.4 m long, with a 38.4 m wingspan and stood 15 m high. The air-breathing cruise engines were mounted in swing-down nacelles that deployed from the belly of the orbiter. The spacecraft weighed 98,745 kg empty, and had a 9,100 kg payload. The orbiter had a 2784 km cross-range, using titanium in the wing structure, and Hynes-188 and Inconel-718 panels for the thermal protection system. The re-entry involved an initial nose-up angle of 55 deg, followed by a pitch over to 35 deg after peak heating, followed by bank manoeuvres as required to achieve the cross-range for the mission. The orbiter had a hypersonic L/D of 0.7 during the peak heating/braking manoeuvre; and 2.2 at 20 deg angle of attack for the bank manoeuvres; and 6.9 subsonic. Landing speed would be 213 kph. The B8G booster was designed by Convair and had a conventional vertical tail and horizontal stabiliser, as opposed to the 'V' tail used for the low-cross-range orbiter's booster. In three minutes it would take the orbiter to 70,000 m and 11,000 kph, hitting a peak of 4G's. After separation of the orbiter, it would spend 10 minutes in a hypersonic braking glide, finally starting its air breathing engines at subsonic speed when 500 km downrange and 6700 m altitude. The subsonic cruise back to base would take 90 minutes. The boostter had a 0.5 hypersonic L/D, and 6.7 ?/D subsonic. It was equipped with 12 x 188,000 kgf SSME engines. In the Phase B Final Report these shuttle designs was modified. The North American Rockwell/Convair team's booster was now the B9U configuration, 82 m long with a 43.6 m wingspan. Propulsion had grown to 12 x 249,000 kgf main engines, and 12 x JF22A-4 air breathing engines powered by JP-4 fuel. The NAR-161-C delta wing orbiter had replaced the upturned wingtips with a conventional vertical stabiliser. In late 1969 the USAF had indicated a preference for all-aluminium structures in the shuttle due to a titanium shortage. This requirement forced a move to non-metallic thermal protection systems, which at the time it was thought would weigh 15% less but cost 300% more. Thermal protection shingles for a titanium structure would weigh 2300 to 4500 kg less, but an aluminium structure would weight about 1800 kg more - meaning there was no essential weight difference between the two approaches. Therefore at the aluminium structure was accepted as a specification requirement. In retrospect it could hardly have been necessary to apply this requirement on a project where only a few flight vehicles were be built. It made the shuttle much more vulnerable to any breach of heat shield integrity and would lead to the death of the Columbia crew 35 years later. The resulting need for a non-metallic thermal protection system would also have enormous cost and schedule consequences for the actual program. Manufacturer: North American, Convair. Liftoff Thrust: 25,564.100 kN (5,747,038 lbf). Total Mass: 2,188,488 kg (4,824,790 lb). Core Diameter: 10.37 m (34.02 ft). Total Length: 98.00 m (321.00 ft).
Shuttle R134G.
Rockwell/General Dynamics shuttle proposal phase B, November 1970. Straight wing low-cross range orbiter. The North American Phase B design was prepared under contract NAS9-10960 and reflected the final revised shuttle specification of 11 November 1970. The low cross-range orbiter used configuration NAR-130-G, and had a payload of 20,500 kg and a cross range of 516 km. The structure was of Al-4V titanium alloy, and protected by a radiative thermal protection system, and a columbium nose cap. Haynes-188 tiles were used on the forward fuselage, and Inconel panels on the aft fuselage. The shuttle could accommodate four crew and ten passengers, plus payload in a 4.57 m x 18.3 m bay just behind the crew cabin. Two aluminium liquid oxygen tanks were located below the forward payload bay. 4 JTF22B-2 turbofan engines (versions of the F100 fighter engine without the afterburner), used liquid hydrogen as fuel. The orbiter would reenter at a 60-degree nose-up attitude, and had a hypersonic L/D of 0.56. North American had concern about the shock interaction on the forward part of the wing for the Faget configuration, but NASA insisted that their wind tunnel tests at Mach 10 showed the problem was only a bit worse than a delta configuration. In subsonic flight the orbiter would have an 8.2:1 lift to drag and a 250 kph landing speed. Study showed that for every 1% shortfall in main engine specific impulse, there would be an 11% reduction in payload. Expected temperatures were 1650 deg C on the leading edge, and 760 deg C on the belly. The B8G booster was designed by Convair and had a 'V' tail. In three minutes it would take the orbiter to 70,000 m and 11,000 kph, hitting a peak of 4G's. After separation of the orbiter, it would spend 10 minutes in a hypersonic braking glide, finally starting its air breathing engines at subsonic speed when 500 km downrange and 6700 m altitude. The subsonic cruise back to base would take 90 minutes. The booster had a 0.5 hypersonic L/D, and 6.7 L/D subsonic. It was equipped with 12 x 188,000 kgf SSME engines. In the Phase B Final Report these shuttle designs was modified. The North American Rockwell/Convair team's booster was now the B9U configuration, 82 m long with a 43.6 m wingspan. Propulsion had grown to 12 x 249,000 kgf main engines, and 12 x JF22A-4 air breathing engines powered by JP-4 fuel. In late 1969 the USAF had indicated a preference for all-aluminium structures in the shuttle due to a titanium shortage. This requirement forced a move to non-metallic thermal protection systems, which at the time it was thought would weigh 15% less but cost 300% more. Thermal protection shingles for a titanium structure would weigh 2300 to 4500 kg less, but an aluminium structure would weight about 1800 kg more - meaning there was no essential weight difference between the two approaches. Therefore at the aluminium structure was accepted as a specification requirement. In retrospect it could hardly have been necessary to apply this requirement on a project where only a few flight vehicles were be built. It made the shuttle much more vulnerable to any breach of heat shield integrity and would lead to the death of the Columbia crew 35 years later. The resulting need for a non-metallic thermal protection system would also have enormous cost and schedule consequences for the actual program. Manufacturer: North American, Convair. LEO Payload: 20,500 kg (45,100 lb). to: 185 km Orbit. at: 28.50 degrees. Liftoff Thrust: 25,564.100 kN (5,747,038 lbf). Total Mass: 2,000,000 kg (4,400,000 lb). Core Diameter: 10.37 m (34.02 ft). Total Length: 98.00 m (321.00 ft).
Version: Saturn Shuttle.
A winged recoverable Saturn IC stage was considered instead of solid rocket boosters after the final shuttle design was selected. In yet another iteration of shuttle design studies, $ 2.8 million contracts were given in November 1971 to Grumman/Boeing, Lockheed, McDonnell-Douglas/Martin Marrietta, and North American Rockewell. The development costs for the Phase B Prime contracts had still been over the Nixon administration's budget cap, and still further ways to reduce development cost had to be found. The studies were to run through 15 March 1972 and study lower cost booster concepts, one of them a Saturn V first stage modified to serve as a flyback booster. The studiy concluded that a Saturn S-IC flyback booster would need a wing with at least a 700 sq m area, would be powered by five F-1 engines and have a gross mass of 1.6 million kg. Staging would take place at 6450 kph. The vehicle would be reusable, except for the F-1 engines. The use of expendable engines was considered a drawback. The study assumed a series burn, with the shuttle orbiter igniting at altitude. Liftoff Thrust: 33,737.900 kN (7,584,582 lbf). Total Mass: 3,161,710 kg (6,970,370 lb). Core Diameter: 10.06 m (33.00 ft). Total Length: 107.00 m (351.00 ft). Flyaway Unit Cost $: 1,020.500 million. in: 1985 unit dollars.
Shuttle LRB 1972.
Original design for a shuttle with liquid rocket boosters, completed in March 1972 as part of the shuttle design decision process In November 1971 Shuttle Phase B Double Prime studies were initiated. In yet another iteration of shuttle design studies, $ 2.8 million contracts were given to Grumman/Boeing, Lockheed, McDonnell-Douglas/Martin Marrietta, and North American Rockewell. The development costs for the Phase B Prime contracts had still been over the Nixon administration's budget cap, and still further ways to reduce development cost had to be found. The studies were to run through 15 March 1972 and study lower cost booster concepts, one of which was a fully recoverable stage but with a new pressure-fed engine The new-design pressure fed liquid propellant booster would be parachute-recovered and reused. Using liquid oxygen/kerosene propellants, each booster would be 9.93 m in diameter, 48.5 m long, and be equipped with two 612,000 kgf engines. Three boosters would be assembled in parallel, with the external tank for the shuttle orbiter atop the core booster. This design would have a gross lift-off mass of 2,626,000 kg. Another design used 4 x 475,000 kgf engines in each stage, resulting in a 2,394,000 kg vehicle. It was estimated the LRB's would cost $4.2 billion to develop, plus $ 8.9 billion to operate, making shuttle cost $275/kg to orbit. The study assumed a series burn, with the shuttle orbiter igniting at altitude. Liftoff Thrust: 36,010.000 kN (8,095,370 lbf). Total Mass: 2,626,000 kg (5,789,000 lb).
Version: EDIN05.
In February 1976 this version of the shuttle was proposed. A single liquid rocket booster under the external tank would replace the two solid rocket boosters. In January 1976 the Sigma Corporation proposed use of a single liquid rocket booster under the external tank to replace the two solid rocket boosters. The pod would be powered by 3 to 4 F-1 engines or by three high performance liquid oxygen/kerosene engines being designed by the System Development Corporation. These developed either 308,000 kgf or 363,000 kgf at sea level, depending on the version selected. Both parallel and serial burns of the LRB and the Shuttle/External tank combination were studied. The external tank would be stretched and the orbiter strengthened to handle the increased payload available. However use of the booster would require the construction of new launch facilities.
The Boeing SDV Class I vehicle would lead to the Shuttle-C, using the shuttle aft fuselage with SSME engines to power a cargo canister into orbit. Boeing was awarded NASA contract NAS8-32398 on 28 July 1977 to study unmanned cargo derivatives of the shuttle. The Class I vehicle would be similar to the Shuttle-C, using the shuttle aft fuselage with SSME engines to power a cargo canister into orbit. The engine pod would be recovered, and the payload shroud would be 7 m in diameter and 29 m long (allowing payloads up to 20.9 m long. A stretched shroud would be 38 mlong and accommodate 30 m payloads. Both integral and separable engine pod variations were explored, resulting in payloads between 59,000 kg and 91,000 kg. A three-SSME version could but 91,000 kg into orbit and would have a gross liftoff mass of 922,000 kg. A four SSME version could put 102,000 kg into orbit with a gross liftoff mass of 975,000 kg. The propulsion module was to be designed for 300 flights. Development cost was estimated at $930 million, and first article cost for the engine pod $135 million. Cost of expendable items per flight was estimated at $4.23 million, with total cost per flight $14.136 million, or $1118 per kg to orbit, as opposed to the $1323/kg expected for the basic shuttle at that time. Class II designs used a payload fairing 8.31 m in diameter, with a single liquid rocket booster, and 4 SSME engines uprated to 308,000 kgf and using a 2.9:1 oxidiser/fuel ratio. These would be rated for 50 flights between overhaul. The booster would have a gross liftoff mass of 1,130,000 kg, and be capable of placing 91,000 to 135,000 kg into orbit. The new booster would cost $2.863 billion to develop, with the first article costing $241 million. Cost per flight was expected to be $13.437 million, $ 4.38 million of that for expendable items, resulting in a cost per pound to orbit of $593. Manufacturer: Boeing. LEO Payload: 91,000 kg (200,000 lb). to: 300 km Orbit. at: 28.50 degrees. Total Mass: 922,000 kg (2,032,000 lb).
Version: IHLLV. Orbital launch vehicle. Status: Study 1980. Other Designations: Interim Heavy Lift Launch Vehicle. Same concept as Shuttle C. Shuttle orbiter replaced by recoverable pod with shuttle main engines and payload cannister. Quick way for US to obtain heavy payload capability and reduce shuttle cost per kg to orbit by 3 X. LEO Payload: 77,000 kg (169,000 lb). to: 400 km Orbit. at: 28.00 degrees. Liftoff Thrust: 20,299.200 kN (4,563,442 lbf). Total Mass: 1,966,675 kg (4,335,776 lb). Core Diameter: 8.70 m (28.50 ft). Total Length: 56.00 m (183.00 ft). Flyaway Unit Cost $: 84.970 million. in: 1985 unit dollars. Martin Marietta SDV.
The Martin Marietta Class I SDV would lead to the Shuttle-C, using the shuttle aft fuselage with SSME engines to power a cargo canister into orbit. Martin studied cargo versions of the shuttle under two-phase contract NAS8-34183. Phase I was completed in July 1981, and Phase II on 10 February 1983. The Phase I study looked at four classes of Shuttle-Derived Vehicles:
Phase II studies refined these concepts somewhat:
Manufacturer: Martin. LEO Payload: 61,024 kg (134,534 lb). to: 300 km Orbit. at: 28.50 degrees.
Version: Shuttle LRB.
Shuttle with Liquid Rocket Boosters in place of Solid Rocket Boosters.
Liftoff Thrust: 21,107.400 kN (4,745,132 lbf). Total Mass: 1,575,493 kg (3,473,367 lb). Core Diameter: 8.70 m (28.50 ft). Total Length: 56.00 m (183.00 ft). Development Cost $: 1,629.000 million. in: 1985 average dollars.
Shuttle II. Orbital launch vehicle. Status: Study 1988. In May 1988 NASA Langley studied a new-technology approach to improving the shuttle's payload capability. The design would allow 9,000 to 18,000 kg of additional payload to be carried in an external payload container or in the orbiter. Composite material technology would be used in a substantial rebuild of the shuttle orbiters. New, lighter RSI tiles would be used, and a new SSME jointly designed by Pratt and Whitney and Aerojet would replace the Rocketdyne motor. The new SSME would deliver 304,000 kg while weighing only 3770 kg versus 4688 kg for the Rocketdyne engine. Electric actuators would replace hydraulic actuators inside the shuttle, In all, the new orbiter would be 16% lighter at SECO. Manufacturer: NASA Langley. LEO Payload: 40,000 kg (88,000 lb). to: 400 km Orbit. at: 28.00 degrees.
Version: Low Cost Cargo Vehicle. Orbital launch vehicle. Status: Design 1990. This variant of the Shuttle C was envisioned for delivery of liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen to orbit. It would have no payload module, just a thrust structure for two SSME's. 74,000 kg of unused propellant within the external tank could be delivered to orbit for transfer to space station propellant farms or interlunar/interplanetary spacecraft.
NASA Marshall design for a cargo version of the shuttle system. The shuttle orbiter would be replaced by an unmanned recoverable main engine pod. The same concept was studied earlier as the Interim Heavy Lift Launch Vehicle (IHLLV) and as the Class I Shuttle Derived Vehicle (SDV). The Phase I two-SSME configuration would have a payload of 45,000 kg to low earth orbit. Design carried to an advanced phase in 1987-1990, but then abandoned when it was found the concept had no cost advantage over existing expenable launch vehicles. After the Challenger accident, NASA believed there would be a need for a 14 per year shuttle launch rate. But such a rate would be unachievable given the existing orbiter flow times and the reduced number of orbiters available. The Shuttle-C (Cargo) would allow such a rate to be achieved. After Challenger, NASA studied development of a new unmanned Heavy Lift Launch Vehicle with the Air Force. In the discussions NASA insisted that any HLLV be a Shuttle Derived Vehicle. This led to the USAF pulling out of the shuttle program, and developing the Titan IV for the short term, and beginning a study of a new ALS Advanced Launch System for the long term. The USAF did not believe low-cost access to space was possible using man-rated systems. In the aftermath of the kerfuffle a Joint NASA-DoD-USAF steering group was set up to monitor development of the ALS and Shuttle-C. In August 1987 NASA Houston officially began Shuttle-C studies through assignment of a task team. In November 1987 nine-month study contracts were let to Martin-Marietta, United Space Boosters Inc, and Rockwell for definition of a Shuttle-Derived Vehicle. Phase I of the studies was to determine the optimum vehicle configuration, and Phase II was to completely define the selected vehicle. Concept studied included:
The Class I SDV was again found to be the best solution. It was estimated it could deliver payload to orbit at a cost of $4400/kg, as opposed to $1720 for the Delta II, $ 1800 for the Titan IV, or $ 3400 for the shuttle. As a result a Request for Proposal was issued for the Expendable Cargo Element - a payload fairing for the Shuttle-C to be mounted on the side of the external tank. This could accommodate 4.6 m x 22 m payloads weighing up to 47,000 kg and would be delivered into a 407 km / 28.5 deg orbit for docking with Space Station Freedom. The system could also deliver 52,000 kg to a 300 km / 28.5 deg orbit. The CE (Cargo Element) was equipped with 2 Space Shuttle Main Engines, and 2 Orbital Maneuvering System pods. The payload would either be released attached to the planned Orbital Maneuvering Vehicle transfer stage, or an OMV already in orbit would dock with the CE and take the payload away; or the OMS itself would be used to put the payload in its final orbit, release it, then retrofire to return the CE to earth. In February 1988 the industrial team Rockwell - Martin Marietta - Boeing - Teledyne - Intermetrics - United Space Boosters was awarded follow-on18-month study contract NAS8-37144. During the course of the study NASA canceled the OMV, and the design had to be modified to handle in-orbit delivery and release of the payloads. The final report of the study envisioned two generations of Shuttle-C's. Generation 1 would be an expendable CE with a 4.6 m x 24.7 m cargo bay, using two SSME's, and capable of deliverying 45,000 kg to orbit. The CE would have an empty weight of 31,750 kg, using the shuttle thrust structure, and be fitted with shuttle engines and computers at the end of their useful lives. Three to four flights per year could be accomplished using the expendable approach, while NASA believed it had a requirement for 10 to 12 per year. Generation 2 would have a new-design recoverable CE, powered by 3 SSME's, and capable of delivering 77,000 kg in a 7.3 m x 29.3 m volume. In early 1989 the study contract was extended by one year, including consideration of use of the Centaur G-Prime from the Titan IV as an upper stage. It was determined that the MPTA-098 structural article built in the 1970's for the SSME development program could be used as the Shuttle-C prototype. At the end of the study NASA decided that the development cost for Shuttle-C would be $ 1.8 billion. The Office for Technology Assessment estimated the cost as only $985 million, a rare case indeed where NASA made a high-ball estimate. Cost per launch would be $424 million for the Generation 1 design, or $9350 per kg. 14 Space Shuttles and 10 Shuttle-C's could be launched per year using existing Kennedy Space Center facilities. However such a rate would quickly exhaust the supply of surplus SSME engines. Therefore new-build engines would have to be purchased at a cost of $38 million each, or a total of $500 million per year. When this cost was taken into consideration, Shuttle-C was more expensive than the USAF Titan IV - therefore, NASA concluded, there was no reason to develop it. The decision was taken in 1990 to cancel Shuttle-C. LEO Payload: 77,000 kg (169,000 lb). to: 400 km Orbit. at: 28.00 degrees. Liftoff Thrust: 20,299.200 kN (4,563,442 lbf). Total Mass: 1,966,675 kg (4,335,776 lb). Core Diameter: 8.70 m (28.50 ft). Total Length: 56.00 m (183.00 ft). Flyaway Unit Cost $: 84.970 million. in: 1985 unit dollars.
Shuttle C Block II.
In August 1989 NASA studied a version of the Shuttle-C with two Advanced Solid Rocket Mortors (ASRM's) in place of the standard RSRM's. This would increase the payload by 4500 kg, but also require use of a new 10 m x 30 m payload module.
Manufacturer: Martin. LEO Payload: 81,500 kg (179,600 lb). to: 407 km Orbit. at: 28.50 degrees.
Version: Shuttle LRB 1989.
In July 1989 a NASA Langley/George Washington University joint study was made of various Liquid Rocket Booster configurations. A parametric trade analysis looked at the optimum solution. This was found to be twin oblique-wing recoverable boosters. Staging at Mach 3 would allow them to be built of aluminium rather than higher-temperature materials. Standard SSME's would power each booster. Two optimum configurations were identified. One was a 2-engine orbiter and two 3-engine boosters (2-3-3). In this case the orbiter would be 45 m long, and the booster 35.4 m long. Payload would be 16,800 kg, and gross liftoff mass 880,000 kg. Staging would be at 86 seconds after launch at 26,000 m altitude, earth orbit insertion 516 seconds after launch. The 3-4-4-configuration would result in a 50.3 m long orbiter and 40.5 m long booster. Payload would be 31,750 kg, gross liftoff mass 1,316,000 kg. In either case the orbiter would be equipped with a 4.6 m x 9.2 m cargo bay and a crew of two. A 5-3-3 configuration, using 3 x liquid oxygen/kerosene engines in each booster was also studied. This would have a payload of 38,000 kg to orbit. However the study concluded that having the same propellants and engines in the orbiter and booster was an advantage that outweighed other considerations. Manufacturer: George Washington Univeristy.
Version: Ares Mars Direct.
The Ares launch vehicle was designed for support of Zubrin's Mars Direct expedition. It was a shuttle-derived design taking maximum advantage of existing hardware. It would use shuttle Advanced Solid Rocket Boosters, a modified shuttle external tank for handling vertically-mounted payloads, and a new Lox/LH2 third stage for trans-Mars or trans-lunar injection of the payload. Ares would put 121 tonnes into a 300 km circular orbit , boost 59 tonnes toward the moon or 47 tonnes toward Mars. Without the upper stage 75 tonnes could be placed in low earth orbit.
LEO Payload: 121,200 kg (267,200 lb). to: 300 km Orbit. at: 28.50 degrees. Payload: 47,200 kg (104,000 lb). to a: trans-Mars trajectory. Associated Spacecraft: Mars Direct. Total Mass: 2,194,600 kg (4,838,200 lb). Core Diameter: 10.00 m (32.00 ft). Total Length: 82.30 m (270.00 ft).
Version: Shuttle Z.
Shuttle-Z was Shuttle-C on steroids, the ultimate development of the shuttle to be used to put Mars expeditions into orbit. It would use 4 SSME's, and a third stage with 181,000 kg of propellant powered by 1 SSSME. But such designs would require new handling facilities due to the extra height of the vehicle.
LEO Payload: 87,500 kg (192,900 lb). to: 407 km Orbit. at: 28.50 degrees. Shuttle Chronology 1968 October 30 - Phase A Space Shuttle studies. NASA began the design, bidding, and source selection process leading to a single national space shuttle. At the beginning the design was known by the same nomenclature previously used by the USAF - Integrated Launch and Re-entry Vehicle (ILRV). The development program was seen as: Phase A: Advanced Studies; Phase B: Project Definition; Phase C: Vehicle Design; and Phase D: Production and Operations. Four contractors or contractor teams were to be selected in Phase A; two contractors or teams for Phase B; and then a single contractor for Phases C and D (which were later combined). NASA Houston and Huntsville jointly issued the Request for Proposal for eight-month Phase A ILRV studies. The requirements were for 2,300 to 23,000 kg of payload to be delivered into a 500-km altitude orbit. The re-entry vehicle should have a cross range of at least 725 km (NASA persisted in this requirement even though it knew the USAF needed more). General Dynamics, Lockheed, McDonnell-Douglas, Martin Marietta, and North American Rockwell all were invited to bid. The Space Shuttle Main Engine competition was run in parallel with the main shuttle development project, and also had four phases. Oversight for this program came from the USAF Space Division and its subcontractor, the Aerospace Corporation. Despite promising classified work on linear and conventional aerospike engines at the time, NASA dictated that the design had to use a conventional bell nozzle. February 1969 - Space Shuttle Phase A contracts Following evaluation of proposals submitted against the October 1968 request for proposal, NASA issued Advanced Design contracts for the shuttle to General Dynamics, Lockheed, McDonnell Douglas, and North American Rockwell. Martin Marietta did not receive a contract but was allowed to continue using company funds. Rocketdyne and Pratt & Whitney were selected for the Phase A, advanced study phase of the competition. The same basic engine (combustion chamber and turbomachinery) was to be used in both stages of the planned two-stage fully-recoverable shuttle. The orbiter would be equipped with a two-position deployable nozzle, with expansion ratios of 58:1 for the low altitude portion of the ascent, and 120:1 with the extension deployed for the vacuum portion of the flight to orbit. The engine was to have a thrust of 270,000 kgf in vacuum, 235,000 kgf at sea level, and be throttleable from 73% to 100% of the rated thrust. The engine for the booster was to use a 5:1 ratio expansion nozzle, producing 227,000 kgf at sea level. Pratt & Whitney seemed to have a clear lead in this portion of the competition, having produced the XLR-129-P-1, a prototype high-pressure Lox/LH2 engine under USAF contract. This produced 188,000 kgf using a smaller fixed nozzle. Most of the shuttle bidders proposed use of this engine in their Phase A vehicle designs. The Space Task Group put together to run the shuttle design process was composed of various agencies of the federal government. Each group favoured differing basic configurations for the shuttle, reflecting controversies extending back over ten years to the time of DynaSoar development. Faget at NASA Houston favoured a straight-wing orbiter, the bottom surface being essentially a cross shape cut out of the spherical section of one of the Apollo or Mercury heat shields he had designed. This had minimal cross range, but was supposed to have the advantages of minimum weight and good subsonic glide performance. NASA Langley and Edwards AFB favoured a lifting body, based on the HL-10 shape under test there. This had supposed weight advantages over a winged vehicle, more cross range than Faget's straight wing, but less cross range than a delta wing. USAF Flight Dynamics Laboratory and Draper Laboratories favoured a swept delta wing spaceplane, like the Dynasoar, for maximum cross range on re-entry. Faget favoured a small net payload to orbit (6800 kg) while the other government centres favoured heavier payloads, at least 11,300 kg, and up to 29,500 kg. As in the case of earlier USAF ILRV studies, the Space Task Group had initially considered three categories of launch solutions. Class I used an existing expendable launch vehicle (the Titan 3MV or Saturn IB) and a reusable orbiter. Class II were 1.5 stage to orbit designs, using an orbiter vehicle and a drop tank. Class III were fully reusable two-stage-to-orbit designs. In contrast to the USAF studies, which favoured immediate development of a Class I vehicle, followed by a Class II vehicle, Task Group's preferred solution was to proceed immediately with a Class III vehicle. 1969 February 13 - Nixon forms Space Task Group Vice President Agnew was made chairman of the group, which was to formulate a Post-Apollo Space Program, providing policy direction for future American efforts after the moon landing. The Groups final report proposed three alternate future programs:
Nixon rejected all of the alternatives and wanted something even cheaper. 1969 April 21 - Space Shuttle Task Group formed The Director of Apollo Test in the NASA Hq. Apollo Program Office, LeRoy E. Day, was detailed to head the MSF Space Shuttle Task Group. The group would provide NASA with material for a report on the Space Shuttle to the President's Space Task Group. 1969 June 1 - Faget shuttle concept attacked The first report comes out attacking the Faget straight wing design. Another follows in November 1969; with the dispute becoming public with AIAA papers published in October 1970 and January 1971. These dissidents at other NASA centres calculated that a Faget orbiter was unsafe, as it could not withstand the re-entry thermal environment and aerodynamic stresses. NASA's Flight Research Center pushed a lifting body design, while the US Air Force noted that in any case the Faget design did not meet its cross-range requirements. Fall 1969 - No government approval for NASA's shuttle program NASA decided to take the minimum program proposed by the Space Task Group (just the space station and the shuttle), and then implement it over a very long period in phases. At first only a reusable space shuttle would be developed. When that was completed, work on a space station could start. However as of the fall of 1970, NASA was unable to obtain the Nixon administration's approval of even this limited program. 1969 September 11 - Two major directions were identified for NASA manned space flight in the next decade. Spacecraft: Skylab, Columbia. Flight: Skylab B. Two major directions were identified for manned space flight in the next decade. These were further exploration of the Moon, with possibly the establishment of a lunar surface base, and the continued development of manned flight in Earth orbit, leading to a permanent manned space station supported by a low-cost shuttle system. To maintain direction, the following key milestones were proposed: 1972 - AAP operations using a Saturn V launched Workshop 1973 - Start of post-Apollo lunar exploration 1974 - Start of suborbital flight tests of Earth to orbit shuttle - Launch of a second Saturn V Workshop 1975 - Initial space station operations - Orbital shuttle flights 1976 - Lunar orbit station - Full shuttle operations 1977 - Nuclear stage flight test 1978 - Nuclear shuttle operations-orbit to orbit 1979 - Space station in synchronous orbit By 1990 - Earth orbit space base - Lunar surface base - Possible Mars landing 1970 January 23 - NASA Houston in-house study of shuttle concepts The study was in an attempt to resolve disputes between the centres as to the best approach. Houston's Faget straight-wing two-stage vehicle was in competition with concepts from other centres - recoverable versions of Saturn boosters, and an advanced single-stage-to-orbit Aerospaceplane. Payload for the Faget vehicle was to be only 5,700 to 6,800 kg to low earth orbit, and the system was to be operational by the end of 1975, after the last Apollo flight. 1970 May 4 - DC-3 drop tests NASA conducted drop tests of a 1/10 scale model of Faget's 'DC-3' straight-wing shuttle design. The model was 4 m long, weighed 270 kg, and was dropped from 3,700 m altitude. Recovery was by parachute. 1970 June 1 - NASA completes Shuttle Phase A evaluations After over 200 man-years of NASA and contractor effort, the Agency reached the following conclusions at the end of Phase A:
June 1970 - Independent studies of NASA's shuttle ordered. The new NASA Administrator, James Fletcher, had found that the NASA internal estimates of the cost to develop and operate the space shuttle were treated by the Office of Management of the Budget with great scepticism. Therefore he authorised several independent studies. Lockheed was to report on how the shuttle could reduce payload costs. Aerospace Corporation was to make an independent estimate of the cost of developing and operating the shuttle. Mathematica was to use these studies to make a definitive report comparing the cost of the shuttle with that of using existing expendable boosters. The Mathematica study would become notorious, for it forecast enormous savings in the use of the shuttle. It became very influential in government and congressional circles in shifting opinion to support the project. This, as NASA Administrator Low would dryly comment later, was 'unfortunate'. All earlier studies for the USAF and NASA, notably a RAND study in 1970, showed no cost advantage for reusable boosters when research and development costs were taken into account. RAND had concluded that a manned space station supported by expendable boosters would be cheaper, and more flexible and useful. Fletcher also directed NASA to take US Air Force requirements for the shuttle into account. The US Defence Department's requirements included the ability to carry 18 m long payloads, and deliver a mass of 18,000 kg to a polar orbit from Vandenberg AFB, or 30,000 kg to a low earth orbit from Cape Canaveral. The 4.5 m diameter for the payload bay was a NASA requirement, established by the planned diameter of future space station modules. 18 m x 4.5 m also corresponded to the dimensions of a liquid hydrogen tank with a mass of 30,000 kg, the lowest-density payload imaginable. The USAF also wanted an 1800 to 2400 km cross range on re-entry, and an initial operational capability of December 1977. The Aerospace Corporation study of NASA Phase A proposals concluded that the weight of a shuttle's thermal protection system would vary in relation to the fourth root of the required cross range. Aerospace also believed that sequential ignition of the booster and orbiter was a better approach than the triamese-type all-engines running at lift-off. It also declared that the USAF's desired operational date was unrealistic -- the earliest a shuttle could be available was mid to late 1979. 1970 July 6 - Shuttle Phase B Contracts Phase B contracts were issued for preliminary design for a space shuttle to two industrial teams - McDonnell Douglas and Martin Marietta; and North American Rockwell and General Dynamics. The specifications were as laid out in the NASA specificaiton on 1 June. In addition, both teams were mandated to study, as a baseline, alternate orbiters, consisting of the MSC-002 straight-wing Faget configuration for the low cross-range alternative, and a delta wing configuration for the high cross-range alternative. The booster configuration, on the other hand, was left up to the contractors. Engine contracts were let to Pratt and Whitney, Rocketdyne, and Aerojet. The engine specification called for a Lox/LH2 engine with a bell nozzle, capable of gimballing plus/minus 7 deg, producing 188,000 kgf at sea leval and 216,000 kgf at altitude. The booster engines would be equipped with a 6:1 expansion nozzle, and the orbiter with a two-position nozzle to bring the expansion ratio up to 120:1 at altitude. The engine had to throttle between 50% and 115% of the rated thrust (the latter rating for abort engine-out situations). The engine was to be equipped with a digital engine controller and be compact and reusable. 1970 July 7 - Alternate Space Shuttle Concepts (ASSC) NASA Huntsville, dissatisfied with the shuttle concepts being pursued by NASA Houston, let contracts to Chrysler and Lockheed for alternate technical approaches to the configuration dictated to Phase B contractors by NASA Houston. Later a further contract was let to a Grumman/Boeing team. In all, 29 configurations of partially reusable to fully-reusable vehicles were explored. The baseline engine for these studies had a thrust of 250,000 kgf and a two-position bell nozzle. 1970 September 23 - Shuttle specifications revised In response to US Air Force criticism, the payload requirement was increased to 11,500 kg (still well short of the USAF 30,000 kg requirement). The use of JP-4 jet fuel was required for the airbreathing flyback engines. The payload by was to be capable of carrying a passenger module for ferry of space station crews. 1970 November 13 - Shuttle specifications revised Further minor changes were made as a result of the NASA 90-day review in October. 1970 December 1 - Shuttle Phase B preliminary proposals The teams of McDonnell Douglas/Martin Marrietta and North American Rockwell/General Dynamics made their preliminary proposals under shuttle Phase B contracts. 1970 December 29 - Shuttle external tank concept studied On 29 December 1970 Grumman and Boeing received contract NAS9-11160 to study two-stage-to-orbit shuttle configurations using both internal and external liquid hydrogen tanks. Reviews with NASA in January and March 1971 showed there could be significant weight, risk, and cost reductions through use of a booster with a heat-sink airframe and an orbiter equipped with an external liquid hydrogen tank. 1971 February 13 - Shuttle SSME Award North American Rockwell's Rocketdyne division was awarded NASA contract NAS8-40000 for development of the space shuttle main engine, beating out Pratt and Whitney and Aerojet. This was the only large liquid propellant rocket motor scheduled to be developed in the United States for decades and a crushing blow to the losers. Both felt that their designs were superior to that of Rocketdyne, but Rocketdyne had become NASA's 'house' for main rocket engines. 1971 March 26 - Shuttle Phase B Final Reports Taking into account NASA and USAF comments on the draft proposals, and specification revisions, the teams of McDonnell Douglas/Martin Marrietta and North American Rockwell/General Dynamics made their final proposals under shuttle Phase B contracts. Based on the strict specifications of NASA, the low cross-range and high-cross range versions of the orbiter stages were similar. The associate contractors provided considerably different winged booster stage designs. One common feature was the use of aluminium structures and non-metallic thermal protection systems. In late 1969 the USAF had indicated a preference for all-aluminium structures in the shuttle due to a titanium shortage. This requirement forced a move to non-metallic thermal protection systems, which at the time it was thought would weigh 15% less but cost 300% more. Thermal protection shingles for a titanium structure would weigh 2300 to 4500 kg less, but an aluminium structure would weight about 1800 kg more - meaning there was no essential weight difference between the two approaches. Therefore at the aluminium structure was accepted as a specification requirement. In retrospect it could hardly have been necessary to apply this requirement on a project where only a few flight vehicles were be built. It made the shuttle much more vulnerable to any breach of heat shield integrity and would lead to the death of the Columbia crew 35 years later. The resulting need for a non-metallic thermal protection system would also have enormous cost and schedule consequences for the actual program. 1971 April 21 - Shuttle SSME Protest Pratt and Whitney filed a protest against NASA's award to Rocketdyne of the SSME contract. This action prevented further work on Rocketdyne's contract until the issue was adjudicated. 1971 April 27 - James C Fletcher sworn in as NASA Administrator James C. Fletcher was sworn in as NASA Administrator at a White House ceremony. Fletcher decided to push for Congressional approval of the stalled space shuttle program, but found that would only be forthcoming if the US Air Force agreed to participate. In order for that to happen, NASA would have to incorporate the USAF requirements for the shuttle that it had so far ignored (greater payload, higher cross-range). In another attempt to share the cost of the shuttle with other nations, previous NASA Administrator Thomas Paine had already tried to obtain international partners. But the only remnants of that effort were the Canadian robotic arm for the shuttle, and the European Space Agency Spacelab module. Neither represented a significant amount of the total program cost. President Nixon had nominated Fletcher for the position on March 1, and the Senate had confirmed the nomination on March 11. George M. Low, NASA Deputy Administrator, had been Acting Administrator since the resignation of Paine on September 15, 1970. 1971 May 1 - NASA budget constraints Nixon's Office of Management of the Budget (OMB) tells NASA to expect no budget increases in the next five years (e.g. $ 3.2 billion per year, meaning no more than $1 billion per year could be spent on the shuttle). Since the peak funding to develop a two-stage-to-orbit shuttle as defined in Phase B studies would be $2 billion, this meant that development of a fully reusable shuttle would not be possible. 1971 June 1 - Shuttle design decision Based on funding constraints defined in May, NASA decides its shuttle configuration will have to be a partially reusable orbiter, with an external liquid hydrogen tank. Grumman had been the main advocate of this approach, but it was the same conclusion reached in the USAF ILRV studies in 1968. The in-house design reflecting this change was MSC-020, with a liquid oxygen/liquid hydrogen tank housing all propellants outside of the orbiter. 1971 August 1 - Shuttle delta wings NASA Houston finally abandoned its straight wing design and studied a series of delta wing orbiters with external tanks through the summer of 1971 (MSC-020B, MSC-036, MSC-046, MSC-040). Fall 1971 - Delta wing selected for shuttle NASA, taking note of the criticisms of the Faget straight-wing design by NASA Flight Research Center and the US Air Force, officially selected a delta wing configuration as the most stable and the one best able to meet the USAF cross-range requirement. But NASA Houston stubbornly continued to push the configuration anyway - even after its own studies showed the orbiter would have a tendency to spin at hypersonic speeds and couldn't take the thermal environment on re-entry. Houston refused to give up, and continued to tinker with aspect ratio, wing sweep, and tail location, reaching the 43th design iteration - MSC-043 - at the end of 1971. One of the alternatives studied was the 'Blue Goose' design of 1970, perhaps the ugliest spacecraft ever conceived. The wing of the long-necked abomination shifted 3.7 m during flight to compensate for centre of gravity changes. The payload bay was forward, followed by the liquid oxygen, then the liquid hydrogen tank. The design was found to have *extreme* aerodynamic heating and structural problems! 1971 September 12 - Shuttle Phase B-Prime The Phase B contractors, plus Grumman/Boeing and Lockheed, are given further study contracts to produce shuttle designs based on the expendable external tank approach. Lockheed was asked to evaluate the NASA Houston design using an MSC-040 configuration orbiter, external tank, including the MSC040C using three high-performance engines. While the USAF was driving the shuttle design criteria, it had so far not committed to any significant funding for the shuttle. The USAF contribution was limited to allowing NASA use the government-owned Plant 42 at Palmdale, paying for any launch facilities at Vandenberg AFB needed for USAF launches, and providing flight test support at Edwards AFB. 1971 October 30 - Shuttle Phase C/D Request for Proposal Request for Proposals were sent to Grumman/Boeing, McDonnell-Douglas/Martin Marrietta, and North American Rockwell for final proposals for Shuttle full-scale development. However the NASA specifications kept shifting. In December 1971 NASA decided to require parallel burn of the shuttle orbiter and booster stages, so the bid due date was shifted from 15 December 1971 to 1 June 1972. 1971 November 1 - Shuttle Phase B Double Prime In yet another iteration of shuttle design studies, $ 2.8 million contracts were given to Grumman/Boeing, Lockheed, McDonnell-Douglas/Martin Marrietta, and North American Rockewell. The development costs for the Phase B Prime contracts had still been over the Nixon administration's budget cap, and still further ways to reduce development cost had to be found. The studies were to run through 15 March 1972 and study lower cost booster concepts: a fully recoverable stage but with a new pressure-fed engine; a Saturn V first stage modified to serve as a flyback booster; and solid rocket motors. The staging velocity was to be under 6600 kph (e.g. lower than in earlier studies). The studies assumed a series burn, with the shuttle orbiter igniting at altitude. The studies indicated :
1972 March 15 - Shuttle booster decision NASA decided that the shuttle booster will be 2 x 156 inch solid rocket motors. This would reduce the total development cost by $700 million, from $ 5.85 billion to $ 5.15 billion. It was also decided to delete the requirement for the shuttle to be equipped with air-breathing engines for final approach and ferry, and to add Abort Solid Rocket Motors that would pull the shuttle away from the external tank in case of a failure of the solid rocket boosters or external tank during the first portion of the ascent to orbit. 1972 March 31 - Shuttle SSME Judgement Pratt and Whitney's protest against the award of the shuttle engine development contract was rejected. Contract award to Rocketdyne could now proceed. 1972 April 21 - Shuttle SSME Contract Rocketdyne finally receives the contact for development of the shuttle main engine. By the end of the century the total value will have exceeded $5.6 billion. 1972 June 1 - Shuttle Phase C/D Proposals Given that NASA had dictated in great detail the final design, the contractors' proposals differed only in detail. Grumman's orbiter had a 747-type hump-backed configuration, while Lockheed's featured a double-deck crew space. McDonnell-Douglas proposed an alternate auxiliary liquid propellant rocket motor for aborts in place of the mandated Abort Solid Rocket Motors. North American Rockwell's design featured a rounded double-delta wing. All contractors struggled with thermal protection system issues. Ablative materials were lighter, but the bad experience with the use of spray-on ablator on the X-15A-2 made such a solution for an operational vehicle problematic. 1972 July 7 - Shuttle orbiter contract North American Rockwell received NASA contract NAS9-14000, valued at $2.6 billion, for development of the space shuttle orbiter. Included are two flight articles, the STA Structural Test Article, and the MPTA Main Propulsion Test Article. Later production of two additional orbiters will be added, bringing the final contract value to $ 5.815 billion by 1996. 1972 July 12 - Safety in Earth Orbit North American Rockwell issues a study on safety concepts for the space shuttle. These include putting an Apollo command module in the shuttle payload bay as an emergency re-entry capsule in case of inability of the shuttle to re-enter due to heat shield damage or a propulsion system failure. The study finds that all solutions have unacceptable weight penalties, and that any upper stages carried in the payload bay had to be man-rated in order to ensure crew safety. Liquid propellant upper stages (such as Centaur and the planned Space Tug) were probably too dangerous to be taken to orbit by the shuttle. 1972 August 9 - Shuttle go-ahead. Rockwell receives authority to proceed, space shuttle orbiter 1973 August 16 - Shuttle solid rocket booster contract United Space Boosters and Thiokol receive the contract. 1973 August 16 - Shuttle external tank contract Boeing Michoud received the production contract, using facilities already built for Saturn V first stage construction. By 1996 the contract will have totalled $6.7 billion and covered the production of 120 external tanks. 1974 June 1 - Shuttle configuration changes Between the March 1972 Authority to Proceed and June 1974 six major configuration changes are made to the shuttle design. 1974 June 4 - Shuttle Enterprise construction begins. Spacecraft: Enterprise. Structural assembly of the crew module for shuttle Enterprise (OV-101) begins at Plant 42 in Palmdale. 1974 July 18 - Shuttle carrier aircraft purchased NASA purchases used American Airlines 747 N9668 for use as a carrier to ferry the shuttle orbiter between factory, landing sites, and launch sites. Modification of a 747 to carry the orbiter on its back was chosen over two more costly alternatives that would have suspended it from a wing connecting two fuselages: a new design proposed by NASA LaRC, and a Lockheed proposal for two C-5A transports joined together. 1975 February 1 - Lower-cost shuttle external tank Grumman completes a study of a lower-cost external tank. It would use a Nomex core, aluminium liner, and E-glass/epoxy exterior. Although lower in cost than the baseline aluminium tank, it would be slightly heavier. Given the critical weight growth problem with the shuttle, it was not proceeded with. In fact, a continuous program of weight reduction for the baseline tank was introduced. Batch 1 External Tanks were already from 500 to 1040 kg lighter than the first tank. Batch 2, set for delivery from June 1982 to Vandenberg AFB for USAF launches, were 2700 kg lighter. The final "lightweight tank" was over 4500 kg lighter. All of these translated into equivalent additional payload for the shuttle. 1975 July 23 - Shuttle SSME engine chamber Test The first full thrust chamber test is completed. 1975 October 17 - Shuttle SSME first test. Space shuttle main engine first main stage test at NSTL 1975 December 20 - First SSME 60-second duration test, NSTL 1976 March 12 - Enterprise final assembly complete. Spacecraft: Enterprise. Complete final assembly and closeout system installation. 1976 March 12 - Shuttle SSME Test The full engine is run at 65% power for 42.5 seconds before a fuel turbopump failure curtails the test (50 second duration planned). 1976 August 2 - Shuttle carrier aircraft Work begins on modification of 747 N9668 to carry the shuttle on its back in a $30 million contract. After completion the aircraft is rolled out as N905NA. 1976 October 26 - Shuttle ejection seat tests Tests begin on the rocket sled at Holloman AFB of the ejection seats to be used in shuttle Columbia, using an upper fuselage. The test series is completed on November 18. 1977 January 14 - Boeing 747 shuttle carrier aircraft delivered Boeing 747 shuttle carrier aircraft delivered to Edwards 1977 February 18 - Edwards -. First inert captive flight Spacecraft: Enterprise. Conduct first inert captive flight, Edwards (2 hours, 5 minutes), Enterprise (OV-101) 1977 February 22 - Edwards -. Second inert captive flight Spacecraft: Enterprise. Conduct second inert captive flight, Edwards (3 hours, 13 minutes), Enterprise (OV-101) 1977 February 25 - Edwards -. Third inert captive flight Spacecraft: Enterprise. Conduct third inert captive flight, Edwards (2 hours, 28 minutes), Enterprise (OV-101) 1977 February 28 - Edwards -. Fourth inert captive flight Spacecraft: Enterprise. Conduct fourth inert captive flight, Edwards (2 hours, 11 minutes), Enterprise (OV-101) 1977 March 2 - Edwards -. Fifth inert captive flight Spacecraft: Enterprise. Conduct fifth inert captive flight, Edwards (1 hour, 39 minutes), Enterprise (OV-101) 1977 April 27 - Shuttle SSME Tests resumed 25 tests will be run on two engines over the next year. 1977 May 5 - Shuttle ejection seat tests Another test series is held at Holloman at speeds of zero to 725 kph in support of the impending ALT shuttle glide tests. 1977 June 15 - Shuttle SRB Drop test An unloaded shuttle solid rocket motor is dropped from an NB-52 in a test of the parachute recovery system. 1977 June 18 - Edwards -. Enterprise flight 1 Spacecraft: Enterprise. Crew: Fullerton, Haise. First manned captive active flight. Enterprise (OV-101)/shuttle carrier aircraft, Edwards (55 minutes, 46 seconds) 1977 June 24 - Shuttle MPTA shipped to National Space Technology Laboratories The test article of the shuttle orbiter's aft structure is mated to External Tank MPTA-ET (ET number one) and three prototype SSME engines. 1977 June 28 - Edwards -. Enterprise flight 2 Spacecraft: Enterprise. Crew: Engle, Truly. Second manned captive active flight. Enterprise (OV-101)/shuttle carrier aircraft, Edwards (1 hour, 2 minutes) 1977 July 18 - DM-1 Shuttle SRB development static firing The first firing of a shuttle Solid Rocket Booster motor. 1977 July 26 - Edwards -. Enterprise flight 3 Spacecraft: Enterprise. Crew: Fullerton, Haise. Third manned captive active flight. Enterprise (OV-101)/shuttle carrier aircraft, Edwards (59 minutes, 50 seconds) 1977 August 4 - Shuttle SRB Drop test An unloaded shuttle solid rocket motor is dropped from an NB-52 in a test of the parachute recovery system. 1977 August 12 - Edwards -. Enterprise flight 4 Spacecraft: Enterprise. Crew: Fullerton, Haise. Conduct first free flight, ALT, tail cone on, Edwards (5 minutes, 21 seconds), Enterprise (OV-101), lake bed Runway 17 1977 September 13 - Edwards -. Enterprise flight 5 Spacecraft: Enterprise. Crew: Engle, Truly. Second free flight, ALT, tail cone on, Edwards (5 minutes, 28 seconds), Enterprise (OV-101), lake bed Runway 17 1977 September 23 - Edwards -. Enterprise flight 6 Spacecraft: Enterprise. Crew: Fullerton, Haise. Third free flight , ALT, tail cone on, Edwards (5 minutes, 34 seconds), Enterprise (OV-101), lake bed Runway 15 1977 September 30 - SRB Hydroburst test A flight-representative shuttle Solid Rocket Booster was subjected to water pressure until the casing burst. 1977 October 12 - Edwards -. Enterprise flight 7 Spacecraft: Enterprise. Crew: Engle, Truly. Fourth free flight, ALT, first tail cone off, Edwards (2 minutes, 34 seconds), Enterprise (OV-101), lake bed Runway 17 1977 October 26 - Edwards -. Enterprise flight 8 Spacecraft: Enterprise. Crew: Fullerton, Haise. Fifth free flight, ALT, final tail cone off, Edwards (2 minutes, 1 second), Enterprise (OV-101), concrete Runway 04 1977 November 15 - Edwards -. First ferry flight test, Edwards Spacecraft: Enterprise. First ferry flight test, Edwards (3 hours, 21 minutes), Enterprise (OV-101) 1977 November 16 - Edwards -. Second ferry flight test, Edwards Spacecraft: Enterprise. Second ferry flight test, Edwards (4 hours, 17 minutes), Enterprise (OV-101) 1977 November 17 - Edwards -. Third ferry flight test, Edwards Spacecraft: Enterprise. Third ferry flight test, Edwards (4 hours, 13 minutes), Enterprise (OV-101) 1977 November 18 - Edwards -. Fourth ferry flight test, Edwards Spacecraft: Enterprise. Fourth ferry flight test, Edwards (3 hours, 37 minutes), Enterprise (OV-101) 1977 December 9 - Edwards -. Complete approach and landing flight tests Spacecraft: Enterprise. Complete approach and landing flight tests, including ferry flights, Enterprise (OV-101) 1977 December 14 - Shuttle SRB Drop test An unloaded shuttle solid rocket motor is dropped from an NB-52 in a test of the parachute recovery system. 1978 January 18 - DM-2 Shuttle SRB development static firing The second firing of a shuttle Solid Rocket Booster motor. 1978 March 12 - Shuttle Enterprise delivered. 1978 April 21 - Shuttle MPTA First test For the first time three SSME engines are run on the MPTA test article mated to an external tank - for 2.5 seconds. 1978 May 10 - Shuttle SRB Drop test An unloaded shuttle solid rocket motor is dropped from an NB-52 in a test of the parachute recovery system. 1978 July 7 - Shuttle MPTA long duration test The engine assembly is run for several minutes, and engine restart is demonstrated. 1978 July 26 - Shuttle SRB Drop test An unloaded shuttle solid rocket motor is dropped from an NB-52 in a test of the parachute recovery system. 1978 September 12 - Shuttle SRB Drop test An unloaded shuttle solid rocket motor is dropped from an NB-52 in a test of the parachute recovery system. 1978 September 15 - Shuttle tests at NASA Huntsville The shuttle Enterprise is first mated to an external tank for vertical ground vibration tests and simulated high-altitude aborts. Thereafter two SRB's are mounted for the first full-size shuttle static tests. This initial test series is completed on 5 December 1978. 1978 October 19 - DM-3 Shuttle SRB development static firing The third firing of a shuttle Solid Rocket Booster motor. 1979 February 13 - DM-4 Shuttle SRB development static firing The fourth firing of a shuttle Solid Rocket Booster motor. 1979 February 26 - Final shuttle tests at NASA Huntsville These verified loadings on the full mated shuttle stack with the external tank and solid rocket motors loaded with water to simulate the weights at various flight phases. 36 x 670 N and 20 x 4400 N exciters were used to vibrate the vehicle. 1979 March 9 - Shuttle carrier aircraft/Columbia test flight Spacecraft: Columbia. Shuttle carrier aircraft/Columbia (OV-102) test flight at NASA Edwards 1979 April 10 - Shuttle Enterprise delivered to Kennedy Space Centre The decision was taken not to convert the Enterprise to a flight orbiter due to the numerous structural design changes made since its construction. Static test article OV-099 would be used for that instead. So Enterprise became a pathfinder vehicle at Cape Canaveral to verify fit and handling of ground facilities in the Vertical Assembly Building and LC39. 1979 May 1 - First shuttle roll-out Non-flight shuttle Enterprise, mated to External Tank number 2, and two inert solid rocket motors, is rolled out to LC39A for facility checks. 1979 June 13 - QM-1 Shuttle SRB qualification static firing The fifth firing of a shuttle Solid Rocket Booster motor. 1979 July 2 - Major Shuttle SSME failure Engine 2002 explodes violently during a test run due to a hydrogen leak. The MPTA test article sustains major structural damage due to overpressure of the heat shield support. 1979 August 1 - Start long-lead fabrication crew module, Discovery Spacecraft: Discovery. 1979 September 4 - Shuttle SSME Failure In a test run, a liquid oxygen turbopump fails 9.7 seconds into the burn. 1979 September 27 - QM-2 Shuttle SRB qualification static firing The sixth firing of a shuttle Solid Rocket Booster motor. 1979 December 17 - First Shuttle SSME full-duration test The first completely successful firing of the orbiter's engines is completed Three engines are run from 100% to 70% thrust for 514 seconds. Engines 2004, 2005, 2006, and 2007 were to have been certified ready for flight in the first half on 1979. This involved each engine being given a 1.5 second start verification firing; a 100 second calibration firing; and a 520 second flight demonstration test. But continued failures resulted in multiple rebuilds of each engine to add required modifications. The result was a two-year delay to this schedule. During 1980 - Shuttle TPS Tests Shuttle thermal protection system tiles are tested mounted of F-15 and F-104 aircraft at speeds of up to Mach 1.4 and dynamic pressures of 470 N / sq m. 1980 February 13 - QM-3 Shuttle SRB qualification static firing The seventh and final firing of a shuttle Solid Rocket Booster motor prior to the first launch. None of the ground tests subjected the motors to expected flight loads. 1980 April 1 - Shuttle ejection seat tests Another series of tests of the shuttle ejection seat are held at Holloman AFB in support of the first shuttle orbital flights. 1980 September 19 - SRB Hydroburst test A production-representative shuttle Solid Rocket Booster was subjected to water pressure until the casing burst. 1981 January 17 - Shuttle MPTA-098 625-second firing. This firing used the three flight engines, which had been removed from Columbia. 1981 February 20 - Shuttle flight readiness firing The 20 second test on the pad at Cape Canaveral finally cleared the engines for the first shuttle launch. 1981 April 12 - 12:00 GMT - Cape Canaveral LC39A. Space Shuttle STS-1 STS-1 Mass: 4,909 kg (10,822 lb). Spacecraft: Columbia. Agency: NASA JSC. Perigee: 240 km (140 mi). Apogee: 251 km (155 mi). Inclination: 40.30 deg. Period: 89.40 min. Crew: Crippen, Young. Flight: STS-1. First flight of Space Transportation System (aka Space Shuttle).. Payloads: Development Flight Instrumentation and Aerodynamic Coefficient Identification Package. 1981 November 12 - 15:10 GMT - Cape Canaveral LC39A. Space Shuttle STS-2 STS-2 Mass: 8,517 kg (18,776 lb). Spacecraft: Columbia. Agency: NASA JSC. Perigee: 222 km (137 mi). Apogee: 231 km (143 mi). Inclination: 38.00 deg. Period: 89.00 min. Crew: Engle, Truly. Flight: STS-2. Second shuttle test flight. Payloads: Office of Space and Terrestrial Applications (OSTA)-1 experiments, Orbiter Experiments (OEX). 1982 March 22 - 16:00 GMT - Cape Canaveral LC39A. Space Shuttle STS-3 STS-3 Mass: 10,301 kg (22,709 lb). Spacecraft: Columbia. Agency: NASA JSC. Perigee: 241 km (149 mi). Apogee: 249 km (154 mi). Inclination: 38.00 deg. Period: 89.40 min. Crew: Fullerton, Lousma. Flight: STS-3. Manned two crew. Payloads: Office of Space Science (OSS) experiments, Monodisperse Latex Reactor (MLR), Electro-phoresis Verification Test (EEVT), Plant Lignification Experiment. 1982 June 27 - 15:00 GMT - Cape Canaveral LC39A. Space Shuttle STS-4 STS-4 Mass: 11,109 kg (24,491 lb). Spacecraft: Columbia. Agency: NASA JSC. Perigee: 295 km (183 mi). Apogee: 302 km (187 mi). Inclination: 28.50 deg. Period: 90.30 min. Crew: Hartsfield, Mattingly. Flight: STS-4. Manned two crew. Fourth space shuttle test flight. Payloads: Induced Environment Contamination Monitor (IECM), Monodisperse Latex Reactor (MLR), Continuous Flow Electrophoresis System (CFES), Development Flight Instrumentation (DFl), Orbiter Experiments (OEX), first NASA getaway special (GAS), Night/Day Optical Survey of Lightning (NOSL) experiment, Vapor Phase Compression (VPC) freezer heat exchanger dynamics for freezing samples, Aerodynamic Coefficient Identification Package (AClP) experiment. 1982 November 11 - 12:19 GMT - Cape Canaveral LC39A. Space Shuttle STS-5 STS-5 Mass: 14,551 kg (32,079 lb). Spacecraft: Columbia. Agency: NASA JSC. Perigee: 294 km (182 mi). Apogee: 317 km (196 mi). Inclination: 28.50 deg. Period: 90.50 min. Crew: Allen, Brand, Lenoir, Overmyer. Flight: STS-5. Manned four crew. First mission to deploy commercial communications satellites (SBS 3, Anik C3). Payloads: : Satellite Business Systems (SBS)-C with Payload Assist ; (PAM)-D; Telesat-E (Canadian communications satellite) with PAM-D. Monodisperse Latex Reactor (MLR), Continuous Flow Electrophoresis System (CFES), three getaway specials (GAS), Student experiments, GLOW experiment, Vestibular experiment, Oxygen Interaction With Materials experiment. 1983 April 4 - 18:30 GMT - Cape Canaveral LC39A. Space Shuttle STS-6 STS-6 Mass: 21,305 kg (46,969 lb). Spacecraft: Challenger. Agency: NASA JSC. Perigee: 288 km (178 mi). Apogee: 295 km (183 mi). Inclination: 28.50 deg. Period: 90.40 min. Crew: Bobko, Musgrave, Peterson, Weitz. Flight: STS-6. Manned four crew. First flight of space shuttle Challenger; deployed TDRSS. Payloads: Deployment of Tracking and Data Relay Satellite (TDRS)-A with Inertial Upper Stage (lUS)-2, Continuous Flow Electrophoresis System (CFES), Monodisperse Latex Reactor (MLR), Night/Day Optical Survey of Lightning (NOSL) experiment, three getaway specials (GAS). 1983 June 18 - 11:33 GMT - Cape Canaveral LC39A. Space Shuttle STS-7 STS-7 Mass: 16,839 kg (37,123 lb). Spacecraft: Challenger. Agency: NASA JSC. Perigee: 299 km (185 mi). Apogee: 307 km (190 mi). Inclination: 28.30 deg. Period: 90.60 min. Crew: Crippen, Fabian, Hauck, Ride, Thagard. Flight: STS-7. Manned five crew. Deployed Anik C2, Palapa B1; deployed and retrieved SPAS platform. Payloads: Office of Space and Terrestrial Applications (OSTA)-2 experiments, deployment of PALAPA-B1 communications satellite for Indonesia with Payload Assist Module (PAM)-D and Telesat-F communications satellite for Canada with PAM-D, German Shuttle Pallet Satellite (SPAS)-01, seven getaway specials (GAS), Monodisperse Latex Reactor (MLR), Continuous Flow Electrophoresis System (CFES). 1983 August 30 - 06:32 GMT - Cape Canaveral LC39A. Space Shuttle STS-8 STS-8 Mass: 13,642 kg (30,075 lb). Spacecraft: Challenger. Agency: NASA JSC. Perigee: 306 km (190 mi). Apogee: 313 km (194 mi). Inclination: 28.50 deg. Period: 90.70 min. Crew: Bluford, Brandenstein, Gardner, Thornton Bill, Truly. Flight: STS-8. First night launch and night landing. Deployed Insat 1B. Payloads: Deployment of INSAT (lndia communica-tion satellite) with Payload Assist Module (PAM)-D, Payload Flight Test Article (PFTA)/ Payload Deployment Retrieval System (PDRS), Continuous Flow Electrophoresis (CFES), biomedical experiments. 250,000 express mail envelopes with special cachet for U.S. Postal Service were carried for a first-day cover. 1983 November 28 - 16:00 GMT - Cape Canaveral LC39A. Space Shuttle STS-9 STS-9 Mass: 15,088 kg (33,263 lb). Spacecraft: Columbia. Agency: NASA JSC. Perigee: 241 km (149 mi). Apogee: 254 km (157 mi). Inclination: 57.00 deg. Period: 89.50 min. Crew: Garriott, Lichtenberg, Merbold, Parker, Shaw, Young. Flight: STS-9. Carried ESA Spacelab. Payloads: Payload: Spacelab-1 experiments, habitable Spacelab and pallet, carried 71 experiments. The six-man crew was divided into two 12-hour-day red and blue teams to operate experiments. First high-inclination orbit of 57 degrees. 1984-1986 - Shuttle Columbia overhauled at Palmdale. Spacecraft: Columbia. The ejection seats and flight instrumentation used for the first manned shuttle flights were removed. Head-up display and GPS avionics were installed. Orbiter 5.4 structural modifications were made; the disconnect valves, thermal protection system, and brakes were brought up to date. Provisions were made for use of the Manned Maneuvering Unit and 231 Master Change Requests were implemented. 1984 February 3 - 13:00 GMT - Cape Canaveral LC39A. Space Shuttle STS-11/41-B STS-41-B Mass: 15,362 kg (33,867 lb). Spacecraft: Challenger. Agency: NASA JSC. Perigee: 307 km (190 mi). Apogee: 316 km (196 mi). Inclination: 28.50 deg. Period: 90.80 min. Crew: Brand, Gibson, McCandless, McNair, Stewart. Flight: STS-41-B. Manned five crew. Deployed Westar 6, Palapa B2; tested Manned Maneuvering Unit (MMU). Payloads: PALAPA-B2 (Indonesian communications satellite) with Payload Assist Module (PAM)-D and WESTAR (Western Union communications satellite)-Vl with PAM-D. Both satellites were deployed but the PAM-D in each satellite failed to ignite, leaving both satellites in earth orbit. Both satellites were retrieved and returned to earth for renovation on the STS-51-A mission. The manned maneuvering unit (MMU) was tested with extravehicular astronauts as free flyers without tethers as far as 98 m from the orbiter. Shuttle Pallet Satellite (SPAS)-01 experiments, Monodisperse Latex Reactor (MLR), Isoelectric Focusing Experiment (lEF), Acoustic Containerless Experiment System (ACES), Cinema 360 cameras, five getaway specials (GAS), Aerodynamic Coefficient Identification (ACIP)/High Resolution Accelerom-eter Package (HIRAP). 1984 April 6 - 13:58 GMT - Cape Canaveral LC39A. Space Shuttle STS-13/41-C STS-41-C Mass: 17,357 kg (38,265 lb). Spacecraft: Challenger. Agency: NASA JSC. Perigee: 222 km (137 mi). Apogee: 468 km (290 mi). Inclination: 28.50 deg. Period: 91.40 min. Crew: Crippen, Hart, Nelson, Scobee, van Hoften. Flight: STS-41-C. Manned five crew. First repair on orbit of a satellite, Solar Maximum Mission, by James van Hoften and George Nelson. Deployed LDEF. Payloads:Solar Maximum Mission (SMM) repair, manned maneuvering unit (MMU) satellite support, deployment of Long-Duration Exposure Facility (LDEF) in earth orbit free drift. LDEF contained 57 experiments and weighed about 10,000 kg. Cinema 360 and IMAX 70-mm cameras. 1984 June 26 - Cape Canaveral LC39A. Shuttle Discovery Pad Abort Spacecraft: Discovery. Flight: STS-41-D. The countdown for the second launch attempt for Discovery's maiden flight ended at T- 4 seconds when the orbiter's computers detected a sluggish valve in main engine #3. The main engine was replaced and Discovery was finally launched on August 30, 1984. 1984 August 30 - 12:41 GMT - Cape Canaveral LC39A. Space Shuttle STS-14/41-D STS-41-D Mass: 21,552 kg (47,514 lb). Spacecraft: Discovery. Agency: NASA JSC. Perigee: 300 km (180 mi). Apogee: 307 km (190 mi). Inclination: 28.50 deg. Period: 90.60 min. Crew: Coats, Hartsfield, Hawley, Mullane, Resnik, Walker. Flight: STS-41-D. Manned six crew. First flight of space shuttle Discovery; deployed SBS 4, Leasat 1, Telstar 3C. Payloads: Satellite Business System (SBS)-D commu-nications satellite with Payload Assist Module (PAM)-D deployment, Syncom IV-2 communica-tions satellite with its unique stage deployment, Telstar (American Telephone and Telegraph) 3-C with PAM-D deployment, Office of Aeronautics and Space Technology (OAST)-1 experiments. Deployment and restowing of large solar array. Continuous Flow Electrophoresis (CFES). IMAX camera. 1984 October 5 - 11:03 GMT - Cape Canaveral LC39A. Space Shuttle STS-17/41-G STS-41-G Mass: 10,643 kg (23,463 lb). Spacecraft: Challenger. Agency: NASA JSC. Perigee: 350 km (210 mi). Apogee: 390 km (240 mi). Inclination: 51.70 deg. Period: 92.00 min. Crew: Crippen, Garneau, Leestma, McBride, Ride, Scully-Power, Sullivan. Flight: STS-41-G. Manned seven crew. Deployed ERBS; performed high resolution Earth imagery. Payloads: Earth Radiation Budget Satellite (ERBS) deployment, Office of Space and Terrestrial Applications (OSTA)-3 experiments, Large Format Camera (LFC). First use of Orbital Refueling System (ORS) with extravehicular activity (EVA) astronauts, IMAX camera. In response to the American Strategic Defence Initiative and continued military use of the shuttle, the Soviet Union fired a 'warning shot' from the Terra-3 laser complex at Sary Shagan. The facility tracked Challenger with a low power laser on 10 October 1984. This caused malfunctions to on-board equipment and discomfort / temporary blinding of the crew, leading to a US diplomatic protest. 1984 November 8 - 12:15 GMT - Cape Canaveral LC39A. Space Shuttle STS-19/51-A STS-51-A Mass: 20,550 kg (45,300 lb). Spacecraft: Discovery. Agency: NASA JSC. Perigee: 289 km (179 mi). Apogee: 297 km (184 mi). Inclination: 28.40 deg. Period: 90.40 min. Crew: Allen, Fisher, Gardner, Hauck, Walker Dave. Flight: STS-51-A. Manned five crew. First retrieval of two satellites (PALAPA B-2 and WESTAR Vl) for return to earth. Deployed Anik D2, Leasat 2; recovered Westar 6, Palapa B2. Payloads: Telesat (Canada communications satellite)-H with Payload Assist Module (PAM)-D deploy-ment, Syncom IV-1 communications satellite deployment with its unique stage, retrieval of PALAPA B-2 and WESTAR VI communications satellites with PAM-D which failed to ignite on the STS-41-B mission. Manned maneuvering unit (MMU) used for retrieval. Diffusive Mixing of Organic Solutions (DMOS) experiment. 1985 January 24 - 19:50 GMT - Cape Canaveral LC39A. Space Shuttle STS-20/51-C STS-51-C Spacecraft: Discovery. Agency: NASA JSC. Perigee: 332 km (206 mi). Apogee: 341 km (211 mi). Inclination: 28.40 deg. Period: 91.30 min. Crew: Buchli, Mattingly, Onizuka, Payton, Shriver. Flight: STS-51-C. Manned five crew. Deployed USA 8 (Aquacade ELINT spacecraft). Orbits of Earth: 48. Landed at: Runway 15 at Kennedy Space Center, Florida. Landing Speed: 342 kph. Touchdown miss distance: 839.00 m. Landing Rollout: 2,240.00 m. Payloads: Department of Defence classified payloads. 1985 April 12 - 13:59 GMT - Cape Canaveral LC39A. Space Shuttle STS-23/51-D STS-51-D Mass: 16,249 kg (35,822 lb). Spacecraft: Discovery. Agency: NASA JSC. Perigee: 445 km (276 mi). Apogee: 535 km (332 mi). Inclination: 28.50 deg. Period: 94.40 min. Crew: Bobko, Garn, Griggs, Hoffman, Seddon, Walker, Williams Donald. Flight: STS-51-D. Manned seven crew. Payloads: Telesat (Canada communications satellite)-I with Payload Assist Module (PAM)-D deployment, Syncom IV-3 communications satellite deploy-ment with its unique stage (unique stage failed to ignite), Continuous Flow Electrophoresis (CFES), Phase Partitioning Experiment (PPE), student experiments, two getaway specials (GAS) Informal science studies (Toys in Space). 1985 April 29 - 16:02 GMT - Cape Canaveral LC39A. Space Shuttle STS-21/51-B STS-51-B Mass: 14,245 kg (31,404 lb). Spacecraft: Challenger. Agency: NASA JSC. Perigee: 346 km (214 mi). Apogee: 353 km (219 mi). Inclination: 57.00 deg. Period: 91.50 min. Crew: Gregory, Lind, Overmyer, Thagard, Thornton Bill, van den Berg, Wang. Flight: STS-51-B. Manned seven crew. Deployed Nusat; carried Spacelab 3. Payloads: Spacelab-3 experiments, habitable Spacelab and mission peculiar experiment support structure. The experiments represented a total of five different disciplines: materials processing in space, environmental observa-tions, life science, astrophysics, and technology experiments. Two getaway specials (GAS). The flight crew was split into gold and silver shifts working 12-hour days during the flight. 1985 June 17 - 11:33 GMT - Cape Canaveral LC39A. Space Shuttle STS-25/51-G STS-51-G Mass: 20,174 kg (44,476 lb). Spacecraft: Discovery. Agency: NASA JSC. Perigee: 358 km (222 mi). Apogee: 369 km (229 mi). Inclination: 28.50 deg. Period: 91.80 min. Crew: Al-Saud, Baudry, Brandenstein, Creighton, Fabian, Lucid, Nagel. Flight: STS-51-G. Deployed and retrieved Spartan 1; launched Morelos 1, Arabsat 1B, Telstar 3D.Payloads: Shuttle Pointed Autono-mous Research Tool for Astronomy (SPARTAN)-1; Automated Directional Solidification Furnace (ADSF); High Precision Tracking Experiment (HPTE); Orbiter Experiments (OEX); French Echocardiograph Experiment (FEE) and French Pocket Experiment (FPE). 1985 July 12 - Cape Canaveral LC39A. Shuttle Challenger Pad Abort Spacecraft: Challenger. Flight: STS-51-F. The countdown for Challenger's launch was halted at T-3 seconds when on-board computers detected a problem with a coolant valve on main engine #2. The valve was replaced and Challenger was launched on July 29, 1985. 1985 July 29 - 21:00 GMT - Cape Canaveral LC39A. Space Shuttle STS-26/51-F STS-51-F Mass: 15,603 kg (34,398 lb). Spacecraft: Challenger. Agency: NASA JSC. Perigee: 203 km (126 mi). Apogee: 337 km (209 mi). Inclination: 49.50 deg. Period: 89.90 min. Crew: Acton, Bartoe, Bridges, England, Fullerton, Henize, Musgrave. Flight: STS-51-F. Manned seven crew. At 5 minutes, 45 seconds into ascent the number one engine shut down prematurely due to a a sensor problem and an abort to orbit was declared. Despite the anomaly the mission continued. Launched PDP; carried Spacelab 2. Payloads: Spacelab-2 with 13 experiments, Shuttle Amateur Radio Experiment (SAREX), Protein Crystal Growth (PCG). The flight crew was divided into a red and blue team. Each team worked 12-hour shifts for 24-hour-a-day operation. 1985 August 27 - 10:58 GMT - Cape Canaveral LC39A. Space Shuttle STS-27/51-I STS-51-I Mass: 19,952 kg (43,986 lb). Spacecraft: Discovery. Agency: NASA JSC. Perigee: 351 km (218 mi). Apogee: 364 km (226 mi). Inclination: 28.50 deg. Period: 91.70 min. Crew: Covey, Engle, Fisher William, Lounge, van Hoften. Flight: STS-51-I. Manned five crew. Launched Aussat 1, ASC 1, Leasat 4; repaired Leasat 3. Payloads: Deploy ASC (American Satellite Company)-1 with Payload Assist Modue (PAM)-D. Deploy AUSSAT (Australian communications satellite)-1 with PAM-D. Deploy Syncom IV-4 communications satellite with its unique stage. Retrieve Leasat-3 communications satellite, repair and deploy by extravehicular activity (EVA) astronauts. Physical Vapor Transport Organic Solids (PVTOS) experiment. 1985 October 1 - SLC-6 at Vandenberg declared operation for shuttle flights. The launch complex and support buildings had been built on the old Manned Orbiting Laboratory facilities at a total cost of $ 5.5 billion. Checks of the facilities with non-flight shuttle Enterprise, an external tank, and inert solid rocket boosters were conducted from late 1984 to early 1985. Later fundamental design flaws were found that would cost another $1 billion and two years to fix. The US Air Force was no longer interested in the shuttle as a booster for its payloads, and the facility was mothballed without ever launching a shuttle. 1985 October 3 - 15:15 GMT - Cape Canaveral LC39A. Space Shuttle STS-28/51-J STS-51-J Spacecraft: Atlantis. Agency: NASA JSC. Perigee: 476 km (295 mi). Apogee: 486 km (301 mi). Inclination: 28.50 deg. Period: 94.20 min. Crew: Bobko, Grabe, Hilmers, Pailes, Stewart. Flight: STS-51-J. Manned five crew. Atlantis (first flight); deployed USA 11, USA 12. Reusable space transportation system. Orbits of Earth: 63. Landed at: Runway 23 dry lake bed at Edwards Air Force Base, . Touchdown miss distance: 754.00 m. Landing Rollout: 2,455.00 m. Payloads: Classified DoD Mission - Record altitude (as of 5/93). 1985 October 30 - 17:00 GMT - Cape Canaveral LC39A. Space Shuttle STS-29/61-A STS-61-A Mass: 14,451 kg (31,859 lb). Spacecraft: Challenger. Agency: NASA JSC. Perigee: 319 km (198 mi). Apogee: 331 km (205 mi). Inclination: 57.00 deg. Period: 91.00 min. Crew: Bluford, Buchli, Dunbar, Furrer, Hartsfield, Messerschmid, Nagel, Ockels. Flight: STS-61-A. Manned eight crew. Launched GLOMR; carried Spacelab D1. Payloads: Spacelab D-1 with habitable module and 76 experiments. Six of the eight crew members were divided into a blue and red team working 12-hour shifts for 24-hour-a-day operation. The remaining two crew members were 'switch hitters.'. 1985 November 1 - STS-51-H STS-51-H (cancelled) Spacecraft: Columbia. Flight: STS-51-H. Planned EOM-1/2 shuttle mission. Cancelled due to payload delays. 1985 November 27 - 00:29 GMT - Cape Canaveral LC39A. Space Shuttle STS-30/61-B STS-61-B Mass: 21,791 kg (48,040 lb). Spacecraft: Atlantis. Agency: NASA JSC. Perigee: 361 km (224 mi). Apogee: 370 km (220 mi). Inclination: 28.50 deg. Period: 91.90 min. Crew: Cleave, Neri Vela, O Connor, Ross, Shaw, Spring, Walker. Flight: STS-61-B. Manned seven crew. Deployed Morelos 2, Aussat 2, Satcom K2, OEX. Payloads: Deploy SATCOM (RCA-Satellite Communi-cations) Ku-2 with Payload Assist Module (PAM)-D II. Deploy Morelos (Mexico communications satellite)-B with PAM-D. Deploy AUSSAT (Australian communications satellite)-2 with PAM-D. EASE/ACCESS (Assembly of Structures— Assembly Concept for Construction of Erectable Space Structures) by extravehicular activity (EVA) astronauts, Continuous Flow Electrophore-sis System (CFES), Diffusive Mixing of Organic Solutions (DMOS), IMAX camera, one getaway special (GAS), Linhof camera and Hasseblad camera. 1986 January 12 - 11:55 GMT - Cape Canaveral LC39A. Space Shuttle STS-32/61-C STS-61-C Mass: 14,724 kg (32,460 lb). Spacecraft: Columbia. Agency: NASA JSC. Perigee: 331 km (205 mi). Apogee: 338 km (210 mi). Inclination: 28.50 deg. Period: 91.20 min. Crew: Bolden, Cenker, Chang-Diaz, Gibson, Hawley, Nelson, Nelson Bill. Flight: STS-61-C. Manned seven crew. Launched Satcom K1. Payloads: Deploy SATCOM (RCA-Satellite Communi-cations) Ku-1 with Payload Assist Module (PAM)-D II. Materials Science Laboratory, Comet Halley Active Monitoring Experiment (CHAMP), Hitchhiker (HH) Goddard (G)-1, thirteen getaway specials (GAS), student experiment, Initial Blood Storage Equipment (lBSE), Characterization of Space Motion Sickness (SMS). 1986 January 28 - 16:38 GMT - Cape Canaveral LC39B. Space Shuttle STS-33/51-L FAILURE: Seal on SRB failed, allowed hot gas to burn through External Tank. STS-51-L Spacecraft: Challenger. Agency: NASA. Apogee: 15 km (9 mi). Crew: Jarvis, McAuliffe, McNair, Onizuka, Resnik, Scobee, Smith. Flight: STS-51-L. Exploded 73 seconds after launch, all 7 crewmembers were killed; carried TDRSS satellite. 1987 June 8 - Shuttle crash barrier tests. Non-flight shuttle orbiter Enterprise was brought out of storage to test crash barrier designs to be used in case of an orbiter runway overrun. After this it was sent to the National Air and Space Museum for storage. 1988 September 1 - STS-51-K STS-51-K (cancelled) Spacecraft: Challenger. Flight: STS-51-K. Planned Spacelab-D1 shuttle mission. Cancelled after Challenger disaster. No crew selected; renamed STS-61A 1988 September 29 - 15:37 GMT - Cape Canaveral LC39B. Space Shuttle STS-26R STS-26 Mass: 21,082 kg (46,477 lb). Spacecraft: Discovery. Agency: NASA JSC. Perigee: 301 km (187 mi). Apogee: 306 km (190 mi). Inclination: 28.50 deg. Period: 90.60 min. Crew: Covey, Hauck, Hilmers, Lounge, Nelson. Flight: STS-26. Manned five crew. First shuttle reflight after Challenger disaster. Deployed TDRS 3. Payloads: Deploy IUS (lnertial Upper Stage) with Tracking and Data Relay Satellite (TDRS)-C. 3M's Physical Vapor Transport Organics Solids 2 experiment (PVTOS), Automated Directional Solidification Furnace (ADSF), Infrared Communi-cations Flight Experiment (lRCFE), Protein Crystal Growth Il (PCG), Isoelectric Focusing (ISF)-2, Phase Partitioning Experiment (PPE), Aggrega-tion of Red Blood Cells (ARC)-2, Mesoscale Lightning Experiment (MLE)-1, Earth Limb Radiance (ELRAD), Orbiter Experiments (OEX), Autonomous Supporting Instrumentation System (OASlS)-I, two Shuttle Student Involvement Project (SSIP) experiments. 1988 December 2 - 14:30 GMT - Cape Canaveral LC39B. Space Shuttle STS-27R STS-27 Spacecraft: Atlantis. Agency: NASA JSC. Perigee: 437 km (271 mi). Apogee: 447 km (277 mi). Inclination: 57.00 deg. Period: 93.40 min. Crew: Gardner Guy, Gibson, Mullane, Ross, Shepherd. Flight: STS-27. 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. 1989 March 13 - 14:57 GMT - Cape Canaveral LC39B. Space Shuttle STS-29R STS-29 Mass: 17,280 kg (38,090 lb). Spacecraft: Discovery. Agency: NASA JSC. Perigee: 297 km (184 mi). Apogee: 308 km (191 mi). Inclination: 28.50 deg. Period: 90.60 min. Crew: Bagian, Blaha, Buchli, Coats, Springer. Flight: STS-29. Manned five crew. Deployed TDRS 4. Payloads: Deploy IUS (Inertial Upper Stage) with Tracking and Data Relay Satellite (TDRS)-D. Protein Crystal Growth (PCG); Chromosome and Plant Cell Division in Space; IMAX 70mm camera; Shuttle Student Involvement Project (SSIP) experiments: SSIP 82-8, Effects of Weightlessness in Space Flight on the Healing of Bone Fractures, and SSIP 83-9, Chicken Embryo Development in Space; Air Force Maui Optical Site (AMOS) experiment. 1989 May 4 - 18:47 GMT - Cape Canaveral LC39B. Space Shuttle STS-30R STS-30 Mass: 20,833 kg (45,928 lb). Spacecraft: Atlantis. Agency: NASA JSC. Perigee: 361 km (224 mi). Apogee: 366 km (227 mi). Inclination: 28.90 deg. Period: 91.80 min. Crew: Cleave, Grabe, Lee, Thagard, Walker Dave. Flight: STS-30. Manned five crew. Deployed Magellan Venus probe. Payloads: Deploy IUS with Magellan spacecraft. Fluids Experiment Apparatus (FEA). Mesoscale Lightning Experiment (MLE), Air Force Maui Optical Site (AMOS) experiment. 1989 August 8 - 12:37 GMT - Cape Canaveral LC39B. Space Shuttle STS-28R STS-28 Spacecraft: Columbia. Agency: NASA JSC. Perigee: 289 km (179 mi). Apogee: 306 km (190 mi). Inclination: 57.00 deg. Period: 90.50 min. Crew: Adamson, Brown Mark, Leestma, Richards, Shaw. Flight: STS-28. Manned five crew. Deployed 2 classified satellites. Landed at: Runway 17 dry lake bed at Edwards Air Force Base, . Landing Speed: 287 kph. Touchdown miss distance: 1,618.00 m. Landing Rollout: 1,833.00 m. Payloads: DoD Mission. 1989 October 18 - 16:53 GMT - Cape Canaveral LC39B. Space Shuttle STS-34R STS-34 Mass: 22,064 kg (48,642 lb). Spacecraft: Atlantis. Agency: NASA JSC. Perigee: 298 km (185 mi). Apogee: 307 km (190 mi). Inclination: 34.30 deg. Period: 90.60 min. Crew: Baker, Chang-Diaz, Lucid, McCulley, Williams Donald. Flight: STS-34. Manned five crew. Deployed Galileo .Payloads: Deploy IUS with Galileo spacecraft. Shuttle Solar Backscatter Ultraviolet (SSBUV), Polymer Morphology (PM) experiments, IMAX camera project, Mesoscale Lightning Experiment (MLE), Air Force Maui Optical Site (AMOS) experiment, Growth Hormone Concentration and Distribution (GHCD) in Plants experiment, Sensor Technology Experiment (STEX), SSIP Student Experiment (SE) 82-15, Ice Crystals Experiment. First flight at this inclination. 1989 November 23 - 00:23 GMT - Cape Canaveral LC39B. Space Shuttle STS-33R STS-33 Spacecraft: Discovery. Agency: NASA JSC. Perigee: 207 km (128 mi). Apogee: 214 km (132 mi). Inclination: 28.50 deg. Period: 88.70 min. Crew: Blaha, Carter, Gregory, Musgrave, Thornton. Flight: STS-33. Manned five crew. Deployed a classified payload. Orbits of Earth: 78. Distance traveled: 3,218,687 km. Landed at: Concrete runway 04 at Edwards Air Force Base, Cali. Landing Speed: 368 kph. Touchdown miss distance: 570.00 m. Landing Rollout: 2,366.00 m. Payloads: DoD Mission - third space shuttle night launch. 1990 January 9 - 12:35 GMT - Cape Canaveral LC39A. Space Shuttle STS-32R STS-32 Mass: 12,014 kg (26,486 lb). Spacecraft: Columbia. Agency: NASA JSC. Perigee: 296 km (183 mi). Apogee: 361 km (224 mi). Inclination: 28.50 deg. Period: 91.10 min. Crew: Brandenstein, Dunbar, Ivins, Low, Wetherbee. Flight: STS-32. Manned five crew. Deployed Leasat 5, retrieved LDEF. Night landing. Payloads: Deployment of Syncom IV-5, retrieval of Long Duration Exposure Facility (LDEF), Fluids Experiment Apparatus (FEA)-3, Protein Crystal Growth (PCG) III-2, Latitude/Longitude Locator (L3), American Flight Echocardiograph (AFE), Characterization of Neurospora Circadian Rhythms in Space (CNCR)-01, Air Force Maui Optical Site (AMOS)-4, Mesoscale Lightning Experiment (MLE), IMAX, Interim Operational Contamination Monitor (lOCM). 1990 February 28 - 07:50 GMT - Cape Canaveral LC39A. Space Shuttle STS-36R STS-36 Spacecraft: Atlantis. Agency: NASA JSC. Perigee: 198 km (123 mi). Apogee: 204 km (126 mi). Inclination: 62.00 deg. Period: 88.50 min. Crew: Casper, Creighton, Hilmers, Mullane, Thuot. Flight: STS-36. Manned five crew. Deployed a classified payload. Landed at: Runway 23 dry lake bed at Edwards Air Force Base, . Landing Speed: 368 kph. Touchdown miss distance: 494.00 m. Landing Rollout: 2,407.00 m. Payloads: DoD Mission - Record altitude (through 5/93). 1990 April 24 - 12:33 GMT - Cape Canaveral LC39B. Space Shuttle STS-31R STS-31 Mass: 13,005 kg (28,671 lb). Spacecraft: Discovery. Agency: NASA JSC. Perigee: 585 km (363 mi). Apogee: 615 km (382 mi). Inclination: 28.50 deg. Period: 96.70 min. Crew: Bolden, Hawley, McCandless, Shriver, Sullivan. Flight: STS-31. Deployed HST (Hubble Space Telescope). Payloads: Deployment of Hubble Space Telescope, IMAX camera in payload bay and in crew compartment, Protein Crystal Growth III-03, Investigation Into Polymer Membrane Process-ing- 01, Air Force Maui Optical Site-05, Radiation Monitoring Equipment III-01, Student Experiment 82-16, and Ascent Particle Monitor 01. 1990 October 6 - 11:47 GMT - Cape Canaveral LC39B. Space Shuttle STS-41 STS-41 Mass: 22,140 kg (48,810 lb). Spacecraft: Discovery. Agency: NASA JSC. Perigee: 300 km (180 mi). Apogee: 307 km (190 mi). Inclination: 28.50 deg. Period: 90.60 min. Crew: Akers, Cabana, Melnick, Richards, Shepherd. Flight: STS-41. Manned five crew. Deployed Ulysses spacecraft. Payloads: Deploy Ulysses, Shuttle Solar Backscatter Ultraviolet, Intelsat Solar Array Coupon, Solid-Surface Combustion Experiment, Investigations Into Polymer Membrane Processing, Chromo-some and Plant Cell Division in Space, Physiological Systems Experiment, Voice Command System, Radiation Monitoring Equipment III, Air Force Maui Optical Site. 1990 November 15 - 23:48 GMT - Cape Canaveral LC39A. Space Shuttle STS-38 STS-38 Spacecraft: Atlantis. Agency: NASA JSC. Perigee: 78 km (48 mi). Apogee: 226 km (140 mi). Inclination: 28.50 deg. Period: 87.50 min. Crew: Covey, Culbertson, Gemar, Meade, Springer. Flight: STS-38. Manned five crew. Deployed a classified payload. Orbits of Earth: 79. Payloads: DoD Mission. 1990 November 20 - Backup shuttle carrier aircraft. In the event of loss of N905NA, which has been in service for 15 years, NASA purchases a second 747, N911NA, for use as a shuttle carrier. 1990 December 2 - 06:49 GMT - Cape Canaveral LC39B. Space Shuttle STS-35R STS-35 Mass: 11,943 kg (26,329 lb). Spacecraft: Columbia. Agency: NASA JSC. Perigee: 352 km (218 mi). Apogee: 362 km (224 mi). Inclination: 28.50 deg. Period: 91.70 min. Crew: Brand, Durrance, Gardner Guy, Hoffman, Lounge, Parise, Parker. Flight: STS-35. Manned seven crew. Carried ASTRO-1 observatory. Payloads: Ultraviolet Astronomy TeIescope (Astro), Broad-Band X-Ray Telescope (BBXRT), Shuttle Amateur Radio Experiment (SAREX), Air Force Maui Optical Site (AMOS). 1991 April 5 - 14:22 GMT - Cape Canaveral LC39B. Space Shuttle STS-37R STS-37 Mass: 16,611 kg (36,620 lb). Spacecraft: Atlantis. Agency: NASA JSC. Perigee: 450 km (270 mi). Apogee: 462 km (287 mi). Inclination: 28.50 deg. Period: 93.70 min. Crew: Apt, Cameron, Godwin, Nagel, Ross. Flight: STS-37. Manned five crew. Unscheduled EVA to manually deploy the Gamma-Ray Observatory's high-gain antenna, which failed to deploy upon ground command. Payloads: Gamma-Ray Observatory (GRO), Crew/ Equipment Translation Aids (part of Extravehicular Activity Development Flight Experiment), Ascent Particle Monitor (APM), Bioserve Instrumentation Technology Associates Materials Dispersion Apparatus (BlMDA), Protein Crystal Growth (PCG)-Block Il, Space Station Heatpipe Advanced Radiator Element (SHARE)-ll, Shuttle Amateur Radio Experiment (SAREX)-ll, Radiation Monitoring Equipment (RME)-lIl, Air Force Maui Optical Site (AMOS) Calibration Test. 1991 April 28 - 11:33 GMT - Cape Canaveral LC39A. Space Shuttle STS-39 STS-39 Mass: 9,712 kg (21,411 lb). Spacecraft: Discovery. Agency: NASA JSC. Perigee: 248 km (154 mi). Apogee: 263 km (163 mi). Inclination: 57.00 deg. Period: 89.60 min. Crew: Bluford, Coats, Hammond, Harbaugh, Hieb, McMonagle, Veach. Flight: STS-39. Manned seven crew. Deployed USA 70, CRO A, CRO B, CRO C; deployed and retrieved IBSS. Payloads: Infrared Background Signature Survey (lBSS), Air Force Program (AFP)-675, Space Test Payload (STP)-I, Multi-Purpose Experiment Canister (MPEC), Cloud Logic to Optimize Use of Defense Systems (CLOUDS)-1A, Radiation Monitoring Equipment (RME)-lll. 1991 June 5 - 13:24 GMT - Cape Canaveral LC39B. Space Shuttle STS-40 STS-40 Mass: 11,767 kg (25,941 lb). Spacecraft: Columbia. Agency: NASA JSC. Perigee: 287 km (178 mi). Apogee: 296 km (183 mi). Inclination: 39.00 deg. Period: 90.40 min. Crew: Bagian, Gaffney, Gutierrez, Hughes-Fulford, Jernigan, O Connor, Seddon. Flight: STS-40. Carried Spacelab life sciences module. Payloads: Spacelab Life Sciences (SLS)-1 with long module, getaway special bridge assembly with 12 getaway specials, Physiological Monitoring System (PMS), Urine Monitoring System (UMS), Animal Enclosure Modules (AEM), Middeck Zero-gravity Dynamics Experiment (MODE), 7 Orbiter Experiments Program experiments. 1991 August 2 - 15:02 GMT - Cape Canaveral LC39A. Space Shuttle STS-43 STS-43 Mass: 21,265 kg (46,881 lb). Spacecraft: Atlantis. Agency: NASA JSC. Perigee: 301 km (187 mi). Apogee: 306 km (190 mi). Inclination: 28.50 deg. Period: 90.60 min. Crew: Adamson, Baker Mike, Blaha, Low, Lucid. Flight: STS-43. Manned five crew. Deployed TDRS 5 satellite. Payloads: Tracking and Data Relay Satellite (TDRS)-E/lnertial Upper Stage (lUS), Space Station Heatpipe Advanced Radiator Element (SHARE)-ll, Shuttle Solar Backscatter Ultraviolet (SSBUV) instrument 03, Optical Communications Through the Shuttle Window (OCTW), Air Force Maui Optical Site (AMOS) Calibration Test, Auroral Photography Experiment (APE)-B, Bioserve-lnstrumentation Technology Associates Materials Dispersion Apparatus (BlMDA)-02, Investigations Into Polymer Membrane Processing (IPMP)-03, Protein Crystal Growth Ill Block Il, Space Acceleration Measure-ment System (SAMS), Solid Surface Combustion Experiment (SSCE)-02, Tank Pressure Control Experiment (TPCE). 1991 August 10 - Shuttle Columbia overhauled at Palmdale Spacecraft: Columbia. The orbiter returned to service on 9 February 1992. 62 modifications were made, including replacement of the nose cap; removal of the SEADS and SUMS experiment packages; new Auxiliary Power Units installed; carbon brakes and a drag chute installed; Orbiter 6.0 structural modifications made; AP-101S General Purpose Computers replaced the older AP-101P's; and the Thermal Protection System was reworked. 1991 September 12 - 23:11 GMT - Cape Canaveral LC39A. Space Shuttle STS-48 STS-48 Mass: 7,854 kg (17,315 lb). Spacecraft: Discovery. Agency: NASA JSC. Perigee: 575 km (357 mi). Apogee: 580 km (360 mi). Inclination: 57.00 deg. Period: 96.20 min. Crew: Brown Mark, Buchli, Creighton, Gemar, Reightler. Flight: STS-48. Manned five crew. Deployed UARS; conducted materials and biological research. Payloads: Upper Atmosphere Research Satellite (UARS), Ascent Particle Monitor (APM)-03, Physiological and Anatomical Rodent Experiment (PARE)-01, Protein Crystal Growth (PCG)-ll-2, Middeck Zero-Gravity Dynamics, Experiment (MODE)-01, Investigations Into Polymer Membrane Processing (IPMP)-04, Cosmic Radiation Effects and Activation Monitor (CREAM-02), Radiation Monitoring Equipment (RME)-lll-06, Shuttle Activation Monitor (SAM)-03, Air Force Maui Optical Site (AMOS) Calibration Test. 1991 November 24 - 23:44 GMT - Cape Canaveral LC39A. Space Shuttle STS-44 STS-44 Mass: 20,242 kg (44,625 lb). Spacecraft: Atlantis. Agency: NASA JSC. Perigee: 363 km (225 mi). Apogee: 371 km (230 mi). Inclination: 28.50 deg. Period: 91.90 min. Crew: Gregory, Hennen, Henricks, Musgrave, Runco, Voss. Flight: STS-44. Manned six crew. Deployed Defense Support Program satellite. Payloads: Defense Support Program satellite/ Inertial Upper Stage, Interim Operational Contamination Monitor, Terra Scout, Military Man in Space, Shuttle Activation Monitor, Cosmic Radiation Effects and Activation Monitor, Radiation Monitoring Equipment Ill, Air Force Maui Optical Site Calibration Test, Ultraviolet Plume Instrument, Visual Function Tester 1. 1992 January 22 - 14:52 GMT - Cape Canaveral LC39A. Space Shuttle STS-42 STS-42 Mass: 13,001 kg (28,662 lb). Spacecraft: Discovery. Agency: NASA JSC. Perigee: 291 km (180 mi). Apogee: 307 km (190 mi). Inclination: 57.00 deg. Period: 90.50 min. Crew: Bondar, Grabe, Hilmers, Merbold, Oswald, Readdy, Thagard. Flight: STS-42. 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. 1992 February 1 - Discovery OMDP-1 Spacecraft: Discovery. Shuttle Discovery undergoes its OMDP-1 Orbiter Maintenance Down Period at the Kennedy Space Center. These are undertaken every 10 to 12 shuttle missions. 70 modifications are made, including addition of a brake chute, structural inspection, and thermal protection system refit. 1992 March 24 - 13:13 GMT - Cape Canaveral LC39A. Space Shuttle STS-45 STS-45 Mass: 8,020 kg (17,680 lb). Spacecraft: Atlantis. Agency: NASA JSC. Perigee: 282 km (175 mi). Apogee: 294 km (182 mi). Inclination: 57.00 deg. Period: 90.30 min. Crew: Bolden, Duffy, Foale, Frimout, Leestma, Lichtenberg, Sullivan. Flight: STS-45. Manned seven crew. Carried ATLAS-1 experimental package. Payloads: Atmospheric Laboratory for Applications and Science (ATLAS)-1, Shuttle Solar Backscat-ter Ultraviolet (SSBUV)-4, Getaway Special Experiment G-229, Space Tissue Loss (STL)-1, Radiation Monitoring Equipment (RME)-lIl, Visual Function Tester (VFT)-lI, Cloud Logic To Opti-mize Use of Defense Systems (CLOUDS)-1A, Investigations Into Polymer Membrane Process-ing (IPMP), Shuttle Amateur Radio Experiment (SAREX)-Il, Ultraviolet Plume Instrument (UVPl). 1992 May 7 - 23:40 GMT - Cape Canaveral LC39B. Space Shuttle STS-49 STS-49 Mass: 14,786 kg (32,597 lb). Spacecraft: Endeavour. Agency: NASA JSC. Perigee: 268 km (166 mi). Apogee: 341 km (211 mi). Inclination: 28.30 deg. Period: 90.60 min. Crew: Akers, Brandenstein, Chilton, Hieb, Melnick, Thornton, Thuot. Flight: STS-49. Retrieved Intelsat 6 and attached new SRM. First active dual rendezvous of two orbiting spacecraft (Endeavour and Intelsat-Vl). First deployment of a drag chute on the orbiter fleet. Payloads: Intelsat-Vl reboost mission hardware, Assembly of Station by EVA Methods (ASEM), Commercial Protein Crystal Growth (CPCG), Air Force Maui Optical Site (AMOS) Calibration Test, Ultraviolet Plume Instrument (UVPl). 1992 June 25 - 16:12 GMT - Cape Canaveral LC39A. Space Shuttle STS-50 STS-50 Mass: 11,153 kg (24,588 lb). Spacecraft: Columbia. Agency: NASA JSC. Perigee: 302 km (187 mi). Apogee: 309 km (192 mi). Inclination: 28.50 deg. Period: 90.60 min. Crew: Baker, Bowersox, DeLucas, Dunbar, Meade, Richards, Trinh. Flight: STS-50. Carried United States Microgravity Laboratory. First extended-duration mission. Payloads: United States Microgravity Laboratory (USML)-1; Orbital Acceleration Research Experiment (OARE); Investigations Into Polymer Membrane Processing (IPMP), Shuttle Amateur Radio Experiment (SAREX)-ll; Ultraviolet Plume Instrument (UVPl) . 1992 July 31 - 13:56 GMT - Cape Canaveral LC39B. Space Shuttle STS-46 STS-46 Mass: 12,965 kg (28,582 lb). Spacecraft: Atlantis. Agency: NASA JSC. Perigee: 425 km (264 mi). Apogee: 437 km (271 mi). Inclination: 28.50 deg. Period: 93.20 min. Crew: Allen Andy, Chang-Diaz, Hoffman, Ivins, Malerba, Nicollier, Shriver. Flight: STS-46. Manned seven crew. Deployed Eureca-1; failed to deploy Italian tether probe TSS-1. Payloads: Tethered Satellite System (TSS)-1; European Retrievable Carrier (EURECA)-1L; Evaluation of Oxygen Integration with Materials (EOlM)-lll/ Thermal Energy Management Processes (TEMP)-2A; Consortium for Materials Development In Space Complex Autonomous Payloads (CONCAP)-ll and Ill; IMAX Cargo Bay Camera (ICBC); Limited Duration Space Environment Candidate Materials Exposure (LDCE); Pituitary Growth Hormone Cell Function (PHCF); Ultravio-let Plume Instrument (UVPl). 1992 September 12 - 14:23 GMT - Cape Canaveral LC39B. Space Shuttle STS-47 STS-47 Mass: 12,772 kg (28,157 lb). Spacecraft: Endeavour. Agency: NASA JSC. Perigee: 297 km (184 mi). Apogee: 310 km (190 mi). Inclination: 57.00 deg. Period: 90.60 min. Crew: Apt, Brown, Davis, Gibson, Jemison, Lee, Mohri. Flight: STS-47. Manned seven crew. Carried Spacelab-J with microgravity and biology experiments. Payloads: Spacelab-J, nine getaway special canister experiments, Israel Space Agency Investigation About Hornets (ISAIAH), Shuttle Amateur Radio Experiment (SAREX) II, Solid Surface Combus-tion Experiment (SSCE). 1992 October 1 - Atlantis OMDP-1 Spacecraft: Atlantis. Shuttle Atlantis undergoes its OMDP-1 Orbiter Maintenance Down Period at the Palmdale, returning to service in May 1994. These are undertaken every 10 to 12 shuttle missions. Modifications made include: nose wheel steering changes, EDO cargo pallet provisions, and Mir ODS docking system fitting. Provisions for the Long Duration Orbiter 28-day pallet are installed, and 331 Master Change Requests are implemented. 1992 October 22 - 17:09 GMT - Cape Canaveral LC39B. Space Shuttle STS-52 STS-52 Mass: 9,106 kg (20,075 lb). Spacecraft: Columbia. Agency: NASA JSC. Perigee: 304 km (188 mi). Apogee: 307 km (190 mi). Inclination: 28.50 deg. Period: 90.60 min. Crew: Baker Mike, Jernigan, MacLean, Shepherd, Veach, Wetherbee. Flight: STS-52. Deployed Lageos 2, CTA. Payloads: Laser Geodynamic Satellite (LAGEOS) II/ Italian Research Interim Stage (IRIS), Canadian Experiments (CANEX) 2, United States Micro-gravity Payload (USMP) 1, Attitude Sensor Pack-age (ASP), Tank Pressure Control Experiment (TPCE), Physiological Systems Experiment (PSE), Heat Pipe Performance (HPP) experiment, Commercial Protein Crystal Growth (CPCG), Shuttle Plume Impingement Experiment (SPIE), Commercial Materials ITA Experiment (CMIX), Crystals by Vapor Transport Experiment (CVTE). 1992 November 8 - Columbia OMDP-1 Spacecraft: Columbia. Shuttle Columbia begins its OMDP-1 Orbiter Maintenance Down Period at the Palmdale, returning to service in 1995 for the STS-73 mission. These are undertaken every 10 to 12 shuttle missions. Modifications made included a complete mid-life refurbishment, corrosion control on the wing leading edge spar, and implementation of 96 Master Change Requests. 1992 December 2 - 13:24 GMT - Cape Canaveral LC39A. Space Shuttle STS-53 STS-53 Mass: 11,868 kg (26,164 lb). Spacecraft: Discovery. Agency: NASA JSC. Perigee: 365 km (226 mi). Apogee: 376 km (233 mi). Inclination: 57.00 deg. Period: 92.00 min. Crew: Bluford, Cabana, Clifford, Voss, Walker Dave. Flight: STS-53. Manned five crew. Deployed classified military satellite USA 89. The ODERACS payload was unable to be deployed because of payload equipment malfunction. Payloads: Department of Defense (DOD)1; Glow Experiment/Cryogenic Heat Pipe Experiment Payload (GCP); Orbital Debris Radar Calibration System (ODERACS); Battlefield Laser Acquisition Sensor Test (BLAST); Cloud Logic To Optimize Use of Defense Systems (CLOUDS) 1A; Cosmic Radiation Effects and Activation Monitor (CREAM); Fluid Acquisition and Resupply Equipment (FARE); Hand-held, Earth-oriented, Real-time, Cooperative, User-friendly, Location-targeting and Environmental System (HER-CULES); Microencapsulation in Space (MIS)-1; Radiation Monitoring Equipment (RME) III; Spare Tissue Loss (STL); Visual Function Tester (VFT)2. 1993 - Shuttle using Advanced Solid Rocket Motors (development cancelled 1993). 1993 January 13 - 13:59 GMT - Cape Canaveral LC39B. Space Shuttle STS-54 STS-54 Mass: 21,156 kg (46,640 lb). Spacecraft: Endeavour. Agency: NASA JSC. Perigee: 302 km (187 mi). Apogee: 309 km (192 mi). Inclination: 28.50 deg. Period: 90.60 min. Crew: Casper, Harbaugh, Helms, McMonagle, Runco. Flight: STS-54. Manned five crew. Deployed TDRSS 6. Payloads: Tracking and Data Relay Satellite (TDRS)-F/Inertial Upper Stage (IUS); Diffuse X-ray Spectrometer (DXS); Chromosome and Plant Cell Division in Space (CHROMEX); Commercial Generic Bioprocessing Apparatus (CGBA) A; Physiological and Anatomical Rodent Experiment (PARE) 02; Solid Surface Combustion Experiment (SSCE). 1993 March 22 - Cape Canaveral LC39A. Shuttle Columbia Pad Abort Spacecraft: Columbia. Flight: STS-55. The countdown for Columbia's launch was halted by on-board computers at T-3 seconds following a problem with purge pressure readings in the oxidizer preburner on main engine #2 Columbia's three main engines were replaced on the launch pad, and the flight was rescheduled behind Discovery's launch on STS-56. Columbia finally launched on April 26, 1993. 1993 April 8 - 05:29 GMT - Cape Canaveral LC39B. Space Shuttle STS-56 STS-56 Mass: 7,441 kg (16,404 lb). Spacecraft: Discovery. Agency: NASA JSC. Perigee: 291 km (180 mi). Apogee: 299 km (185 mi). Inclination: 57.00 deg. Period: 90.40 min. Crew: Cameron, Cockrell, Foale, Ochoa, Oswald. Flight: STS-56. Manned five crew. Carried Atlas-2; deployed and retrieved Spartan 201. Payloads: Atmospheric Laboratory for Applications and Science (ATLAS) 2, Shuttle Solar Backscat-ter Ultraviolet (SSBUV) A, Shuttle Pointed Autonomous Research Tool for Astronomy (SPARTAN) 201 (Solar Wind Generation Experi-ment), Solar Ultraviolet Experiment (SUVE), Commercial Material Dispersion Apparatus (CMIX), Physiological and Anatomical Rodent Experiment (PARE), Hand-held, Earth-oriented, Real-time, Cooperative, User-friendly, Location-targeting, and Environmental System (HER-CULES), Shuttle Amateur Radio Experiment (SAREX) II, Space Tissue Loss (STL), Air Force Maui Optical Site (AMOS), Cosmic Radiation Effects and Activation Monitor (CREAM), Radiation Monitoring Equipment (RME) III. 1993 April 26 - 14:50 GMT - Cape Canaveral LC39A. Space Shuttle STS-55 STS-55 Mass: 12,185 kg (26,863 lb). Spacecraft: Columbia. Agency: NASA JSC. Perigee: 304 km (188 mi). Apogee: 312 km (193 mi). Inclination: 28.50 deg. Period: 90.70 min. Crew: Harris, Henricks, Nagel, Precourt, Ross, Schlegel, Walter. Flight: STS-55. Manned seven crew. Carried German Spacelab-D2. Payloads: Spacelab D-2 with long module, unique support structure (USS), and Reaction Kinetics in Glass Melts (RKGM) getaway special, Shuttle Amateur Radio Experiment (SAREX) II. 1993 June 21 - 13:07 GMT - Cape Canaveral LC39B. Space Shuttle STS-57 STS-57 Mass: 8,931 kg (19,689 lb). Spacecraft: Endeavour. Agency: NASA JSC. Perigee: 402 km (249 mi). Apogee: 471 km (292 mi). Inclination: 28.50 deg. Period: 93.30 min. Crew: Currie, Duffy, Grabe, Low, Voss Janice, Wisoff. Flight: STS-57. Manned six crew. Carried Spacehab 1; retrieved Eureca-1 spacecraft. Payloads: Spacehab 01, retrieval of European Retriev-able Carrier (EURECA) Satellite, Superfluid Helium On-Orbit Transfer (SHOOT), Consortium for Materials Development in Space Complex Autonomous Payload (CONCAP)-IV, Fluid Acquisition and Resupply Experiment (FARE), Shuttle Amateur Radio Experiment (SAREX) II, Air Force Maui Optical Site (AMOS), GAS bridge assembly with 12 getaway special payloads. 1993 August 12 - Cape Canaveral LC39B. Shuttle Discovery Pad Abort Spacecraft: Discovery. Flight: STS-51. The countdown for Discovery's third launch attempt ended at the T-3 second mark when on-board computers detected the failure of one of four sensors in main engine #2 which monitor the flow of hydrogen fuel to the engine. All of Discovery's main engines were ordered replaced on the launch pad, delaying the Shuttle's fourth launch attempt until September 12, 1993. 1993 September 12 - 11:45 GMT - Cape Canaveral LC39B. Space Shuttle STS-51 STS-51 Mass: 19,360 kg (42,680 lb). Spacecraft: Discovery. Agency: NASA JSC. Perigee: 300 km (180 mi). Apogee: 308 km (191 mi). Inclination: 28.50 deg. Period: 90.60 min. Crew: Bursch, Culbertson, Newman, Readdy, Walz. Flight: STS-51. Deployed and retrieved Orfeus-SPAS. During the EVA conducted tests in support of the Hubble Space Telescope first servicing mission and future EVAs, including Space Station assembly and maintenance. First night landing at KSC. Payloads: Advanced Communication Technology Sat-ellite (ACTS)/Transfer Orbit Stage (TOS), Orbiting Retrievable Far and Extreme Ultraviolet Spectrometer—Shuttle Pallet Satellite (ORFEUS-SPAS) with Remote IMAX Camera System (RICS), Limited Duration Space Environ-ment Candidate Materials Exposure (LDCE) (Beam Configuration C), Commercial Protein Crystal Growth (CPCG Block II), Chromosome and Plant Cell Division in Space (CHROMEX), High Resolution Shuttle Glow Spectroscopy-A (HRSGS-A), Auroral Photography Experiment-B (APE-B), Investigation into Polymer Membrane Processing (IPMP), Radiation Monitoring Equip-ment (RME-III), Air Force Maui Optical Site Cal-ibration Test (AMOS), IMAX In-Cabin Camera. 1993 October 18 - 14:53 GMT - Cape Canaveral LC39B. Space Shuttle STS-58 STS-58 Mass: 10,517 kg (23,186 lb). Spacecraft: Columbia. Agency: NASA JSC. Perigee: 284 km (176 mi). Apogee: 294 km (182 mi). Inclination: 39.00 deg. Period: 90.30 min. Crew: Blaha, Fettman, Lucid, McArthur, Searfoss, Seddon, Wolf. Flight: STS-58. Biological, microgravity experiments aboard Spacelab 2. Payloads: Spacelab Life Sciences (SLS) 2, Shuttle Amateur Radio Experiment (SAREX) II. 1993 December 2 - 09:27 GMT - Cape Canaveral LC39B. Space Shuttle STS-61 STS-61 Mass: 8,011 kg (17,661 lb). Spacecraft: Endeavour. Agency: NASA JSC. Perigee: 291 km (180 mi). Apogee: 576 km (357 mi). Inclination: 28.50 deg. Period: 93.30 min. Crew: Akers, Bowersox, Covey, Hoffman, Musgrave, Nicollier, Thornton. Flight: STS-61. Manned seven crew. Hubble repair mission. Conducted the most EVAs (5) on a Space Shuttle Flight to that date. Payloads: Hubble Space Telescope (HST) Servicing Mission (SM) 1, IMAX Camera, IMAX Cargo Bay Camera (ICBC), Air Force Maui Optical Site (AMOS). 1994 February 3 - 12:10 GMT - Cape Canaveral LC39A. Space Shuttle STS-60 STS-60 Mass: 13,006 kg (28,673 lb). Spacecraft: Discovery. Agency: NASA JSC. Perigee: 348 km (216 mi). Apogee: 351 km (218 mi). Inclination: 56.40 deg. Period: 91.50 min. Crew: Bolden, Chang-Diaz, Davis, Krikalyov, Reightler, Sega. Flight: STS-60. Deployed ODERACS A-F, Bremsat, carried Wake Shield Facility. Payloads: Wake Shield Facility (WSF) 1 and SPACEHAB 02. Getaway special bridge assembly experiments: Capillary Pumped Loop (CAPL), Orbital Debris Radar Calibration Spheres (ODERACS), University of Bremen Satellite (BREMSAT), G-514, G-071, and G-536. Shuttle Amateur Radio Experiment (SAREX) II; Auroral Photography Experiment (APE-B). 1994 March 4 - 13:53 GMT - Cape Canaveral LC39B. Space Shuttle STS-62 STS-62 Mass: 8,870 kg (19,550 lb). Spacecraft: Columbia. Agency: NASA JSC. Perigee: 246 km (152 mi). Apogee: 309 km (192 mi). Inclination: 39.00 deg. Period: 90.40 min. Crew: Allen Andy, Casper, Gemar, Ivins, Thuot. Flight: STS-62. Carried USMP-2, OAST-2, SAMPIE, TES, EISG. Payloads: United States Microgravity Payload (USMP) 2, Office of Aeronautics and Space Technology (OAST) 2, Dexterous End Effector (DEE), Shuttle Solar Backscatter Ultraviolet/A (SSBUV/A), Limited-Duration Space Environment Candidate Material Exposure (LDCE), Advanced Protein Crystal Growth (APCG), Physiological Systems Experiment (PSE), Commercial Protein Crystal Growth (CPCG), Commercial Generic Bioprocessing Apparatus (CGBA), Auroral Photography Experiment Phase B (APE-B), Middeck Zero-Gravity Dynamics Experiment (MODE), Air Force Maui Optical Site (AMOS) Calibration Test, Bioreactor Demonstration System A. 1994 April 9 - 11:05 GMT - Cape Canaveral LC39A. Space Shuttle STS-59 STS-59 Mass: 12,490 kg (27,530 lb). Spacecraft: Endeavour. Agency: NASA JSC. Perigee: 194 km (120 mi). Apogee: 204 km (126 mi). Inclination: 56.90 deg. Period: 88.40 min. Crew: Apt, Chilton, Clifford, Godwin, Gutierrez, Jones. Flight: STS-59. Carried SIR-C SAR radar. Payloads: Space Radar Laboratory (SRL) 1; Consortium for Materials Development in Space Com-plex Autonomous Payload (CONCAP) IV; three getaway special (GAS) payloads; Space Tissue Loss (STL) A, B; Visual Function Tester (VFT) 4; Shuttle Amateur Radio Experiment (SAREX) II. 1994 July 8 - 16:43 GMT - Cape Canaveral LC39A. Space Shuttle STS-65 STS-65 Mass: 10,811 kg (23,834 lb). Spacecraft: Columbia. Agency: NASA JSC. Perigee: 257 km (159 mi). Apogee: 257 km (159 mi). Inclination: 28.45 deg. Crew: Cabana, Chiao, Halsell, Hieb, Mukai, Thomas, Walz. Flight: STS-65. Carried IML-2; microgravity, biology experiments. Payloads: International Microgravity Laboratory (IML) 2, Orbital Acceleration Research Experiment (OARE), Commercial Protein Crystal Growth (CPCG), Air Force Maui Optical Site (AMOS), Military Applications of Ship Tracks (MAST), Shuttle Amateur Radio Experiment (SAREX). 1994 August 18 - Cape Canaveral LC39A. Shuttle Endeavour Pad Abort Spacecraft: Endeavour. Flight: STS-68. The countdown for Endeavour's first launch attempt ended 1.9 seconds before liftoff when on-board computers detected higher than acceptable readings in one channel of a sensor monitoring the discharge temperature of the high pressure oxidizer turbopump in main engine #3. A test firing of the engine at the Stennis Space Center in Mississippi on September 2nd confirmed that a slight drift in a fuel flow meter in the engine caused a slight increase in the turbopump's temperature. The test firing also confirmed a slightly slower start for main engine #3 during the pad abort, which could have contributed to the higher temperatures. After Endeavour was brought back to the Vehicle Assembly Building to be outfitted with three replacement engines, NASA managers set October 2nd as the date for Endeavour's second launch attempt. 1994 September 9 - 22:22 GMT - Cape Canaveral LC39B. Space Shuttle STS-64 STS-64 Mass: 9,260 kg (20,410 lb). Spacecraft: Discovery. Agency: NASA JSC. Perigee: 225 km (139 mi). Apogee: 225 km (139 mi). Inclination: 57.00 deg. Crew: Hammond, Helms, Lee, Linenger, Meade, Richards. Flight: STS-64. Payloads: Lidar In-Space Technology Experiment (LITE), Shuttle Pointed Autonomous Research Tool for Astronomy (SPARTAN) 201-II, Robot-Operated Materials Processing System (ROMPS), Shuttle Plume Impingement Flight Experiment (SPIFEX), getaway special (GAS) bridge assembly with ten GAS experiments, Trajectory Control Sensor (TCS), Simplified Aid for EVA Rescue (SAFER), Solid Surface Combustion Experiment (SSCE), Biological Research in Canisters (BRIC) III, Radiation Monitoring Experiment (RME) III, Military Applications of Ship Tracks (MAST), Shuttle Amateur Radio Experiment (SAREX) II, Air Force Maui Optical Site (AMOS) Calibration Test. 1994 September 30 - 11:16 GMT - Cape Canaveral LC39A. Space Shuttle STS-68 STS-68 Mass: 12,510 kg (27,570 lb). Spacecraft: Endeavour. Agency: NASA JSC. Perigee: 193 km (119 mi). Apogee: 193 km (119 mi). Inclination: 57.00 deg. Crew: Baker Mike, Bursch, Jones, Smith Steven, Wilcutt, Wisoff. Flight: STS-68. Carried SIR-C SAR. Landed at Edwards Air Force Base on October 11. Payloads: Space Radar Laboratory (SRL) 2, five Getaway Special payloads, Chromosome and Plant Cell Division in Space (CHROMEX) 5, Biological Research in Canisters (BRIC) 01, Cosmic Radiation Effects and Activation Monitor (CREAM), Military Application of Ship Tracks (MAST), Commercial Protein Crystal Growth (CPCG). 1994 November 3 - 16:59 GMT - Cape Canaveral LC39B. Space Shuttle STS-66 STS-66 Mass: 10,544 kg (23,245 lb). Spacecraft: Atlantis. Agency: NASA JSC. Perigee: 263 km (163 mi). Apogee: 263 km (163 mi). Inclination: 57.00 deg. Crew: Brown, Clervoy, McMonagle, Ochoa, Parazynski, Tanner. Flight: STS-66. Carried Atlas-3 laboratory; deployed and retrieved CRISTA-SPAS. Payloads: Atmospheric Laboratory for Applications and Science (ATLAS) 3, Cryogenic Infrared Spectrometers and Telescopes for the Atmo-sphere (CRISTA)-Shuttle Pallet Satellite (SPAS) 1, Experiment of the Sun for Complement-ing the ATLAS Payload for Education (ESCAPE) II, Inter-Mars Tissue Equivalent Proportional Counter (ITEPC), Shuttle Solar Backscatter Ultraviolet (SSBUV) A, Physiological and Anatomical Rodent Experiment (PARE/NIH-R), Protein Crystal Growth (PCG-TES and PCG-STES), Space Tissue Loss (STL/NIH-C-A), Shuttle Acceleration Measurement System (SAMS), Heat Pipe Performance (HPP). 1995 February 3 - 05:22 GMT - Cape Canaveral LC39B. Space Shuttle STS-63 STS-63 Mass: 8,641 kg (19,050 lb). Spacecraft: Discovery. Agency: NASA JSC. Perigee: 275 km (170 mi). Apogee: 342 km (212 mi). Inclination: 51.60 deg. Period: 92.30 min. Crew: Collins Eileen, Foale, Harris, Titov Vladimir, Voss Janice, Wetherbee. Flight: STS-63, Mir EO-17, Mir LD-4. Deployed ODERACS 2A-2E; deployed and retrieved Spartan 204. Discovery rendezvoused with Russia's space station, Mir, to a distance of 11 m and performed a fly-around, but did not dock with Mir. Payloads: SPACEHAB 03, Shuttle Pointed Autonomous Research Tool for Astronomy (SPARTAN) 204, Cryo Systems Experiment (CSE)/GLO-2 Experi-ment Payload (CGP)/Orbital Debris Radar Calibration Spheres (ODERACS) 2, Solid Surface Combustion Experiment (SSCE), Air Force Maui Optical Site (AMOS), IMAX Cargo Bay Camera (ICBC) 1995 March 2 - 06:38 GMT - Cape Canaveral LC39A. Space Shuttle STS-67 STS-67 Mass: 13,116 kg (28,915 lb). Spacecraft: Endeavour. Agency: NASA JSC. Perigee: 305 km (189 mi). Apogee: 305 km (189 mi). Inclination: 28.45 deg. Period: 91.50 min. Crew: Durrance, Gregory William, Grunsfeld, Jernigan, Lawrence, Oswald, Parise. Flight: STS-67. Carried Astro 2 astronomy payload with 3 UV telescopes.(attached to Endeavour).Payloads: Ultraviolet Astronomy (ASTRO) 2; Middeck Active Control Experiment (MACE); Protein Crystal Growth—Thermal Enclosure System (PCG-TES) 03; Protein Crystal Growth—Single-Locker Thermal Enclosure System (PCG-STES) 02; Commercial Materials Dispersion Apparatus Minilab/Instrumentation Technology Associates, Inc. Experiments (CMIX) 03; Shuttle Amateur Radio Experiment (SAREX) II; two getaway special experiments. 1995 June 27 - 19:32 GMT - Cape Canaveral LC39A. Space Shuttle STS-71 STS-71 Mass: 12,191 kg (26,876 lb). Spacecraft: Atlantis. Agency: NASA JSC. Perigee: 342 km (212 mi). Apogee: 342 km (212 mi). Inclination: 51.60 deg. Period: 88.90 min. Crew: Baker, Budarin, Dunbar, Gibson, Harbaugh, Precourt, Solovyov. Flight: STS-71, Mir EO-19, Mir EO-18. Mir Expedition EO-19. Transferred Budarin, Solovyov to Mir, returned Soyuz TM-21 crew to Earth. After undocking from Mir on July 4, Atlantis spent several days on orbit, carrying out medical research work with the Spacelab-Mir module in the cargo bay. Payloads: Shuttle/Mir Mission 1, Spacelab-Mir, IMAX camera, Shuttle Amateur Radio Experiment (SAREX). 1995 July 13 - 13:41 GMT - Cape Canaveral LC39B. Space Shuttle STS-70 STS-70 Mass: 20,159 kg (44,442 lb). Spacecraft: Discovery. Agency: NASA JSC. Perigee: 257 km (159 mi). Apogee: 257 km (159 mi). Inclination: 28.45 deg. Period: 90.50 min. Crew: Currie, Henricks, Kregel, Thomas, Weber. Flight: STS-70. Deployed TDRS 7. Payloads: Tracking and Data Relay Satellite (TDRS) G/ Inertial Upper Stage (IUS); Bioreactor Demon-stration System (BDS) B; Biological Research in Canisters (BRIC); Commercial Protein Crystal Growth (CPCG); Hand-Held, Earth-Oriented, Real-Time, Cooperative, User-Friendly, Location-Targeting and Environmental System (HER-CULES); Microcapsules in Space (MIS) B; Physiological and Anatomical Rodent Experiment (PARE)/National Institutes of Health (NIH) Rodents (R); Radiation Monitoring Experiment (RME) III; Shuttle Amateur Radio Experiment (SAREX) II; Space Tissue Loss (STL)/National Institutes of Health (NIH) Cells (C); Military Applications of Ship Tracks (MAST); Visual Function Tester (VFT) 4; Window Experiment (WINDEX). 1995 September 7 - 15:09 GMT - Cape Canaveral LC39A. Space Shuttle STS-69 STS-69 Mass: 11,499 kg (25,350 lb). Spacecraft: Endeavour. Agency: NASA JSC. Perigee: 321 km (199 mi). Apogee: 321 km (199 mi). Inclination: 28.45 deg. Period: 91.40 min. Crew: Cockrell, Gernhardt, Newman, Voss, Walker Dave. Flight: STS-69. Deployed and retrieved Spartan 201, WSF 2. Payloads: Wake Shield Facility (WSF) 2; Shuttle Pointed Autonomous Research Tool for As-tronomy (SPARTAN) 201; International Extreme Ultraviolet Hitchhiker (IEH)1; Inter-Mars Tissue Equivalent Proportional Counter (ITEPC); Extravehicular Activity Development Flight Test (EDFT) 2; Capillary Pumped Loop (CAPL) 2/ getaway special (GAS) bridge assembly with five GAS payloads; Auroral Photography Experiment (APE) B; Biological Research in Canisters (BRIC); Commercial Generic Bioprocessing Apparatus (CGBA), Configuration A; Electrolysis Perfor-mance Improvement Concept Study (EPICS); Space Tissue Loss (STL)/National Institutes of Health (NIH) Cells (C); Commercial Middeck Instrumentation Technology Associates Experiment (CMIX). 1995 September 27 - Discovery OMDP-2 Spacecraft: Discovery. During this overhaul 96 Master Change Requests are made, including installation of the Orbiter Docking System for space station operations, installation of the EDO cargo pallet, and repair and update of the thermal protection system. Discovery is returned to service in July 1996. 1995 October 20 - 13:53 GMT - Cape Canaveral LC39B. Space Shuttle STS-73 STS-73 Mass: 15,250 kg (33,620 lb). Spacecraft: Columbia. Agency: NASA JSC. Perigee: 241 km (149 mi). Apogee: 241 km (149 mi). Inclination: 39.00 deg. Period: 89.70 min. Crew: Bowersox, Coleman, Leslie, Lopez-Alegria, Rominger, Sacco, Thornton. Flight: STS-73. Carried USML-2 for microgravity experiments (attached to Columbia). Payloads: United States Microgravity Laboratory (USML) 2, Orbital Acceleration Research Experiment (OARE). 1995 November 12 - 12:30 GMT - Cape Canaveral LC39A. Space Shuttle STS-74 STS-74 Mass: 6,134 kg (13,523 lb). Spacecraft: Atlantis. Agency: NASA JSC. Perigee: 257 km (159 mi). Apogee: 342 km (212 mi). Inclination: 51.60 deg. Period: 91.40 min. Crew: Cameron, Hadfield, Halsell, McArthur, Ross. Flight: STS-74, Mir EO-20. Rendezvoused and docked with Mir space station on November 15. Delivered the Russian-built 316GK Shuttle-Mir docking module to Mir.Payloads: Shuttle-Mir Mission 2; docking module with two attached solar arrays; IMAX Cargo Bay Camera (ICBC); Glow Experiment (GLO-4)/ Photogrammetric Appendage Structural Dynamics Experiment (PASDE) Payload (GPP); Shuttle Amateur Radio Experiment (SAREX) II. 1996 January 11 - 09:41 GMT - Cape Canaveral LC39B. Space Shuttle STS-72 STS-72 Mass: 6,510 kg (14,350 lb). Spacecraft: Endeavour. Agency: NASA JSC. Perigee: 302 km (187 mi). Apogee: 310 km (190 mi). Inclination: 28.50 deg. Period: 90.60 min. Crew: Barry, Chiao, Duffy, Jett, Scott Winston, Wakata. Flight: STS-72. Deployed and retrieved OAST Flyer; retrieved SFU Space Flyer Unit. Beside the two satellite retrievals, the mission included two spacewalks. 1996 February 22 - 20:18 GMT - Cape Canaveral LC39B. Space Shuttle STS-75 STS-75 Mass: 10,592 kg (23,351 lb). Spacecraft: Columbia. Agency: NASA JSC. Perigee: 277 km (172 mi). Apogee: 320 km (190 mi). Inclination: 28.50 deg. Period: 90.50 min. Crew: Allen Andy, Chang-Diaz, Cheli, Guidoni, Hoffman, Horowitz, Nicollier. Flight: STS-75. Carried TSS-1R tether satellite; satellite tether broke during deployment, making TSS-1R an unintentional free flyer Payloads: Tethered Satellite System (TSS) Reflight (1R); Orbital Acceleration Research Experiment (OARE) (part of United States Microgravity Payload 3); USMP-3; Commercial Protein Crystal Growth (CPCG) 09, Block IV; Middeck Glovebox Experiment (MGBX) (part of USMP-3). During the deployment of TSS, the tether broke and the satellite was lost. 1996 March 22 - 08:13 GMT - Cape Canaveral LC39B. Space Shuttle STS-76 STS-76 Mass: 6,753 kg (14,887 lb). Spacecraft: Atlantis. Agency: NASA JSC. Perigee: 394 km (244 mi). Apogee: 398 km (247 mi). Inclination: 51.70 deg. Period: 88.80 min. Crew: Chilton, Clifford, Godwin, Lucid, Searfoss, Sega. Flight: STS-76, Mir NASA-1, Mir EO-21. Shuttle-Mir Mission 3. Docked with the Mir space station 24 March 1996; Shannon Lucid was left on Mir for an extended stay. First American EVA on Mir. Payloads: SPACEHAB/Mir 03; KidSat; Shuttle Amateur Radio Experiment (SAREX) II, Configuration M; RME 1304—Mir/ Environmental Effects Payload (MEEP); orbiter docking system RME 1315; Trapped Ions in Space Experiment (TRIS); Extravehicular Activity Development Flight Test (EDFT) 04. 1996 May 19 - 10:30 GMT - Cape Canaveral LC39B. Space Shuttle STS-77 STS-77 Mass: 12,233 kg (26,969 lb). Spacecraft: Endeavour. Agency: NASA JSC. Perigee: 274 km (170 mi). Apogee: 285 km (177 mi). Inclination: 39.00 deg. Period: 90.10 min. Crew: Brown, Bursch, Casper, Garneau, Runco, Thomas Andrew. Flight: STS-77. Deployed and retrieved Spartan 2; deployed PAMS-STU; carried Spacehab module. Payloads: Shuttle Pointed Research Tool for Astronomy (SPARTAN) 207/Inflatable Antenna Experiment (IAE); Technology Experiments Advancing Missions in Space (TEAMS) 01 (includes Vented Tank Resupply Experiment (VTRE), Global Positioning System (GPS) Attitude and Navigation Experiment (GANE) (RME 1316), Liquid Metal Test Experiment (LMTE) and Passive Aerodynami-cally Stabilized Magnetically Damped Satellite (PAMS) Satellite Test Unit (STU); SPACEHAB-4; Brilliant Eyes Ten-Kelvin Sorption Cryocooler Experiment (BETSCE); 12 getaway specials attached to a GAS bridge assembly (GAS 056, 063, 142, 144, 163, 200, 490, 564, 565, 703, 741 and the Reduced-Fill Tank Pressure Control Experiment (RFTPCE); Aquatic Research Facility (ARF) 01; Biological Research in Canisters (BRIC) 07, Block III. 1996 June 20 - 14:49 GMT - Cape Canaveral LC39B. Space Shuttle STS-78 STS-78 Spacecraft: Columbia. Agency: NASA JSC. Perigee: 246 km (152 mi). Apogee: 261 km (162 mi). Inclination: 39.00 deg. Period: 89.60 min. Crew: Brady, Favier, Helms, Henricks, Kregel, Linnehan, Thirsk. Flight: STS-78. Columbia carried Terence T Henricks, Kevin R Kregel, Susan J Helms, Richard M Linnehan, Charles E Brady, Jr, Jean-Jacques Favier, and Robert Brent Thirsk to orbit. Main payload was the Life and Microgravity Spacelab for conducting human biological and microgravity experiments. Columbia landed safely at Kennedy Space Center on July 7. 1996 August 6 - Endeavour OMDP-1 Spacecraft: Endeavour. Shuttle Endeavour undergoes its OMDP-1 Orbiter Maintenance Down Period at Palmdale, returning to service on 4 April 1997. These overhauls are undertaken every 10 to 12 shuttle missions. 1996 September 16 - 08:54 GMT - Cape Canaveral LC39A. Space Shuttle STS-79 STS-79 Spacecraft: Atlantis. Agency: NASA JSC. Perigee: 368 km (228 mi). Apogee: 386 km (239 mi). Inclination: 51.70 deg. Period: 92.10 min. Crew: Blaha, Readdy, Wilcutt, Akers, Apt, Walz. Flight: STS-79, Mir NASA-2, Mir NASA-1, Mir EO-22. On September 19 Atlantis docked with the Russian Mir space station. Aboard Atlantis in the payload bay were the Orbiter Docking System, the modified Long Tunnel, and the Spacehab Double Module, containing supplies for the Mir. Astronaut John Blaha relieved Shannon Lucid as NASA resident on the complex. Atlantis undocked from the Mir complex on September 23 at 23:33 GMT. Valeriy Korzun, Aleksandr Kaleri and John Blaha remain on Mir. On September 26 Atlantis closed its payload bay doors, and at 11:06 GMT fired its OMS engines for a three minute long deorbit burn. After entry interface at 11:42 GMT the spaceship flew across Canada and the US for a landing at the Kennedy Space Center's Runway 15 at 12:13 GMT. 1996 November 19 - 19:55 GMT - Cape Canaveral LC39B. Space Shuttle STS-80 STS-80 Spacecraft: Columbia. Agency: NASA JSC. Perigee: 318 km (197 mi). Apogee: 375 km (233 mi). Inclination: 28.50 deg. Period: 91.50 min. Crew: Cockrell, Rominger, Musgrave, Jernigan, Jones. Flight: STS-80. Mission STS-80 carried the Orfeus astronomy satellite, the Wake Shield Facility, and spacewalk equipment. The Orfeus satellite was deployed on November 20. It carried an ultraviolet telescope and spectrographs. Wake Shield Facility was deployed on November 22 and retrieved on November 26 . On 1996 Nov 29, crewmembers Tamara Jernigan and Thomas Jones were to conduct the first of several planned EVAs. However the shuttle's exit hatch would not open and NASA cancelled this and the other planned spacewalks of the mission. On December 4 at the astronauts retrieved the Orfeus satellite using the RMS arm. Reentry attempts on Dec 5 and Dec 6 were called off due to bad weather. Columbia finally landed at 11:49 GMT December 7 on Runway 33 at Kennedy Space Center, making STS-80 the longest shuttle mission to that date . 1997 January 12 - 09:27 GMT - Cape Canaveral LC39B. Space Shuttle STS-81 STS-81 Spacecraft: Atlantis. Agency: NASA JSC. Perigee: 343 km (213 mi). Apogee: 380 km (230 mi). Inclination: 51.70 deg. Period: 91.80 min. Crew: Baker Mike, Jett, Wisoff, Grunsfeld, Ivins, Linenger. Flight: Mir NASA-2, Mir EO-22, STS-81, Mir NASA-3. After a night launch of Space Shuttle Atlantis, the Shuttle docked with Mir at 03:55 GMT on January 14. STS-81 transferred 2,715 kg of equipment to and from the Mir, the largest transfer of items to that date. During the docked phase, 640 kg of water, 515 kg of U.S. science equipment, 1,000 kg of Russian logistics, and 120 kg of miscellaneous material were transferred to Mir. Returned to Earth aboard Atlantis were 570 kg of U.S. science material, 405 kg of Russian logistics and 98 kg of miscellaneous material. At 02:16 GMT January 19, Atlantis separated from Mir after picking up John Blaha, who had arrived aboard STS-79 on September 19, 1996, and dropping off Jerry Linenger, who was to stay aboard Mir for over four months. The Shuttle backed off along the -RBAR (i.e. toward the Earth) to a distance of 140 m before beginning a flyaround at 02:31 GMT. Most of the flyaround was at a distance from Mir of 170 m. The first 'orbit' around Mir was complete at 03:15, and the second was completed at 04:02 GMT. Then the Orbiter fired its jets to drift away from the orbit of Mir. NASA's first Shuttle mission of 1997 came to a close with a landing at the Kennedy Space Center at 14:22 GMT on January 22 (after the first opportunity was waved off due to cloud cover at the Cape). 1997 February 11 - 08:55 GMT - Cape Canaveral LC39A. Space Shuttle STS-82 STS-82 Spacecraft: Discovery. Agency: NASA JSC. Perigee: 584 km (362 mi). Apogee: 618 km (384 mi). Inclination: 28.50 deg. Period: 96.70 min. Crew: Bowersox, Horowitz, Lee, Tanner, Hawley, Harbaugh, Smith Steven. Flight: STS-82. After a spectacular night launch, the Shuttle completed its rendezvous with Hubble Space Telescope on February 13. Over the next four days five spacewalks were undertaken to renovate Hubble. The Hubble Space Telescope was released back into orbit at 06:41 GMT on February 19. Discovery landed on Runway 15 at Kennedy Space Center at 08:32 GMT on February 21. 1997 April 4 - 19:20 GMT - Cape Canaveral LC39A. Space Shuttle STS-83 STS-83 Spacecraft: Columbia. Agency: NASA JSC. Perigee: 298 km (185 mi). Apogee: 302 km (187 mi). Inclination: 28.50 deg. Period: 90.50 min. Crew: Halsell, Kilrain, Voss Janice, Gernhardt, Crouch, Linteris, Thomas. Flight: STS-83. The launch of STS-83, the first Microgravity Science Laboratory (MSL-1) mission, was postponed for a day to replace some insulation around a water coolant line in Columbia's payload bay. Liftoff was further delayed 20 minutes due to anomalous oxygen readings in the orbiter's payload bay. STS-83 was cut short due to a problem with one of the three fuel cells that provide electricity and water to Columbia (flight rules required that all three must be operating). At 14:30 GMT on April 6 the crew were ordered to begin a Minimum Duration Flight (MDF). On April 8 the OMS engines ignited at 17:30 GMT for the deorbit burn, and Columbia landed on Runway 33 at Kennedy Space Center at 18:33 GMT. With delays in International Space Station construction leaving ample room in the shuttle schedule, NASA made the unique decision to leave the equipment installed in Columbia and refly this mission with the same crew later in 1997 as STS-94. 1997 May 15 - 08:07 GMT - Cape Canaveral LC39A. Space Shuttle STS-84 STS-84 Spacecraft: Atlantis. Agency: NASA JSC. Perigee: 377 km (234 mi). Apogee: 393 km (244 mi). Inclination: 51.70 deg. Period: 92.30 min. Crew: Precourt, Collins Eileen, Clervoy, Lu, Noriega, Kondakova, Foale. Flight: STS-84, Mir NASA-4, Mir NASA-3, Mir EO-23. Atlantis blasted off on a night launch to Mir, docking with the station on May 17 at 02:33 GMT. Jerry Linenger, who had begun his stay on Mir in mid-January aboard STS-81, would return aboard STS-84. Michael Foale would be left at the station for his stint as the American crew member of Mir. The crew transfered to Mir 466 kg of water, 383 kg of U.S. science equipment, 1,251 kg of Russian equipment and supplies, and 178 kg of miscellaneous material. Returned to Earth aboard Atlantis were 406 kg of U.S. science material, 531 kg of Russian logistics material, 14 kg of ESA material and 171 kg of miscellaneous material. Atlantis undocked from Mir at 01:04 GMT on May 22. After passing up its first landing opportunity due to clouds over the landing site, the Shuttle fired its OMS engines on the deorbit burn at 12:33 GMT on May 24. Atlantis landed at 13:27 GMT at Kennedy Space Center's runway 33. 1997 July 1 - 18:02 GMT - Cape Canaveral LC39A. Space Shuttle STS-94 STS-94 Spacecraft: Columbia. Agency: NASA JSC. Perigee: 296 km (183 mi). Apogee: 300 km (180 mi). Inclination: 28.50 deg. Period: 90.50 min. Crew: Halsell, Kilrain, Voss Janice, Gernhardt, Thomas, Crouch, Linteris. Flight: STS-94. STS-94 was the reflight, with the same equipment and crew, of the curtailed STS-83 mission. Cargo Bay Payloads:
The mission this time went for its full two week duration and the crew completed the full list of experiments. The deorbit burn was on July 17, 1997 at 09:44 GMT and Columbia landed on KSC's Runway 33 at 10:46:34 GMT. 1997 August 7 - 14:41 GMT - Cape Canaveral LC39A. Space Shuttle STS-85 STS-85 Spacecraft: Discovery. Agency: NASA JSC. Perigee: 249 km (154 mi). Apogee: 261 km (162 mi). Inclination: 57.00 deg. Period: 89.60 min. Crew: Brown, Rominger, Davis, Curbeam, Robinson, Tryggvason. Flight: STS-85. Deployed and retrieved the CRISTA-SPAS-2 (the Cryogenic Infrared Spectrometers and Telescopes for the Atmosphere-Shuttle Pallet Satellite-2) designed to study Earth's middle atmosphere. The CRISTA-SPAS-2 was making its second flight on the Space Shuttle and represented the fourth mission in a cooperative venture between the German Space Agency (DARA) and NASA. CRISTA-SPAS was deployed by the RMS arm at 22:27 GMT on August 7 and was recaptured by Discovery's RMS arm at 15:14 GMT on August 16. Because of unfavorable weather conditions at the primary shuttle landing site at the Kennedy Space Center, Discovery was waved off for its scheduled August 18 landing. STS-85 landed the next day, at Kennedy Space Center at 11:08 GMT. 1997 September 26 - 02:34 GMT - Cape Canaveral LC39A. Space Shuttle STS-86 STS-86 Spacecraft: Atlantis. Agency: NASA JSC. Perigee: 354 km (219 mi). Apogee: 381 km (236 mi). Inclination: 51.60 deg. Period: 91.90 min. Crew: Wetherbee, Bloomfield, Titov Vladimir, Parazynski, Chretien, Lawrence, Wolf. Flight: STS-86, Mir NASA-5, Mir NASA-4, Mir EO-24. Atlantis was launched on a mission to the Russian Mir space station. The TI rendevous terminal initiation burn was carried out at 17:32 GMT on September 27, and Atlantis docked with the SO (Docking Module) on the Mir complex at 19:58 GMT. The crew exchange was completed on September 28, with David Wolf replacing Michael Foale on the Mir crew. On October 1 cosmonaut Titov and astronaut Parazynski conducted a spacewalk from the Shuttle payload bay while Atlantis was docked to Mir. They retrieved four MEEP (Mir Environmental Effects Payload ) exposure packages from Mir's SO module and installed the Spektr solar array cap. The MEEP experiments had been attached to the Docking Module by astronauts Linda Godwin and Rich Clifford during Shuttle mission STS-76 in March 1996. In addition to retrieving the MEEP, Parazynski and Titov were to continue an evaluation of the Simplified Aid For EVA Rescue (SAFER), a small jet-backpack designed for use as a type of life jacket during station assembly. Atlantis undocked from Mir at 17:28 GMT on October 3 and conducted a flyaround focused on the damaged Spektr Module to determine the location of the puncture in its hull. The Mir crew pumped air into the Spektr Module using a pressure regulator valve, and the Shuttle crew observed evidence that, as expected, the leak seemed to be located at the base of the damaged solar panel. Final separation of Atlantis from Mir took place around 20:28 GMT. After two landing attempts were waved off on October 5 due to heavy cloud cover, the crew fired the engines to deorbit at 20:47 GMT on October 6 and landed at Kennedy Space Center at 21:55. 1997 November 1 - Atlantis OMDP-2 Spacecraft: Atlantis. Atlantis is overhauled at Palmdale, returning to service in mid-1998. This was the last OMDP accomplished at Palmdale; future work would be done at the Kennedy Space Center. 1997 November 19 - 19:46 GMT - Cape Canaveral LC39B. Space Shuttle STS-87 STS-87 Spacecraft: Columbia. Agency: NASA JSC. Perigee: 273 km (169 mi). Apogee: 279 km (173 mi). Inclination: 28.50 deg. Period: 90.00 min. Crew: Kregel, Lindsey, Chawla, Scott Winston, Doi, Kadenyuk. Flight: STS-87. OV-102 Columbia was launched on a microgravity science mission. Spartan 201 was released a day late on November 21. However the satellite did not start its automatic orientation maneuver because the crew failed to send it the correct commands prior to release. Spartan was recaptured by hand, during a spacewalk by Takao Doi and Winston Scott on November 25. Tests of space station tools went well, but the free-flying Sprint camera subsatellite was not deployed due to lack of time. NASA decided not to redeploy Spartan on this mission. During an EVA on Dec 3, Doi and Scott carried out more tests of the Space Station crane. They also deployed the AERCam/Sprint 'football' remote-controlled camera for a free flight in the payload bay. Columbia landed on December 5, with a deorbit burn at 11:21 GMT. Touchdown was at 12:20 GMT at Kennedy Space Center. 1998 January 23 - 02:48 GMT - Cape Canaveral LC39A. Space Shuttle STS-89 STS-89 Spacecraft: Endeavour. Agency: NASA JSC. Perigee: 359 km (223 mi). Apogee: 382 km (237 mi). Inclination: 51.60 deg. Period: 92.00 min. Crew: Wilcutt, Edwards, Reilly, Anderson, Thomas Andrew, Dunbar, Sharipov. Flight: Mir NASA-5, Mir EO-24, STS-89, Mir NASA-6. Penultimate Shuttle mission to Mir. Andy Thomas replaced David Wolf as the resident NASA astronaut. Endeavour docked with the SO module on Mir at 20:14 GMT on January 24, 1998. Payloads included:
Despite fits problems with his Sokol emergency spacesuit, Andy Thomas replaced David Wolf as a Mir crew member on January 25. Endeavour undocked from Mir on January 29 at 16:57 GMT and made one flyaround of the station before departing and landing at Kennedy Space Center's runway 15 at 22:35 GMT on January 31. 1998 April 17 - 18:19 GMT - Cape Canaveral LC39B. Space Shuttle STS-90 STS-90 Spacecraft: Columbia. Agency: NASA JSC. Perigee: 247 km (153 mi). Apogee: 274 km (170 mi). Inclination: 39.00 deg. Period: 89.70 min. Crew: Searfoss, Altman, Linnehan, Hire, Williams Dave, Buckey, Pawelczyk. Flight: STS-90. Columbia rolled out to pad 39B on March 23. Payloads:
The Neurolab mission was managed by NASA-Johnson at Houston, unlike earlier Spacelab flights which were NASA-Marshall/Huntsville's responsibility. Landed at Kennedy Space Center May 3 1998. 1998 June 2 - 22:06 GMT - Cape Canaveral LC39A. Space Shuttle STS-91 STS-91 Spacecraft: Discovery. Agency: NASA JSC. Perigee: 350 km (210 mi). Apogee: 373 km (231 mi). Inclination: 51.70 deg. Period: 91.80 min. Crew: Precourt, Gorie, Lawrence, Chang-Diaz, Kavandi, Ryumin. Flight: STS-91, Mir NASA-6, Mir EO-25. The final shuttle-Mir mission, STS-91 recovered NASA astronaut Andy Thomas from the Mir station and took Russian space chief and ex-cosmonaut Valeri Ryumin to Mir for an inspection tour of the ageing station. This was the first test of the super lightweight Aluminium-Lithium alloy external tank, designed to increase shuttle payload to the Mir / International Space Station orbit by 4,000 kg. At 22:15 GMT Discovery entered an initial 74 x 324 km x 51.6 deg orbit, with the OMS-2 burn three quarters of an hour later circulising the chase orbit. Discovery docked with the SO module on Mir at 17:00 GMT on June 4. NASA equipment was retrieved from the station, and Discovery undocked at 16:01 GMT on June 8, and landed on Runway 15 at Kennedy Space Center at 18:00 GMT on June 12. 1998 October 29 - 19:19 GMT - Cape Canaveral LC39B. Space Shuttle STS-95 STS-95 Spacecraft: Discovery. Agency: NASA JSC. Perigee: 550 km (340 mi). Apogee: 561 km (348 mi). Inclination: 28.50 deg. Crew: Brown, Lindsey, Robinson, Parazynski, Duque, Mukai, Glenn. Flight: STS-95. The flight of STS-95 provoked more publicity for NASA than any other flight in years, due to the presence of ex-astronaut Senator John Glenn on the crew, which also included the first Spanish astronaut, Pedro Duque. The US Navy PANSAT student satellite was deployed on Oct 30 into a 550 km x 561 x 28.5 degree orbit. The Spartan 201 satellite was deployed from Discovery on November 1 and retrieved on November 3. Spartan 201 was on its fifth mission to observe the solar corona. The data on this mission would be used to recalibrate the SOHO satellite which recently resumed observation of the Sun following loss of control. Discovery landed at 17:03:31 GMT November 7 on Runway 33 at the Shuttle Landing Facility at Kennedy Space Center. 1998 December 4 - 08:35 GMT - Cape Canaveral LC39A. Space Shuttle STS-88 STS-88 Spacecraft: Endeavour. Agency: NASA JSC. Perigee: 180 km (110 mi). Apogee: 322 km (200 mi). Inclination: 51.60 deg. Crew: Cabana, Sturckow, Ross, Currie, Newman, Krikalyov. Flight: STS-88. First attempted launch of STS-88 was scrubbed at 09:03 GMT on December 3 due to a problem with a hydraulic system sensor. Launch came the next day, with Endeavour entering an initial 75 km x 313 km x 51.6 degree orbit. Half an orbit after launch, at 09:19 GMT, Endeavour fired its OMS engines to raise the orbit to 180 km x 322 km x 51.6 degree. On December 5 at 22:25 GMT Nancy Currie unberthed the Unity space station node from the payload bay using the RMS arm. She then moved the Unity to a position docked to the Orbiter Docking System in the payload bay in readiness for assembly with the Russian-launched Zarya FGB ISS component. After rendezvous with the Zarya FGB module, on December 6 at 23:47 GMT Endeavour grappled Zarya with the robot arm, and at 02:07 GMT on December 7 it was soft docked to the PMA-1 port on Unity. After some problems hard dock was achieved at 02:48 GMT. Unity and Zarya then formed the core of the future International Space Station. Ross and Newman made three space walks to connect cables between Zarya and Unity, on December 7, 9 and 12. On the last EVA a canvas tool bag was attached to the exterior of Unity to provide tools for future station assembly workers. Docking cables were disconnected to prevent Unity and Zarya from inadvertently undocking. Following an internal examination of the embryonic space station, Endeavour undocked at 20:30 GMT on December 13. The SAC-A and Mightysat satellites were ejected from the payload bay on December 14 and 15. Deorbit burn was December 16 at 03:48 GMT, and Endeavour landed at 04:53:29 GMT, on Runway 15 at the Kennedy Space Center. Payloads included:
1999 May 27 - 10:49 GMT - Cape Canaveral LC39B. Space Shuttle STS-96 STS-96 Spacecraft: Discovery. Agency: NASA JSC. Perigee: 379 km (235 mi). Apogee: 385 km (239 mi). Inclination: 51.60 deg. Crew: Rominger, Husband, Jernigan, Ochoa, Barry, Payette, Tokarev. Flight: STS-96. Discovery docked at the PMA-2 end of the International Space Station PMA-2/Unity/PMA-1/Zarya stack. The crew transferred equipment from the Spacehab Logistics Double Module in the payload bay to the interior of the station. Tammy Jernigan and Dan Barry made a space walk to transfer equipment from the payload bay to the exterior of the station. The ODS/EAL docking/airlock truss carried two TSA (Tool Stowage Assembly) packets with space walk tools. The Integrated Cargo Carrier (ICC), built by Energia and DASA-Bremen, carried parts of the Strela crane and the US OTD crane as well as the SHOSS box which contains three bags of tools and equipment to be stored on ISS's exterior. The STS-96 payload bay manifest:
On May 30 at 02:56 GMT Tammy Jernigan and Dan Barry entered the payload bay of Discovery from the tunnel adapter hatch, and made a 7 hr 55 min space walk, transferring equipment to the exterior of the station. On May 31 at 01:15 GMT the hatch to Unity was opened and the crew began several days of cargo transfers to the station. Battery units and communications equipment were replaced and sound insulation was added to Zarya. Discovery undocked from ISS at 22:39 GMT on June 3 into a 385 x 399 km x 51.6 degree orbit, leaving the station without a crew aboard. On June 5 the Starshine satellite was ejected from the payload bay. The payload bay doors were closed at around 02:15 GMT on June 6 and the deorbit burn was at 04:54 GMT. Discovery landed on runway 15 at Kennedy Space Center at 06:02 GMT. 1999 July 23 - 04:31 GMT - Cape Canaveral LC39B. Space Shuttle STS-93 STS-93 Spacecraft: Columbia. Agency: NASA JSC. Perigee: 276 km (171 mi). Apogee: 276 km (171 mi). Inclination: 28.50 deg. Crew: Collins Eileen, Ashby, Hawley, Coleman, Tognini. Flight: STS-93. STS-93 was first rolled out to pad 39B on June 7 1999. The Chandra/IUS-27 vehicle was placed in the payload canister on June 19. The first launch attempt was on July 20, but controllers aborted the launch at T-6 seconds, just before main engine ignition, due to a data spike in hydrogen pressure data. This was determined to be due to a faulty sensor and a second attempt was on July 22. A lightning storm prevented launch during the 46 minute window, and the launch was again scrubbed. Finally the vehicle lifted off the pad on July 23, but five seconds after launch a short in an electrical bus brought down two of the three main engine controllers. Backup controllers took over, but a further failure on the backup controller bus would have resulted in engine shutdown and the first ever attempt at an RTLS (Return To Launch Site) abort. To further complicate matters engine 3 (SSME 2019) had a hydrogen leak throughout the ascent, causing the engine to run hot. Controllers sweated as temperatures neared redline. The hot engine’s controller compensated as programmed by using additional liquid oxygen propellant. The final result was that the shuttle ran out of gas - main engine cut-off (MECO) was at 04:39 GMT, putting Columbia into a 78 km x 276 km x 28.5 degree transfer orbit. Columbia was 1,700 kg short of oxygen propellant and 5 meters/sec slower than planned. The OMS-2 engine burn at 05:12 GMT circularised the orbit 10 km lower than planned. The orbiter payload bay contained only the Chandra spacecraft, the IUS, and the IUS tilt tableTthe following payloads were carried in the shuttle’s cabin: STL-B (Space Tissue Loss), CCM (Cell culture module), SAREX-II (Shuttle Amateur Radio Experiment), EarthKam, PGIM (Plant Growth Investigations in Microgravity), CGBA (Commercial Generic Bioprocessing Apparatus), MEMS (Micro-electric Mechanical System), and BRIC (Biological Research in Canisters) and SWUIS (the Southwest Ultraviolet Imaging System, an 0.18-m UV telescope to be used for airglow and planetary observations); GOSAMR (the Gelation of Sols: Applied Microgravity Research experiment) and LFSAH, the Lightweight Flexible Solar Array Hinge. MSX and SIMPLEX experiments were also to be carried out. Chandra/IUS-27 was deployed from Columbia at 11:47 GMT July 23. Flight duration was limited; this was the heaviest shuttle (122,534 kg) and heaviest payload (19,736 kg) to that date. Columbia landed at 03:20 GMT on July 28 on runway 33 at Kennedy Space Center. Post-flight inspection found the presence of holes in the cooling lines on the nozzle of SSME 2019 (engine 3) which caused a hydrogen leak. A loose repair pin in the engine broke free and caused the failure. The cause of the short was found to be chaffed wiring inside the shuttle. The entire fleet was grounded for inspection and replacement of wiring as necessary. 1999 December 20 - 00:50 GMT - Cape Canaveral LC39B. Space Shuttle STS-103 STS-103 Spacecraft: Discovery. Agency: NASA JSC. Perigee: 591 km (367 mi). Apogee: 610 km (370 mi). Inclination: 28.50 deg. Crew: Brown, Kelly Scott, Smith Steven, Grunsfeld, Foale, Nicollier, Clervoy. Flight: STS-103. Hubble Space Telescope (HST) servicing mission SM-3A, delayed repeatedly by technical problems with the shuttle fleet after the near-disastrous previous launch. Finally launched after the last possible day to avoid Y2K computer problems; one spacewalk was cancelled so that the shuttle could return by December 28. Hubble was in a 591 km x 610 km x 28.5 deg orbit at launch. After separation of the external tank ET-101 the Orbiter was in a 56 km x 587 km x 28.5 deg transfer orbit. The OMS 2 burn at 0134 UTC raised the orbit to 313 km x 582 km. The payload bay contained:
2000 February 11 - 17:43 GMT - Cape Canaveral LC39A. Space Shuttle STS-99 STS-99 Spacecraft: Endeavour. Agency: NASA JSC. Perigee: 233 km (144 mi). Apogee: 233 km (144 mi). Inclination: 57.00 deg. Crew: Kregel, Gorie, Kavandi, Voss Janice, Mohri, Thiele. Flight: STS-99. On an extremely successful mission the space shuttle Endeavour deployed the 61 metre long STRM mast. This was a side-looking radar that digitally mapped with unprecedented accuracy the entire land surface of the Earth between latitudes 60 deg N and 54 deg S. Sponsors of the flight included the US National Imagery and Mapping Agency (NIMA), NASA, and the German and Italian space agencies. Some of the NIMA data would remain classified for exclusive use by the US Department of Defense. 2000 May 19 - 10:11 GMT - Cape Canaveral LC39A. Space Shuttle STS-101 STS-101 Spacecraft: Atlantis. Agency: NASA JSC. Perigee: 332 km (206 mi). Apogee: 341 km (211 mi). Inclination: 51.60 deg. Crew: Halsell, Horowitz, Weber, Williams Jeffrey, Voss, Helms, Usachyov. Flight: STS-101. ISS Logistics flight. Launch delayed three times by weather. Objective of mission STS-101 was repair, resupply and construction tasks aboard the international space station. This was the first launch with new electronic cockpit displays and other upgrades. The solid boosters separated at 10:13 GMT and the main engines cutoff at 10:19 GMT. The external tank, ET-102 then separated, with both orbiter and ET-102 in a 52 x 320 km initial orbit. At 10:54 GMT the OMS engines fired to raise perigee to 159 x 329 km x at 51.6 deg. Atlantis docked with the International Space Station's PMA-2 docking adapter on the Unity node at 04:31 GMT on May 21. At that time the ISS was in a 332 x 341 km orbit. On May 22 mission specialists Jeff Williams and James carried out external maintenance work on the ISS. On May 23 at 00:03 GMT the Atlantis crew opened the first hatch to PMA-2 and entered the Station. The crew replaced a set of batteries in Zarya, installed fans and ducting to improve airflow, and delivered supplies and equipment. Three hour-long orbit raising burns on May 24 and 25 by the RCS engines on Atlantis raised the station to a 372 x 380 km x 51.6 deg orbit. The STS-101 crew left the station on May 26, closing the PMA-2 hatch at 08:08 GMT and undocking at 23:03 GMT. Atlantis performed a 180 degree flyaround of the station and departed the vicinity around 23:44 GMT. Atlantis closed its payload bay doors around 02:30 GMT on May 29 and fired the OMS engines for deorbit at 05:12 GMT. The vehicle landed on RW15 at Kennedy Space Center at 06:20 GMT. Atlantis was to be turned around for the next ISS shuttle flight, STS-106. Left in orbit was the renovated International Space Station, equipped with an upgraded electrical system, new fans, filters, fire extinguishers, smoke detectors and communications gear. 2000 September 8 - 12:45 GMT - Cape Canaveral LC39B. Space Shuttle STS-106 STS-106 Spacecraft: Atlantis. Agency: NASA JSC. Perigee: 374 km (232 mi). Apogee: 386 km (239 mi). Inclination: 51.60 deg. Crew: Wilcutt, Altman, Burbank, Lu, Mastracchio, Malenchenko, Morukov. Flight: STS-106. Atlantis was launched from Kennedy Space Center's Launch Complex 39B. Solid rocket boosters RSRM-75 and external tank ET-103 were used to loft the orbiter into space. The inital orbit of 72 x 328 km x 51.6 deg was circularised by the Shuttle's OMS engines at apogee. Atlantis docked with the PMA-2 adapter on the International Space Station at 05:51 GMT on September 10. The orbiter's small RCS engines were used to gently reboost the station's orbit several times. Astronauts Lu and Malenchenko made a spacewalk on September 11 beginning at 04:47 GMT. They rode the RMS arm up to Zvezda and began installing cables, reaching a distance of 30 meters from the airlock when installing Zvezda's magnetometer. Total EVA duration was 6 hours 21 minutes. During their 12-day flight, the astronauts spent a week docked to the International Space Station during which they worked as movers, cleaners, plumbers, electricians and cable installers. In all, they spent 7 days, 21 hours and 54 minutes docked to the International Space Station, outfitting the new Zvezda module for the arrival of the Expedition One crew later this fall. The Shuttle undocked from ISS at 03:44 GMT on September 18 and made two circuits of the station each lasting half an orbit, before separating finally at 05:34 GMT. The payload bay doors were closed at 04:14 GMT on September 20 and at 06:50 GMT the OMS engines ignited for a three minute burn lowering the orbit from 374 x 386 km x 51.6 deg to 22 x 380 km x 51.6 deg. After entry interface at 07:25 GMT, the orbiter glided to a landing on runway 15 at Kennedy Space Center with main gear touchdown at 07:56:48 GMT for a mission duration of 283 hr 11min. 2000 October 11 - 23:17 GMT - Cape Canaveral LC39A. Space Shuttle STS-92 STS-92 Mass: 115,127 kg (253,811 lb). Spacecraft: Discovery. Agency: NASA JSC. Perigee: 386 km (240 mi). Apogee: 394 km (245 mi). Inclination: 51.57 deg. Period: 92.28 min. Crew: Duffy, Melroy, Chiao, McArthur, Wisoff, Lopez-Alegria, Wakata. Flight: STS-92. ISS Logistics flight. 100th shuttle flight. Launch delayed from October 6. STS-92 brought the Z-1 Truss (mounted on a Spacelab pallet), Control Moment Gyros, Pressurised Mating Adapter-3 (PMA-3) and two DDCU (Heat pipes) to the International Space Station. The RSRM-76 solid rocket boosters separated at 23:19 GMT and main engine cut-off (MECO) came at 23:25 GMT. External tank ET-104 separated into a 74 x 323 km x 51.6 deg orbit. At apogee at 00:01 GMT on Oct 12, Discovery's OMS engines fired to raise perigee to a 158 x 322 km x 51.6 deg orbit; ET-104 re-entered over the Pacific around 00:30 GMT. At Oct 12 on 03:01 GMT the NC1 burn raised the orbit to 180 x 349 km; NC3 on Oct 12 to 311 x 375 km; and the TI burn at 14:09 GMT on Oct 13 to 375 x 381 km x 51.6 deg. Discovery's rendezvous with the International Space Station came at 15:39 GMT on Oct 13, with docking at 17:45 GMT. The spaceship docked with PMA-2, the docking port on the +Y port of the Space Station's Unity module. Hatch was open to PMA-2 at 20:30 GMT the same day. STS-92 Cargo Manifest
Total payload bay cargo: ca. 14,800 kg The Z1 first segment of the space station truss was built by Boeing/Canoga Park and was 3.5 x 4.5 meters in size. It was attached to the +Z port on Unity. Z1 carried the control moment gyros, the S-band antenna, and the Ku-band antenna. PMA-3, built by Boeing/Huntington Beach, was docked to the -Z port opposite Z1. PMA-3 was installed on a Spacelab pallet for launch. On October 14 at 16:15 GMT the Z1 segment was unberthed from the payload bay and at around 18:20 GMT it was docked to the zenith port on the Unity module. On October 15 at 14:20 GMT the ODS airlock was depressurised, beginning a spacewalk by Bill McArthur and Leroy Chiao. Official NASA EVA duration (battery power to repress) was 6 hours 28 minutes. The second spacewalk was on October 16, with Jeff Wisoff and Mike Lopez-Alegria. The suits went to battery power at 14:15 GMT and Wisoff left the airlock at 14:21 GMT. Repressurisation began at 21:22 GMT for a duration of 7 hours 07minutes. Leroy Chiao and Bill McArthur began the third STS-92 EVA at 15:30 GMT on October 17, completing their work at 22:18 GMT for a total time of 6 hours 48 minutes. After the spacewalk, Discovery completed the second of the three station reboosts scheduled for STS-92. They fired reaction control system jets in a series of pulses of 1.4 seconds each, over a 30-minute period, gently raising the station's orbit by about 3.1 km. The last of four successful spacewalks began on 18 October at 16:00 GMT and ended at 22:56 GMT, lasting 6 hours and 56 minutes. Jeff Wisoff and Mike Lopez-Alegria each jetted slowly through space above Discovery's cargo bay. After the space walk, Discovery completed the third and final reboost of the space station. On 19 October the astronauts worked within the ISS. They completed connections for the newly installed Z1 external framework structure and transferred equipment and supplies for the Expedition One first resident crew of the Station. The crew also tested the four 290-kg gyroscopes in the truss, called Control Moment Gyros, which will be used to orient the ISS as it orbits the Earth. They will ultimately assume attitude control of the ISS following the arrival of the U.S. Laboratory Destiny. The tests and the transfer of supplies into the Russian Zarya Module took longer than expected. As a result, the crew's final departure from the Station's Unity module was delayed. Melroy and Wisoff took samples from surfaces in Zarya to study the module's environment. They then unclogged the solid waste disposal system in the Shuttle's toilet, which was restored to full operation after a brief interruption in service. Discovery undocked from the ISS at 16:08 GMT on 20 October. The final separation burn was executed about 45 minutes after undocking. The crew had added 9 tonnes to the station's mass, bringing it to about 72 tonnes. The return to earth, planned for 22 October, was delayed repeatedly due to high winds at the Kennedy landing site. The landing was finally made at Edwards Air Force Base, California, on October 24, at 22:00 GMT. 2000 December 1 - 03:06 GMT - Cape Canaveral LC39B. Space Shuttle STS-97 STS-97 Mass: 120,742 kg (266,190 lb). Spacecraft: Endeavour. Agency: NASA JSC. Perigee: 352 km (218 mi). Apogee: 365 km (226 mi). Inclination: 51.60 deg. Crew: Jett, Bloomfield, Tanner, Garneau, Noriega. Flight: STS-97. Endeavour was launched on an assembly mission to the to the International Space Station (ISS). The main mission was to install a 72 m x 11.4 m, 65 kW double-wing solar panel on the Unity module of the ISS. The external tank and the Orbiter entered a 74 x 325 km orbit at 0314 GMT. Endeavour's OMS burn raised its perigee to 205 km at around 0347 GMT; the ET re-entered over the Pacific. Endeavour docked with the Station's PMA-3 docking port at 1959 GMT on December 2. Astronauts then installed the P6 solar panel truss to the station during a series of spacewalks. The P6 was made up of the LS (Long Spacer), PV-1 IEA (Integrated Equipment Assembly) and the PVAA (Photovoltaic Array). The LS carried two Thermal Control Systems with radiators to eject waste heat from the Station; these radiators were to be moved to truss segments S4 and S6 later in assembly. The PVAA had solar array wings SAW-2B and SAW-4B, which deployed to a span of 73 meters. Only after completion of three station assembly space walks on December 3, 5, and 7 did the Endeavour crew enter the station (at 1436 GMT on December 8), delivering supplies to Alpha's Expedition One crew. Hatches were closed again at 1551 GMT December 9, and Endeavour undocked at 1913 GMT the same day. After one flyaround of the station, Endeavour fired its engines to depart the vicinity at 2017 GMT December 9. The deorbit burn was at 2158 GMT on December 11, changing the orbit from 351 x 365 km to 27 x 365 km, with landing at Runway 15 of Kennedy Space Center at 2303 GMT. The payload bay of Endeavour for STS-97 contained a total cargo of 18740 kg:
2001 February 7 - 23:13 GMT - Cape Canaveral LC39A. Space Shuttle STS-98 STS-98 Mass: 90,225 kg (198,912 lb). Spacecraft: Atlantis. Agency: NASA JSC. Perigee: 183 km (113 mi). Apogee: 337 km (209 mi). Inclination: 51.30 deg. Period: 89.71 min. Crew: Cockrell, Polansky, Curbeam, Ivins, Jones. Flight: STS-98. ISS Assembly flight. Launch delayed from January 18 and February 6. International Space Station assembly mission; delivered the Destiny and PMA-2 modules. Destiny was an American ISS module, an 8.4 meter long and 4.2 meter wide cylindrical structure with a mass of 15 tonnes. It was to function as a science and technology module and the primary control module for the ISS. The shuttle orbiter was placed in an initial 74 x 323 km x 51.6 deg orbit. At 2357 GMT the OMS engines fired for the OMS-2 burn which raised Atlantis' orbit to 204 x 322 km x 51.6 deg. Atlantis docked with the Station at 1651 GMT on February 9 at the PMA-3 port on Unity's nadir. At 1500 GMT on Feb 10 Marsha Ivins used the RMS arm to unberth the PMA-2 docking port from Unity. Tom Jones and Bob Curbeam then conducted three spacewalks on Februay 10 to 14 to attach the Destiny and PMA-2 modules to the station. The crew also delivered over a tonne of food, fuel and equipment to the ISS. Atlantis undocked from Alpha at 1406 GMT on February 16. Atlantis landed at Edwards AFB on February 20; plans to land on February 18 and 19 were called off due to persistent wind problems at Kennedy Space Center. The deorbit burn was at 1927 GMT and lowered the orbit from 370 x 386 km to about 50 x 380 km. The nominal entry interface at 122 km came at 2002 GMT and touchdown on runway 22 was at 20:33 GMT. On March 1 Atlantis was flown on the back of NASA's SCA 911 carrier aircraft to Altus AFB, Oklahoma, en route to Kennedy. 2001 March 8 - 11:42 GMT - Cape Canaveral LC39B. Space Shuttle STS-102 STS-102 Spacecraft: Discovery. Agency: NASA JSC. Perigee: 370 km (220 mi). Apogee: 381 km (236 mi). Inclination: 51.50 deg. Period: 92.06 min. Crew: Wetherbee, Kelly, Voss, Helms, Thomas Andrew, Richards Paul, Usachyov. Flight: STS-102, ISS EO-2. STS 102 was an American shuttle spacecraft that carried a crew of seven astronauts (six American and one Russian). The primary mission was to deliver a multi-rack Italian container (Leonardo MultiPurpose Logistics Module, LMPLM) to the Destiny Module of the International Space Station, ISS. It docked with the ISS at 05:34 UT on 9 March. The 6.4 m x 4.6 m cylindrical LMPLM delivered new equipment to Destiny, and retrieved used/unwanted equipment, and trash back to the shuttle. The crew did a few spacewalks to install a platform on the ISS to support a Canadian robot arm when it arrives next month. The STS 102 left behind three of the astronauts (two American and one Russian) and brought back the three astronauts (one American and two Russian) who had been inhabiting the ISS for about four and a half months. It landed at Cape Canaveral at 07:31 UT on 21 March. Discovery was launched on mission STS-102 (Space Station flight 5A.1) into an initial 60 x 222 km x 51.6 deg orbit. The mission was delivery of supplies and equipment, and changeout of the Expedition One and Expedition Two station crews. STS-102 carried the Leonardo Multi Purpose Logistics Module (MPLM), built by Alenia Spazio (Torino), to the International Space Station. The 6.4 m x 4.6 m cylindrical MPLM was a descendant of the Spacelab long modules. Also carried was a Spacehab/Energia unpressurized Integrated Cargo Carrier with LCA/MTSAS-A, RU, and PFCS. A sidewall adapter beam with two GAS canisters (G-783 and WSVFM) was also on board. WSVFM measured vibration during launch. Another adapter beam, probably at the rear of the payload bay, carried SEM-9. SEM-9 and G-783 contained high school microgravity experiments. Leonardo carried 16 'racks' of equipment, including the Human Research Facility Rack (Rack 13) which allowed the astronauts to do extensive medical experiments, the CHeCS Rack (28), the DDCU-1 and DDCU-2 racks (7 and 9), the Avionics-3 (Rack 6), and the MSS Avionics/Lab (Rack 11) and Avionics/Cupola (Rack 12) racks for a total of 7 equipment racks to be installed on Destiny. Three Resupply Stowage Racks (50, 51, 52) and four Resupply Stowage Platforms (180, 181, 182 and 188) remained installed on Leonardo, with their equipment bags being individually transferred to the Station. System Racks 2, 3, 4, 5 and 8 were already on Destiny together with stowage racks 110 through 117. Each rack had a mass of 150-300 kg. The orbiter fired its OMS engines at 1221 GMT to raise the orbit to 185 x 219 km. Discovery docked with the PMA-2 port on the Station at 0639 GMT on March 10. The LCA (Lab Cradle Assembly) was attached to Destiny's +Z side during an EVA. It was to be used on the next mission to temporarily place a Spacelab pallet on Destiny during installation of the Station's robot arm. Later, it would be the site for the main Station truss, beginning with segment S0. The PMA-3, on Unity at the -Z nadir position, had to be moved to the port position to make room for Leonardo. An external stowage platform was attached to Destiny and the External Stowage Platform and the PFCS Pump Flow Control System were added to the port aft trunnion on Destiny. A rigid umbilical (RU) was connected to the PDGF grapple fixture on Destiny to support the Station's future robot arm. Leonardo was docked to Unity at -Z for a while so that its cargo could be transferred to the station easily; it was then be returned to the payload bay and brought back to earth. At 0232 GMT on March 19 command of ISS was transferred to Expedition 2 and the hatches were closed. Discovery undocked at 0432 GMT and flew once around the station before departing at 0548 GMT. ISS mass after undocking was 115527 kg. The OMS engines fired for the deorbit burn at 0625 GMT on March 21, and Discovery touched down on runway 15 at Kennedy Space Center at 0731 GMT. 2001 April 19 - 18:40 GMT - Cape Canaveral LC39A. Space Shuttle STS-100 STS-100 Mass: 103,506 kg (228,191 lb). Spacecraft: Endeavour. Agency: NASA JSC. Perigee: 377 km (234 mi). Apogee: 394 km (244 mi). Inclination: 51.60 deg. Crew: Rominger, Ashby, Hadfield, Phillips, Parazynski, Guidoni, Lonchakov. Flight: STS-100. Space Shuttle OV-105 Endeavour was launched on mission STS-100 to carry out International Space Station Flight 6A continued the outfitting of the Station. The crew of four Americans, one Russian, one Canadian and one Italian were to install an 18 meter, 1,700 kg Canadian robotic arm named Canadarm-2 on the ISS, and to transport an Italian cargo container, Raffaello, which delivered 4,500 kg of supplies and equipment to the station. Total payload of 13,744 kg consisted of:
On 23 April the SSRMS station manipulator was unberthed from the SLP Spacelab pallet at 1114 GMT and latched on to the PDGF fixture on the Destiny ISS module at 1416 GMT. This was followed at 1458 GMT with the MPLM-2 Raffaello module being moved from Endeavour's payload bay by the Shuttle's RMS and berthed to the nadir port on the ISS Unity module at 1600 GMT. Over the next few days, the cargo racks on the MPLM were transferred to Destiny. Raffaello was then unberthed from Unity at 2003 GMT on April 27 and reberthed in the rear of Endeavour's bay for return to earth at 2059 GMT. Undocking of Endeavour was delayed by a series of computer problems at the Station. Failures in the Station's command and control computers left only one of the three computers operating. They were all restarted by April 29, and the Shuttle RMS grappled the Spacelab pallet at 2044 GMT . The station's Canadarm-2 released it at 2106 GMT, and the RMS berthed the pallet back in the Shuttle cargo bay. Endeavour undocked from the Station at 1734 GMT on April 29. The weather in Florida was bad at the planned May 1 landing time, so Endeavour landed in California. The deorbit burn was at 1502 GMT on May 1, with landing at 1610:42 GMT on runway 22 at Edwards. Endeavour returned to the Kennedy Space Center atop a Boeing 747 SCA aircraft on May 9. 2001 July 12 - 09:03 GMT - Cape Canaveral LC39B. Space Shuttle STS-104 STS-104 Mass: 117,127 kg (258,220 lb). Spacecraft: Atlantis. Agency: NASA JSC. Perigee: 372 km (231 mi). Apogee: 390 km (240 mi). Inclination: 51.60 deg. Crew: Lindsey, Hobaugh, Kavandi, Gernhardt, Reilly. Flight: STS-104. STS-104 was an American ISS Assembly shuttle flight with a crew of five American astronauts and a major space station module, the Quest Airlock. Orbiter OV-104 Atlantis main engine cutoff and external tank separation was at 0913 GMT. Atlantis was then in an orbit of 59 x 235 km x 51.6 deg. The OMS-2 burn at 0942 GMT increased velocity by 29 m/s and raised the orbit to 157 x 235 km x 51.6 deg and another burn at 1240 GMT raised it further to 232 x 305 km. Atlantis docked with the International Space Station at 0308 GMT on July 14. The main payload on STS-104 was the Quest Joint Airlock, built by Boeing/Huntsville. It consisted of an Equipment Lock for storage and the Crew Lock, based on the Shuttle airlock. The 13,872 kg payload consisted of:
The six tonne Airlock consisted of two cylinders of four meters diameter and a total length six meters. The Airlock could be pressurized by the externally-mounted high pressure oxygen-nitrogen tanks, and was to be the sole unit through which all future EVAs were to take place. (Until that point, all EVA entries/exits had been through a Russian module in ISS, with non-Russians having to wear Russian space suits). Another payload was the "EarthKAM" of middle/high school interest. It was to allow pupils to command picture-taking of chosen spots on Earth; they were expected to target 2,000 spots. The shuttle also carried out pulsed exhaust tests during maneuvers to enable better understanding of the formation of HF echoes from the shuttle exhaust. The echoes were obtained by ground based radars in an experiment called SIMPLEX (Shuttle Ionospheric Modification with Pulsed Local EXhaust). The STS-104 crew returned to Atlantis on July 22, and undocked at 0455 GMT. After flying around the station they departed the vicinity at 0615 GMT. Atlantis landed at 0338:55 GMT on July 25, touching down at Kennedy Space Center runway 15. 2001 August 10 - 21:10 GMT - Cape Canaveral LC39A. Space Shuttle STS-105 STS-105 Mass: 116,914 kg (257,751 lb). Spacecraft: Discovery. Agency: NASA JSC. Perigee: 373 km (231 mi). Apogee: 402 km (249 mi). Inclination: 51.60 deg. Crew: Horowitz, Sturckow, Barry, Forrester, Culbertson, Dezhurov, Tyurin. Flight: STS-105, ISS EO-3. STS 105 was an American shuttle that carried a crew of ten (including three crew for the ISS - one American and two Russian), five tonnes of supplies, hardware, and a bedroom suite to accommodate a third astronaut in the Destiny module. The crew installed in the station two new science experiment racks that were carried in the Leonardo container which was first lifted out of the shuttle and bolted to the Unity module. Leonardo then carried back all the trash from the ISS back to the shuttle. They crew installed the MISSE (Materials International Space Station Experiment) container outside the ISS to test the effect of radiation on materials and some low-cost science experiments such as microgravity cell growth studies inside the station. The 15,107 kg payload consisted of:
The Leonardo MPLM module was lifted out of Discovery's payload bay at 1326 GMT on August 13 and docked to Unity's nadir at 1554 GMT. 3300 kg of cargo from Leonardo was transferred to the Station. Then 1700 kg of station garbage and materials were loaded into Leonardo. It was unberthed from Unity at 1816 GMT on August 19 and returned to the payload bay for the return to Earth at 1917 GMT. Discovery undocked at 1452 GMT on August 20 with the Expedition 2 crew aboard, leaving Expedition 3 at the Station. At 1830 GMT on August 20 the Simplesat test satellite was ejected from a GAS canister in the cargo bay. Discovery landed at Kennedy Space Center at 1822:58 GMT on August 22 on runway 15, after a deorbit burn at 1715 GMT. The Expedition Two crew of Usachyov, Voss and Helms had been in space for 167 days. Discovery was taken out of service after the flight for structural inspections. Its last maintenance down period was in 1995-1996. 2001 December 5 - 22:19 GMT - Cape Canaveral LC39B. Space Shuttle STS-108 STS-108 Mass: 105,000 kg (231,000 lb). Spacecraft: Endeavour. Agency: NASA. Perigee: 353 km (219 mi). Apogee: 377 km (234 mi). Inclination: 51.60 deg. Period: 91.80 min. Crew: Gorie, Kelly Mark, Godwin, Tani, Onufrienko, Bursch, Walz. Flight: STS-108, ISS EO-4. ISS Logistics flight, launch delayed from November 30 and December 4. Gorie, Kelley, Godwin, Tani, Onufrikeno, Bursch, Walz STS-108 flew the UF-1 Utilization Flight mission to the International Space Station. The UF designation distinguished this from earlier Station flights which were considered assembly flights. The shuttle would deliver the Expedition-4 crew of Onufrikeno, Bursch, and Walz to the station and return the Expedition-3 crew to earth. In addition to the crew swap, UF-1 brought supplies to the Station aboard the Raffaello module, and Godwin and Tani conducted a spacewalk to add thermal blankets to the gimbals on the Station's solar arrays. Endeavour reached an orbit of approximately 58 x 230 km (according to the NASA PAO) at 2228 GMT. At 2259 GMT it fired its OMS engines to raise perigee to 225 km. Mass after OMS-2 was 114,692 kg. Endeavour soft docked with the International Space Station at 2003 GMT on December 7. Problems with aligning the vehicles delayed hard dock until 20:51 GMT, and the hatch was opened at 22:43 GMT. The Raffaello module was unberthed from Endeavour at 1701 GMT on December 8 and berthed to the Unity module of the station at 1755 UTC. STS-108 cargo bay payload was dominated by the Raffaello (MPLM-2) logistics module with 4 RSP and 8 RSR resupply racks. Also in the cargo bay were the MACH-1 and LMC experiment trusses flown under the Goddard small payloads program. MACH-1 was an MPESS-type Hitchhiker bridge carrying the CAPL-3 capillary thermal control experiment on top. On its forward side was the Starshine-2 launch canister, the CAPL-3 avionics plate, the Hitchhiker avionics plate, and the SEM-15 canister. On the aft side was the G-761 canister containing experiments from Argentina, the PSRD synchrotron detector (a prototype for the AMS antimatter experiment which will fly on Station later), and the COLLIDE-2 and SEM-11 canisters. The SEM (Space Experiment Modules) are collections of high school experiments. LMC, the Lightweight MPESS Carrier carried four canisters with materials science and technology experiments: SEM-12, G-785, G-064 and G-730. In addition, an adapter beam on the starboard sidewall carried G-221 and G-775, with materials science and biology experiments. Raffaello was transferred back to the Shuttle payload bay on December 14. Endeavour undocked from the Station at 17:28 UTC on December 15 and made a half loop around the station before making a small separation burn at 1822 UTC. The Starshine-2 reflector satellite was ejected from the MACH-1 bridge in Endeavour's payload bay at 1502 UTC on December 16. Endeavour landed on runway 15 at Kennedy Space Center at 1755 UTC on December 17. The Expedition 3 crew of Culbertson, Dezhurov and Tyurin returned to Earth aboard Endeavour, leaving the Expedition 4 crew of Onufrienko, Bursch and Walz in charge of the Station. 2002 March 1 - 11:22 GMT - Cape Canaveral LC39A. Space Shuttle STS-109 STS-109 Spacecraft: Columbia. Agency: NASA. Perigee: 486 km (301 mi). Apogee: 578 km (359 mi). Inclination: 28.50 deg. Period: 95.30 min. Crew: Altman, Carey, Currie, Grunsfeld, Linnehan, Newman, Massimino. Flight: STS-109. Hubble Servicing Mission 3B. STS-109 main engine cutoff came at 1130 UTC with Columbia in a 55 x 574 km x 28.5 deg transfer orbit. The OMS-2 burn at about 1207 UTC raised perigee to about 195 km. There was a problem with a freon cooling loop on the Orbiter, but it wasn't quite bad enough to affect the mission. The Hubble Space Telescope closed its aperture door on March 2 in preparation for the rendezvous. Columbia got within 100m of HST by 0852 UTC on March 3 and grappled it with the RMS at 0931 UTC. HST was berthed on the FSS in Columbia's payload bay by 1032 UTC. In the course of five spacewalks, the crew installed new equipment on HST. This was the first flight of Columbia since the launch of Chandra in 1999 following refurbishment. In the first two spacewalks, two new solar arrays were installed, and the two old arrays stowed on the RAC carrier. The RWA-1R reaction wheel assembly on the MULE carrier replaced the faltering RWA-1 in the telescope. The third spacewalk was the most difficult, as HST was entirely powered down while astronauts replaced its power controller unit, not designed for on-orbit replacement. On the fourth spacewalk the astronauts removed the European FOC camera, aboard HST since launch in 1990, and replaced it with the new ACS (Advanced Camera for Surveys). They also installed the CASH wire harness, part of the aft shroud cooling system. On the final spacewalk, the astronauts installed the NCS (NICMOS cooling system) cryocooler in the aft shround and the associated NCS radiator on the telescope's exterior. The NICMOS infrared camera had been idle since its original thermal control system failed. With the removal of FOC, the COSTAR device (which deployed contact lenses for the original instruments) became obsolete, since the newer instruments made the corrections to the incorrect HST mirror internally. Cargo manifest:
2002 April 8 - 20:44 GMT - Cape Canaveral LC39B. Space Shuttle STS-110 STS-110 Mass: 100,000 kg (220,000 lb). Spacecraft: Atlantis. Agency: NASA. Perigee: 309 km (192 mi). Apogee: 402 km (249 mi). Inclination: 51.60 deg. Period: 91.70 min. Crew: Bloomfield, Frick, Walheim, Ochoa, Morin, Ross, Smith Steven. Flight: STS-110. Launch delayed from March 22, April 4. Space Shuttle Atlantis entered an orbit of approximately 59 x 229 km x 51.6 deg at 2052 UTC, and separated from the External Tank, ET-114. ET-114 reached apogee around 2122 UTC and reentered over the Pacific about 2150 UTC at the end of its first orbit. Atlantis fired its OMS engines at apogee to raise its perigee to 155 km. Further orbit changes will lead to a rendezvous with the Space Station on Station mission 8A. STS-110 carried the S0 truss segment to the Station. The truss was the first segment of the main backbone of the Station which was to grow to carry the large solar panel wings and radiators. Cargo manifest:
2002 June 5 - 21:22 GMT - Cape Canaveral LC39A. Space Shuttle STS-111 STS-111 Mass: 105,000 kg (231,000 lb). Spacecraft: Endeavour . Agency: NASA. Perigee: 349 km (216 mi). Apogee: 387 km (240 mi). Inclination: 51.60 deg. Period: 91.90 min. Crew: Cockrell, Lockhart, Chang-Diaz, Perrin, Korzun, Whitson, Treshchev. Flight: STS-111, ISS EO-5. Launch delayed from May 2, 6, 30, 31 and June 4. STS-111 reached a 58 x 224 km x 51.6 deg orbit at 2131 UTC and separated from the External Tank. It coasted to apogee at 2201 UTC and carried out the OMS-2 burn to raise the orbit to 158 x 235 km. The mission of STS-111 (UF-2 ISS utilization flight) was to swap the Expedition 4 and 5 crews and deliver the MBS Mobile Base System and some interior experiment racks. Endeavour docked with the Station at 1625 UTC on June 7. The Leonardo MPLM module was attached to the Station on June 8. Cargo manifest:
2002 October 7 - 19:46 GMT - Cape Canaveral LC39B. Space Shuttle STS-112 STS-112 Mass: 116,640 kg (257,140 lb). Spacecraft: Atlantis. Agency: NASA. Perigee: 273 km (169 mi). Apogee: 405 km (251 mi). Inclination: 51.60 deg. Period: 91.30 min. Crew: Ashby, Melroy, Wolf, Sellers, Magnus, Yurchikhin. Flight: STS-112. ISS Assembly flight delayed from March 22, April 4, August 22, September 28, October 2 due to payload delays and then SSME problems. American shuttle spacecraft STS-112 carried a crew of five Americans and one Russian to the International Space Station (ISS). During the 11-day mission, the crew extended the truss system of the exterior rail line with a 14-m, 13-ton girder. The crew also tested a manual cart on the rails. The cart, named CETA (Crew and Equipment Transportation Aid), was designed to increase mobility of crew and equipment during the later installation phases. STS-112 landed back in Cape Canaveral at 15:43 UT on 2002 October 18 carrying the same crew of six. 2002 November 24 - 00:49 GMT - Cape Canaveral LC39A. Space Shuttle STS-113 STS-113 Mass: 115,000 kg (253,000 lb). Spacecraft: Endeavour. Agency: NASA. Perigee: 379 km (235 mi). Apogee: 397 km (246 mi). Inclination: 51.60 deg. Period: 92.30 min. Crew: Wetherbee, Lockhart, Lopez-Alegria, Herrington, Bowersox, Budarin, Pettit. Flight: STS-113, ISS EO-6. ISS assembly mission ISS-11A delayed from August 22, September 6, 19, October 6, November 2, 10, 11, 19 and 23 due to SSME problems and then damage to the Shuttle's manipulator arm. Shuttle mission STS-113 carried a crew of seven astronauts (six American and one Russian) and a 13.7-m truss of 12.5 tons to the International Space Station (ISS). During several hours of EVA, the crew installed and secured the truss assembly. The truss was to provide structural support for the station's thermal control radiators, and brought the total mass of the ISS to over 200 tons. Prior to leaving the ISS, the shuttle released a pair of tethered (15-m long) picosatellites. It was to leave the ISS on December 2. 2003 January 16 - 15:39 GMT - Cape Canaveral LC39A. Space Shuttle STS-107 STS-107 Spacecraft: Columbia. Agency: NASA. Perigee: 280 km (170 mi). Apogee: 280 km (170 mi). Inclination: 39.00 deg. Crew: Husband, McCool, Anderson, Chawla, Brown David, Clark, Ramon. Flight: STS-107. The last solo shuttle earth orbit mission ended in tragedy when the shuttle Columbia disintegrated during re-entry at an altitude of 63.15 km and a speed of Mach 18. Launch delayed from May 23, June 27, July 11 and 19, November 29, 2002. 2005 July 26 - 14:39 GMT - Cape Canaveral LC39B. Space Shuttle STS-114 STS-114 Spacecraft: Discovery. Agency: NASA. Perigee: 313 km (194 mi). Apogee: 350 km (210 mi). Inclination: 51.60 deg. Period: 91.20 min. Crew: Collins Eileen, Kelly, Noguchi, Robinson, Thomas Andrew, Lawrence, Camarda. Flight: STS-114, ISS EO-11. Return to flight after loss of Columbia. Delayed extensively as NASA attempted to fix the external tank foam-shedding problem that resulted in the loss of Columbia (first planned for September 12, 2004, the launch slipped to March; May 14, 15 and 22; July 13, 2005). Discovery safely reached orbit at a total mass of 121,485 kg, but extensive video coverage detected external tank foam shedding during ascent. Discovery docked at the Pirs module of the ISS on 28 July 28 at 11:18 GMT. Following replenishment of the station (using the Raffaello MPLM-6 module with 8240 kg of supplies), a series of spacewalks verified the integrity of the shuttle's heat shield and tested repair techniques, Discovery undocked from the ISS at 07:24 GMT on 6 August and landed safely on Runway 22 at Edwards Air Force Base at 12:11 GMT on 9 August. However the shuttle fleet was immediately grounded again while NASA attempted to find a permanent fix to the external tank foam woes. 2006 July 4 - 18:38 GMT - Cape Canaveral LC39B. Space Shuttle STS-121 STS-121 Mass: 121,094 kg (266,966 lb). Spacecraft: Discovery. Agency: NASA. Perigee: 332 km (206 mi). Apogee: 351 km (218 mi). Inclination: 51.60 deg. Period: 91.40 min. Crew: Lindsey, Kelly Mark, Fossum, Nowak, Wilson, Sellers, Reiter. Flight: STS-121, ISS EO-13, ISS Astrolab. The shuttle was launched using external tank ET-119 and solid motors RSRM-93. Cameras revealed that large chunks of foam were still shed from the external tank during the ascent to orbit. However examination of the heat shield using a new extension and sensors attached to the shuttle's robot arm revealed no significant damage. Discovery docked with the PMA-2 adapter on the Destiny module of the ISS at 14:52 GMT on 6 July. On July 7 the Leonardo cargo module was moved from the shuttle payload bay by the robot arm and docked to the Unity Module of the ISS between 09:42 and 11:50 GMT. The crew then began unloading the spare parts and supplies in the module to the station. A series of three EVAs conducted on 8 to 12 July tested the new equipment and techniques for repairing the shuttle heat shield in case of damage, and did some preliminary installations on the exterior of the ISS to pave the way for continued station assembly missions. On 14 July, the station's SSRMS robot moved the Leonardo module from the station back to the shuttle cargo bay between 13:08 and 14:50 GMT. The shuttle separated from the ISS, and fired its engines at 12:07 GMT on 17 July to make a 92 m/s deorbit maneuver. Discovery landed at the Kennedy Space Center at 13:14 GMT. European astronaut Reiter was left behind to make up part of the EO-13 resident crew on the station. 2006 September 9 - 15:15 GMT - Cape Canaveral LC39B. Space Shuttle STS-115 STS-115 Mass: 122,400 kg (269,800 lb). Spacecraft: Atlantis. Agency: NASA. Perigee: 335 km (208 mi). Apogee: 350 km (210 mi). Inclination: 51.60 deg. Period: 91.40 min. Crew: Jett, Ferguson, Stefanyshyn-Piper, Tanner, Burbank, MacLean. Flight: STS-115, ISS EO-14, ISS EO-13. Atlantis docked with the International Space Station at the PMA-2 port at 10:48 GMT on 11 September. At the Shuttle RMS robot arm connected to the enormous P3/P4 truss in the payload pay and handed it off to the Station's robot arm between 14:52 and 15:03 GMT the same day. The station arm then connected to the P3/P4 truss to the station's P1 truss at 07:27 on 12 September. Three EVA's were made by the shuttle crew over the next three days to complete installation of the truss and deply its solar panels. The Shuttle undocked from the station at 12:50 GMT on 20 September. There was a one-day delay in landing due to weather at the Cape and some concern about several small objects seen floating near the spacecraft. These were believed to be plastic shims that had worked loose from between the tiles and were not a concern. Atlantis landed at Kennedy Space Center at 10:21 GMT on 21 September. 2006 December 10 - 01:47 GMT - Cape Canaveral LC39B. Space Shuttle STS-116 STS-116 Spacecraft: Discovery. Agency: NASA. Perigee: 326 km (202 mi). Apogee: 358 km (222 mi). Inclination: 51.60 deg. Period: 91.40 min. Crew: Polansky, Oefelein, Curbeam, Patrick, Fuglesang, Higginbotham, Williams. Flight: STS-116, ISS EO-14, ISS Astrolab. The mission used solid rocket booster pair RSRM-95 and external tank ET-123. At SSME burnout Discovery was in a 58 km x 220 km x 51.6 deg preliminary burn. The OMS-2 burn at 02:25 GMT placed the shuttle in a stable 225 x 250 km orbit from which rendezvous maneuvers began. Discovery docked with the ISS at 22:12 GMT on December 11. In the most demanding ISS assembly mission ever, the crew would require an additional spacewalk to complete installation of the P5 truss, retraction of the recalcitrant port P6 solar array wing, and activation of the truss electrical and cooling system. Sunita Williams rode the shuttle to the station, and remained behind with the EO-14 crew; ESA astronaut Thomas Reiter, already aboard the station, was returned to earth. Due to weather problems a landing at White Sands was considered; but in the end Discovery landed safely at Kennedy Space Center, after which it was to enter a year-long overhaul cycle. 2007 June 8 - 23:38 GMT - Cape Canaveral LC39A. Space Shuttle STS-117 STS-117 Mass: 122,685 kg (270,474 lb). Spacecraft: Atlantis. Agency: NASA. Perigee: 330 km (200 mi). Apogee: 341 km (211 mi). Inclination: 51.60 deg. Period: 91.20 min. Crew: Sturckow, Archambault, Forrester, Swanson, Olivas, Reilly, Anderson Clayton. Flight: ISS EO-15, ISS EO-14-1, STS-117, ISS EO-15-1. The shuttle delivered the S3 and S4 truss segments to the starboard side of the International Space Station. The crew made three spacewalks to install these truss segments, conduct other station reconfiguration and installation work, deploy the solar arrays and prepare them for operation. A fourth spacewalk was added to repair loose re-entry insulation on the shuttle and get-ahead installation work on the outside of the station. The shuttle delivered NASA long-term ISS crew member Clayton Anderson to the station; and returned Suni Williams to earth. At the conclusion of this mission the station finally achieved its full-power, dual-boom configuration first conceived for Space Station Freedom in the 1980's. 2007 August 8 - 22:36 GMT - Cape Canaveral LC39A. Space Shuttle STS-118 STS-118 Mass: 14,036 kg (30,944 lb). Spacecraft: Endeavour. Agency: NASA. Perigee: 337 km (209 mi). Apogee: 348 km (216 mi). Inclination: 51.60 deg. Period: 91.40 min. Crew: Kelly Scott, Hobaugh, Caldwell, Mastracchio, Williams Dave, Morgan, Drew. Flight: ISS EO-15, STS-118, ISS EO-15-1. Space Shuttle Endeavour was launched on Aug 8 at 2236 UTC. The STS-118 stack comprised Orbiter OV-105, solid rockets RSRM-97 and external tank ET-117. The solid boosters separated 2 min after launch. At 2245 UTC the orbiter main engines cut off and ET-117 separated into an approximately 57 x 225 km x 51.6 deg orbit. The OMS-2 burn at 2313 UTC put Endeavour in a higher 229 x 317 km orbit as the ET fell back to reentry around 2346 UTC. During ascent a large chunk of external tank foam was observed to hit the underside of the orbiter. Examination in orbit using the robotic arm showed a hole in a heat shield tile that went down to the felt mounting pad. There was considerable press discussion of the danger, but as the mission drew to a close NASA decided that no lasting damage would be incurred during reentry to the orbiter structure, and called off a potential extra spacewalk to repair the tile. Endeavour docked at the PMA-2 adapter on the Station at 18:02 GMT on 10 August; the hatches were opened at 20:04. The 14036 kg of cargo broke down as follows:
Following successful completion of all cargo delivery and station assembly tasks, the crew returned to Endeavour on 18 August, undocking the next day at 11:56 GMT. Landing was moved up a day ahead of schedule because of concern a hurricane might force evacuation of the Houston Control Center on the originally-planned return date. Endeavour began its deorbit burn at 15:25 GMT on August 21 and lowered its orbit from 336 x 347 km to -28 x 342 km. It landed on runway 15 at Kennedy Space Center at 16:32 GMT. Landing mass was 100,878 kg. 2007 October 23 - 15:38 GMT - Cape Canaveral LC39A. Space Shuttle STS-120 STS-120 Spacecraft: Discovery. Agency: NASA. Perigee: 340 km (210 mi). Apogee: 344 km (213 mi). Inclination: 51.60 deg. Period: 91.40 min. Crew: Melroy, Zamka, Parazynski, Wheelock, Wilson, Nespoli, Tani. Flight: STS-120, ISS EO-15, ISS EO-16, ISS EO-16-1, ISS EO-15-1. Main mission objectives were delivery of the Harmony module to the station, and external work to move the P6 truss to its final location and put the ISS into its full-power configuration for the first time. Discovery docked with the ISS at the Destiny module at 12:40 GMT on 25 October. The cargo of 17,390 kg was as follows:
2008 February 7 - 19:45 GMT - Cape Canaveral . Space Shuttle STS-122 STS-122 Spacecraft: Atlantis. Perigee: 329 km (204 mi). Apogee: 343 km (213 mi). Inclination: 51.60 deg. Period: 91.20 min. Crew: Frick, Poindexter, Melvin, Walheim, Schlegel, Love, Eyharts. ISS flight 1E's primary mission was the long-delayed delivery and installation of the European Columbus module. The shuttle entered an initial 58 km x 230 km orbit at 19:54 GMT. The OMS-2 circularization burn at 20:23 GMT put it into a 215 km x 233 km chase orbit. Atlantis docked with the PMA-2 port of the ISS at 17:17 GMT on 9 February. Eyharts was dropped off at the station, Tani, already aboard the ISS, returned to Earth on Atlantis. Atlantis undocked from the ISS on 20 February at 09:24 GMT; began its deorbit burn at 12:59; and landed at the Kennedy Space Center at 14:07. 2008 March 11 - 06:28 GMT - Cape Canaveral . Space Shuttle STS-123 STS-123 Spacecraft: Endeavour. Perigee: 341 km (211 mi). Apogee: 346 km (214 mi). Inclination: 51.60 deg. Period: 91.40 min. Crew: Gorie, Johnson Gregory H, Behnken, Foreman, Linnehan, Doi, Reisman. Endeavour's main task was delivery of the Canadian Dextre robotic manipulator (fitted to the end of the Canadarm-2 robotic arm already installed on the station) and the Japanese Kibo ELM-PS Experiment Logistics Module - Pressurized. It also brought astronaut Reisman to the station, replacing Eyharts on the long-duration crew. The orbiter was placed in an initial 58 km x 220 km orbit at main engine shutdown, adjusted by the OMS-2 firing 38 minutes later to a 220 km x 233 km chase orbit. On 13 March the shuttle docked with the PMA-2 port of the International Space Station at 03:49 GMT. Mission accomplished, Endeavour undocked at 00:25 GMT on March 25, completed the customary ISS flyaround at 01:36 GMT, deorbited at 23:33 GMT the next day, and landed at 00:39 GMT at Kennedy Space Center. 2008 May 31 - 21:02 GMT - Cape Canaveral . Space Shuttle STS-124 STS-124 Spacecraft: Discovery. Perigee: 226 km (140 mi). Apogee: 226 km (140 mi). Inclination: 51.60 deg. Crew: Kelly Mark, Ham, Nyberg, Garan, Fossum, Hoshide, Chamitoff. Discovery delivered to the International Space Station the Kibo Pressurized Module, the primary element of the Japanese portion of the station. Half an earth away from jettison of external tank ET-128, a 76 m/s OMS-2 burn at 21:40 GMT put the Shuttle in its low-altitude chase lorbit. Discovery docked at the PMA-2 port of the station at 18:03 GMT on 2 June. Using the shuttle and station's robotic arms, with assistance from spacewalking astronauts, the Kibo module was attached to the station's Harmony module at 23:01 GMT on 4 June. The previously-delivered Japanese Logistics Module was transferred from Harmony to Kibo on 6 June at 20:04 GMT. The Shuttle undocked from the station on 11 June at GMT and landed on 14 June at 15:15 GMT at the Kennedy Space Center. Bibliography:
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