STS-55

STS-55, or Deutschland 2 (D-2), was the 55th overall flight of the US Space Shuttle and the 14th flight of Shuttle Columbia. This flight was a multinational Spacelab flight involving 88 experiments from eleven different nations. The experiments ranged from biology sciences to simple Earth observations.

STS-55
Spacelab Module LM1 in Columbia's payload bay, serving as the Spacelab D-2 laboratory
Mission typeResearch
OperatorNASA
COSPAR ID1993-027A
SATCAT no.22640
Mission duration9 days, 23 hours, 39 minutes, 59 seconds
Distance travelled6,701,603 kilometers (4,164,183 mi)
Orbits completed160
Spacecraft properties
SpacecraftSpace Shuttle Columbia
Landing mass103,191 kilograms (227,497 lb)
Payload mass11,539 kilograms (25,439 lb)
Crew
Crew size7
Members
Start of mission
Launch date26 April 1993, 14:50:00 (1993-04-26UTC14:50Z) UTC
Launch siteKennedy LC-39A
End of mission
Landing date6 May 1993, 14:29:59 (1993-05-06UTC14:30:00Z) UTC
Landing siteEdwards Runway 22
Orbital parameters
Reference systemGeocentric
RegimeLow Earth
Perigee altitude304 kilometres (189 mi)
Apogee altitude312 kilometres (194 mi)
Inclination28.45 degrees
Period90.7 min

Left to right - Seated: Henricks, Nagel, Precourt; Standing: Harris, Schlegel, Ross, Walter
 

Crew
Position Astronaut
Commander Steven R. Nagel
Fourth and last spaceflight
Pilot Terence T. Henricks
Second spaceflight
Mission Specialist 1 Jerry L. Ross
Fourth spaceflight
Mission Specialist 2 Charles J. Precourt
First spaceflight
Mission Specialist 3 Bernard A. Harris, Jr.
First spaceflight
Payload Specialist 1 Ulrich Walter, DLR
Only spaceflight
Payload Specialist 2 Hans Schlegel, DLR
First spaceflight

Backup crew
Position Astronaut
Payload Specialist 1 Gerhard Thiele, DLR
Payload Specialist 2 Renate Brümmer, DLR

Mission highlights

Columbia carried to orbit the second reusable German Spacelab on the STS-55 mission and demonstrated the shuttle's ability for international cooperation, exploration, and scientific research in space. The Spacelab Module and an exterior experiment support structure contained in Columbia's payload bay comprised the Spacelab D-2 payload. (The first German Spacelab flight, D-1, flew Shuttle mission 61-A in October 1985.) The U.S. and Germany gained valuable experience for future space station operations.

The D-2 mission, as it was commonly called, augmented the German microgravity research program started by the D-1 mission. The German Aerospace Center (DLR) had been tasked by the German Space Agency (DARA) to conduct the second mission. DLR, NASA, the European Space Agency (ESA), and agencies in France and Japan contributed to D-2's scientific program. Eleven nations participated in the experiments. Of the 88 experiments conducted on the D-2 mission, four were sponsored by NASA.

The crew worked in two shifts around-the-clock to complete investigations into the areas of fluid physics, materials sciences, life sciences, biological sciences, technology, Earth observations, atmospheric physics, and astronomy. Many of the experiments advanced the research of the D-1 mission by conducting similar tests, using upgraded processing hardware, or implementing methods that took full advantage of the technical advancements since 1985. The D-2 mission also contained several new experiments which were not previously flown on the D-1 mission.

The mission surpassed the 365th day in space for the Space Shuttle fleet and the 100th day of flight time in space for Columbia, the fleet's oldest Orbiter, on its fourteenth flight.

D-2 marked the first tele-robotic capture of a free floating object by flight controllers in Germany. The crew conducted the first intravenous saline solution injection in space as part of an experiment to study the human body's response to direct fluid replacement as a countermeasure for amounts lost during space flight. They also successfully completed an in-flight maintenance procedure for collection of orbiter waste water, which allowed the mission to continue.

STS-55 crew members participated in two amateur radio experiments, SAREX II from the United States and the German SAFEX. These experiments allowed students and amateur radio operators from around the world to talk directly with the Space Shuttle in orbit and participated in a SpaceMedicine conference with the Mayo Clinic.

Launch

Columbia was initially scheduled to launch in late February. However, this date slipped to early March due to concerns with the tip-seal retainers in the main engines' oxidizer turbopumps. All three turbopumps were replaced at the pad but later inspection revealed the retainers to be in good condition. Further delays were caused by the burst of a hydraulic flex hose in the aft compartment during the Flight Readiness Test. The lines were removed and inspected and three replacements were installed.

AttemptPlannedResultTurnaroundReasonDecision pointWeather go (%)Notes
122 Mar 1993, 3:30:00 pmscrubbed—technical22 Mar 1993, 3:29 pm ​(T-0:03)pad abort: oxidizer purge valve jammed on a chunk of O-ring, all 3 main engines changed[1]
224 Apr 1993, 12:00:00 amscrubbed32 days, 8 hours, 30 minutestechnicalpossible faulty reading with one of the inertial measurement units.[2]
326 Apr 1993, 10:50:00 amsuccess2 days, 10 hours, 50 minutesLaunched

See also

References

 This article incorporates public domain material from websites or documents of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration.

  1. "Former NASA Astronaut Steven Nagel Dies at 67". space.com. Retrieved 15 March 2020.
  2. "NASA – STS-55". Nasa.gov. Retrieved 12 August 2010.

This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.