STS-103
Mission emblem | |||
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Mission dates | |||
Mission: | STS-103 | ||
COSPAR-ID : | 1999-069A | ||
Crew: | 7th | ||
Begin: | December 20, 1999, 0:50:00 UTC | ||
Starting place: | Kennedy Space Center , LC-39B | ||
Number of EVA : | 3 | ||
Landing: | December 28, 1999, 0:00:47 UTC | ||
Landing place: | Kennedy Space Center, Lane 33 | ||
Flight duration: | 7d 23h 10min 47s | ||
Earth orbits: | 119 | ||
Rotation time : | 96.4 min | ||
Orbit inclination : | 28.5 ° | ||
Apogee : | 609 km | ||
Perigee : | 563 km | ||
Covered track: | 5.1 million km | ||
Team photo | |||
v. l. No. Michael Foale, Claude Nicollier, Scott Kelly, Curtis Brown, Jean-Francois Clervoy, John Grunsfeld, Steven Smith |
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◄ Before / After ► | |||
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STS-103 ( english S pace T ransportation S ystem) is the mission designation for a flight of the US Space Shuttle Discovery ( OV -103) of NASA . The launch took place on December 20, 1999. It was the 96th space shuttle mission and the 27th flight of the space shuttle Discovery.
team
- Curtis Brown (6th spaceflight), commander
- Scott Kelly (1st spaceflight), pilot
- Steven Smith (3rd space flight), mission specialist
- Michael Foale (5th spaceflight), mission specialist
- John Grunsfeld (3rd space flight), mission specialist
- Claude Nicollier (4th Spaceflight), Mission Specialist ( ESA / Switzerland )
- Jean-François Clervoy (3rd space flight), Mission Specialist ( ESA / France )
Mission description
The main task of the Discovery crew was the repair of important on-board systems of the Hubble space telescope . Some of them had failed in the past, others were renewed prophylactically.
On the second day of the flight, the satellite was captured on the first attempt. During the approach phase, the outboard engineers had already prepared for their first mission, which was completed on December 22nd (Smith and Grunsfeld for 8 hours and 15 minutes). All six gyroscopes that are necessary for the precise alignment of the 11.5 ton telescope were replaced. After the fourth gyroscope failed in mid-November, the telescope was put into sleep mode. The second important task of the first exit was to replace six charge control devices on the ten-year-old batteries . These control devices monitor the charging process and ensure that the batteries are not overcharged or overheated.
At the second exit on December 23 (8 hours and 10 minutes), Foale and Nicollier exchanged the telescope's on-board computer. The old 386 (with 387 coprocessor ) has been replaced by a 486 that is twenty times faster. A guide sensor weighing 280 kg was also replaced. It measures the orientation of the satellite in space with high accuracy. The satellite has a total of three such sensors .
The focus of the third exit maneuver was the exchange of an S-band transmitter, with which the collected data is transmitted to a relay satellite. Since these transmitters were not intended to be exchanged in weightlessness, the work was a little more complicated. Thanks to the special tools I brought with me, the replacement went according to plan. One of three data stores, a tape recorder, has been replaced with electronic storage. With twelve GB, this has ten times the capacity. Finally, the thermal insulation on the access doors was changed. This is to avoid temperature problems inside the satellite.
Since all the planned work had been completed, the Hubble telescope could be released from the Discovery's cargo bay on Christmas Day. The ground control reported the full functionality of the satellite, which resumed normal operation after two weeks.
The Discovery landed on the shuttle runway of the Kennedy Space Center after almost eight days of flight .
Trivia
During the flight, John Mace Grunsfeld carried a Mars flag with him, which was the first time in space.
See also
Web links
- NASA Mission overview (English)
- NASA Official Mission page (English)
- NASA video of Mission (English)
- Video summary with comments of the crew (English)
Individual evidence
- ^ " The First Salute: Martian Flag Flies in Space ", www.spaceref.com