STS-5

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Mission emblem
Mission emblem STS-5
Mission dates
Mission: STS-5
COSPAR-ID : 1982-110A
Crew: 4th
Begin: November 11, 1982, 12:19:00  UTC
Starting place: Kennedy Space Center , LC-39A
Landing: November 16, 1982, 14:33:26 UTC
Landing place: Edwards Air Force Base , Runway 22
Flight duration: 5d 2h 14min 26s
Earth orbits: 82
Track height: 317 km
Orbit inclination : 28.5 °
Covered track: 3.3 million km
Payload: Anik C-3, SBS-C, GAS container
Team photo
v. l. No. Joseph Allen, Vance Brand, Robert Overmyer, William Lenoir
v. l. No. Joseph Allen, Vance Brand, Robert Overmyer, William Lenoir
◄ Before / After ►
STS-4 STS-6

STS-5 ( english S pace T ransportation S ystem) is a mission designation for the US Space Shuttle Columbia (OV-102) NASA . The launch took place on November 11, 1982. It was the fifth space shuttle mission and the fifth flight of the space shuttle Columbia.

team

Mission overview

STS-5 was the space shuttle's first mission that was not flown primarily for testing purposes. For the first time, mission specialists were on board in addition to the commander and pilot. The cargo consisted of two communications satellites , the Anik C-3 ( Telesat Canada ) and the SBS-3 (Satellite Business Systems) and some experiments.

Preparations

Columbia's previous mission ended on July 4, 1982 at Edwards Air Force Base , California. Ten days later, she started her journey home to Florida on the back of a converted Boeing 747 ( Shuttle Carrier Aircraft ). The next day, the shuttle arrived at the Kennedy Space Center and was driven to the Orbiter Processing Facility , where it was prepared for flight. The transfer to the Vehicle Assembly Building took place on September 9th . There the orbiter was connected to the external tank and the two solid fuel rockets and transported to the launch pad two weeks later.

Mission history

Takeoff of Columbia, captured from an airplane

The launch took place punctually on November 11, 1982 from the Kennedy Space Center . The shuttle assembly weighed a total of 2,035 tons when it took off, 9.4 tons of which was due to the payload. Two minutes after take-off, the two solid fuel rockets were cut off at an altitude of 47.3 kilometers . A little later they landed on parachutes in the Atlantic Ocean and could be recovered. After two pulses from the OMS engines, the orbiter reached an orbit with an altitude of 296 kilometers and an orbit inclination of 28.5 degrees. Towards the end of the third orbit, the Columbia flew just a few kilometers below the Russian space station Salyut 7 , but without the two crews seeing each other or radio contact being established.

Six and a half hours after take-off, the four-man crew began preparations for the launch of SBS-3. The communications satellite, together with the PAM-D upper stage, weighed 3,270 kilograms and had a total length of 4.2 meters. Exactly eight hours after the start of the mission, at 20:18 UTC, the satellite, rotating at 52 revolutions per minute around its longitudinal axis, left the loading hatch. 45 minutes after the launch, the PAM-D upper stage detonated, placing SBS-C in geostationary orbit . The Anik satellite was also deployed according to the same scheme on the following day at 20:24 UTC, during the 22nd earth orbit.

SBS-3 will start

Originally, the first space exit (EVA) of the shuttle program was to be carried out during this mission . The two mission specialists were supposed to work for three and a half hours in the Columbia's hold on the fourth day of the flight and even simulate a satellite repair with new tools. As Bill Lenoir and Joe Allen suffered from space sickness, it was decided to postpone the EVA for a day. The health of the two astronauts had improved so much on November 15th that an attempt was made. The two mission specialists went into the airlock to put on the newly developed space suits EMU . A fan in Allen's suit initially made deafening noises before it completely failed. All attempts to repair it have failed. A little later there were also problems with Lenoir's spacesuit when its pressure regulation failed. The planned exit therefore had to be canceled.

In addition, numerous experiments were carried out in the cargo hatch and cockpit during the flight. Several student experiments were found in one package on the flight deck of Columbia.

In addition, there was a so-called GAS container (GetAway Special) in the hold, which was controlled from the cockpit and in which scientific experiments could be carried out relatively inexpensively. For this mission, the Federal Republic of Germany rented an 80 centimeter high canister with a capacity of 140 liters. The forerunner of today's DLR wanted under the name MOUSE ( m aterialwissenschaftliche a utonome experiments u nder S investigate metallic samples chwerelosigkeit). After landing it turned out that the equipment had not worked. The battery that was supposed to provide the power had an electrolyte leak.

The Columbia returns

After five days in space on November 16, the two OMS nozzles fired for 2 minutes and 22 seconds heralded the return. The landing took place on concrete runway 22 at Edwards Air Force Base because a landing on the salt lakes in California was not possible due to heavy rainfall .

Shortly before landing, Commander Vance Brand took control of the shuttle. A little later, the Columbia touched down on the runway and coasted 2.9 kilometers. The mission had lasted 5 days, 2 hours and 14 minutes. On November 22, the orbiter returned to the Kennedy Space Center.

literature

In 1984, before his second shuttle flight with mission STS-51-A , the nonfiction book Advance into Space - My Space Flight with the Space Shuttle , written by Joseph P. Allen, appeared , in which he describes his experiences with STS-5 and these impressively illustrated with 1,000 pictures.

See also

Web links

Commons : STS-5  - album with pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b Spaceflight Report: STS-5. Spacefacts, January 13, 2014, accessed April 25, 2014 .
  2. ^ William Harwood: STS-122 Shuttle Report | Mission controllers release revised flight plan. Spaceflight Now, February 10, 2008, accessed April 25, 2014 .
  3. ↑ STS-5. NASA, November 23, 2007, accessed April 25, 2014 .