STS-52

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Mission emblem
Mission emblem STS-52
Mission dates
Mission: STS-52
COSPAR-ID : 1992-070A
Crew: 6th
Begin: October 22, 1992, 17:09:39  UTC
Starting place: Kennedy Space Center , LC-39B
Landing: November 1, 1992, 14:05:52 UTC
Landing place: Kennedy Space Center, Lane 33
Flight duration: 9d 20h 56m 13s
Earth orbits: 126
Rotation time : 90.5 min
Track height: 296 km
Orbit inclination : 28.5 °
Covered track: 6.5 million km
Payload: LOCATION 2
Team photo
v. l. No. Front: Charles Veach, Tamara Jernigan, William Shepherd Back: Michael Baker, James Wetherbee, Steven MacLean
v. l. No. Front: Charles Veach, Tamara Jernigan, William Shepherd
Back: Michael Baker, James Wetherbee, Steven MacLean
◄ Before / After ►
STS-47 STS-53

STS-52 ( English S pace T ransportation S ystem) is the name of a flight of the US space shuttle Columbia (OV-102) as part of the space shuttle program of the NASA space agency . The launch took place on October 22, 1992 from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida .

The main task of the ten-day mission was exposing the American-Italian Geodesy - Satellite LAGEOS 2 and operation of the US Microgravity Payload-1 , a mounted in the cargo bay of the space shuttle discovery platform. After the end of the flight, which was classified as successful, Columbia landed on November 1, 1992 with its six-person crew again at the Kennedy Space Center. It was the 51st space shuttle mission and the 13th flight of the Columbia space shuttle.

team

The crew of the STS-52 mission was announced by NASA on August 23, 1992:

Substitute team

Mission highlights

The main task of the STS-52 mission was to deploy the LAGEOS 2 geodesy satellite, which the Italian space agency ASI had built in cooperation with NASA. The comparatively small satellite served as a supplement to LAGEOS 1, which had already been launched in 1977 with a Delta launcher. Both LAGEOS satellites were used to precisely measure the earth's surface and thus helped, among other things, to monitor faults in earthquake areas.

A research platform for material science experiments was also located in the space shuttle's payload bay . The payload , named United States Microgravity Payload-1 (USMP-1) , made its maiden flight during the mission and consisted of three ground-guided experiments mounted on a new type of carrier platform.

Steven MacLean, the third Canadian spaceman aboard the space shuttle, worked on his own experimental program, the Canadian Experiments-2 (CANEX-2) , during the flight . They comprised a total of ten experiments and were based on a research series of the STS-41-G mission from 1984. The crew was also responsible for operating a number of other payloads in the middle deck of the crew cabin and in the payload bay.

begin

The Columbia space shuttle launched for the STS-52 mission on October 22, 1992

Preparations for the STS-52 mission began on July 10, 1992, after Columbia returned from its previous STS-50 space flight . After completing the mandatory follow-up inspections and maintenance work, the space shuttle was connected to the external fuel tank and the two solid rocket rockets on September 20 in the shuttle assembly hall of the Kennedy Space Center, the Vehicle Assembly Building . The space shuttle was then driven to launch pad 39B , where the spacecraft completed a countdown demonstration . The launch, originally planned for mid-October, was delayed, however, because one of the three main engines of the space shuttle had to be replaced on the launch pad . The engine had to be replaced after there had been indications of cracks in a coolant distributor of the nozzle .

The countdown for STS-52 began on October 19 at 4:00 p.m. Eastern American Time (EDT) at the Kennedy Space Center, marking the final phase of preparations for launch. The external fuel tank was refueled with liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen on the morning of October 22nd . The crew boarded the Columbia around 9 a.m. EDT. The two and a half hour launch window opened at 11:16 a.m. EDT (4:16 p.m. Central European Time). Due to bad weather at an overseas emergency landing site in Banjul (Gambia) and strong cross winds at the launch site, the planned launch date was delayed by around two hours. NASA finally decided to take off anyway, even though the cross winds on the runway of the Kennedy Space Center exceeded the termination criteria. At 1:09:39 p.m. EDT (6:09 p.m. Central European Time), the space shuttle lifted off the launch pad, officially starting the STS-52 mission. The total takeoff weight was 2046 tons.

After 2:03 minutes of flight time, the shuttle's two solid fuel rockets were disconnected after they had burned their fuel. The three main engines reached their end of fire 8:30 minutes after take-off; the outer tank was disconnected at 8:50 minutes of flight time. Post-flight analysis later concluded that several pieces of the tank's foam insulation had come loose during the ascent. The space shuttle was not hit by the fragments. 37 minutes after taking off a stabilized 2:17 minutes long ignition of the orbital Manövriersystems (OMS), the orbit of Columbia . The space shuttle was then in an orbit whose point furthest from the earth (apogee) was at an altitude of 302 kilometers. The closest point to the earth (perigee) was at an altitude of 296 kilometers; the orbit inclination was 28.5 degrees. One orbit lasted around 90 minutes.

Suspension of LAGEOS 2

LAGEOS 2 leaves Columbia's payload bay . The IRIS upper stage with the engine nozzle is clearly visible.

The LAGEOS 2 ( Laser Geodynamics Satellite ) geodesy satellite was successfully launched on the second day of flight. Under the supervision of Mission Specialist Tamara Jernigan, the spin-stabilized satellite left Columbia's payload bay at 8:56 a.m. Houston time (2:56 p.m. Central European Time) . Subsequently, the solids upper stage IRIS ( Italian Research Interim Stage ) manufactured in Italy brought LAGEOS 2 with an engine ignition from the parking orbit of the space shuttle into an elliptical orbit with a height of 5,900 kilometers and an orbit inclination of 52 degrees. An ignition of the satellite's own apogee motor led LAGEOS 2 to its final orbit a few hours later, where it began its scientific operation after a 30-day test program.

LAGEOS 2 is a completely passive terrestrial satellite, which is used exclusively for laser distance measurement ( satellite laser ranging ). Laser beams are sent from the earth to the satellite and the time between the emission and the return of the beams is recorded. With this method, the distance between the earth station on earth and the satellite in space can be determined with high accuracy. The method enables the movements of the earth's crust to be precisely monitored , which is particularly useful in observing regional faults in earthquake regions such as California or the Mediterranean . In addition, with the help of laser distance measurement, the shape and size of the earth can be characterized and the length of a day can be determined more precisely. Information about changes in the earth's axis can also be obtained with this technology.

LAGEOS 2 is made of two aluminum hemispheres, which are mounted around a central brass core . The spherical satellite has a diameter of 60 centimeters and weighs 405 kilograms. This compact design is necessary to guarantee the greatest possible stability. Inside LAGEOS 2 there are 426 evenly distributed prisms . They have a diameter of 3.8 centimeters and are mainly made of quartz glass . The prisms reflect light back in the direction of the origin. LAGEOS 2 is currently still in operation and will only re-enter the earth's atmosphere in 8 million years .

After the LAGEOS 2 satellite left Columbia's cargo bay , Commander James Wetherbee detonated the space shuttle's maneuvering system twice to lower Columbia's orbit to an altitude of 150 miles. The low orbit accommodated the needs of the USMP experiments and also increased the number of landing opportunities at the end of the mission. Also on the second day of the flight, the mission specialist Charles Veach tested the shuttle's robotic arm (RMS) with a two-part procedure to check its functionality.

Operation of USMP-1

The second main payload of the STS-52 mission was the USMP-1 ( United States Microgravity Payload ) research platform , which was used for the first time on this flight. It comprised three material science test arrangements , which were mounted on a new type of support structure in the payload bay of Columbia . All experiments were essentially remotely controlled from the payload control center of the Marshall Space Flight Center , which meant that the crew only rarely needed to be involved in operating the platform. USMP-1 was therefore designed as a test run for similar remote-controlled work processes on board space stations and other earth satellites.

On its first flight, the USMP payload consisted of three experiments, which were mainly used for basic research in weightlessness :

  • The Lambda Point Experiment (LPE) examined the behavior of helium as it changes from a liquid to a superfluid state. If helium is in the superfluid phase, it loses all internal friction and also has an unusually high thermal conductivity . The transition of helium from the normal liquid (fluid) to the superfluid state takes place at the so-called lambda point , which is at a temperature of 2.17 Kelvin . This change can be better explored in space, since gravity on earth causes pressure differences in a helium sample. In the lambda point experiment , a helium material sample was in a superfluid state in a cryostat . During a two-hour run, the temperature was then raised above the lambda point for a short time, which enabled the thermal conductivity of the liquid to be recorded during the different phases.
  • The MEPHISTO experiment resulted from a cooperation between NASA, the French space agency CNES and the French atomic energy authority CEA . Its purpose was to study the behavior of metals and semiconductors as they solidify. In particular, this should determine the influence of gravity on the surface between solid and liquid phases (the so-called interface ). MEPHISTOSYSTEM had a cylindrical shape, and containing three rod-shaped samples of tin - bismuth - alloys which could be heated by means of two kilns. During the mission, the samples were melted and resolidified several times over the course of several runs of the experiment. The temperature changes at the interface were continuously measured using a low electrical voltage .
  • The Space Acceleration Measurement System (SAMS) was the only one of the experiments carried out by USML-1 to have been used in earlier shuttle missions. The system was designed to record slight accelerations during operation of the platform, which could falsify the results of the tests. During the STS-52 mission, two SAMS units were installed on the USMP-1 carrier platform. Both had two sensor heads to register accelerations that exceeded the permitted limit values. The collected SAMS data could be transmitted to the payload control center during the flight, whereby the operation of the USMP experiments could be adjusted if necessary.

See also

Web links

Commons : STS-52  - album with pictures, videos and audio files

swell

literature

  • Ben Evans: Space Shuttle Columbia - Her Missions and Crews. Praxis Publishing, Chichester 2005, ISBN 0-387-21517-4 . P. 166ff
  • Wolfgang Engelhardt: Encyclopedia space travel. Verlag Harri Deutsch, Frankfurt am Main 2001, ISBN 3-8171-1401-X . P. 257ff

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Science.ksc.nasa.gov: STS-52 (51). NASA, June 29, 2001, accessed November 27, 2009 .
  2. ↑ Barbara Schwartz: NASA ANNOUNCES CREW MEMBERS FOR FUTURE SHUTTLE FLIGHTS. (PDF; 5.8 MB) Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center, August 3, 1992, accessed November 27, 2009 .
  3. ↑ a b c d Tim Furniss / David J. Shayler: Praxis Manned Space Flight Log. Praxis Publishing, Chichester 2007, ISBN 0-387-34175-7 . P. 463
  4. ↑ a b c d e NASA: Space Shuttle Mission STS-52 Press Kit. (PDF) edited by Richard W. Orloff, October 1992, archived from the original on January 31, 2017 ; accessed on November 27, 2009 .
  5. ^ A b Dennis R. Jenkins: Space Shuttle - The History of the National Space Transportation System. Dennis R. Jenkins, Cape Canaveral 2001, ISBN 0-9633974-5-1
  6. ↑ STS-52 in Encyclopedia Astronautica , accessed November 28, 2009.
  7. ^ A b NASA: STS-52 Status Report # 3 , NASA Mission Control Center, October 23, 1992
  8. ↑ JPL Mission and Spacecraft Library: LAGEOS 1, 2. Accessed on September 13, 2014 (English).