STS-53

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Mission emblem
Mission emblem STS-53
Mission dates
Mission: STS-53
COSPAR-ID : 1992-086A
Crew: 5
Begin: December 2, 1992, 13:24:00  UTC
Starting place: Kennedy Space Center , LC-39A
Landing: December 9, 1992, 20:43:47 UTC
Landing place: Edwards Air Force Base , Runway 22
Flight duration: 7d 7h 19min 47s
Earth orbits: 116
Rotation time : 92.0 min
Orbit inclination : 57.0 °
Apogee : 381 km
Perigee : 372 km
Covered track: 4.9 million km
Payload: secret satellite
Team photo
v. l. No. Front: Guion Bluford, Jr., James Voss; Back: David Walker, Robert Cabana, Michael Clifford
v. l. No. Front: Guion Bluford, Jr., James Voss;
Back: David Walker, Robert Cabana, Michael Clifford
◄ Before / After ►
STS-52 STS-54

STS-53 ( english S pace T ransportation S ystem) is a mission designation for the US Space Shuttle Discovery ( OV -103) of NASA . The launch took place on December 2, 1992. It was the 52nd space shuttle mission and the 15th flight of the space shuttle Discovery.

team

Mission overview

This was the last purely military flight of a space shuttle. The main payload was secret and was suspended six hours after takeoff at 19:18 UTC. Presumably it was a spy satellite for telecommunications intelligence . The mass of the cargo designated as DOD-1 was given as 10.5 tons.

The original orbit height of 370 kilometers was lowered by 45 kilometers after the launch of DOD-1. Another cargo was supposed to be launched at 11:22 UTC on December 4 at an altitude of 325 kilometers. The ORACS ( Orbital DEbris RAdar Calibration Spheres ) payload consisted of six metal spheres of different sizes: two five-centimeter, ten-centimeter and six-centimeter spheres. The latter were made of aluminum, the other four of steel. ORACS should serve as a target for the calibration of radar stations and optical ground telescopes, which determine the density of space debris. The German FGAN radar station in Wachtberg should also participate. The bullets were housed in a cylinder in the forward port area of ​​the payload bay. Mission specialist Mike Clifford was supposed to open the lid of the cylinder from the cockpit and eject the ORACS balls by spring force. Because the battery failed, the experiment failed.

Furthermore, some medical experiments were carried out, which among other things also served the planning for the Freedom space station, the forerunner project of the ISS . Various military experiments were also carried out.

The landing took place at Edwards Air Force Base.

See also

Web links

Commons : STS-53  - album with pictures, videos and audio files