STS-56

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Mission emblem
Mission emblem STS-56
Mission dates
Mission: STS-56
COSPAR-ID : 1993-023A
Crew: 5
Begin: April 8, 1993, 05:29:00  UTC
Starting place: Kennedy Space Center , LC-39B
Landing: April 17, 1993, 11:37:23 UTC
Landing place: Kennedy Space Center, Lane 33
Flight duration: 9d 6h 8m 23s
Earth orbits: 148
Rotation time : 90.5 min
Orbit inclination : 57.0 °
Apogee : 307 km
Perigee : 295 km
Covered track: 6.2 million km
Payload: ATLAS-2, SPARTAN-201
Team photo
v. l. No. Kenneth Cockrell, Stephen Oswald, Michael Foale, Kenneth Cameron, Ellen Ochoa
v. l. No. Kenneth Cockrell, Stephen Oswald, Michael Foale, Kenneth Cameron, Ellen Ochoa
◄ Before / After ►
STS-54 STS-55

STS-56 ( 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 April 8, 1993. It was the 54th space shuttle mission and the 16th flight of the space shuttle Discovery.

team

Mission overview

The main burden of this mission was the Atmospheric Laboratory for Applications and Science-2 (ATLAS-2). This module investigated the relationships between solar energy and the earth's middle atmosphere, in particular the effects on the ozone layer. ATLAS-2 consisted of a total of 7 different instruments:

  • Atmospheric Trace Molecule Spectroscopy (ATMOS)
  • Millimeter Wave Atmospheric Sounder (MAS)
  • Shuttle Solar Backscatter Ultraviolet / A (SSBUV / A) spectrometer
  • Solar Spectrum Measurement (SOLSPEC)
  • Solar Ultraviolet Irradiance Monitor (SUSIM)
  • Active Cavity Radiometer (ACR)
  • Solar Constant (SOLCON)

ATLAS-2 is part of NASA's "Mission to Planet Earth" program. The instruments were first used as ATLAS-1 during the STS-45 mission in 1993.

On April 11, the astronauts deployed the Shuttle Point Autonomous Research Tool for Astronomy-201 ( SPARTAN-201 ) using the shuttle's robotic arm . With this instrument platform, the speeds and accelerations of the solar winds were measured and the corona of the sun was examined. The platform was recaptured 2 days later.

With the help of the Shuttle Amateur Radio Experiment II ( SAREX II), various contacts were made with the Russian Mir space station and some schools on earth.

Further experiments:

  • Solar Ultraviolet Experiment (SUVE)
  • Commercial Materials Dispersion Apparatus Instrumentation Technology Associates Experiment (CMIX)
  • Physiological and Anatomical Rodent Experiment (PARE)
  • Space Tissue Loss (STL-1)
  • Cosmic Ray Effects and Activation Monitor (CREAM)
  • Hand-held, Earth-oriented, Real-time, Cooperative, User-friendly, Location-targeting and Environmental System (HERCULES)
  • Radiation Monitoring Equipment III (RME III)
  • Air Force Maui Optical Site (AMOS)

Due to various technical problems (data transfer, software, cooling system), the scientific program could not be fully implemented. The Discovery performed more than 100 orbit maneuvers during the mission, most of them to align the measuring devices with the objects to be examined. The landing took place on the grounds of the Kennedy Space Center (KSC) in Florida.

See also

Web links

Commons : STS-56  - album with pictures, videos and audio files