STS-62

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Mission emblem
Mission emblem STS-62
Mission dates
Mission: STS-62
COSPAR-ID : 1994-015A
Crew: 5
Begin: March 4, 1994, 13:53:00  UTC
Starting place: Kennedy Space Center , LC-39B
Landing: March 18, 1994, 13:09:41 UTC
Landing place: Kennedy Space Center, Lane 33
Flight duration: 13d 23h 16min 41s
Earth orbits: 224
Rotation time : 90.4 min
Orbit inclination : 39.0 °
Apogee : 309 km
Perigee : 296 km
Covered track: 9.2 million km
Team photo
v.  l.  No.  Charles Gemar, Andrew Allen, Marsha Ivins, John Casper, Pierre Thuot
v. l. No. Charles Gemar, Andrew Allen, Marsha Ivins, John Casper, Pierre Thuot
◄ Before / After ►
STS-60 STS-59

STS-62 ( english S pace T ransportation S ystem) is a mission designation for the US Space Shuttle Columbia ( OV -102) of NASA . The launch took place on March 4, 1994. It was the 61st space shuttle mission and the 16th flight of the Columbia space shuttle. The main payloads, housed in the orbiter's cargo bay, were the USMP-02 microgravity experiment package and the OAST-2, which comprised six space and aerospace engineering experiments. Another focus of the two-week mission was biomedical experiments, which were supposed to investigate the effects of long-term flights.

team

Mission overview

The second US microgravity payload mission comprised experiments in the fields of materials science, atmospheric research, biology , medicine , technology and physics . 11 experiments ran automatically, monitored by the control center in Houston. Material science research concerned the study of solidification processes. This included the production of a large mercury-cadmium telluride crystal in a special melting furnace with three separately controllable temperature zones and the investigation of the microstructure of solidifying metal alloys made of bismuth and zinc. Here melting and crystallization alternate in a continuous cycle. The temperature, solidification rate and the shape of the solidification front were measured. The program was completed by growing dendrites from supercooled melts. To test new materials for future spacecraft and external structures, three containers with 264 material samples each were carried. One of the containers was opened immediately after the start. In the two other containers, the material samples were exposed to space conditions (radiation, residual gases, micrometeorites) either only in free flight phases or only in propulsion phases.

To research the atmosphere and the interaction of the space shuttle with the high atmosphere, polar lights and other light phenomena (EISG experiment) were photographed. This also included the glow on the outer surfaces of the shuttle, which is caused by atomic oxygen and nitrogen oxides in their vicinity. In order to increase this effect, the orbit was lowered several times. Finally, the ultraviolet radiation from the atmosphere was measured. Particularly active volcanic areas in Central America and industrial regions in Japan and China were selected. The measured values ​​are intended to improve the accuracy of the statements about the ozone concentration. The influence of sulfur oxides and industrial emissions as falsifying factors was determined.

Biological studies were limited to the physiological development of rats during the two-week flight. Medical studies were not neglected. Blood and urine samples were taken and compared before and after the flight. For conditioning, the astronauts trained daily (e.g. with a bicycle ergometer) and used a vacuum container for the abdomen, which, like on Earth, increasingly drew the blood into the lower body area. As is almost always the case during this flight, a large number of pure protein crystals were grown in a special apparatus.

Technical tests concerned a new cooling technology (10 cycles: freezing and thawing) as well as a high-precision control system for the ferry's 18-meter-long manipulator . The DDE system consists of a magnetic gripping mechanism, a flashing position diode, a high-resolution camera, a precise force sensor and a computer-controlled position determination system. All crew members practiced the precise movement of the manipulator arm several times. Pins had to be stuck on targets of different sizes. The largest disk was about 3 millimeters in diameter. Charles Gemar spent several days examining various grid models of a space station for stability in free flight (77 measurement series). In physical experiments, flow effects in liquids were recorded photographically and the critical point of Xeneon was determined with high accuracy. The critical point is understood to be the temperature and pressure conditions at which a substance can be both liquid and gaseous. Individual liquid zones are then formed in a gas, which can be measured with a laser. The milky liquid scatters the laser light more strongly than the gas. On earth, the weight of the liquid zones compresses the gas so that this state is not stable. The phenomenon was easier to observe in weightlessness (Fluid Light Scattering Experiment).

Two further devices (SAMS and OARE) measured the accelerations that the spacecraft experiences during the entire flight as a result of the movement of the crew members and the deceleration of the space shuttle due to the residual gases in the atmosphere. These forces disturb the complete weightlessness on board, which is why one often only speaks of microgravity. The sports activities of the crew members on the shock-absorbing bicycle ergometer and the automatic alignment of the Ku-band antenna had the greatest influence. Clear patterns could be seen here, which could be compensated for by precise instrument tables. What was new about this flight was that each astronaut had half a day off a week. During this time, radio contacts with the earth were often maintained. After a successful flight, the Columbia landed in the Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

See also

Web links

Commons : STS-62  - album with pictures, videos and audio files