STS-81

Mission emblem

Mission dates

Mission:

STS-81

COSPAR-ID :

1997-001A

Crew:

6th

Begin:

January 12, 1997, 09:27:23 UTC

Starting place:

Kennedy Space Center , LC-39B

Space station:

Me

Coupling:

January 15, 1997, 03:54:49 UTC

Decoupling:

January 20, 1997, 02:15:44 UTC

Duration on me:

4d 22h 20m 55s

Landing:

January 22, 1997, 14:24:46 UTC

Landing place:

Kennedy Space Center, Lane 33

Flight duration:

10d 4h 55m 23s

Earth orbits:

160

Rotation time :

92.2 min

Apogee :

392 km

Perigee :

380 km

Covered track:

6.6 million km

Team photo

v. l. No. John Grunsfeld, Brent Jett, John Blaha, Jeffrey Wisoff, Jerry Linenger, Michael Baker, Marsha Ivins

◄ Before / After ►

STS-80

STS-82

STS-81 ( english S pace T ransportation S ystem) is a mission designation for the US Space Shuttle Atlantis ( OV -104) of NASA . The launch took place on January 12, 1997. It was the 81st space shuttle mission, the 18th flight of the space shuttle Atlantis, the seventh flight as part of the Shuttle Mir program and the fifth coupling of a US space shuttle to the Mir space station .

team

Michael Baker (4th space flight), commander
Brent Jett (2nd spaceflight), pilot
John Grunsfeld (2nd space flight), mission specialist
Marsha Ivins (4th Spaceflight), Mission Specialist
Peter Wisoff (3rd space flight), mission specialist

Me crew outbound

Jerry Linenger (2nd space flight)

replacement

Michael Foale for Linenger

Me crew return flight

John E. Blaha (5th space flight)

(Returned to Earth after a flight time of 128 days, 5 hours and 27 minutes; outbound flight on STS-79 )

Mission description

During the fifth flight of the space shuttle Atlantis to the Mir space station , the focus was on material transport and the change of a crew member. Scientific research covered the areas of technology , earth exploration , biology , medicine , microgravity and space exploration . Some experiments were located in the middle deck of the ferry, others were housed in a Spacehab double module.

The first few days the crew members were mainly occupied with activating the Spacehab's on-board systems, refueling the water canisters for the Mir space station and preparing for the docking maneuver. The navigation system was also calibrated and a laser range finder tested. In addition, a treadmill was tested which was later to be used in the International Space Station ISS. It is equipped with special vibration dampers, which are supposed to prevent the movements of the training spaceman from being transmitted too strongly to the space station. The forces involved could negatively affect scientific experiments. For this reason, the residual accelerations were measured during the entire flight ( SAMS experiment ). Due to a computer error, however, this experiment had to be repeated on the penultimate day of the flight after disconnecting from the space station. Also prior to coupling, the Biorack was used to investigate the effects of weightlessness and cosmic radiation on plants , various tissues, cell cultures and fungi .

Photographed me by STS-81

After the coupling between Atlantis and Mir, 700 liters of water, 1806 kg of scientific material and equipment were brought into the station, as well as 1181 kg of research material, including biomedical samples, a bioprocess unit, an experiment to grow cartilage cells and wheat plants grown in space, into the Atlantis transported. A new sowing was also prepared in the greenhouse of the station. Using special sensors , the stability of the complex, especially on the coupling adapter and the fixings of the solar cell panels , was examined when the engine was ignited. Furthermore, water samples were examined in different areas of the space station. While John Blaha was moving to the space shuttle, Jerry Linenger moved to the station. He should work here until May. For emergencies, a bucket seat adapted to the astronaut was replaced in the Soyuz spacecraft . After stowing all the equipment, the Atlantis cast off again on the eighth day of flight and flew around the Mir space station twice at a distance of about 150 meters.

On the last day of the flight, the experiment was repeated with the treadmill. Vibration damping , smooth running of the training device, stability of the flexible surface and the effectiveness of the decoupling from the shuttle were measured . In Spacehab also a transport container was tested for sick people. Such containers are intended to enable rapid patient transport in the International Space Station in an emergency. Finally, a special seat was installed for the Blaha long-term flyer, which minimizes the stress during the landing phase. After a ten-day flight, the Atlantis landed on a concrete runway in Cape Canaveral .