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The primary payload for the flight, Tracking and Data Relay Satellite-4 (TDRS-4) attached to an Inertial Upper Stage (IUS), became the third TDRS deployed. After deployment, the IUS propelled the satellite to its geosynchronous orbit.
Secondary payloads on STS 29 were: Orbiter Experiments Autonomous Supporting Instrumentation System-1 (OASIS-1); Space Station Heat Pipe Advanced Radiator Experiment (SHARE); Protein Crystal Growth (PCG); Chromosomes and Plant Cell Division (CHROMEX); two Shuttle Student Involvement Program (SSIP) experiments; and an Air Force experiment using the orbiter as a calibration target for a ground-based experiment for the Air Force Maui Optical Site (AMOS) in Hawaii. The crew also photographed the Earth with a hand-held IMAX camera.
STS 29 ended on 18 March 1989 when Discovery landed on Runway 22, Edwards Air Force Base, California. Rollout distance: 9,339 feet. Rollout time: 53 seconds. Mission duration: four days, 23 hours, 38 minutes, 50 seconds. Landed revolution 80. Orbiter returned to KSC 24 March 1989.
The flight crew for STS 29 was: Michael L. Coats, Commander; John E. Blaha, Pilot; James P. Bagian, Mission Specialist 1; James F. Buchli, Mission Specialist 2; Robert C. Springer, Mission Specialist 3.
http://www-pao.ksc.nasa.gov/kscpao/chron/sts-29.htm
The prrimary payloads for the mission were the US Microgravity Payload-2 (USMP-2) and Office of Aeronautics and Space Technology-2 (OAST-2) experiments. USMP-2 included five experiments investigating materials processing and crystal growth in microgravity, while OAST-2 featured six experiments focusing on space technology and spaceflight. Both payloads were located in the payload bay, activated by the crew and operated by teams on the ground. USMP-2 experiments received emphasis at the beginning of the flight; later in mission, Columbia's orbit was lowered about 20 nautical miles to facilitate the OAST-2 experiments.
The crew also worked with experiments located both in the middeck and the payload bay. These included the Dexterous End Effector (DEE), a new magnetic end effector and grapple fixture design being tested for use on the remote manipulator system arm; Shuttle Solar Backscatter Ultraviolet/A (SSBUV/A) and Limited Duration Space Environment Candidate Material Exposure (LDCE), all in the payload bay. Middeck experiments were Advanced Protein Crystal Growth; Physiological Systems Experiment (PSE); Commercial Protein Crystal Growth (CPCG); Commercial Generic Bioprocessing Apparatus (CGBA); Middeck 0-Gravity Dynamics Experiment (MODE); Bioreactor Demonstration Systems (BDS); Auroral Photography Experiment (APE-B). The Air Force Maui Optical Site Calibration Test (AMOS) required no onboard hardware.
The crew also conducted a number of biomedical activities aimed at a better understanding and countering of the effects of prolonged spaceflight.
STS 62 ended March 1994 when Columbia landed on Runway 33, Kennedy Space Center, Florida. Rollout distance: 10,151 feet (3,094 meters). Rollout time: 55 seconds. Mission duration: 13 days, 23 hours, 16 minutes, 41 seconds. Landed revolution 224.
The flight crew for STS 62 was: John H. Casper, Commander; Andrew M. Allen, Pilot; Pierre J. Thuot, Mission Specialist 1; Charles D. Gemar, Mission Specialist 2; Marsha S. Ivins, Mission Specialist 3.
http://www-pao.ksc.nasa.gov/kscpao/chron/sts-62.htm
Endeavour's long flight allowed sustained examination of the "hidden universe" of ultraviolet light. Astro-2 was the second flight of the three ultraviolet telescopes flown on Astro-1, mounted on an Instrument Pointing System on the Spacelab pallet in the cargo bay. The Hopkins Ultraviolet Telescope (HUT), developed at The Johns Hopkins University, performed spectroscopy in the far ultraviolet region of the spectrum to identify physical processes and chemical composition of a celestial object. Improvements made to the HUT after Astro-1 made it three times more sensitive. The Wisconsin Ultraviolet Photo-Polarimeter Experiment (WUPPE), built at the University of Wisconsin, measured photometry and polarization of ultraviolet radiation from astronomical objects. The Ultraviolet Imaging Telescope (UIT), sponsored by NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, took wide-field photographs of objects in ultraviolet light.
The STS 67 crew began activating Astro-2 only hours after liftoff for around-the-clock observations. Observational sequences were planned on a daily basis in two orbit (three hour) blocks, with one telescope assigned priority in each block. Astro-2 demonstrated the benefits of human interaction in on-orbit astronomy: Besides being able to position the orbiter most advantageously for observations, the crew members could also manually acquire the observation target if desired.
The Astro-2 experiment set aimed at exploring 23 different science programs, and all were achieved. HUT, considered a complement to the Hubble Space Telescope, completed more than 200 separate observations of more than 100 celestial objects. Investigators believed the telescope collected enough data to meet its primary mission objective: detecting the presence of intergalactic helium, a telltale remnant of the theoretical Big Bang explosion that is believed to have begun the universe. HUT, in conjunction with the Hubble telescope, took ultraviolet measurements of Jupiter's aurora; it also studied Jupiter's moon Io, and the Venusian and Martian atmospheres.
UIT cameras imaged about two dozen large spiral galaxies for inclusion in an atlas of such galaxies, and made the first ultraviolet images of the entire Moon. It also studied rare, hot stars that are 100 times as hot as the sun; elliptical galaxies and some of the faintest galaxies in the universe. Investigators were disappointed upon developing UIT film to learn that one of its two cameras had malfunctioned, undetected, on orbit, but an initial assessment showed that 80 percent of the science objectives would still be met.
WUPPE yielded a "treasure chest of data," according to its principal investigator, greatly expanding the database on ultraviolet spectropolarimetry. Targets for study of the interstellar medium included dust clouds in the Milky Way and a nearby galaxy, the Large Magellanic Cloud. WUPPE also studied several types of stars, including Wolf-Rayet and Be stars. It also was able to capitalize on an opportunity to study three recently exploding novae.
STS-67 became the first advertised Shuttle mission connected to the Internet. Users of more than 200,000 computers from 59 countries logged on to the Astro-2 home page at Marshall Space Flight Center; more than 2.4 million requests were recorded during the mission, many answered by the crew on-orbit.
Other payloads carried by STS 67 were: Two Get Away Special canisters located in the payload bay held the Australian-built Endeavour telescope; also built to study the ultraviolet realm, it achieved one hundred percent of its pre-mission objectives. In-cabin payloads were Commercial Materials Dispersion Apparatus Instrumentation Technology Associates Experiments-03 (CMIX-03), which featured an array of biomedical, pharmaceutical, biotechnology, cell biology, crystal growth and fluids science investigations, including one with potential for anti-colon cancer treatment. Protein Crystal Growth experiments included two setups in middeck lockers. Also flown was the Middeck Active Control Experiment (MACE) to study how disturbances caused by a payload impacts another payload attached to same support structure.
STS 67 ended on 18 March 1995 when Endeavor landed on Runway 22, Edwards Air Force Base, California, after logging 6.9 million miles (11 million kilometers) in completing the longest Shuttle flight to date. Rollout distance: 9,975 feet (3,040 meters). Rollout time: 59 seconds. Mission duration: 16 days, 15 hours, eight minutes, 48 seconds. Landed revolution 262. The orbiter was diverted to Edwards after landing opportunities in Florida were waved off on 17 March and earlier in the day on 18 March. The orbiter was returned to Florida on 27 March and taken to the Orbiter Processing Facility on 28 March 1995.
The flight crew for STS 67 was: Stephen S. Oswald, Commander; William G. Gregory, Pilot; Tamara E. Jernigan, Payload Commander; John M. Grunsfeld, Mission Specialist; Wendy B. Lawrence, Mission Specialist; Ronald A. Parise, Payload Specialist; Samuel T. Durrance, Payload Specialist.
http://www-pao.ksc.nasa.gov/kscpao/chron/sts-67.htm
Discovery spent almost 13 days in orbit, with nearly nine of those days docked to the International Space Station. In addition to the crew transfer and attaching the Leonardo Multi-Purpose Logistics Module, the shuttle crew transferred supplies and equipment to the station, and completed two space walks.
Space walkers spent a total of 15 hours and 26 minutes during two STS-102 excursions outside the docked complex. The first space walk was the longest in space shuttle history.
Mission Specialists Susan Helms and James Voss - who later became Expedition Two crewmembers - prepared the Pressurized Mating Adapter 3 for repositioning from the Unity Module’s Earth-facing berth to its port-side berth to make room for the Leonardo Multi-Purpose Logistics Module supplied by the Italian Space Agency.
Two days later, Mission Specialists Paul Richards and Andy Thomas spent 6.5 hours outside the International Space Station, continuing work to outfit the station and prepare for delivery of its robotic arm.
The Expedition One/Two crew transfer was a carefully choreographed process carried out one replacement at a time to ensure the three current members of the station crew would be able to return home, at any time during the switch, aboard the Soyuz spacecraft attached to the station. As a member of the Expedition Two crew formally transferred from the space shuttle to the station, that crew member's custom-designed seat liner, called an Individual Equipment Liner Kit, was installed in the Soyuz spacecraft docked to the station: Crew members officially join the station when they install their seat liners in the Soyuz. The seat liner of the replaced crew member was removed from the Soyuz, and he then became a member of the shuttle crew.
STS 102 ended 12 days, 19 hours, 49 minutes after launch, on 21 March 2001, when Discovery landed on Runway 15 at the Kennedy Space Center following a surprising turnaround in the Florida weather: Entry Flight Director Wayne Hale made the decision to land at Kennedy just before midnight after cloudy skies and gusty winds due to a low pressure system that raced through the Shuttle Landing Facility area faster than expected the previous night had cleared. The shuttle had traveled a total of 5,357,762 statute miles during its flight.
The flight crew for STS 102 was: James D. Wetherbee, Commander; James M. Kelly, Pilot; Andrew S.W. Thomas, Mission Specialist 1; Paul W. Richards, Mission Specialist 2; Yury V. Usachev, Expedition 2 Commander (remained at ISS); James S. Voss, Expedition 2 Flight Engineer (remained at ISS); Susan J. Helms, Expedition 2 Flight Engineer (remained at ISS); William M. Shepherd, Expedition 1 Commander (returned from ISS); Sergei Krikalev, Expedition 1 Flight Engineer (returned from ISS); Yuri P. Gidzenko, Expedition 1 Soyuz Commander (returned from ISS).
http://www.spaceflight.nasa.gov/shuttle/archives/sts-102/index.html
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