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STS-32
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STS-32 is the 33rd launch of the Space Shuttle and the 9th launch of Space Shuttle Columbia. It marked the first time Pad A at Kennedy Space Center's Complex 39 was used for a launch since the 61-C mission on January 12, 1986. It was also the first use of Mobile Launcher Platform No. 3 (MLP-3) in the Space Shuttle program, and one of the longest Shuttle missions at 10 days. Before STS-32, the only mission of the same duration had been STS-9 in 1983, which was the first Spacelab mission and also on Columbia.
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STS-32 is the 33rd launch of the Space Shuttle and the 9th launch of Space Shuttle Columbia. It marked the first time Pad A at Kennedy Space Center's Complex 39 was used for a launch since the 61-C mission on January 12, 1986. It was also the first use of Mobile Launcher Platform No. 3 (MLP-3) in the Space Shuttle program, and one of the longest Shuttle missions at 10 days. Before STS-32, the only mission of the same duration had been STS-9 in 1983, which was the first Spacelab mission and also on Columbia. STS-32 executed the third night landing of the program.
Crew
(total flights to date in parentheses)
Mission parameters
- Mass:
- Orbiter liftoff: 116,117 kg
- Orbiter landing: 103,571 kg
- Payload: 12,014 kg
- Perigee: 296 km
- Apogee: 361 km
- Inclination: 28.5°
- Period: 91.1 min
Facility preparations
Launch Complex 39A was modified extensively in preparation for the launch, with STS-32 the first launch from the refurbished pad since 61C in 1986. NASA made improvements to the crew emergency egress system and in the payload room, increased protection against freezing of the water services, installed debris traps used during propellant loading, and added more weather protection features and an umbilical to provide power, instrumentation and controls to the heaters for the solid rocket booster field joints.
MLP-3, the oldest of the three Apollo-era launch structures, also underwent extensive remodeling for use with the Shuttle. Those modifications included removal of the umbilical tower, reconfiguring for three exhaust holes, and changing the electrical and mechanical ground support systems.
Mission highlights
January 9, 1990, 7:35:00 a.m. EST. The launch was first scheduled for December 18, 1989, but was later postponed to complete and verify modifications to Pad A. The second scheduled launch on January 8, 1990 was aborted due to weather conditions. Launch Weight: 255,994 lb (116.117 Mg).
The objectives of the mission were to deploy the SYNCOM IV-F5 (also known as LEASAT 5) defense communications satellite and retrieve NASA's Long Duration Exposure Facility (LDEF), whose retrieval had been delayed for 4 1/2 years by scheduling changes and the Challenger disaster. The SYNCOM IV-F5 was deployed first on the second flight day, and a third stage Minuteman solid perigee kick motor propelled it into a geosynchronous orbit. Dunbar retrieved the LDEF on day four of the flight using the remote manipulator system. The timeliness of the retrieval had been of critical importance, because a high rate of solar flux had increased the density of the LDEF's orbital environment and accelerated its rate of orbital decay. Specialists who carefully monitored the stability of the craft's orbit had anticipated that if the LDEF was not retrieved in time, it would pass too low for the shuttle to safely reach, and it could be destroyed during re-entry in February 1990.
The crew performed a 4 1/2-hour photographic survey of the free-flying structure which held 57 science, technology and applications experiments. The 12-sided cylinder, about the size of a small bus, was then berthed in the orbiter's payload bay for return to Earth.
NASA had planned to acquire data on the crew members' exposure to long periods of zero gravity and its effects on the crew's performance while landing the orbiter after an extended mission. STS-32 set a new shuttle duration record of nearly eleven days. An orbiter kit was developed to allow the shuttle to operate up to 16 days in Earth orbit, and would later make it's debut on Columbias STS-50 mission in 1992.
The mission's exact liftoff time was determined about 12 hours before launch, using the latest tracking data on LDEF. It was flown on a 219 statute mile (352 km) orbit inclined 28.5 degrees to the equator.
The retrieval of LDEF was filmed with an IMAX camera, and appeared in the IMAX film Destiny in Space in 1994. Earth observation footage from the camera also appeared in the 1991 film Blue Planet.
The Shuttle landed on January 20, 1990 at 1:35:37 a.m. PST on Runway 22 of Edwards Air Force Base in California with a landing weight of 228,335 lb (103,571 kg). The roll-out distance was 10,731 feet (3,271 m) and roll-out time was 62 seconds. The orbiter returned to KSC on January 26, 1990.
Middeck payloads
- Characterization of Neurospora Circadian Rhythms (CNCR)
- Protein Crystal Growth (PCG)
- Fluid Experiment Apparatus (FEA)
- American Flight Echocardiograph (AFE)
- Latitude / Longitude Locator (L3)
- Mesoscale Lightning Experiment(MLE)
- IMAX camera
- Air Force Maui Optical Site (AMOS) experiment
Mission insignia
The three stars on the left and two stars on the right of the insignia symbolize the flight's numerical designation in the Space Transportation System's mission sequence.
Gallery
See also
External links
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