Category Praxis Manned Spaceflight Log 1961-2006

Future Flight Manifest 2006-2011 (as at 1 October 2006)

Date

Mission

Flight

Country Crew

Objective

2009

Jan STS-128 ? (128) 17A USA Establish six person crew capability on ISS

No crew assigned

MPLM; Lightweight Multi-Purpose Experiment Support Structure Carrier (LMC); Three crew quarters, galley, second treadmill (TYIS2); Crew Flealth Care System 2 (CHeCS 2)

Mar

Soyuz TMA13

ISS-19

Russia

Krikalev (TMA/ISS Cdr)?; Surayev (FE) plus ?

Additional EO crew members?

Apr

STS-129? (129)

ULF-3

USA

No crew assigned

EXPRESS Logistics Carrier 1 (ELC 1); EXPRESS Logistics Carrier 2 (ELC 2)

Jul

STS-130? (130)

19A

USA

No crew assigned

MPLM; Lightweight Multi-Purpose Experiment Support Structure Carrier (LMC)

Sep

Soyuz TMA14?

ISS-20

Russia

No crew assigned

Sep?

Shenzhou 8 & Shenzhou 9

China

China

No crew assigned No crew assigned

Shenzhou 8 & 9 to perform first Chinese manned docking and creation of small short-stay space station

Oct

STS-131? (131)

ULF-4

USA

No crew assigned

EXPRESS Logistics Carrier 3 (ELC 3); EXPRESS Logistics Carrier 4 (ELC 4); two Shuttle-equivalent flights for contingency

2010

Jan

STS-132? (132)

20A

USA

No crew assigned

Node 3 with Cupola

Mar

Soyuz TMA15?

ISS-21

Russia

No crew assigned

816 Appendix С

EXPRESS Logistics Carrier 5 (ELC 5); EXPRESS Logistics Carrier 6 (ELC 6); two Shuttle-equivalent flights for contingency

ISS Assembly complete – Shuttle fleet retired Sep Soyuz TMA16 ? ISS-22 Russia No crew assigned

2011

Mar Soyuz TMA17 ? ISS-23 Russia No crew assigned

Apr

The following information was compiled with the help of Collect Space 7 Oct 2006, Robert Pearlman

Soyuz TMA-crewing 2007-2008

TMA10 ISS-15: April 2007-September 2007

Commander

FE1

FE2a

FE2b

FE2c

Oleg Kotov Fyodor Yurchikhin

Suni Williams (up on STS-116) until June 2007 Clay Anderson (up on STS-118) until September 2007 Dan Tani (up on STS-120) until October 2007

TMA11 ISS-16:

Commander

FE1

FE2a

FE2b

FE2c

FE2d

September 2007-March 2008 Yuri Malenchenko Peggy Whitson

Dan Tani (up on STS-120) until October 2007 Leopold Eyharts (up on STS-122) until December 2007 Bob Thirsk (up on STS-123) until March 2008 Koichi Wakata (up on STS-124) until April 2008

TMA12 ISS-17:

Commander

FE-1

FE-2

FE-2b

FE-2c

March 2008-September 2008 Sergei Volkov

Peggy Whitson (stays on ISS for 9 months returns on STS-119) Shalizhan Sharipov (launched on TMA-12)

Sandy Magnus (up on STS-119) until September 2008 Greg Chamitoff (up on STS-126) until November 2008.

A Selected Timeline

1961

Apr Yuri Gagarin becomes the first person fly into space and completes one orbit May Alan Shepard becomes the first American in space on a sub-orbital flight Aug Gherman Titov is launched on the first 24-hour mission, of 17 orbits

1962

Feb John Glenn becomes the first American to orbit the Earth, with 3 orbits Jul First X-15 flight to exceed 50 miles (Robert White)

Aug Andrian Nikolayev sets new endurance record (3 days 22 hours)

1963

Jun Valeri Bykovsky sets new endurance record (4 days 23 hours)

Valentina Tereshkova becomes first woman in space (2 days 22 hours)

Aug Highest X-15 flight (66.75 miles) – Pilot Joseph Walker

1964

Oct First multi-person space crew (3) – Voskhod 1; First civilians in space

1965

Mar Alexei Leonov becomes first person to walk in space

Mar First US multi-person crew (2) on Gemini 3

Jun Ed White becomes first American to walk in space

Aug Gemini 5 sets new endurance record (7 days 22 hours)

Cooper becomes first person to orbit Earth a second time Dec Gemini 7 set new endurance record (13 days 18 hours)

First space rendezvous – Gemini 6 with Gemini 7

1966

Mar First space docking – Gemini 8 with Agena target

Sep Gemini 11 attains highest altitude of Earth orbital manned flight (850 miles)

1967

Jan 27 Three Apollo 1 astronauts killed in pad fire

Apr Soyuz 1 pilot Vladimir Komarov killed during landing phase

Oct X-15 fastest flight (4520 mph – Mach 6.7) (Pete Knight)

Nov X-15 pilot Michael Adams is killed in crash of #3 aircraft after attaining

50.4 miles

1968

Aug Thirteenth and final X-15 “astro-flight”

Oct First three-man Apollo flight (Apollo 7)

Schirra becomes first person to make three orbital spaceflights Dec Apollo 8 becomes first lunar orbital mission

1969

Jan Soyuz 5/4 first manned docking and crew transfer (by EVA)

Mar Manned test of LM in Earth orbit (Apollo 9)

May Manned test of LM in lunar orbit (Apollo 10)

Jul First manned lunar landing – Apollo 11

Oct First triple manned spacecraft mission (Soyuz 6, 7, 8)

Nov Second manned lunar landing Apollo 12

1970

Apr Apollo 13 aborted lunar landing mission

Lovell becomes first to fly in space four times Jun Soyuz 9 cosmonauts set new endurance record (17 days 16 hrs)

1971

Feb Third manned lunar landing (Apollo 14)

Apr Launch of world’s first Space Station – Salyut (de-orbits Oct 1971)

Jun First space station (Salyut) crew. Killed during entry phase (Soyuz 11) Jul Fourth manned lunar landing (Apollo 15)

1972

Apr Fifth manned lunar landing (Apollo 16)

Dec Sixth and final (Apollo) manned lunar landing (Apollo 17)

1973

Apr Salyut 2 (Almaz) fails in orbit (de-orbits in 26 days)

May Launch of unmanned Skylab (re-enters Jul 1979)

First Skylab crew sets new endurance record of 28 days Jul Second Skylab crew increases endurance record to 59 day 11 hrs

Nov 3rd and final Skylab crew increases endurance record to 84 days 1 hr

1974

Jun Launch of Salyut (Almaz) 3 (de-orbits Jan 1975)

Jul First successful Soviet space station mission (Soyuz 14)

Dec Launch of Salyut 4 (de-orbits Feb 1977)

1975

Apr Soyuz 18 crew survive launch abort

Jul Soyuz 19 and Apollo dock in space – first international mission

1977

Sep Salyut 6 launched (de-orbits Jul 1982)

Dec First Salyut 6 resident crew set new endurance record of 96 days 10 hrs

1978

Jan First Soyuz exchange mission (Soyuz 27 for Soyuz 26)

Mar First Soviet Interkosmos mission (Czechoslovakian)

First non-Soviet, non-American person in space (Remek)

Jun Second Salyut 6 crew sets new endurance record of 139 days 14 hrs

1979

Feb Third Salyut 6 resident crew increases endurance record to 175 days

1980

Apr Fourth Salyut 6 resident crew increases endurance record to 184 days 20 hrs Jun First manned flight of Soyuz T variant

1981

Apr First Shuttle launch (Columbia STS-1) on 20th anniversary of Gagarin’s flight

John Young becomes first to make five space flights
Nov First return to space by manned spacecraft (Columbia STS-2)

1982

Apr Salyut 7 launched (de-orbits Feb 1991)

May First Salyut 7 resident crew sets new endurance record of 211 days 9 hrs

Nov First “operational” Shuttle mission, STS-5, is also the first four-person

launch

1983

Apr First flight of Challenger

Jun Sally Ride becomes first US woman in space during STS-7, the first five – person launch

Sep Soyuz T10-1 launch pad abort

Nov First Spacelab mission – STS-9; first six-person launch John Young flies record sixth mission

1984

Feb First use of MMU (STS 41-B) on untethered spacewalks Feb Third Salyut 7 resident crew sets new endurance record of 236 days 22 hrs

Jul Svetlana Savitskaya becomes the first woman to walk in space (Soyuz T12/

Salyut 7)

Aug First flight of Discovery on STS 41-D Oct First seven-person launch (STS 41-G)

Kathy Sullivan becomes first American woman to walk in space

1985

Jan First classified DoD Shuttle mission (STS 51-C)

Jul First Shuttle Abort-to-Orbit profile (STS 51-F)

Oct First flight of Atlantis (STS 51-J)

Oct First eight-person launch (STS 61-A)

1986

Jan Challenger and its crew of seven lost 73 seconds after launch (STS 51-L) Feb Mir core module launched unmanned

Mar First resident crew to Mir (Soyuz T15)

1987

Feb Second Mir resident crew sets new endurance record of 326 days 11 hrs First manned Soyuz TM variant

Dec First flight of over a year as third Mir resident crew sets endurance record of 365 days 22 hrs

1988

Sep Shuttle Return-to-Flight mission (STS-26)

1990

Apr Hubble Space Telescope deployment (STS-31)

1992

May First flight of Endeavour (STS-49)

1993

Dec First Hubble Service Mission (STS-61)

1994

Jan Valery Polyakov sets new endurance record (437 days 17 hrs) for one mission (lands Mar 1995)

Feb First Russian cosmonaut to fly on Shuttle (Krikalev STS-60)

1995

Feb First Shuttle-Mir rendezvous STS-63/Mir

Eileen Collins becomes first female Shuttle pilot Mar First American launched on Soyuz (Thagard – TM21)

Jul First Shuttle docking with Mir (STS-71 – Thagard down)

Nov Second Shuttle-Mir docking (STS-74)

1996

Mar Third Shuttle-Mir docking (STS-76 – Lucid up)

Sep Fourth Shuttle-Mir docking (STS-79 – Lucid down, Blaha up)

Nov Longest Shuttle mission (17 days 15 hrs – STS-80)

Musgrave becomes only astronaut to fly all five orbiters

1997

Jan Fifth Shuttle-Mir docking (STS-81 – Blaha down, Linenger up)

Feb Second Hubble service mission (STS-82)

May Sixth Shuttle-Mir docking (STS-84 – Linenger down, Foale up)

Jun Collision between unmanned Progress vessel and Mir space station damages Spektr module

Sep Seventh Shuttle-Mir docking (STS-86 – Foale down, Wolf up)

1998

Jan Eighth Shuttle-Mir docking (STS-89 – Wolf down, Thomas up)

Jun Ninth and final Shuttle-Mir docking (STS-91 – Thomas down)

Oct John Glenn returns to space aged 77, 36 years after his first space flight Nov First ISS element launched – Zarya FGB Dec First ISS Shuttle mission (STS-88)

1999

Jul Eileen Collins becomes first female US mission commander (STS-93)

Aug Mir vacated for first time in ten years Dec Third Hubble service mission (STS-103)

2000

Apr Last (28th) Mir resident crew (72 days)

Oct First ISS resident crew launched

2001

Mar Mir space station de-orbits after 15 years service

Apr Dennis Tito becomes first space flight participant, or “tourist”

2002

Mar Fourth Hubble service mission (STS-109)

Apr Jerry Ross becomes first person to fly seven missions in space Oct First manned flight of Soyuz TMA

2003

Feb Columbia and crew of seven lost during entry phase of mission STS-107

Apr ISS assumes two-person caretaker crews

Oct First Chinese manned spaceflight (Shenzhou 5)

Yang Liwei becomes first Chinese national in space

2004

Sep Spaceship One flies to 337,500 ft (102.87 km)

Oct Spaceship One flies to 367,442 ft (111.99 km) claiming $10 million X-Prize

2005

Jul Shuttle Return-to-Flight mission 1 – STS-114 Oct First Chinese two-man space flight – Shenzhou 6

2006

Jul Second Shuttle Return-to-Flight mission – STS-121 Aug ISS returns to three-person capability

Resumption of ISS construction – STS-115

Bibliography

The authors have referred to their own extensive archives in the compilation of this book. In addition, the following publications and resources were of great help in assembling the data:

The Press Kits, News releases and mission information from NASA, ESA, CSA, RKK-Energiya, JAXA (NASDA), CNES, and Novosti have been invaluable resources for many years

Magazines:

Flight International 1961-2006

Aviation Week and Space Technology 1961-2006

BIS Spaceflight 1961-2006

Soviet Weekly/Soviet News 1961-1990

Orbiter, Astro Info Service 1984-1992

Zenit, Astro Info Service, 1985-1991

ESA Bulletin 1975-2006

British Interplanetary Society Books:

History of Mir 1986-2000; Mir: The Final Year Supplement, Editor Rex Hall 2000/ 2001

The ISS Imagination to Reality Volume 1 Ed Rex Hall 2002 The ISS Imagination to Reality Volume 2, Ed Rex Hall 2005

NASA Reports:

NASA Astronautics and Aeronautics, various volumes, 1961-1995

Mir Hardware Heritage, David S. F. Portree NASA RP-1357, March 1995. Walking to Olympus: An EVA Chronology, David S. F. Portree and Robert C. Trevino, NASA Monograph in Aerospace history, #7 October 1997

NASA Histories:

1966 This New Ocean, a History of Project Mercury, SP-4201

1977 On the Shoulders of Titans: A history of Project Gemini, NASA SP-4203

1978 The Partnership: A history of Apollo-Soyuz Test Project, NASA SP-4209

1979 Chariots for Apollo: A history of manned lunar spacecraft, NASA SP-4205 1983 Living and working in space: A history of Skylab NASA SP 4208

1977 Where No Man Has Gone Before: a history of Apollo lunar exploration missions, NASA SP-4214

2000 Challenge to Apollo: the Soviet Union and the Space Race 1945-1974, Asif Siddiqi, NASA SP-2000-4408

Other Books:

1980 Handbook of Soviet Manned Space Flight, Nicholas L. Johnson, AAS Vol 48, Science and Technology Series

1981 The History of Manned Spaceflight, David Baker

1987 Heroes in Space: From Gagarin to Challenger, Peter Bond

1988 Space Shuttle Log: The First 25 Flights, Gene Gurney and Jeff Forte

1988 The Soviet Manned Space Programme, Phillip Clark

1989 The Illustrated Encyclopaedia of Space Technology, Chief Author Ken Gatland

1990 Almanac of Soviet Manned Space Flight, Dennis Newkirk

1992 At the Edge of Space: The X-15 Flight Program, Milton O. Thompson 1999 Who’s Who in space: The ISS Edition, Michael Cassutt 2001 Space Shuttle, History and Development of the National STS Program, Dennis Jenkins

Springer-Praxis Space Science Series (which include extensive references and bibliographies for further reading)

1999 Exploring the Moon: The Apollo Expeditions, David M. Harland

2000 Disasters and Accidents in Manned Spaceflight, David J. Shayler

2000 The Challenges of Human Space Exploration, Marsha Freeman

2001 Russia in Space: The Failed Frontier, Brian Harvey

2001 The Rocket Men, Vostok & Voskhod, the First Soviet Manned Spaceflights, Rex Hall and David J. Shayler 2001 Skylab:; America’s Space Station, David J. Shayler 2001 Gemini: Steps to the Moon, David J. Shayler

2001 Project Mercury: NASA’s First Manned Space Programme, John Catchpole

2002 The Continuing Story of the International Space Station, Peter Bond

Creating the International Space Station, David M. Harland and John E. Catchpole

Apollo: Lost and Forgotten Missions, David J. Shayler

Soyuz, a Universal Spacecraft, Rex Hall and David J. Shayler

China’s Space Programme: From Concept to Manned Spaceflight, Brian

Harvey

Walking in Space, David J. Shayler

The Story of the Space Shuttle, David M Harland

The Story of Space Station Mir, David M. Harland

Women in Space: Following Valentina, David J Shayler and Ian Moule

Space Shuttle Columbia: Her Missions and Crews, Ben Evans.

Russia’s Cosmonauts: Inside the Yuri Gagarin Training Center, Rex Hall, David J. Shayler and Bert Vis

Apollo: The Definitive Source Book, Richard W. Orloff and David M. Harland

2002

2002

2003

2004

2004

2004

2005

2005

2005

2005

2006

2006

NASA Scientist Astronauts, Colin Burgess and David J. Shayler

The Quest for Space

The real quest for space has existed for centuries, ever since man first noticed the stars and began to wonder about them, gradually fostering the desire to visit them. Cen­turies of Earth-based observations of the cosmos evolved into the science of astron­omy. The desire for human “flight” was often intertwined in the early years with a passion for the written word and a vivid imagination, creating numerous stories of fantasy and adventure in the heavens. With the development of the balloon, the chance to actually ascend into the atmosphere gave scientists real experience and data about the difficulties of high-altitude flight, as well as the realisation that there was a limit to our atmosphere. In the closing years of the nineteenth century and opening decades of the twentieth, the development of life support systems, pressurised compartments, diving apparatus, and of course the aircraft, were the important steps along the way to the series of high-altitude, high-speed aircraft and stratospheric balloons that set and surpassed record after record from the 1920s through to the 1950s. The knowledge gained, and the sacrifices made, were the final link in the chain that led to Gagarin’s pioneering journey into orbit.

Salyut

This highly successful programme began with the first unmanned launch in April 1971 and ended with the de-orbiting of Salyut 7 in February 1991. Two of the stations (Salyut 3 and Salyut 5) were military bases called Almaz. The differences between the “military” (Almaz, or Diamond) and the “civilian” (DOS, Russian for Permanent Orbital Station) stations were in their orbital parameters, durations, the composition of crew members (military officers and engineers for Almaz against civilian flight engineers and guest cosmonauts for Salyut), the openness of reporting of crew activities, and the research programmes. There were setbacks – the first crew to Salyut 1 could not enter the station, the second lost their lives in a re-entry accident, and there were five Soyuz missions which failed to achieve a docking with the station. In addition, there was a launch abort and a pad abort which cancelled Salyut missions. An unmanned Salyut was lost in a launch failure in July 1972, and in April 1973, Salyut (Almaz) 2 was lost shortly after entering orbit. This was followed the next month by the loss of Cosmos 557, which failed even before it received a Salyut identification. Salyut 4, 5, 6 and 7, however, pushed the boundaries of space endur­ance and demonstrated the wide range of experiments that could be conducted. The missions also demonstrated how much maintenance and trouble-shooting could be conducted. Salyut 6 and 7 also housed a series of visitors from Interkosmos and other countries, flying one-week visiting missions under the command of a veteran Soviet cosmonaut.

Salyut

An artists impression of Salyut 1 in orbit, with a Soyuz on docking approach

Salyut

Salyut 7 in orbit

Table 3.2. Salyut and Almaz stations

Station

EO crew

Variant

Launched

Re-entry

Salyut 1

1

DOS-1

1971 Apr 19

1971 Oct 11

Salyut

DOS-2

1972 Jul 29

Failed to reach orbit

Salyut 2

Almaz-1

1973 Apr 3

1973 May 28

Cosmos 557

DOS-3

1972 May 11

1973 May 22

Salyut 3

1

Almaz-2

1974 Jun 25

1975 Jan 24

Salyut 4

2

DOS-4

1973 Dec 26

1977 Feb 2

Salyut 5

2

Almaz-3

1976 Jun 22

1977 Aug 8

Salyut 6

6

DOS 5-1

1977 Sep 29

1982 Jul 29

Salyut 7

6

DOS 5-2

1982 Apr 19

1991 Feb 7

Almaz

Almaz-4

Cancelled

Featuring dual-docking ports, the later Salyut stations allowed crews to dock a pair of Soyuz craft to the same station, or dock a Progress unmanned re-supply craft to re-stock the resident crew or re-supply the consumables on board, thus prolonging the operational life of the station. The US Skylab programme had no such facilities.

The hybrid Salyut was a cylindrical structure, featuring two habitable compart­ments (transfer and work), with an internal docking port at the front and a modified Soyuz propulsion system at the rear. Power was supplied by two pairs of Soyuz solar panels. The overall length of the station was 15.8 m, with a maximum diameter of 4.15m and a 90m3 habitable volume. The average mass at launch was 18,900kg.

The Salyut 3 and 5 (Almaz) stations were different in design. Still cylindrical, the Soyuz docked with a rear port instead of a forward port. There was an airlock chamber for EVAs (although none were ever conducted from either Almaz), a work compart­ment and a living compartment. Almaz was 14.55 m long, with a maximum diameter of 4.15m and a similar habitable volume to that of Salyut. The station had larger arrays, however, and incorporated a detachable data capsule that could be ejected at the end of the military-orientated mission.

Salyut 4 was very similar to Salyut 1 but featured three steerable solar arrays, with a larger surface area and more capacity to produce electricity for the increased number of science experiments.

Salyut 6 and 7 resembled the earlier Salyuts but featured docking ports at the front and back, giving the capacity to re-supply and refuel the station using Progress freighters. Two Soyuz vessels could dock at the same time and the first EVAs for Soviet cosmonauts since 1969 were conducted from these stations. These record-breaking vehicles laid the ground work for Mir, testing hardware, techniques and systems for the larger and more capable station that would follow.

GEMINI 9

Int. Designation

1966-047A

Launched

3 June 1966

Launch Site

Pad 19, Cape Kennedy, Florida

Landed

6 June 1966

Landing Site

Western Atlantic Ocean

Launch Vehicle

Titan II GLV No. 9; spacecraft serial number 9

Duration

3 days 20 min 50 sec

Callsign

Gemini Nine

Objective

Rendezvous and docking mission; EVA activities

Flight Crew

STAFFORD, Thomas Patten Jr., 35, USAF, command pilot, 2nd mission Previous mission: Gemini 6 (1965)

CERNAN, Eugene Andrew, 32, USN, pilot

Flight Log

Gemini 9 certainly seemed to be a jinxed 13th US manned space flight, even before it got airborne. The prime Gemini 9 crew were killed in an air crash in St Louis on 28 February 1966, when their T-38 aircraft hit the roof of the building housing the Gemini 9 spacecraft, before bouncing off and crashing into a car park. Command pilot Elliott See and pilot Charles Bassett were replaced by the back-up crew, Tom Stafford and Eugene Cernan, who had landed at St Louis in a second aircraft shortly afterwards.

On 17 May, the Agena 9 target rocket for the three-day rendezvous, docking and spacewalking mission flew into the Atlantic Ocean after a second-stage malfunction, and the mission was scrubbed. After the Agena 6 failure in October 1965, NASA began to develop an alternative target without its own engine, called the Augmented Target Docking Adapter, ATDA, should the Agena fail again. On 1 June, an Atlas booster carried ATDA into orbit, while Stafford and Cernan waited for their blast­off within the tight, 40-second window. Computer problems grounded them at T — 2 minutes. Stafford, the Gemini 6 pilot, had now been to the pad five times and had lifted off only once.

However, he and Cernan were at last airborne at 08: 39 hrs on 3 June, heading for what scientists were expecting to be a rather unusual sight, as signals from the ATDA indicated that its payload shrouds had not separated fully. They were right. Stafford gave Gemini 9 its trademark, describing the ATDA as an “angry alligator”. They couldn’t dock but, as planned, backed off and conducted two more rendezvous. During the manoeuvres in the 28.9° inclination orbit, the astronauts reached a peak

GEMINI 9

The ATDA docking target was dubbed the “angry alligator” by the crew of Gemini 9

altitude of 311 km (195 miles). Cernan’s planned spacewalk was delayed to 5 June, because the astronauts felt exhausted.

The Gemini pilot was equipped with an enlarged EVA Life Support System (ELSS) on his chest, with its own heat exchanger to cool ventilator air and to provide 30 minutes of emergency oxygen. Cernan’s tether was 7.62 m (25 ft) long. He had planned to don the US Air Force manned manoeuvring unit, still attached to a tether, which was housed in the adapter section of the spacecraft. The AMU weighed 76 kg (168 lb) and was powered by nitrogen peroxide thrusters. Cernan’s legs were protected from the AMU’s exhaust by dark grey leggings of eleven layers of aluminised film. He donned the device but never flew it because Stafford called him back after a record 2 hours 8 minutes outside. Cernan found the spacewalk utterly exhausting, as con­trolling his movement in weightlessness was almost impossible. Compounding the problem were the snaking umbilicals of his spacesuit, the AMU, poor communica­tions when Cernan switched to the AMU circuit, plus the inability of his spacesuit’s environmental control system to handle his body heat. Cernan ended up with a fogged faceplate and couldn’t see out.

Gemini 9 did, however, perform a party piece at the end of the 3 day 20 minute 50 second mission, splashing down just 1.44 km (1 mile) from the recovery ship

USS Wasp, a target miss of just 704 m (2,300 ft) some 552 km (343 miles) east of Bermuda.

Milestones

21st manned space flight

13th US manned space flight

7th Gemini manned flight

1st US manned space flight by back-up crew

2nd US and 3rd flight with EVA operations

Closest splashdown of a Gemini to a recovery vessel (0.38 nautical miles)

Подпись:

Подпись: GEMINI 10
Подпись: 1966-066A 18 July 1966 Pad 19, Cape Kennedy, Florida 21 July 1966 Western Atlantic Ocean Titan II GLV No. 10; spacecraft serial number 10 2 days 22hrs 46 min 39 sec Gemini Ten Rendezvous and docking mission; 2nd rendezvous objective; high-apogee profile; EVA activities

Flight Crew

YOUNG, John Watts, 36, USN, command pilot, 2nd mission Previous mission: Gemini 3 (1965)

COLLINS, Michael, 36, USAF, pilot

Flight Log

The 299th Atlas (and the 100th NASA Atlas) vehicle took off from Pad 15 on 18 July, taking with it the Agena 10 target stage, which duly entered its programmed orbit. Astronauts John Young and Michael Collins were launched 100 minutes later at 17: 20 hrs, and within 5 hours 52 minutes were docked with Agena 10. Young had used rather too much fuel, however, and practice dockings were cancelled. The Taciturn Two, as the astronauts were described, used the Agena 10 engine to boost them into a record 763 km (474 miles) apogee in the 28.9° orbit, increasing the speed of the docked combination by 129 m/sec during the Agena’s 80-second burn. The boost captured the attention of the crew more than the scenery did, because with the huge stage before their windows, the view was limited. The crew rested for nine hours, and on the next mission “day’’ relit the Agena to reduce the orbital height in preparation for a rendezvous with the second target – the dead Agena 8 stage used during the Gemini 8 mission the previous March.

Before the rendezvous, Collins performed a stand-up EVA, standing on his seat and poking his head and shoulders out of the spacecraft hatch, mainly to set up an astronomical camera and to retrieve cosmic dust particle collectors from the outside of the spacecraft, two of the 16 science experiments being flown on the mission. During the 49-minute exercise, both astronauts were badly affected by leaking lithium hydro­xide from the spacecraft’s environmental control system. Their eyes streaming and throats burning, they cut short the EVA. The Agena 10 was undocked after 38 hours 47 minutes attached to Gemini 10, while the latter, using its OAMS thrusters, made an optical rendezvous with the Agena 8 without the use of radar.

GEMINI 9

Gemini 10 docking with its Agena target, as seen from Mike Collins’ window

On 20 July, Young piloted Gemini to within 3 m (10 ft) of the rocket stage and Collins opened the hatch for his full EVA, during which he recovered a cosmic dust particle collector from its side. He lost a camera in the process as he wrestled with a nitrogen gas-powered hand-held manoeuvring unit and the annoying tendency to float up and away from where he meant to be. A fault on another camera meant that no pictures were produced of Collins next to the Agena. The planned one-and-a-half – hour spacewalk was called off after 39 minutes because of concern over usage of the dwindling station-keeping thruster fuel. Getting the 15 m (49 ft) tether and the astronaut back into the spacecraft took a lot of effort and having done so, just before retro-fire, the crew opened the hatch for three minutes to dump some rubbish into orbit, namely the chest pack and tether.

Gemini 10 splashed down 846 km (526 miles) east of Cape Kennedy, 5.4 km (3 miles) from the recovery ship, USS Guadalcanal at T + 2 days 22 hours 46 minutes 39 seconds.

Milestones

22nd manned space flight 14th US manned space flight 8th Gemini manned flight 1st re-boost into high orbit

1st mission to rendezvous with two separate spacecraft 1st astronaut to make bodily contact with another spacecraft 1st US mission to launch on the day originally scheduled 3rd US and 4th flight with EVA operations

Подпись:

Подпись: GEMINI 11
Подпись: 1966-081A 12 September 1966 Pad 19, Cape Kennedy, Florida 15 September 1966 Western Atlantic Ocean Titan II GLV No. 11; spacecraft serial number 11 2 days 23hrs 17 min 8 sec Gemini Eleven Rendezvous and docking mission; high-apogee orbit and tether dynamics exercises; EVA activities

Flight Crew

CONRAD, Charles “Pete” Jr., 36, USN, command pilot, 2nd mission Previous mission: Gemini 5 (1965)

GORDON, Richard Francis Jr., 37, USN, pilot

Flight Log

Gemini 11’s task was to simulate a take-off by an Apollo lunar lander, and rendezvous and docking with an Apollo Command Module in lunar orbit, by taking off and docking with the Agena 11 target within 94 minutes, or one orbit. This meant that after the successful ascent of Agena 11 on the delayed launch day of 12 September, Gemini 11 would have just two seconds in its launch window. Its Titan II booster met its target within half a second, spewing into life with that characteristic high-pitched whine as the hypergolic propellants ignited spontaneously on contact.

Once in 28.8° inclination orbit, Conrad and Gordon switched on their rendezvous radar and computer and the space chase began. Rendezvous was achieved within 85 minutes and the ebullient Conrad jockeyed Gemini’s nose inside the Agena target. For the first time in the programme, the crew performed docking practice, with Gordon being the first Gemini pilot to dock. The Agena was given a quick test burn in preparation for a longer burn later in the mission which was designed to take the crew to a record altitude.

On 13 September, after a rest, Gordon opened the hatch to begin an EVA, which everyone hoped would at last dispel doubts about man’s ability to work in space. The burly Gemini pilot floated towards the Agena docking collar and sat astride it to attach a tether. He used a 10 m (33 ft) tether and a hand-held manoeuvring unit. Riding like a cowboy, as Conrad described him, Gordon had great difficulty remain­ing in one place and not floating upwards. The effort proved too much for the spacesuit’s environmental control system and Gordon became blinded with sweat. Conrad called him back after just 38 minutes. Gemini had just one more flight to prove

GEMINI 9

Gemini 11 flies over India and Sri Lanka

that effective EVA was possible. The crew overcame their disappointment with the big Agena burn, lasting 26 seconds, over the Canary Islands.

En route to a high point of 1,372 km (853 miles) over Western Australia, the highest Earth orbit manned apogee, Gordon took an epic photo of India and Sri Lanka from a height of about 800 km (497 miles). The Agena was used to reduce the orbital height, in preparation for a stand-up EVA by Gordon lasting 128 minutes, during which he conducted several of the mission’s science experiments and also had a cat nap.

Finally, Gemini 11 undocked from Agena 11, which was left dangling at the end of a 30 m (98 ft) tether. Conrad fired the thrusters to put the combination into a spin and thus created artificial gravity. After separating from the Agena and backing away, the crew performed further rendezvous exercises and a two-minute “equipment jettison” out of an opened hatch, before sitting back for a fully computer-controlled retro-fire, re-entry and landing. The eventful mission ended 1,120 km (696 miles) east of Miami, within 3 km (2 miles) of the recovery ship, USS Guam, at T + 2 days 23 hours 17 minutes 8 seconds.

Milestones

23rd manned space flight 15th US manned space flight 9th Gemini manned flight

1st manned mission to create artificial gravity in orbit 1st computer-controlled retro-fire re-entry and landing 4th US and 5th flight with EVA operations

On 1 November 1966, NASA civilian test pilot William Dana, 35, flew X-15-3 to 93 km during the programme’s tenth astro-flight.

Подпись:

Подпись: GEMINI 12
Подпись: 1966-104A 11 November 1966 Pad 19, Cape Kennedy, Florida 16 November 1966 Western Atlantic Ocean Titan II GLV No. 12; spacecraft serial number 12 3 days 22hrs 34 min 31 sec Gemini Twelve Rendezvous and docking mission; expanded EVA activities

Flight Crew

LOVELL, James Arthur Jr., 38, USN, command pilot, 2nd mission Previous mission: Gemini 7 (1965)

ALDRIN, Edwin Eugene “Buzz” Jr., 36, USAF, pilot

Flight Log

Apart from the now customary Agena rendezvous and docking, the most important task of Gemini 12 was to overcome the perennial spacewalking problem. For this, astronaut Buzz Aldrin was to have the additional assistance of straps, harnesses, Velcro patches and even “golden slippers” spacesuit boot holders, to help keep him in place, so he could do really effective work without overworking his environmental control system. The crew walked to the pad with “The” and “End” cards on their backs and were told when they reached Gemini 12 that theirs was “the last chance… no reruns… show will close after this performance”. The show began with the Agena 12 launch from Pad 14 and followed that with Gemini 12’s lift-off at 15: 26hrs local time on 11 November. The flight achieved a 28.9° inclination orbit, which would at one point of the flight reach an apogee of 301 km (187 miles).

Fortunately, pilot Aldrin had written a thesis on manned orbital rendezvous before he was selected as an astronaut, so when the spacecraft’s rendezvous radar failed, his slide rule and sextant came out. To the admiration of ground controllers, rendezvous was achieved at T + 3 hours 46 minutes with a docking 28 minutes later. The astronauts had planned to use Agena’s engine for a modest re-boost to an altitude of 640 km (398 miles), but controllers were concerned about a potentially dangerous malfunction and instead ordered the crew to use the Gemini engines to perform “rendezvous” with a solar eclipse over South America, which was an added bonus to the mission. Aldrin then performed a 2 hour 39 minute stand-up EVA (SUEVA), taking photographs casually leaning over the spacecraft like a tourist.

The following day, 12 November, mission planners watched with some trepida­tion as Aldrin began the most important EVA so far. It went swimmingly and Aldrin

GEMINI 9

Astronaut Eugene Cernan (left) jokes with the Gemini 12 crew as they prepare to board the capsule

did everything he planned during the successful 2 hour 8 minute spacewalk. One of his tasks had been to attach a tether to the Agena 12 target, which later allowed the astronauts to perform an artificial gravity test. On the third day, Aldrin opened the hatch again and made a 51-minute SUEVA, conducting some of Gemini’s 14 science experiments. Thruster problems continued to be a concern throughout the mission but did not prevent a safe re-entry and landing at T + 3 days 22 hours 34 minutes 31 seconds, just 4.16 km (3 miles) from USS Wasp. The Gemini programme had been concluded with ten manned missions, clocking up 80 man-days in space. What was remarkable was that throughout the programme, the Soviets did not launch one cosmonaut into space. America was on its way – to the Moon.

Milestones

24th manned space flight 16th US manned space flight 10th Gemini manned flight

1st manned mission to witness solar eclipse in space 5th US and 6th flight with EVA operations

The next US mission after the end of the Gemini programme should have been the mission of Apollo 1 in February 1967. The tragic events on 27 January 1967 which prevented this mission are covered in detail under the chapter Quest for Space (Chapter 2).

Int. Designation

1983-026A

Launched

4 April 1983

Launch Site

Pad 39A, Kennedy Space Center, Florida

Landed

9 April 1983

Landing Site

Runway 22, Edwards Air Force Base, California

Launch Vehicle

OV-099 Challenger/ET-8/SRB A17; A18/SSME #1 2017; #2 2015; #3 2012

Duration

5 days 0 hrs 23 min 42 sec

Callsign

Challenger

Objective

Maiden flight of OV-099 (Challenger); EVA demonstration; deployment of first TDRS

Flight Crew

WEITZ, Paul Joseph, 50, civilian, commander, 2nd mission Previous mission: Skylab 2 (1973)

BOBKO, Karol Joseph, 45, USAF, pilot

MUSGRAVE, Franklin Story, 47, civilian, mission specialist 1

PETERSON, Donald Herod, 49, civilian, mission specialist 2

Flight Log

The first Challenger orbiter mission was originally due to have taken place on 27 January 1983 but was delayed by a series of potentially disastrous engine problems which first came to light after Challenger’s Flight Readiness Firing on 18 December

1982. Engineers detected an abnormal level of gaseous hydrogen. A second FRF was scheduled for 25 January and the TDRS payload was removed from Challenger. The hydrogen leak was detected again and this time was traced to a 2 cm (| in) crack in the No.1 main engine combustion chamber coolant outlet manifold. Engine 1 was ordered to be replaced. TDRS was replaced, only to be slightly damaged by fine salt sea spray after a severe storm. It was back inside Challenger’s cargo bay by 19 March.

Worse was to follow. The replacement engine 1 was found to be faulty and had to be replaced itself, then an inspection of the No.2 and 3 engines revealed hairline cracks which had to be repaired. Challenger sat engineless on the pad. At last, on 4 April

1983, at the comparatively late hour of 18:30 KSC time, Challenger ascended flaw­lessly into clear blue skies, the only anomaly being the annoying deposition of some black soot on Challenger’s windows at SRB separation.

The rookie crew (called the F Troop after a TV programme and the fact that they were the sixth Shuttle crew) proceeded to achieve the main objective – to deploy NASA’s first $100 million communications station in space, TDRS, on only the second IUS solid propellant two-stage upper stage flown. This was duly deployed

STS-6

The first Shuttle EVA demonstration was conducted during STS-6

from its tilt table and was later injected into geostationary transfer orbit. A second stage failure stranded the satellite, however, and through no fault of its own the Shuttle was tarred with the same brush by some of the press. TDRS was eventually nudged into its planned geostationary orbit by careful firing of its own thrusters over a period of 58 days.

Maximum altitude reached by Challenger in the 28.4° orbit was 248 km (154 miles). On 8 April, Story Musgrave (EV1) and Donald Peterson (EV2) made the delayed EVA that was planned for STS-5, lasting 4 hours 17 minutes, to check out the Shuttle spacesuit and practice making space repairs, featuring in some spectacular TV. It was also the first US EVA since Skylab 4, nine years earlier. Later, Challenger came home to Edwards Air Force Base, landing on runway 22 at T + 5 days 0 hours 23 minutes 42 seconds, the shortest four-crew space flight.

Milestones

89th manned space flight 37th US manned space flight 6th Shuttle flight 1st flight of Challenger

16th US and 22nd flight with EVA operations

1st Shuttle-based EVA

1st TDRS deployment mission

Подпись:

Подпись: SOYUZ T8
Подпись: 1983-035A 20 April 1983 Pad 1, Site 5, Baikonur Cosmodrome, Kazakhstan 22 April 1983 96 km northeast of Arkalyk R7 (11A511U); spacecraft serial number (7K-ST) #13L 2 days 0hrs 17 min 48 sec Okean (Ocean) Second Salyut 7 resident crew programme

Flight Crew

TITOV, Vladimir Georgyevich, 36, Soviet Air Force, commander STREKALOV, Gennady Mikhailovich, 43, civilian, flight engineer 1, 2nd mission

Previous mission: Soyuz T3 (1980)

SEREBROV, Aleksandr Aleksandrovich, 39, civilian, research engineer, 2nd mission

Previous mission: Soyuz T7 (1982)

Flight Log

Salyut 7 remained empty during the Russian winter of 1982-3 and was joined by the unmanned Cosmos 1443 module in March. Trained to work aboard Salyut and the new module were Vladimir Titov, Aleksandr Serebrov, making the first successive national manned space flight, and Gennady Strekalov. Their attempt to dock with Salyut, however, was doomed very soon after lift-off, at 19: 11 hrs local time from Baikonur, when the payload shroud tore away Soyuz T’s rendezvous radar antenna which only partially deployed. The crew used the RCS thrusters to try to shake the antenna free but to no avail. In trying to hide the serious problem, these engine firings were reported as tests of the attitude control system.

Although mission rules would normally dictate a return to Earth, the rookie commander Titov got permission to try a visual rendezvous and attempted docking using radar readings from the ground. The docking was perceived as having a low success probability by the ground controllers. It could have been a complete disaster, for Soyuz T8 flew past Salyut 7 at great speed, missing a catastrophic collision by 160 m (525 ft). Titov had made an optically guided approach to Salyut’s rear docking port after a 50 second rocket burn. The seventh space station flight had to be aborted not because of lack of power but because propellant reserves were not high enough to try again. The difficulty in guiding the Soyuz T to the station becomes more apparent when it was later revealed by Titov that he had not trained for a fully manual docking

STS-6

Soyuz T8 crew during a training session in the Salyut 7 mock-up, something they did not put into practice in space. L to r Titov, Serebrov, Strekalov

approach and was unsure of his depth perception through the spacecraft periscope as he attempted a difficult manoeuvre.

The crew, which would have been the first three-man long duration crew since Soyuz 11, came home 96 km (60 miles) northeast of Arkalyk at T + 2 days 0 hours 17 minutes 48 seconds. Maximum altitude reached in the 51.6° orbit was 300 km (186 miles).

Milestones

90th manned space flight 53rd Soviet manned space flight 46th Soyuz manned space flight 7th Soyuz T manned space flight

1st space flight by crewman on successive national missions

Int. Designation

1985-092A

Launched

3 October 1985

Launch Site

Pad 39A, Kennedy Space Center, Florida

Landed

7 October 1985

Landing Site

Runway 23, Edwards Air Force Base, California

Launch Vehicle

OV-104 Atlantis/ET-25/SRB BI-021/SSME #1 2011

#2 2019; #3 2017

Duration

4 days 1 hr 44min 38 sec

Callsign

Atlantis

Objective

2nd classified DoD Shuttle mission

Flight Crew

BOBKO, Karol Joseph, 48, USAF, commander, 3rd mission Previous missions: STS-6 (1983); STS 51-D (1985)

GRABE, Ronald John, 40, USAF, pilot HILMERS, David Carl, 35, USMC, mission specialist 1 STEWART, Robert Lee, 43, US Army, mission specialist 2, 2nd mission Previous mission: STS 41-B (1984)

PAILES, William, 33, USAF, payload specialist 1

Flight Log

The maiden flight of the Atlantis orbiter began in spectacular style from Pad 39A at 11: 15hrs local time, but the first anyone was to have known about the mission was nine minutes earlier, when the ground launch sequencer started the final countdown. Mission 51-J was a Department of Defense flight and is one of the most anonymous in Shuttle history because of its classification. It is thought to have deployed two DSCS communications satellites into orbit aboard an IUS upper stage. According to data revealed by the North American Air Defense Command, NORAD, Atlantis reached a record 512km (318 miles) altitude in the 28.5° orbit.

Also on board was an experiment called Bios, which studied the damage to biological samples by high-energy cosmic rays. The mission also marked the end of the brief career of the USA Air Force Manned Space Engineer corps, whose William Pailes was the second and last to fly. At one time, one or two representatives from the MSE corps were to have flown every DoD mission. After the Challenger accident the next year, these already limited opportunities disappeared altogether.

Atlantis made a longer than usual return from its high orbit, landing on runway 23 at Edwards Air Force Base at T + 4 days 1 hour 44 minutes 38 seconds.

STS 51-J

This Earth image is one of the few released for the classified STS 51-J mission

 

Milestones

 

111th manned space flight 52nd US manned space flight 21st Shuttle mission 1st flight of Atlantis

 

Int. Designation

1990-097A

Launched

15 November 1990

Launch Site

Pad 39A, Kennedy Space Center, Florida

Landed

20 November 1990

Landing Site

Runway 33, Shuttle Landing Facility, KSC, Florida

Launch Vehicle

OV-104 Atlantis/ET-40/SRB B-039/SSME #1 2019;

#2 2022; #3 2017

Duration

4 days 21 hrs 54 min 31 sec

Call sign

Atlantis

Objective

7th dedicated classified DoD mission

Flight Crew

COVEY, Richard Oswalt, 44, USAF, commander, 3rd mission Previous missions: STS 51-1 (1985), STS-26 (1988)

CULBERTSON Jr., Frank Lee, 41, USN, pilot MEADE, Carl Joseph, 40, USAF, mission specialist 1 SPRINGER, Robert Clyde, 48, USMC, mission specialist 2, 2nd mission Previous mission: STS-29 (1989)

GEMAR, Charles Donald “Sam”, 35, US Army, mission specialist 3

Flight Log

Originally scheduled for launch in July 1990, when a liquid hydrogen leak was found on Columbia (STS-35), three precautionary mini tanking tests on Atlantis also con­firmed hydrogen leaks on its ET. These could not be repaired on the pad, and the stack was returned to the processing area for repairs on 9 August. The STS-38 stack was parked outside the VAB overnight to allow STS-35 to be rolled out to its pad. Unfortunately, a hail storm that night caused minor tile damage which also needed repairing. Atlantis was returned to the VAB for mating on 2 October, but during hoisting operations a platform beam that should have been removed from the aft compartment fell off, causing more (but thankfully minor) damage, which was quickly repaired. The stack was returned to the Pad on 12 October and a fourth tanking test went smoothly. The revised launch date was set at 9 November. However, on 31 October, the USAF announced another delay to the launch, this time due to “anomalies discovered during cargo testing.” The night-time launch was rescheduled for 15 November and this time occurred without incident despite some concerns with the weather at the Cape. Atlantis lifted off 18 minutes into its four-hour launch window.

As this was a classified DoD mission, the air-to-ground communications and reporting of crew activities and mission events ceased after confirmation that Atlantis

STS-38

A happy crew indicate a successful conclusion to the mission shortly after exiting Atlantis. L to r Covey, Springer, Gemar, Culbertson and Meade

had safely reached orbit, but this did not stop the speculation as to what the mission of STS-38 was intended to achieve. Media reports indicated that the payload bay was full of sensors, including high-resolution digital cameras that might be used to monitor activities in the Persian Gulf, particularly the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait that led to the First Gulf War. However, a USAF spokesman indicated that Atlantis had launched into an orbital inclination that would take the Shuttle well south of Iraq “for much of the time.” This gave rise to comments that the payload might be an electronic eavesdropping satellite called “Magnum”, rather than a photoreconnaissance satel­lite. The deployment of the payload could have been at any time during the orbital phase, but media reports indicated that this operation had been carried out two days into the mission. The payload was later identified as an advanced data relay satellite for use with the Crystal imaging reconnaissance platform.

Whatever it was, its deployment from the orbiter was monitored by amateur astronomers on Earth. Their reports indicated that the deployed payload was behav­ing very mysteriously in ways never seen before, suggesting that the satellite might have malfunctioned and that the Shuttle crew might have been required to retrieve it. NASA and the Air Force remained silent, which only served to fuel speculation that

there was perhaps an unannounced EVA by the crew. Records have shown that the RMS was carried on classified missions STS 51-C, STS-27, and the later unclassified DoD mission STS-39, but not on STS-38. Therefore, if the satellite had to be retrieved or attended to, the lack of RMS meant that the only other option was a contingency EVA. If such an event had occurred – and there is still no evidence that an EVA was accomplished – astronauts Springer (EV1) and Meade (EV2) would have been assigned the task, supported by Culbertson (IV). A year after the mission, an issue of Space News dated 18-24 November 1991 included an interview with Don Stager, the Vice President of TRW’s military wing. Stager talked about the upcoming deployment of the DSP satellite during STS-44, and indicated that “a couple of [military shuttle] launches ago, there was a situation that was not understood”. He indicated that sunlight glinting off the solar arrays had caused a problem, which may have explained the strange movements observed by the amateur astronomers. Exactly what occurred during the deployment sequence will remain classified for many years to come, however.

Although the activities of the crew were classified, at least one voice message from Atlantis was released. Commander Dick Covey requested that a message of support be sent to the men and women of Desert Shield from the crew of Atlantis. The crew wished them peace and a speedy return home. The astronauts were thinking of them and their families as they orbited the Earth.

The landing was intended to be at Edwards AFB, but unacceptable crosswinds and continuing adverse conditions led to a late decision to delay the landing by 24 hours and take Atlantis back to the Cape. The last landing there, in April 1985 (STS 51-D), led to a landing left of the centreline, locked right side landing brakes and a blown tyre. Because of this, landings at KSC were eschewed in favour of Edwards AFB, whose dry lake bed surfaces surrounding the runways offered more flexibility until improvements were completed at the Cape. This time, however, Atlantis came home without incident, landing on Runway 33 and rolling out about 2,750 metres to wheel stop.

Milestones

136th manned space flight 67th US manned space flight 37th Shuttle flight 7th Atlantis flight

7th and final fully classified DoD Shuttle mission 1st KSC landing for Atlantis

Meade celebrates his 40th birthday in space (16 Nov)

STS-47

Подпись: Int. Designation Launched Launch Site Landed Landing Site Launch Vehicle Duration Call sign Objective 1992-061A 12 September 1992

Pad 39B, Kennedy Space Center, Florida 20 September 1992

Runway 33, Kennedy Space Center, Florida

OV-105 Endeavour/ET-45/SRB BI-053/SSME #1 2026;

#2 2022; #3 2029

7 days 22 hrs 30 min 23 sec

Endeavour

Spacelab J (SL-J) research objectives utilising the pressurised Spacelab module

Flight Crew

GIBSON, Robert Lee “Hoot”, 45, USN, commander, 4th mission Previous missions: STS 41-B (1984); STS 61-C (1986); Cdr STS-27 (1988) BROWN Jr., Curtis Lee, 35, USAF, pilot

LEE, Mark, 40, USAF, mission specialist 1, payload commander, 2nd mission Previous mission: STS-30 (1989)

APT, Jerome “Jay”, 43, civilian, mission specialist 2, 2nd mission Previous mission: STS-37 (1991)

DAVIS, (Nancy) Jan, 37, civilian, mission specialist 3 JEMISON, Mae Carol, 34, civilian, science mission specialist MOHRI, Mamoru Mark, 43, civilian, Japanese payload specialist

Flight Log

The 50th flight of the Space Shuttle series featured a joint venture in materials science and life science experiments between NASA and the Japanese NASDA agency. The mission began with the first on-time launch since November 1985, carrying an experiment programme of 24 materials and 20 life science experiments into orbit. Of the 44 investigations, 35 were sponsored by NASDA, seven were from NASA and two were joint efforts. As with previous missions, many of the experiments were designed to help prepare the astronauts for future work on space station and long – duration missions.

As one of the partners in the space station programme, Japan was eager to gain some experience in a dedicated Spacelab mission (termed Fuwatto 92, or First Materials Processing Test – FMPT) for its first Shuttle flight, rather that having a PS fly on a Shuttle mission with a smaller, more generic experiment programme. Aside from the main Spacelab experiment payload, the crew worked in two shifts (Red – Brown, Lee, Mohri; Blue – Apt, Davis, Jemison; Gibson worked with either shift as

STS-47

The prime and alternative crew members inside the Spacelab J laboratory installed in the cargo bay of Endeavour during STS-47 launch-processing in July 1992. Kneeling from left Chiaki Mukai alternative Japanese PS; Davis; Takao Doi alternative Japanese PS. Standing from left are Brown, Lee, Apt, Mohri, Gibson, Jemison and Stanley Koszelak, an alternative PS who served as back-up to Jemison

required) on five mid-deck secondary payloads. Endeavour also carried twelve GAS canisters, ten of which were experiments and the other two acting as ballast mass. Of the five mid-deck secondary payloads, one was an Israeli experiment to study the ability of oriental hornets to orientate their combs in microgravity. In fact, the hornets were part of a very comprehensive “crew”. In addition to the seven astronauts, STS-47 carried four female frogs, thirty chicken eggs, 180 oriental hornets, about 400 adult fruit flies, 7,200 fly larvae and two Japanese carp. The menagerie became known as “Hoot’s Ark” after commander Robert “Hoot” Gibson (whose nickname came from a famous cowboy film star of the silent and early sound western movies).

Media interest focused on Jemison, both as the first African American woman in space and as a science mission specialist. She was the first (and, to date, only) career astronaut to be officially assigned to perform the tasks of a payload specialist. Jemison had been frustrated with her experiences at NASA for some time prior to this flight and declined the chance of a second mission, resigning from the astronaut office in March 1993 to pursue other interests. Media attention also focused on the first married couple in space (Lee and Davis), with the inevitable question arising of “will they or won’t they become the first members of the 300 km high club.’’ Rumours about this persisted, despite claims that no “marital experiments’’ were planned and the fact that Lee and Davis worked on different shifts throughout the mission.

Like several others, this mission was extended a day to gather more science from the experiment package. Offshore reports of rain around the Cape area were a factor in delaying the landing of Endeavour when it was finally due to return. Mission controllers passed up the first opportunity to land at KSC, but further analysis indicated that the cloud would not encroach over the Cape, allowing the Shuttle to land at the second opportunity.

Milestones

154th manned space flight

80th US manned space flight

50th Shuttle mission

2nd flight of Endeavour

7th Spacelab Long Module mission

1st on-time Shuttle launch since November 1985

1st married couple on same mission (Lee and Davis)

1st African American female in space (Jemison)

1st flight of a science mission specialist (Jemison)

1st Japanese to fly on the Shuttle (Mohri)