Category Praxis Manned Spaceflight Log 1961-2006

Flight Crew

ENGLE, Joseph Henry, 49, USAF, commander TRULY, Richard Harrison, 44, USN, pilot

Flight Log

As Columbia was being prepared for its second mission, originally scheduled for 10 September then pushed to 30 September, with 1,000 new tiles, new RCS com­ponents, an OMS nozzle and fuel cells, nitrogen tetroxide leaked from a ruptured fuel line during propellant loading, damaging another 240 tiles on its nose. The launch was postponed to 4 November. Things looked good but the launch was delayed for 2 hours 40 minutes and finally scrubbed, holding at T — 31 seconds, when an oil flush on one of the APUs failed and a computer malfunctioned. Both had to be replaced before a new launch attempt, eight days later.

The first flight of a re-used manned spacecraft began at 10: 10 hrs local time and astronauts Joe Engle and Richard Truly (marking a space first by being launched on his birthday) were at last on their way, into a 38° inclination orbit which would have a maximum altitude of 219 km (136 miles). A five day flight was on the agenda, with a complement of science experiments and the testing of the Remote Manipulator System robot arm, being carried for the first time. An increase in the alkaline level of the electrolyte in one of Columbia’s three fuel cells spoiled the day for Engle and Truly, who were told to cram five days work into two, as mission rules dictated.

The RMS did not work quite as well as planned since it suffered a back-up drive failure, but TV cameras at its end gave interesting views of the payload bay and other parts of the Shuttle. Engle did not get the chance to try out the Shuttle EVA suit inside the airlock. Mission scientists were pleased with the results from the science experi­ments, particularly the multi-spectral imaging radiometer and the Shuttle Imaging Radar. Columbia came home on the dry lake bed runway 23 at Edwards Air Force

Base, touching down at a speed of 361 kph (224 mph), at T + 2 days 6 hours 13 minutes 13 seconds, main gear touchdown time.

Milestones

82nd manned space flight

33rd US manned space flight

2nd Shuttle flight

2nd flight of Columbia

1st manned space flight by reused spacecraft

Truly celebrates his 44th birthday by being launched into space (12 November)

Flight Crew

DZHANIBEKOV, Vladimir Aleksandrovich, 43, Soviet Air Force, commander, 5th mission

Previous missions: Soyuz 27 (1978); Soyuz 39 (1981); Soyuz T6 (1982); Soyuz T12 (1984)

SAVINYKH, Viktor Petrovich, 43, civilian, flight engineer, 2nd mission Previous mission: Soyuz T4 (1981)

Flight Log

After the return of the long-duration Soyuz T10 trio from the Salyut 7 space station in late 1984, another three manned missions were planned for 1985/1986 to continue manned operations. Indeed, the crews had been selected and were in training. Soyuz T13 would be launched in May, crewed by Vladimir Vasyutin, Viktor Savinykh and Aleksandr Volkov to complete a six-month mission. They would be visited by Soyuz T14, carrying an all-female crew on a two-week mission in November. This crew would comprise commander Svetlana Savitskaya on her third mission, along with Yekaterina Ivanova and Yelena Dobrokvashina. The Soyuz T15 flight would then launch at the end of 1985 to complete the Salyut 7 programme by the spring of 1986, when a new station would have been launched. Soyuz T15 was to have been crewed by Viktor Viktorenko, Alexandr Alexandrov and Yevgeny Salei.

Then, in early 1985, came the blow that Salyut 7 was effectively dead in space. Contact had been lost and the space station was out of control. Systems were freezing and observers expected that it would never be manned again. There was concern that it would make a Skylab-like uncontrolled re-entry. It was decided to send the most qualified veteran cosmonaut (Vladimir Dzhanibekov, with four previous space flights to his credit) to the station along with veteran Salyut 6 FE Savinykh to see if they could restore the station to operational use. Dzhanibekov had already proven his

docking skills in past missions, and all his knowledge would be required on this demanding space flight. If the two men could restore the station sufficiently, then the Soyuz T14 crew would be sent to Salyut to resume their intended programme. Flying along with the T14 crew would be Salyut veteran Georgi Grechko, on a short science – orientated mission. He would return with Dzhanibekov after a few days on the Salyut.

The fate of the other crews would be decided if Salyut could be restored. The launch of Soyuz T13 at 12:40 hrs local time from Baikonur on 6 June to conduct “joint work” with Salyut 7 caught western observers by surprise. The two cosmonauts, Vladimir Dzhanibekov – the first Soviet to make five space flights – and flight engineer Viktor Savinykh, proceeded to fly one of the bravest and most remarkable space missions ever.

Soyuz T13 arrived at Salyut two days later, flying all around to check the condition of the exterior and finally docking at the front port with the aid of a new laser ranging device. The crew donned oxygen masks and lots of woolly clothing and entered the freezing space station. Salyut was stabilised so that its solar panels were pointing at the Sun for long enough periods to re-start some form of electrical power. The station’s life support system was fixed thanks to expert repairs by the two crewmen, who often retreated to Soyuz to warm their bodies. Communications directly from the station were restored and by late June, Salyut 7 was declared to be in an operational state.

Progress 24 arrived on 23 June with additional repair and replenishment supplies, and the crew even got to work on some experiments dedicated to Earth observation, while Progress loaded the Salyut propulsion system with fuel. Confounding experts who regarded the Soyuz T13 mission as finished, the Soviets launched a Heavy Cosmos module, rather than the Progress-class spacecraft that it was first suspected to be by analysts. Designated Cosmos 1669, it docked with Salyut on 21 July, enabling even more fruitful work to be conducted by the remarkable crew, which even went on EVA on 2 August to place two small solar arrays on the third large array on Salyut. The walk lasted about 5 hours.

Cosmos 1669 undocked on 28 August, making a controlled re-entry two days later, and the T13 crew went on conducting a mission as ordinary and routine as a normal residency. The 51.6° mission reached a maximum altitude of 359 km (223 miles). Soyuz T14 was launched and joined them on 18 September. Dzhanibekov and one of the T14 crew, the burly Georgy Grechko, undocked on 25 September, flew a day’s autonomous mission and came home – the first individual space travellers who were launched separately but landed together – at T13 flight time of T + 112 days 3 hours 12 minutes. Savinykh, meanwhile, remained on board Salyut 7 to attempt the longest manned space flight in history, only to be thwarted by his new commander’s illness.

Milestones

106th manned space flight

58th Soviet manned space flight

51st Soyuz mission

12th Soyuz T mission

1st reactivation of a dead space station

10th Soviet and 31st flight with EVA activities

Flight Crew

CREIGHTON, John Oliver, 45, USN, commander, 2nd mission Previous mission: STS 51-G (1985)

CASPER, John Howard, 46, USAF, pilot

MULLANE, Richard Michael, 45, USAF, mission specialist 1, 3rd mission Previous missions: STS 41-D (1984); STS-27 (1988)

HILMERS, David Carl, 40, USMC, mission specialist 2, 3rd mission Previous missions: STS 51-J (1985); STS-26 (1988)

THUOT, Pierre Joseph, 34, civilian, mission specialist 3

Flight Log

This DoD classified military mission by the orbiter Atlantis was always going to be a quiet affair, other than the usual comical revelation of exactly what the classified payload was going to be. In this case, it was a digital imaging and electronic signals intelligence satellite, which was to be deployed on the Shuttle’s eighteenth orbit, comparatively late in the proposed four-day mission, by a new system called the Stabilised Payload Deployment System, SPDS. This was fixed to the payload in the payload bay before launch and was to be used to rotate the satellite clear of the Shuttle before release by spring-loaded pistons.

Another innovation for the mission was its high inclination of 62°, ostensibly 5° over the safety limits for launches from the Kennedy Space Center, but on a trajectory which would not quite take it over land. As if to veil this fact as much as possible, Atlantis was first scheduled for a night launch on 16 February, which was eventually moved to 22 February, at 01: 00hrs local time. Before the crew could board the Shuttle, however, the weather caused concern and for the first time since Apollo 9, a US mission was delayed by the illness of the crew. In this case, it was commander John Creighton, who was suffering from an upper respiratory tract infection.

His illness delayed the launch until 25 February and the count reached T — 31 seconds when a range safety computer went on the blink. By the time it had been fixed, the liquid oxygen was too cold for the SSMEs. The launch was cancelled the following day due to winds at altitude and a low cloud deck and was routinely postponed for 48 hours. On 28 February, the weather looked to win again, but with just seconds of the launch window remaining, Atlantis lit up the night sky at 02: 50 hrs local time, heading for its unique launch azimuth. Deployment of the classified satellite took place as planned and the mission ended quietly with a landing at Edwards Air Force Base at T + 4 days 10 hours 18 minutes 22 seconds.

It was revealed later that the satellite had apparently broken apart in orbit and two of the six resulting fragments had re-entered soon after. The satellite may have failed to fire its rocket stage to reach operational orbit. All in all, it seems that STS-36 was an expensive waste of a mission.

Milestones

132nd manned space flight 64th US manned space flight 34th Shuttle flight 6th flight of Atlantis

Flight Crew

BRANDENSTEIN, Daniel Charles, 49, USN, commander, 4th mission Previous missions: STS-8 (1983); STS 51-G (1985); STS-32 (1990)

CHILTON, Kevin Patrick, 36, USAF, pilot

HIEB, Richard James, 36, civilian, mission specialist 1, 2nd mission Previous mission: STS-39 (1991)

MELNICK, Bruce Edward, 42, US Coast Guard, mission specialist 2,

2nd mission

Previous mission: STS-41 (1990)

THUOT, Pierre Joseph, 36, mission specialist 3, 2nd mission Previous mission: STS-36 (1990)

THORNTON, Kathryn Cordell Ryan, 39, civilian, mission specialist 4, EV3, 2nd mission

Previous mission: STS-33 (1989)

AKERS, Thomas Dale, 40, USAF, mission specialist 5, 2nd mission Previous mission: STS-41 (1990)

Flight Log

The maiden flight of the Endeavour (the replacement orbiter for Challenger which was lost in the 1986 launch accident) was an impressive mission that clearly demonstrated the value of having astronauts on board to overcome technical problems. Whether there was a need for Endeavour itself was a question long debated, but it was the loss of Challenger that finally secured the construction of the new vehicle from the structural spares that had been factored into the orbiter construction programme several years before. There was no such contingency to replace Columbia seventeen years later.

Three astronauts hold onto the 4.5-ton Intelsat VI satellite after completing a six-handed “capture”. L to r are astronauts Hieb, Akers and Thuot, who stands on the end of the RMS. This first three-person EVA was the third attempt at grappling the satellite

Following the 6 April 1992 flight readiness firing of Endeavour’s three main engines, the management team decided to replace all three due to irregularities that had arisen in two of the high-pressure oxidiser turbo-pumps. The launch of STS-49 was set for 4 May, but was rescheduled for 7 May, with an early launch window that would offer better lighting conditions for photo-documentation of the behaviour of the new vehicle during its first ascent. The lift-off on 7 May was delayed by 34 minutes due to bad weather at the transoceanic abort landing site, as well as technical problems with one of Endeavour’s master event controllers.

The primary objective of the flight was the capture and redeployment of the Intelsat VI satellite that had been launched aboard a Titan rocket on 14 March 1990.

During the launch, the second stage of the Titan had not separated, preventing the satellite’s ascent into a geosynchronous orbit. Quick thinking by ground controllers triggered the separation of the satellite from the unused Perigee Kick Motor (PKM) that was still attached to the Titan stage, and careful use of onboard liquid propellant allowed the satellite to reach a thermally stable 299 x 309 nautical mile orbit. Sub­sequent data analysis suggested it would be more cost-effective to bring a new kick motor up to the stranded satellite on the Shuttle than to return it to the ground and relaunch it. The Hughes Aircraft Company’s Space and Communications Group worked with NASA to construct special hardware to support the EVA operations that would be required.

The crew split into two EVA teams. Thuot (EV1) and Hieb (EV2) were termed the Intelsat EVA crew for the satellite retrieval and redeployment, while Thornton (EV3) and Akers (EV4) would work on the planned evaluation of space station construction techniques. A specially designed capture bar would be used to capture the satellite but in the event, this did not work as planned. During the first attempt on 10 May, Thuot had been unable to attach the capture bar, causing the satellite to bounce away and tumble at even greater rates the more he tried. The following day, the rotation of the satellite had slowed sufficiently for Thuot to gently move the bar into place. This time, however, the latches on the bar failed to fire, causing the satellite to drift off once again. It became evident that the planned method of capture would not work and during 11 May, as the crew rested, plans were formulated for another attempt. This would be the last chance, as Endeavour had only enough propellant aboard to support one more rendezvous. The following day, the crew practised getting three pressure – suited astronauts into an airlock that was designed to accommodate just two. Other astronauts simulated the operation in the water tank at JSC and the crew played an important role in the final decision to try the first three-person EVA.

On 13 March, Thuot, Hieb and Akers ventured outside and placed themselves in foot restraints 120° apart around the payload bay. Hieb was stationed on the starboard wall of the bay and Akers stood on a borrowed strut from the ASSEM experiment, while Thuot rode the RMS. Brandenstein and Chilton flew Endeavour and gently closed in on the satellite, allowing all three EVA astronauts to reach up and grasp the satellite by the three electric motors that would deploy the satellite’s cylindrical solar panel. Over a difficult 85 minutes, the capture bar was finally attached to the satellite, allowing the RMS to manipulate it over the payload bay and onto the new kick motor. Thuot and Hieb then used hand-operated ratchets to pull the satellite down and latch it into place with four clamps. They then connected two electrical umbilicals. With the astronauts back in the airlock, but with an open hatch in case they were still required, the new PKM was ejected from the payload bay. Thirteen minutes later, a procedural error on the checklist prevented the initial deployment. The EVA set a new duration record, surpassing that of the Apollo 17 astronauts on the Moon in December 1972. The new engine worked perfectly on 14 May, placing the satellite on its way to geosynchronous orbit.

The same day, Thornton and Akers were in the payload bay performing the ASSEM EVA demonstration. Originally scheduled for two EVAs, the Intelsat diffi­culty had curtailed this to a single excursion. The pair assembled a pyramid out of struts to simulate a station truss section, then attached a triangular pallet to this to simulate the mass of a major component such as a propulsion module. Scheduled for three hours, the astronauts found that it took twice as long as expected and proved very tiring, forcing other activities planned for this EVA to be cancelled. The mission had been extended by two days to complete its primary objectives and this took a toll on the crew. They also had to complete the rest of their experiment programme, including the Commercial Proton Crystal Growth experiment, the UV Plume Instru­ment experiment and the USAF Maui Optical Site experiment. Post-flight inspections revealed negligible damage and the crew and flight controllers reported only minor problems. The new vehicle had joined the fleet in style.

Milestones

150th manned space flight 77th US manned space flight 47th Shuttle mission 1st flight of Endeavour

25th US and 46th flight with EVA operations 1st Shuttle mission to feature four EVAs 1st use of landing drag parachute 1st three-person EVA

1st astronaut attachment of rocket motor to orbiting satellite

Flight Crew

BOLDEN Jr., Charles Frank, 47, USMC, commander, 4th mission Previous missions: STS 61-C (1986); STS-31 (1990); STS-45 (1992) REIGHTLER Jr., Kenneth Stanley, 42, USN, pilot, 2nd mission Previous mission: STS-48 (1991)

DAVIS, Nancy Jan, 40, civilian, mission specialist 1, 2nd mission Previous mission: STS-47 (1991)

SEGA, Ronald Michael, 41, civilian, mission specialist 2

CHANG-DIAZ, Franklin Ramon, 43, civilian, mission specialist 3, 4th mission

Previous missions: STS 61-C (1986); STS-34 (1989); STS-46 (1992)

KRIKALEV, Sergei Konstaninovich, 35, civilian, Russian mission specialist 4, 3rd mission

Previous missions: Soyuz TM7 (1988); Soyuz TM12 (1991)

Flight Log

As part of the agreement between the US and Russia on manned space flight operations, the first Russian cosmonauts (Mir veterans Sergei Krikalev and Vladimir Titov) arrived at NASA JSC in Houston in late October 1992, to train for STS-60 and STS-63. Their training would be an abbreviated form of NASA mission specialist (not candidate) training, which would include RMS operations and EVA training using American EMU hardware. The training flow for the cosmonauts took into account their vast experience in the Russian programme. In February 1993, Krikalev was assigned the prime position on STS-60 with Titov as his back-up, reversing the roles for STS-63. These flights were the precursor missions that would include up to ten (later reduced to seven) long-duration American residencies on Mir, Shuttle dockings and further Russian cosmonauts incorporated into crews for Shuttle-Mir

missions. This all fell under Phase 1 of the International Space Station programme, the sixteen-nation cooperative programme that essentially replaced both the US Space Station Freedom and Russian Mir 2 programmes.

The mission of STS-60 had been postponed from November 1993 and resched­uled for January 1994, but a leaking aft RCS thruster in the orbiter forced a further delay while it was investigated. On the third attempt, the launch occurred without incident and the SpaceHab experiments were activated shortly after reaching orbit. The twelve experiments in the programme included four in materials sciences, seven in life sciences and a space dust collection experiment. On the third flight day, the crew attempted to deploy the Wake Shield Facility, but radio interference and problems in reading status information from the facility meant that the attempt had to be abandoned. The following day, the deployment was again cancelled when the facility’s attitude control system developed problems. For two days, the facility remained on the end of the robot arm, conducting abbreviated experiments and being berthed during FD 6. The Wake Shield Facility was planned as a deployable and retrievable experiment platform that would leave a vacuum wake in low-Earth orbit, which was calculated as being 10,000 times greater than that created on Earth in the laboratory. Within this “ultra-vacuum” environment, it was planned to grow defect-free thin film layers of semi-conductor materials (such as gallium arsenide).

Two experiments deployable from GAS canisters (six orbital debris calibration spheres – ranging from 5 to 15 cm in diameter, and a German satellite that measured acceleration forces) were carried on the flight, as well as three other GAS canister experiments. There was also a capillary pump experiment and an auroral photography experiment included in the science package. Krikalev had been given crew roles in photography and TV tasks, as well as maintenance activities during the flight. He supported SpaceHab systems and RMS operations and participated in the Earth observation programme. He was also assigned roles in some of the secondary experi­ments on the mission. His primary role was participation in the joint in-flight medical and radiological investigations. Krikalev also used the SAREX ham radio equipment to talk with operators in Moscow. After a one-orbit waive-off due to unfavourable weather at KSC, the mission ended with a perfect landing, a successful opening of the series of cooperative missions that would lead to the ISS programme.

The most significant achievement was that a cosmonaut could be trained to work with an American crew on an American mission in such a short time. This was a strong reflection of the capabilities of Krikalev, who took to both the English language and the American training system more easily than Titov. It was also a compliment to the vast experience both men brought from their own programme. Krikalev had more than 400 days experience from two missions and Titov had logged a year in space on one mission. The Russians seemed to integrate well with the American programme, but the question now was whether the Americans could do the same when they had to spend far longer in Russia training for a residency on Mir.

Milestones

167th manned space flight 90th US manned space flight 60th Shuttle mission 18th flight of Discovery 1st Russian cosmonaut on Shuttle

1st cosmonaut not to be launched from Baikonur or land in Russian territory 1st flight of Wake Shield Facility 100th Get Away Special (GAS) payload

Flight Crew

CHILTON, Kevin Patrick, 41, USAF, commander, 3rd mission Previous missions: STS-49 (1992); STS-59 (1994)

SEARFOSS, Richard A., 39, USAF, pilot, 2nd mission Previous mission: STS-58 (1993)

SEGA, Ronald Michael, 43, civilian, mission specialist 1, 2nd mission Previous mission: STS-60 (1994)

CLIFFORD, Michael Richard Uram, 43, US Army, mission specialist 2, 3rd mission

Previous missions: STS-53 (1992); STS-59 (1994)

GODWIN, Linda Maxine, 43, civilian, mission specialist 3, 3rd mission Previous missions: STS-37 (1991); STS-59 (1994)

NASA-2 up only:

LUCID, Shannon Wells, 53, civilian, mission specialist 4, EO-21 research cosmonaut, NASA-2 board engineer, 5th mission

Previous missions: STS 51-G (1985); STS-34 (1989); STS-43 (1991); STS-58 (1993)

Flight Log

Lessons were learned from Thagard’s stay on Mir. Missing his family was one of the main problems he identified, so NASA organised regular contact for subsequent NASA astronauts who stayed on Mir. Thagard was thankful that he did not have to endure an extended mission of six months, but Shannon Lucid was forced to do exactly that. The O-rings from the retrieved SRBs on STS-75 showed a different problem from that seen on STS-71 and 70. This time, the gas path went through the

adhesive but not past it. This had been seen before, but never with two different gas paths on both motors. A review deemed that the STS-76 units would be safe to fly, but the 21 March attempt was scrubbed due to concerns over high winds. The revised launch occurred without further difficulty, but APU 3 shut down prior to entering orbit. Mission management concluded that the system would remain stable, however, and would still support a full-duration mission.

The docking with Mir occurred on FD 3, and for the next five days the astronauts worked with the EO-21 cosmonauts to transfer 680 kg of water to the station in fifteen Contingency Water Containers (CWC). Two tons of equipment were also transferred into Mir, while experiment samples and unwanted equipment were taken back into Atlantis for the return to Earth. Lucid transferred to the Mir resident crew two hours after the hatches were opened following docking. She relocated her personal Soyuz seat support into the Descent Module of Soyuz TM23. Also transferred over to the

space station were Mir Glove Box stowage experiments, which were located in the station’s Docking Module. While docked, the Shuttle crew activated or worked on a number of secondary experiments located in the Shuttle’s middeck, SpaceHab module and payload bay.

On FD 6, Godwin (EV1) and Clifford (EV2) performed the first US EVA at a space station since the final Skylab EVA in February 1973. This was also the first time that activities were performed around the docking interfaces of two different space­craft since Apollo 9 in March 1969. Godwin and Clifford attached four Mir Environ­mental Effects Payload (MEEP) experiments to the station’s Docking Module. Over an 18-month period, these experiments were designed to examine the environment around the station. Both astronauts wore a SAFER unit (first tested on STS-64) during an EVA which lasted 6 hours 2 minutes.

Undocking occurred on FD 8, leaving Lucid aboard Mir at the start of a planned two-year continuous American presence on the station by successive astronauts. The landing of STS-76 was planned for 31 March, but was brought forward due to anticipated rain and clouds around the Cape area. In the event, both the 30 and 31 March attempts were waived off due to the bad weather and Atlantis was even­tually diverted to Edwards. Following the problem with APU 3 during ascent, extra precautions were instigated for the landing, particularly in requiring more conserva­tive weather criteria. After the 30 March waive-off, the re-opening of the payload bay doors to expose the orbiter’s radiators was interrupted by indications that latches 9-12 on both sides had failed to open properly. A visual inspection from SpaceHab confirmed that they had operated correctly, however, and it was determined that faulty micro-switches had given erroneous indications of problems. The doors closed nominally for landing. Despite the loss of three of the primary RCS thrusters out of the set of 38, the re-entry of STS-76 was not adversely affected.

Milestones

188th manned space flight

106th US manned space flight

76th Shuttle mission

16th flight of Atlantis

3rd Shuttle-Mir docking mission

34th US and 62nd flight with EVA operations

4th SpaceHab mission (4th single module)

1st SpaceHab space station mission

1st US EVA at a space station for 22 years

Flight Crew

CASPER, John Howard, 52, USAF, commander, 4th mission Previous missions: STS-36 (1990); STS-54 (1993); STS-62 (1994) BROWN Jr., Curtis Lee, 40, USAF, pilot, 3rd mission Previous missions: STS-47 (1992); STS-66 (1994)

THOMAS, Andrew Sydney Withiel, 44, civilian, mission specialist 1 BURSCH, Daniel Wheeler, 38, USN, mission specialist 2, 3rd mission Previous missions: STS-51 (1993); STS-68 (1994)

RUNCO Jr., Mario, 44, civilian, mission specialist 3, 3rd mission Previous missions: STS-44 (1991); STS-54 (1993)

GARNEAU, Marc Joseph Jean-Pierre, 47, civilian, Canadian mission specialist 4, 2nd mission Previous mission: STS 41-G (1984)

Flight Log

After rescheduling the original 16 May launch date due to other programmes at the Eastern Test Range of the Cape, STS-77 was launched on time three days later. This mission featured four rendezvous activities with two different payloads. The largest payload was the SpaceHab 4 module, with a mass of about 1,300 kg of experiments and support equipment. Its research programme encompassed twelve commercial space product development packages in biotechnology, polymers and agriculture, and electronic materials. Over 90 per cent of the payloads on the mission were sponsored by NASA’s Office of Space Access and Technology (OSAT). In addition to SpaceHab 4, Endeavour’s cargo included the SPARTAN-207 free-flyer carrier, from which the Inflatable Antenna Experiment would be deployed, and a suite of four technology experiments, designated TEAMS, in the payload bay. One of these was a cooperative experiment between the US, Canada and Germany, in which

various samples of electronic and semi-conductor material were heated using float zone techniques, designed to produced large, ultra-pure crystals of semi-conductor materials such as gallium arsenide.

On FD 2, SPARTAN-207 was deployed using the RMS. Attached to the SPARTAN was the 60 kg IAE structure, mounted on three struts, which was inflated to its full size of about 15 metres in diameter. After 90 minutes, the structure was ejected, allowing the SPARTAN to be retrieved later in the mission. The objective of the inflation experiment was to gather data about its on-orbit behaviour by recording the deployment and inflation sequence on film. This would provide designers with important information for the design of future deployable and inflatable structures in space. The potential benefits of such structures include lower development costs, lower mass and volume inside launch vehicles, and the possibility of utilising a smaller launch vehicle to get them into orbit.

Other deployment and rendezvous activities on the fourth day of the mission included the release of the Passively Aerodynamically-stabilised Magnetically – damped Satellite (PAMS), one of four Technology Experiments for Advancing Missions in Space (or TEAMS) that were mounted on a hitchhiker carrier in the payload bay of the orbiter. The other TEAMS experiments included a GPS attitude and navigation experiment, a Vented Tank Re-supply Experiment and a Liquid Mass Thermal Experiment. There was also a range of secondary payloads in technology and biology, and further GAS canisters on the flight. The Aquatic Research Facility was a joint NASA/Canadian experiment for investigating a wide range of small aquatic species. For this mission, it included starfish, muscles and sea urchins, and it was hoped that the facility would provide scientists with the opportunity to investigate the process of fertilisation, formation of embryos and development of calcified tissue, as well as the feeding behaviour of small aquatic organisms while in the microgravity environment.

Commander Casper took the opportunity to talk with Shannon Lucid on her 65th day on Mir during the mission. In addition to a smooth, on-time launch, Endeavour showed no significant on-orbit problems and completed a first opportu­nity landing at Edwards, the smoothest, most trouble-free flight for some time.

Milestones

189th manned space flight

107th US manned space flight

77th Shuttle mission

11th flight of Endeavour

5th flight of SpaceHab (5th single module)

1st flight of the Aquatic Research Facility (ARF)

. SOYUZ TM29 Posted by admin in Praxis Manned Spaceflight Log 1961-2006 on November 2, 2015 Flight Crew AFANASYEV, Viktor Mikhailovich, 50, Russian Air Force, 3rd mission Previous missions: Soyuz TM11 (1990); Soyuz TM18 (1994) HAIGNERE, Jean-Pierre, 50, French Air Force, flight engineer, 2nd mission Previous mission: Soyuz TM17 BELLA, Ivan, 34, Slovak Armed (Air) Forces, cosmonaut researcher Flight Log This was to prove the final in-orbit hand-over of a Mir crew on a station that had been continually manned since September 1989. The short Slovak Stefanik scientific mission was reportedly paid for by the Russians writing off a Soviet era debt to Slovakia of US$20 million. France reportedly paid US$20.6 million for the Perseus programme, which should have been completed in June but was extended at no extra cost until August. The Slovak programme encompassed medical experiments, measurements of radiation and observations of the development of quail eggs. Haignere’s Perseus programme included the use of equipment brought up in previous French missions as well as four new experiments. The programme focused on life sciences, physics and space technology. Two other experiments were provided by ESA and there were several experiments provided by French high schools working in cooperation with CNES. On 16 April, Haignere and Afanasyev competed a 6 hour 19 minute EVA in which they were to test a new sealant tool for repairing small holes in the hull. A simulated hole in Kvant was to be used in the test, and the sealant was also to have been used for Spektr, but the hole in the module was never pinpointed. In the test, the valve failed to open and the simulation at Kvant had to be cancelled. The EVA crew did retrieve experiment samples from the exterior of the station, but the deployment of new detectors had to be abandoned as they fell behind schedule. Slovakia’s first cosmonaut Bella (left) was launched aboard Soyuz TM29 with Russian Afanasyev (centre) and Frenchman Haignere The three men continued their programmes of biomedical studies, astrophysical and technical experiments and Earth photography, as well as astronomical and solar observations, filling the weeks as they orbited in Mir. In June, Avdeyev surpassed the career record of 681 days accumulated time in space (previously held by Dr. Valery Polyakov). According to some reports, not all the time spent on Mir was harmonious, with Afanasyev not enjoying his third mission to Mir and at times being at odds with Haignere. Two EVAs by Afanasyev and Avdeyev were completed in July (23 Jul for 6 hours 7 minutes and 27 Jul for 5 hours 22 minutes) to deploy an elliptical 6.4 x 5.2m reflector antenna that was 1.1m high. This was a test of a new prototype design for a telecommunications antenna planned for future generations of satellites. It initially refused to deploy and remained furled despite the crew kicking it. During the second EVA, they were able to complete the deployment operation. Over the course of the two EVAs, they also deployed and returned experiments and sample cassettes on the exterior of the station, and during the second EVA they detached the antenna from the Sofora girder, manually pushing it away from the station. On 25 July, Haignere spoke over the radio to fellow French astronaut Michel Tognini, who was on Columbia during the STS-93 mission. Towards the end of July and in Early August, the crew’s scientific work began to come to an end and for several days the three cosmonauts began winding up their experiments and mothballing the station. Later, they witnessed the effects of the 11 August 1999 total solar eclipse as the shadow passed over southern England, and over the Indian sub-continent one orbit later. On 27 August, the crew undocked from Mir to complete a landing a few hours later. Afanasyev said that his crew were “abandoning a piece of Russia [with] grief in our souls.’’ According to Russian press releases, there had been over 22,000 scientific experiments in 20 research programmes, utilising over 240 pieces of scientific equip­ment. A total of 14 tons of scientific hardware had been used on Mir by the 27 main crews and numerous visiting crew members. For now, there did not seem to be any further missions on the horizon, although Mir was kept in autonomous flight while all options were examined. The Russians seemed to have committed themselves to ISS and the end of Mir was approaching. Milestones 211th manned space flight 88th Russian manned space flight 81st manned Soyuz mission 28th manned Soyuz TM mission 29th Mir resident crew 34th Russian and 73rd flight with EVA operations 6th French long-duration mission (189 days) Haignere celebrates his 51st birthday on Mir (19 May) New duration record of 748 days in space set by Avdeyev over three missions New duration record of 209 days in space for a non-Russian (Haignere) STS-110 Posted by admin in Praxis Manned Spaceflight Log 1961-2006 on November 2, 2015 Int. Designation 2002-018A Launched 8 April 2002 Launch Site Pad 39B, Kennedy Space Center, Florida Landed 20 April 2002 Landing Site Runway 33, Shuttle Landing Facility, KSC, Florida Launch Vehicle OV-104 Atlantis/ET-114/SRB BI-112/SSME #1 2048; #2 2051; #3 2045 Duration 10 days 19 hrs 42 min 44 sec Call sign Atlantis Objective ISS assembly flight 8A; delivery of S0 Truss and Mobile Transporter Flight Crew BLOOMFIELD, Michael John, 43, USAF, commander, 3rd mission Previous missions: STS-86 (1997); STS-97 (2000) FRICK, Stephen Nathaniel, 37, USN, pilot WALHEIM, Rex Joseph, 39, USAF, mission specialist 1 OCHOA, Ellen Lauri, 43, civilian, mission specialist 2, 4th mission Previous missions: STS-56 (1993); STS-66 (1994); STS-96 (1999) MORIN, Lee Miller Emile, 49, USN, mission specialist 3 ROSS, Jerry Lynn, 54, civilian, mission specialist 4, 7th mission Previous missions: STS 61-B (1985); STS-27 (1988); STS-37 (1991); STS-55 (1993); STS-74 (1995); STS-88 (1998) SMITH, Steven Lee, 43, civilian, mission specialist 5, 4th mission Previous missions: STS-68 (1994); STS-82 (1997); STS-103 (1999) Flight Log The 4 April launch was terminated an hour into the tanking due to a leak in a LH vent line on the Mobile Launcher Platform at the pad. Following repairs to the line, the launch was rescheduled to 8 April but was delayed on the day due to drop-outs in a back-up launcher processing system. After reloading the data, the launch was achieved with just 11 seconds remaining in the launch window. Docking with ISS occurred on FD 3 (10 Apr) and over the next 170 hours, the Shuttle crew completed 4 EVAs to install the S0 Truss. During and in between the EVAs, the astronauts transferred supplies, equipment and experiments to the station, and brought back trash and unwanted hardware. They also transferred 45 kg of oxygen and 22 kg of nitrogen to the storage tanks in Quest to re-pressurise the airlock following EVA operations. A total of 664 kg of water was transferred to the ISS, along with an experimental plant growth chamber which replaced a crystal growth experi- Steve Smith works inside the S0 Truss, newly installed on ISS. Rex Walheim (out of frame) worked in tandem with Smith during the mission’s third EVA ment that would be returned to Earth. The crew also transferred a new freezer for future crystal sample storage. During FD 4, the S0 Truss was lifted out of the payload bay of Atlantis by Ellen Ochoa using the station’s RMS, assisted by ISS-4 crew member Dan Bursch. It was located onto a clamp at the top of the Destiny lab, where it would serve as a platform on which other trusses would be attached and additional solar arrays mounted. The truss also included navigation devices, computers, coolant and power systems for additional laboratories and facilities to be added to the station later. The EVAs were completed by two pairs of STS-110 astronauts. The first and third were performed by Smith (EV1) and Walheim (EV2), while the second and fourth were conducted by Ross (EV3) and Morin (EV4) (dubbed the “Silver” Team, as they were both grandfathers). EVA 1 (11 Apr for 7 hours 48 minutes) focused mainly on electrical and structural connections of the truss to the station after it had been moved from Atlantis’s payload bay. The astronauts attached four mounting struts, deployed avionics trays and connected cables from Destiny to the new addition to the station. EVA 2 (13 Apr for 7 hours 30 minutes) saw the astronauts bolt the final two struts to the lab. Launch support panels and clamps were removed and a back-up device with an umbilical reel for the Mobile Transporter railcar was also installed. EVA 3 (14 Apr for 6 hours 27 minutes) was used to reconfigure electrical connections from the US lab to the truss for powering the Canadarm2. Clamps were also released on the Mobile Transporter cart during this EVA. EVA 4 (16 Mar for 6 hours 37 minutes) saw the installation of a 4.267-metre beam called the Airlock Spur from the S0 Truss to Quest to provide a quick pathway for future EVA astronauts. Floodlights, work platforms and electrical connections were also installed and connected in this final excursion of the mission. Initial tests of the Mobile Transporter (railcar) were successfully completed on FD 8. ISS-4 crew member Walz commanded the transporter, using a laptop computer to move it to a work site about 5.2 metres down a rail that spanned the entire length of the 13.4m truss. Then it was moved to a second site and back to the first. The unmanned cart moved about 22m in total at a rate of about 3.5 cm per second. Automatic latching did not occur due to the railcar lifting slightly, but manual latching was successfully achieved. This unit would be extended over the coming missions and would be used to ease the translation of astronauts and equipment down the length of the completed truss in future years. Milestones 231st manned space flight 139th US manned space flight 109th Shuttle mission 25th flight of Atlantis 53rd US and 86th flight with EVA operations 13th ISS Shuttle mission 5th Atlantis ISS mission 1st person to make 7 space flights (Ross) US career EVA record of 58 hrs 18 minutes on 9 EVAs over 4 missions (Ross) 2002-020A 25 April 2002 Pad 1, Site 5, Baikonur Cosmodrome, Kazakhstan 5 May 2002 (in Soyuz TM33) 26 km southeast of Arkalyk R7 (11A511U); spacecraft serial number (7K-M) 208 9 days 21 hrs 25 min 18 sec Uran (Uranus) ISS mission 4S; Soyuz ferry exchange; Soyuz visiting mission 3; Italian Marco Polo research mission; South African SFP science mission Flight Crew GIDZENKO, Yuri Pavolich, 40, Russian Air Force, commander, 3rd mission Previous missions: Soyuz TM22 (1995); ISS-1 (2000) VITTORI, Roberto, 37, Italian Air Force, flight engineer SHUTTLEWORTH, Mark, 28, civilian, South African space flight participant Flight Log This mission successfully exchanged the older Soyuz TM33 spacecraft for a “fresh” return capsule at ISS. In addition, Italian ESA astronaut Vittori completed a science programme for the Italian Space Agency and the second private fare-paying space flight participant (Shuttleworth) also became the first citizen from South Africa to fly into space. Soyuz TM34 docked with ISS at the Zarya nadir docking port on 27 April. In addition to the exchange of personal effects and flight hardware required to bring home the older Soyuz and leave the newer vehicle for the ISS-4 resident crew, the two Russian commanders worked on medical experiments and a joint Russian/ German/French plasma crystal experiment during the week of joint activities. Vittori’s activities under the Marco Polo science programme included 23 sessions with four biomedical experiments. These included the relationship of the health of the individual to possible reductions in working capacity, an in-orbit test of the functional capability of a new integrated garment, and a medical experiment on the effects of space radiation on the functional state of the central nervous system and into the working capacity of the test subject. There was also a study of the vegetative regulation of arterial pressure and heart rate. Mark Shuttleworth was determined to make his visit to the space station more scientifically rewarding and valuable than that of the previous space flight participant, Dennis Tito. He actively developed a programme of life science experiments utilising Russian equipment already aboard the station, as well as bringing four South African The Soyuz Taxi-3 crew onboard the ISS. L to r Soyuz Commander Yuri Gidzenko, ESA astronaut Roberto Vittori and South African SFP Mark Shuttleworth university-developed experiments with him on Soyuz. One of these would focus on stem cell research. Shuttleworth also took saliva samples from himself and his crew mates as part of the embryo and stem cell development experiment. At the end of the week’s visit, the crew packed their experiment results and cargo into the DM of Soyuz TM33. Soyuz has a limited cargo return capability and could only return 50 kg worth of cargo, of which 15 kg was allocated to the return of Italian experiment results and data. The landing of TM33 occurred without incident on 5 May, ending another highly successful visiting ferry exchange mission. It was hoped that these missions would become a regular occurrence twice a year at the station, but not with Soyuz TM. A new variant of Soyuz was waiting in the wings, and this version would have the capacity to carry taller crew members, incorporate upgrades to onboard systems and hardware and be capable of a longer orbital service life of up to a year. The flight of TM34 was therefore the last of a series that had first flown in space in May 1986. Milestones 232nd manned space flight 93rd Russian manned space flight 86th manned Soyuz mission 33rd manned Soyuz TM mission 4th ISS Soyuz mission (3S) 3rd Soyuz ISS taxi flight 3rd ISS visiting mission Final Soyuz TM mission 1st South African citizen in space (Shuttleworth) Flight Crew COCKRELL, Kenneth Dale, 52, civilian, commander, 5th mission Previous missions: STS-56 (1993); STS-69 (1995); STS-80 (1996); STS-98 (2001) LOCKHART, Paul Scott, 46, USAF, pilot CHANG-DIAZ, Franklin Ramon de Los Angeles, 52, civilian, mission specialist 1, 7th mission Previous missions: STS 61-C (1986); STS-34 (1989); STS-46 (1992); STS-60 (1994); STS-75 (1996); STS-91 (1998) PERRIN, Philippe, 39, French Air Force, mission specialist 2 ISS-5 crew up only: KORZUN, Valery Nikolayevich, 49, Russian Air Force, mission specialist 3, ISS-5 and Soyuz commander, 2nd mission Previous mission: Soyuz TM24 (1996) WHITSON, Peggy Annette, 42, civilian, mission specialist 4, ISS-5 science officer TRESCHEV, Sergei Vladimiriovich, 43, civilian, Russian mission specialist 5, ISS-5 flight engineer ISS-4 crew down only: ONUFRIYENKO, Yuri Ivanovich, 40, Russian Air Force, ISS-4 and Soyuz commander, mission specialist 3, 2nd mission Previous mission: Soyuz TM23 (1996) BURSCH, Daniel Wheeler, 44, USN, ISS-4 flight engineer 1, mission specialist 4, 4th mission Previous missions: STS-51 (1993); STS-68 (1994); STS-77 (1996) WALZ, Carl Erwin, 46, USAF, ISS-4 flight engineer 2, mission specialist 5, 4th mission Previous missions: STS-51 (1993); STS-65 (1994); STS-79 (1996) Endeavour is shown docked to the ISS at the PMA-2 on the forward end of the Destiny laboratory. A portion of the Canadarm2 is visible in the lower left corner and the Endeavour RMS is in full view stretched out with the SO truss at its end Flight Log The original 29 May launch date for this mission was scrubbed due to adverse weather conditions and the rescheduled 31 May launch was also cancelled, this time due to the discovery on 30 May of pressure differences in the left OMS pod on the Endeavour. The component would be replaced on the pad and the launch date changed to 4 June, but the unique nature of this problem meant additional work to build a test fixture, so the launch had to be delayed 24 hours to 5 June. The docking with ISS occurred on FD 3 (7 June) and the vehicles remained docked together for 189 hours. Later on FD 3, the official change-over of ISS resident crew occurred, with the ISS-4 crew formally ending their 182-day residence aboard the station and becoming part of the STS-111 crew. The ISS-5 crew, now with their seat liners in the Soyuz TM34 DM, were officially the resident crew aboard the station. Three EVAs were completed by Chang-Diaz (EV1) and French astronaut Phillip Perrin (EV2). During their first EVA (9 Jun for 7 hours 14 minutes), they installed power and data cables and a grapple fixture to the P6 Truss, which would be used to relocate it to its final position. They also retrieved six micrometeoroid shields from Endeavour’s payload bay for temporary stowage on PMA-1. These would be installed on Zvezda by a later crew. They also inspected and photographed the failed CMG on the Z1 Truss and removed thermal blankets from the Mobile Base System before positioning it above the Mobile Transporter to thermally condition it prior to installation on the next EVA. During the second EVA (11 Jun for 5 hours), the two astronauts connected primary and back-up video and data cables between the MT railcar and MBS, and deployed an auxiliary grapple fixture on the MBS. This was called the Payload Orbital Replacement Unit Accommodation (POA) and is designed to grapple future payloads and hold on to them as they are moved across the station’s truss atop the MBS. The attachment of four bolts completed the installation of the MBS and the crew also relocated a TV camera for better views of station assembly and maintenance operations. During the final EVA (13 Jun for 7 hours 17 minutes), the astronauts replaced the faulty Canadarm2 wrist roll joint with a new unit that had been brought up to the station with them in the Shuttle’s payload bay. The faulty joint was stowed in the payload bay for return to Earth. This repair restored the station’s RMS system to operational status. MLPM Leonardo was moved from the payload bay of Endeavour to the side of the Unity module on 8 June and remained there for unloading and loading until it was returned to the payload bay on 14 June. In the transfer of logistics, cargo, hardware and supplies to the station, the crew relocated 3,652 kg from Leonardo and a further 453 kg from lockers on Endeavour’s mid-deck. For the return to Earth, the MPLM was filled with 2,117 kg of equipment, waste and items no longer needed and a further 453 kg of returned material was located in the mid-deck lockers of the Shuttle. Among the items moved over to the station was a new science rack to house microgravity experiments, and a glove box that would permit the station crew to begin a series of experiments that required isolation conditions. The Shuttle landed at Edwards AFB after three days of trying to land at the Cape. Low clouds, rain and thunderstorms cancelled KSC landing attempts on 17,18 and 19 June, forcing the decision to land at Edwards AFB and giving the Shuttle and ISS-4 crews an additional two days in space. Milestones 233rd manned space flight 140th US manned space flight 110th Shuttle mission 18th flight of Endeavour 54th US and 87th flight with EVA operations 14th Shuttle ISS mission 5th Endeavour ISS mission 5th MPLM flight 3rd MPLM-1 (Leonardo) flight 1st French Shuttle crew member EVA 1st French EVA from ISS (via Quest) . SOYUZ TMA9 Posted by admin in Praxis Manned Spaceflight Log 1961-2006 on November 2, 2015 Flight Crew LOPEZ-ALEGRIA, Michael Eladio, 48, USN, ISS-14 commander and science officer, 4th mission Previous missions: STS-73 (1995); STS-92 (2000); STS-113 (2002) TYURIN, Mikhail Vladislavovich, 46, civilian, Russian ISS-14 Soyuz commander, 2nd mission Previous mission: ISS-3 (2001) ANSARI, Anousheh, 40, civilian, US space flight participant Flight Log The original spaceflight participant on this mission was scheduled to be Japanese businessman Daisuke Enomato, but on 21 August he failed the pre-flight medical and was replaced by his back-up Anousheh Ansari. She is the Iranian-born naturalised American who co-founded Telecom Technologies Inc. in 1993, and the X-Prize sub­orbital space flight record attempts (won in 2005 by Spaceship One). During the flight to ISS, she reportedly suffered from Spaceflight Adaptation Syndrome, but seemed to recover successfully once on ISS to complete her research programme. This consisted of three TV broadcasts, amateur radio broadcasts, photo and video surveys of the Russian segment of ISS for education purposes, participation in two small ESA experiments and commemorative activities, including regular email contact to the Internet through her own website during the mission. She returned to Earth on 29 September with the ISS-13 crew in TMA8. Soyuz TMA9 docked with ISS on 21 September to begin the six-month residency of the ISS-14 crew. During their stay, they will work with German ESA astronaut Thomas Reiter until he is replaced by NASA astronaut Sunita Williams during the STS-116 mission in December. Williams, like Reiter, will serve as ISS-14 flight A million dollar ticket to space. Space flight participant Ansari is shown strapped to her Soyuz TMA seat in TMA9 shortly after entering orbit on the two-day flight to ISS with the Expedition Fourteen crew engineer 2 and will continue to work with the ISS-15 crew until she in turn is replaced by another NASA astronaut during STS-118 in the spring of 2007. The residency of ISS-14 will see a significant increase in onboard science activities with the return of a resident three-person crew. In addition, they will host Shuttle missions STS-116 and 117, receive two Progress re-supply missions and complete four EVAs. One of the spacewalks will be by Tyurin and Lopez-Alegria using the Pirs airlock and wearing Orlan suits. The other three will be by Lopez-Alegria and Williams out of the Quest airlock wearing US suits. The ISS-14 crew are expected to be relieved by the ISS-15 crew in March 2007, and will return to Earth with the next space flight participant (launched with the ISS-15 crew on TMA10) on 19 March 2007. Milestones 250th manned space flight 102nd Russian manned space flight 95th manned Soyuz mission 9th manned Soyuz TMA mission 11th ISS Soyuz mission (11S) 11th visiting mission (VC-11) 4th space flight participant 1st female space flight participant Soviet/Russian orbital launchers Posted by admin in Praxis Manned Spaceflight Log 1961-2006 on November 2, 2015 The Russian ICBM R7-based Vostok booster with an upper stage was used to launch Yuri Gagarin on the first manned space flight on 12 April 1961. Five more missions followed until an “up-rated” Voskhod craft was launched using the Voskhod rocket, another derivative of the R7. A series of Soyuz boosters, also based on the R7 first stage, have been used to launch crewed missions since 1967 and the launcher will continue for many more years to send Soyuz International Space Station crew ferry and emergency return vehicles aloft. The basic R7 launch vehicle had its origins in 1947, with the idea of grouping (clustering) rocket stages together instead of stacking them on top of each other (as with Saturn V).The final configuration from studies became Izdelie 8K71 (Product 8K71). Originally developed as an ICBM, it featured a central sustainer engine (Blok A) to which four strap-on boosters were attached (Blok B, V, G and D) forming stage 1. The central engine was the RD-108, providing 75 tons of thrust at lift off and burning for 304 seconds, while the four RD-107 boosters delivered 83 tons of thrust and burned for 122 seconds, separating at burn-out to allow the central sustainer to continue the A Soyuz launch ascent. Both engines used LOX/kerosene and remained the core propulsion vehicle for all Soviet and Russian manned launches and a significant number of unmanned ones. Depending on the payload, additional upper stages were added to propel the payload into orbit. The central core of the R7 stands 26m (85 ft) with a diameter of 2.95 m (9.5 ft) tapering to 2.15 m (7 ft) to accommodate the four strap-on stages. Each of the boosters was 19 m (62 ft) long. « Previous 1 … 8 9 10 11 12 … 20 Next » Tweet Copyright © 2025 Aviation – airports, aircraft, helicopters … - Everything about aviation. Aviation News from around the world. Commercial and General Aviation, airports, airplanes, helicopters and other aircraft.