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STS-65
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Int. Designation |
1994-039A |
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Launched |
8 July 1994 |
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Launch Site |
Pad 39A, Kennedy Space Center, Florida |
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Landed |
23 July 1994 |
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Landing Site |
Runway 33, Shuttle Landing Facility, Kennedy Space Center, Florida |
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Launch Vehicle |
OV-102 Columbia/ET-64/SRB BI-066/SSME #1 2019; #2 2030; #3 2017 |
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Duration |
14 days 17 hrs 55 min 00 sec |
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Call sign |
Columbia |
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Objective |
Second flight of the International Microgravity Laboratory using a Spacelab Long Module configuration |
Flight Crew
CABANA, Robert Donald, 45, USMC, commander, 3rd mission Previous missions: STS-41 (1990); STS-53 (1992)
HALSELL Jr., James Donald, 37, pilot
HIEB, Richard James, 38, civilian, mission specialist 1, payload commander, 3rd mission
Previous missions: STS-39 (1991); STS-49 (1992)
WALZ, Carl Erwin, 38, USAF, mission specialist 2, 2nd mission Previous mission: STS-51 (1993)
CHIAO, Leroy, 33, civilian, mission specialist 3 THOMAS, Donald Alan, 39, civilian, mission specialist 4 MUKAI, Chiaki, 41, civilian, Japanese payload specialist 1
Flight Log
Following a smooth countdown, the mission of STS-65 carrying the IML-2 science payload got off to a perfect start. Once in orbit, the crew divided into the two teams (Red Shift – Cabana, Halsell, Hieb and NASDA PS Mukai; Blue Shift – Walz, Chiao and Thomas), working around the clock to operate not only the IML-2 science programme, but also a range of secondary and mid-deck experiments. This flight carried more than twice the experiments flown on IML-1 two years before and was supported by an international team of 210 scientists representing six space research organisations (ESA, CSA, CNES, DARA, NASDA and NASA).
The life sciences programme consisted of fifty experiments, divided into bioprocessing, space biology, human physiology and radiation biology. Part of these investigations required the European Biorack facility, which was making its third trip into space. The Biorack housed 19 experiments, featuring chemicals and biological
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The first Japanese woman to fly in space, Chiaki Mukai, is shown entering the IML-2 Spacelab module from the connecting tunnel from the mid-deck of Columbia during the 15-day mission |
samples that included bacteria, mammalian and human cells, isolated tissues and eggs, sea urchin larvae, fruit flies and plant seedlings. Thirty materials-processing experiments were also conducted, using nine facilities. In the Protein Crystallisation Facility (flying for the second time), approximately 5,000 video images were taken of crystals grown during the mission. This mission also advanced the concept of remote telescience, with researchers on the ground able to monitor their experiments in real time as they were operated aboard the orbiter. At the end of the mission, the Spacelab Mission Operations Control Center at Huntsville in Alabama reported that over 25,000 payload commands had been issued, a new record.
In addition to the IML investigations the mission also flew the Orbital Acceleration Research Experiment (OARE), the Commercial Protein Crystal Growth (CPCG) and the Military Application of Ship Track (MAST) payloads, as well as the SAREX amateur radio equipment. The Air Force Maui Optical Site (AMOS), which did not require equipment, was also part of the research programme of this flight. On top of all this, there were also more than a dozen Detailed Test Objectives and more than fifteen Detailed Supplementary Objectives assigned to the mission, as well as the ongoing programme of biomedical studies as part of the EDO Medical Project (EDOMP), and the Earth photography and observation programme.
The crew also set up a video to record the experience of riding in the crew cabin during launch and entry for the first time. On 20 July, the crew honoured the 25th anniversary of the Apollo 11 Moon landing, noting that the historic mission also featured a spacecraft called Columbia (the Command and Service Module). The
22 July landing was waived off due to the possibility of rain showers around the Cape but the next day the conditions were good to support a return to Earth. This was the final flight of Columbia prior to its scheduled modification and refurbishment period at Rockwell’s facility in California. OV-102 left the Cape in October 1994 and returned in April 1995 to begin preparations for its next mission on STS-73.
Milestones
171st manned space flight
93rd US manned space flight
63rd Shuttle mission
17th flight of Columbia
4th EDO mission
2nd flight of IML configuration
1st Japanese woman to fly in space (Mukai)
Longest single flight to date by a female (Mukai)
1st use of video-tape to record lift-off and re-entry from inside flight deck
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Flight Crew
RICHARDS, Richard Noel, 48, USN, commander, 4th mission Previous missions: STS-28 (1989); STS-41 (1990); STS-50 (1992) HAMMOND Jr., Blaine, 42, USAF, pilot, 2nd mission Previous mission: STS-39 (1991)
LINENGER, Jerry Michael, 39, USN, mission specialist 1 HELMS, Susan Jane, 36, USAF, mission specialist 2, 2nd mission Previous mission: STS-54 (1993)
MEADE, Carl Joseph, 43, USAF, mission specialist 3, 3rd mission Previous missions: STS-38 (1990); STS-50 (1992)
LEE, Mark Charles, 42, USAF, mission specialist 4, 3rd mission Previous missions: STS-30 (1989); STS-47 (1992)
Flight Log
Weather conditions delayed the launch of STS-64 by almost two hours into a two – and-a-half-hour window, but otherwise the launch was untroubled. Once on orbit, the Lidar-in-space Technology Experiment (LITE), mounted on a Spacelab pallet in the payload bay, was activated on FD 1 and became operational the next day. It operated for almost a week of activities, resulting in what official reports called a “highly successful technology test.” The Lidar (light detection and radar) method of optical radar used laser pulses instead of radio waves to study the atmosphere of Earth, as part of the NASA Mission to Planet Earth programme. Sixty-five groups of researchers from twenty countries took part in the experiment, which also employed simultaneous airborne and ground-based measurements to verify the data collected by the LITE payload. The experiments operated for 53 hours, of which 43 hours were of high-rate data quality. Atmosphere “sites” located high above northern Europe, Indonesia and the South Pacific area, Russia and Africa were targeted and from
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Meade tests the new SAFER system 130 nautical miles above the Earth. Hardware supporting the Lidar-in-space Technology Experiment (LITE) is at the lower right. The photo was taken from the RMS shoulder joint camera. The robot arm is also captured in the scene upper right |
the data collected, new information on the structure of clouds, storm systems, dust clouds and pollutants in the atmosphere was obtained. Furthermore, the data was used to understand the effects of forest fires and how reflective the surface of the Earth was at different points and changing times of the day, in varying “seasonal” conditions.
On FD 5, the Shuttle Pointed Autonomous Research Tool for Astronomy-201 (SPARTAN-201) was deployed by the RMS. This was the unit’s second mission and was designed to investigate the acceleration and velocity of solar wind, as well as taking measurements of the Sun’s corona. The collected data was stored on board for downloading once back on Earth and the vehicle was retrieved on FD 7.
During FD 8, Lee (EV1) and Meade (EV2) performed the only EVA of the mission, but one which was a milestone in the preparations for expanded EVA operations at ISS. During the EVA, the two astronauts evaluated the Simplified
Aid For EVA Rescue (SAFER). The RMS remained active and on hand in case of problems. The SAFER unit was designed to provide a usable back-up if an astronaut became untethered during EVA. In some circumstances, the Shuttle would be capable of manoeuvring to “scoop up” a stranded astronaut (though this has not yet been necessary), but the ISS is far less manoeuvrable, so an alternative personal safety system would be required. This unit was a scaled-down version of the MMU flown during 1984 and was designed for emergency situations only (but with built-in back up systems). Propulsion came from 24 fixed-position thrusters. The 1.36 kg nitrogen supply, which could be recharged from the orbiter nitrogen system, could provide about a 3m/sec change in velocity until the gas was expelled. The unit also had an attitude control system and a 28-volt battery pack, which could be charged in orbit. During the EVA, both astronauts flew several short translation and rotation sequences, with data recorded in the SAFER unit for analysis after the mission. The unit was an outstanding success, as the astronauts soon learned that it used less nitrogen than predicted. They also evaluated the SAFER attitude hold system by manually tumbling each other. Despite Meade rolling Lee faster than planned, the attitude control system in Lee’s unit worked perfectly to correct his rotation. Both astronauts replenished their SAFERs about seven times during the EVA and the only problems during the excursion were Meade reporting that his feet had gone cold, and that evaluation of the Electronic Cuff Check (ECC) list, which was designed to replace the paper cuff checklists that had been used since Apollo 12, proved disappointing.
Aside from the LITE payload, STS-64 also carried the Shuttle Plume Impingement Flight Experiment, a 10 m RMS extension that was designed to collect data on the RCS thrusters, which would help in understanding their effects in close proximity to large space structures such as Mir or ISS. As with all Shuttle flights, a suite of mid-deck experiments was carried on this mission, many of which had flown before. The mission was extended by a day to maximise the collection of data and was increased by a further 24 hours on 19 September due to storms at the Cape. The following day, two attempts at landing at the Cape were also abandoned due to the weather, so the mission was diverted to Edwards for the third landing window of the day.
Milestones
172nd manned space flight
94th US manned space flight
64th Shuttle mission
19th flight of Discovery
30th US and 55th flight with EVA operations
1st flight of LITE
1st untethered US EVA for 10 years 1st tests of SAFER
. SOYUZ TM25Flight Crew TSIBLIYEV, Vasily Vasilyevich, 42, Russian Air Force, commander, 2nd mission Previous mission: Soyuz TM17 (1993) LAZUTKIN, Alexandr Ivanovich, 39, civilian, flight engineer EWALD, Reinhold, 40, German cosmonaut researcher Flight Log Following the docking of TM25 to Mir on 12 February and the transfer of the cosmonauts to the station, there were six crew members aboard once again. The Mir EO-22 crew of Korzun and Kaleri now included NASA astronaut Linenger, who had arrived the month before. The Mir EO-23 crew of Tsibliyev and Lazutkin would continue their mission with Linenger after Ewald had completed his 18-day research programme and returned to Earth with the EO-22 cosmonauts. The EO-23 crew would also work with Mike Foale, who would replace Linenger in May 1997. Theirs would be an eventful and challenging residency, with the 23 February fire aboard the station and the 25 June collision of Progress M34 to contend with. Ewald’s research centred on medical experiments to study the effects of microgravity on human performance, the function of both hormones and the cardiovascular system, and related psychological effects. In addition, he had a programme of technological and materials processing experiments. Following the fire on board the station, Ewald completed his experiments and prepared for the return to Earth with the EO-22 crew, leaving Mir on 2 March aboard Soyuz TM24. The EO-23 crew now settled down to their research programme, but the science schedule was frequently interrupted by essential maintenance work on the Mir’s aging systems. One of these repairs was to deal with reported coolant system leaks, which sprayed ethylene glycol into the station’s atmosphere, reaching dangerous levels at
times. Again, delays in supplying a new Soyuz R7 launch vehicle meant that the Russians were told they would have to extend their mission by six weeks. On 29 April, Jerry Linenger became the first American to perform an EVA from a space station (for 4 hours 49 minutes) since the Skylab crews some 23 years previously. Linenger also became the first US astronaut to use a Russian EVA suit. This was a new variant called Orlan-M, which was the latest update to the basic Orlan suit that had been used since 1978. Orlan-M would also be used on early Russian EVA operations at ISS. During the EVA, the crew installed the Optical Properties Monitor on Kristall and removed some US experiments that would be returned to Earth on STS-84. The EO-23 crew were scheduled to make two further EVAs in June, but other events precluded these from taking place. Following the next exchange of NASA crew members in May 1997, Mike Foale became the fifth astronaut to work on the Mir station. He had a busy science programme planned that would complement that of the Russian cosmonauts, though most of their time was still being taken up with housekeeping and maintenance. On 25 June, Tsibliyev attempted to re-dock Progress M34. An attempt to use the TORU remote control system had failed during Progress M33 operations in March and in order for the system to be re-qualified for use, Tsibliyev found himself having to try to perform an operation that he had had little training for. When the Progress approached, the cosmonaut realised that it was not responding to commands as it should have been and tried to guide it past the station for another attempt. However, it collided with the Spektr module, puncturing the pressurised compartment and damaging the solar arrays. As alarms sounded, the air inside the station rapidly began leaking into the vacuum of space. Internal power and instrument connections leading from the core module to Spektr were severed and the crew were able to seal the hatch, shutting off the module (and with it, most of Foale’s equipment and personal possessions) and the leak. In the days that followed, Mir suffered other problems, including an inadvertent crew error that caused the station to drift, losing solar lock. It took a Herculean effort that tested all three crew members to finally bring the station back under control and avoid the need for an emergency evacuation. It had been hoped that Tsibliyev and Lazutkin could perform EVAs to effect repairs, but concerns over the health of the commander put these plans on hold until the arrival of the next crew. After much discussion between Russian and American space officials and the astronaut himself, it was decided that Foale would remain on the station with the replacement crew, as planned. Even the end of the EO-23 mission was not trouble-free. The re-entry burn occurred on time and the parachute deployed, but the soft-landing rockets that should have fired 1.5 metres off the ground failed, resulting in a 7.5 m/sec landing impact. The seat shock absorbers saved the crew from serious injury. Post-flight investigation revealed that the soft-landing rockets had fired, but at 5.8 km altitude. Initially blamed for the collision with Progress, the crew were eventually cleared of all responsibility, although neither ever flew again. It was later determined that the mass of trash inside the Progress had been miscalculated by a ton. This meant that the manoeuvring and braking burns were not as effective as they should have been, thus making Progress arrive quicker and close in more rapidly than estimated. Milestones 195th manned space flight 84th Russian manned space flight 77th manned Soyuz mission 24th manned Soyuz TM mission 23rd Mir resident crew 30th Russian and 64th flight with EVA operations 1st US EVA in a Russian spacesuit Tsibliyev celebrates his 43rd birthday in space (20 Feb)
Flight Crew KOMAROV, Vladimir Mikhailovich, 40, Soviet Air Force, pilot, 2nd mission Previous mission: Voskhod 1 (1964) Flight Log Three months after the shocking Apollo 1 fire, what ostensibly began as a Soviet triumph, the flight of Soyuz 1, also ended in tragedy. The cause of the first fatal space mission was, like Apollo 1, over-confidence and bad workmanship. In fact, it could be called sheer foolhardiness. Four unmanned Soyuz test flights under the guise of the all-embracing Cosmos programme had failed. When he arrived at the Baikonur Cosmodrome, cosmonaut Vladimir Komarov must have been aware that he was laying his life on the line. But for what? It appears that Soyuz 1 was to attempt a propaganda coup to overshadow the US space programme still in mourning over Apollo 1. It was to fly into orbit and await the arrival of Soyuz 2, which would not only dock with it but would transfer two crewmen externally by EVA. The space spectacular began with the launch of Soyuz 1, at 05:35 hrs local time. Komarov entered a 201-244 km (125-152 miles) orbit, with a unique manned inclination of 51°, and hit trouble. One solar panel did not deploy, and without necessary power many systems were degraded. Soyuz was the first manned spacecraft to carry solar panels. On another launch pad about 32 km (20 miles) away, another Soyuz booster was ready to launch Soyuz 2, carrying Valeriy Bykovsky, Yevgeniy Khrunov and Aleksey Yeliseyev. The latter two would be the EVA transfer crewmen. The launch was at first scrapped, then dramatically, plans were set in motion for an extraordinary rescue mission, during which the two Soyuz 2 EVA crewmen would pull out Soyuz 1’s stuck solar panel. The Soyuz 2 trio went to bed to rest before the following day’s rescue bid. Meanwhile, attempts were made to terminate the Soyuz 1 mission. Komarov apparently tried to fire the retro-rocket on the sixteenth and seventeenth orbits, but
probably had difficulty orienting the spacecraft. He succeeded on the eighteenth orbit and during the southbound re-entry towards an emergency landing zone, the spacecraft may have been out of full control, so much so that when the main landing parachute was deployed, it tangled. Soyuz plummeted to the ground as Komarov awaited his fate. The capsule smashed into the ground, at T + 1 day 2 hours 47 minutes 52 seconds, at 08:22hrs on 24 April, causing a large crater and catching fire. Komarov had no ejection seat and had made the ultimate sacrifice. When the Soyuz 2 crew awoke, they were told the news. At the time, all the world knew was that Soyuz 1 was on a solo mission and its parachute had tangled. The full facts have never emerged and the planned Soyuz 2 mission was never officially confirmed by the Soviets until 1989, despite heaps of evidence that included photos of the two crews together. Milestones 25th manned space flight 9th Soviet manned space flight 1st Soyuz manned flight 1st fatal space mission During the recovery period in manned space flight following the twin tragedies of Apollo 1 and Soyuz 1, the final astro-flights of the X-15 programme took place – and suffered a tragedy of their own. On 17 October 1967, William “Pete” Knight, 38, of the USAF, flew X-15 aircraft number 3 on the eleventh astro-flight to an altitude of almost 86 km. The following month, on 15 November 1967, USAF pilot Michael Adams, 37, was killed in the crash of X-15 aircraft number 3 after attaining 81 km during the twelfth astro-flight. The final such flight occurred on 21 August 1968, with NASA civilian test pilot William Dana, 37, at the controls. The thirteenth astro-flight of the programme saw X-15 aircraft number 1 reach a peak altitude of 81 km.
Flight Crew SCHIRRA, Walter Marty Jr., 45, USN, commander, 3rd mission Previous missions: Mercury-Atlas 8 (1962); Gemini 6 (1965) EISELE, Donn Fulton, 38, USAF, command module pilot CUNNINGHAM, Walter, 36, civilian, lunar module pilot Flight Log Like a phoenix rising from the ashes, 623 days after the Apollo 1/204 spacecraft disaster, Apollo 7/205 lifted off from Pad 34 at Cape Kennedy, three minutes late, at 11: 03hrs on 11 October 1968, on a Saturn 1B. Redesigned, tested and re-tested, Apollo 7 was to conduct a thorough shakedown flight of the revised system before the USA could be confident again about going forward to the Moon. The 10 days 20 hours 9 minutes 3 seconds-long mission (which ended with the Command Module upside down but righted by buoyancy balloons, close to the recovery ship USS Essex), was brilliant, termed 101 per cent successful by NASA chiefs. Indeed so successful was it that the media, having nothing much to write about, zeroed in on the mood of the crew, thus misrepresenting the true nature of the flight. True, the zealous commander Wally Schirra, the first to make three space flights, and his senior pilot Donn Eisele caught colds – probably during a hunting trip a few days before blast-off, thus introducing strict quarantine conditions for future crews. Schirra was distinctly very irritable at times during the mission, refusing to turn on in-flight television, making burns and re-entering with his crew not wearing their helmets. Schirra, Eisele and the healthy pilot Walt Cunningham, who did not catch a cold, had entered a 31.64° inclination orbit and separated from the S-IVB second stage, turned around and simulated the extraction of a Lunar Module (which was not flown) that would take place on Saturn V-boosted Moon flights, in what was called the
transposition and docking manoeuvre. An added bonus of this 20-minute long station-keeping manoeuvre was superb photography showing the S-IVB flying right over the Cape and the nearby Kennedy Space Center. The extremely busy flight plan – which to the chagrin of Schirra, several controllers tried to make flexible at rather short notice, leading the commander to announce that he would become the onboard flight director for the rest of the mission – included eight ignitions of the service propulsion system engine, so vital to lunar orbital insertion and trans-Earth injection burns. The longest of these burns lasted 66 seconds and enabled Apollo 7 briefly to reach an altitude of 430 km (267 miles). Inflight television shows were very well received on the ground and featured much lighthearted banter between the mission control team and the crew on orbit. Milestones 26th manned space flight 17th US manned space flight 1st Apollo CSM manned flight 1st US three-crew space flight 1st space flight by a crewman on third mission
Flight Crew CRIPPEN, Robert Laurel, 45, USN, commander, 2nd mission Previous mission: STS-1 (1981) HAUCK, Frederick “Rick” Hamilton, 42, USN, pilot FABIAN, John McCreary, 44, USAF, mission specialist 1 RIDE, Sally Kristen, 32, civilian, mission specialist 2 THAGARD, Norman Earl, 39, civilian, mission specialist 3 Flight Log By contrast to the Soviet reaction to the flight of Svetlana Savitskaya in 1982, the US launch of Sally Ride was played down as much as possible by NASA and by the lady herself, not with total success. The on-time lift-off occurred at 07: 33 hrs local time and after MECO, two OMS burns were required to carry Challenger to its operational 28.45° orbit with a maximum altitude of 272 km (169 miles). Crippen, the first person to fly the Shuttle for a second time, described the launch as a bit smoother than he remembered on STS-1. The first commercial satellite payload was delivered into orbit at T + 9 hours 29 minutes, with an accuracy estimated at within 457 m (1,500 ft) of the target point and within 0.085° of the required pointing vector. Canada’s Anik 2C later made its way into geostationary orbit. The following day, satellite number two, India’s Palapa, was safely deployed. With the commercial trucking mission over, the crew got down to the third satellite deployment, that of the West German SPAS free flier, using the Remote Manipulator System (RMS) arm operated by John Fabian. Almost immediately, Fabian grabbed the satellite, demonstrating the first satellite retrieval. SPAS was released again and Crippen moved Challenger 300 m (984 ft) away and performed a series of station-keeping manoeuvres. Cameras on SPAS, meanwhile, took spec-
tacular photos of Challenger in space, with the RMS arm conveniently cocked in the shape of a number 7. Six science experiments were on board and these operated for nine-and-a-quarter hours autonomously before the free flier was retrieved, this time by Sally Ride. The third mission specialist, the flight doctor Norman Thagard, who had been added to the crew to study space adaptation syndrome, even had a go at using the RMS. A complement of onboard experiments was operated by the crew, including the first demonstration of the Shuttle’s Ku-band rendezvous radar system and a reduction in cabin pressure from 760 mm (3in) to 527 mm (2 in) for 30 hours to investigate the possibility of eliminating the required three-and-a-half hours pre-breathing period for EVA astronauts. The high point of the mission was to be Challenger’s return to the Kennedy Space Center, the first such return to launch site in history. Bad weather thwarted the attempt and Crippen was diverted to Edwards Air Force Base to land on runway 15. His request for a two day orbital extension was turned down because of concerns over one of the APUs on Challenger. Mission time was T + 6 days 2 hours 23 minutes 59 seconds. Milestones 91st manned space flight 38th US manned space flight 7th Shuttle flight 2nd flight of Challenger 1st flight with five crew 1st US female in space
Flight Crew LYAKHOV, Vladimir Afanasevich, 42, Soviet Air Force, commander, 2nd mission Previous mission: Soyuz 32 (1979) ALEKSANDROV, Aleksandr Pavlovich, 40, civilian, flight engineer Flight Log Following the docking failure of Soyuz T8, the next crew were assigned to complete most of the tasks planned for the previous one. However, Titov and Strekalov had conducted extensive EVA training which the T9 crew had not, so the plan was to launch Soyuz T10 with Titov and Strekalov aboard to take over from the T9 crew and conduct the extensive EVAs they had trained for. Soyuz T9, with a crew of two rather than the expected three (due to additional propellant load), took off from Baikonur at 15: 12hrs local time, and just over a day later docked at the rear of Salyut 7 to start a mission that would, according to mission controller Valery Ryumin, be shorter than Soyuz T5’s 211 days. They almost did not make it as, for the first time since Soyuz 1, one of the twin solar panels on Soyuz failed to deploy (although this did not prevent the docking with the Salyut), a fact not revealed for 20 years. The crew, Vladimir Lyakhov and rookie flight engineer Aleksandr Aleksandrov, were the first to operate using a Heavy Cosmos module, No.1443, attached to the front of Salyut 7. This two-part spacecraft contained a 1.5 m3 (50 ft3) habitable module, an Instrument Module, and a descent capsule capable of returning 500 kg (1,103 lb) to Earth. The module was equipped with 38 m2 (40 ft2) of solar panels, providing 3 kW of electricity. Lyakhov and Aleksandrov got down to work producing virus cells and conducting Earth resources surveys, saving Soviet citizens from disaster by warning of the formation of a lake from a melting glacier which threatened to flood several towns beneath. While the crew were inside Soyuz T9 conducting a mock evacuation exercise,
one of Salyut’s 14mm (1 in) thick windows was pitted to a depth of 4mm (0.16 in) by the impact of an unidentified object. Cosmos 1443 separated from Salyut 7 on 14 August and, while flying autonomously, returned its descent capsule containing film and some equipment. It landed 100 km (62 miles) southeast of Arkalyk on 23 August. The major part of Cosmos was destroyed during re-entry on 19 September. Soyuz T9 had been flown from the back of Salyut to the front to prepare for the arrival of Progress 17 on 19 August. Progress left on 17 September, leaving the port free for the Soyuz T10 crew, who were to have been launched on 27 September to help with repairs, including an EVA to correct solar panel problems and add additional panels to increase the electrical supply on board the station. By this time, Salyut 7 was in pretty bad shape, propellant leaks leaving the station with little manoeuvrability. Salyut’s back-up main engine was also crippled and a solar panel failure had reduced solar power. A major incident occurred on 9 September during the refuelling operations by Progress 17. A Salyut fuelling line used to feed oxidiser from the Progress to the Salyut ruptured. With only half of the 32 thrusters working, it seemed likely Salyut would have to be abandoned, but a decision was made to work around the problem and let the current mission continue while options for repair were evaluated. After the Soyuz T10 crew failed to reach orbit following the first on-the-pad launch abort in history, rumours spread in the west that Lyakhov and Aleksandrov were stranded in space, particularly as the Soyuz T9 ferry was exceeding its 115-day lifetime, according to the rumours, which created sensational press stories. The flight continued, and a Progress ferry craft was launched to Salyut, on 21 October, carrying new solar panels, fuel and equipment. It also provided a means of propulsion for the crippled station. The crew even made two spacewalks on 1 and 3 November, lasting 2 hours 50 minutes and 2 hours 55 minutes respectively, to erect new solar panels, while cosmonauts Leonid Kizim and Vladimir Solovyov carried out a simulated EVA at the same time in the neutral buoyancy tank at Star City. The two cosmonauts on Salyut had not trained to perform such complicated EVAs and struggled to complete the tasks, as reflected in the durations of each spacewalk. The tasks had originally been planned to be completed during one EVA, but were spread over two EVAs due to the cosmonauts’ inexperience. First-time space explorer Alexandrov was amazed by the whole experience of EVA and at one point casually discarded a small unwanted item into space to see what happened. This earned him a rebuke from Mission Control, who feared confusing the station’s stellar orientation system into “thinking” that the light refection from the object might be a star. Progress separated on 13 November and the so-called doomed cosmonauts made an unheralded landing on 23 November, at T + 149 days 10 hours 46 minutes. Maximum altitude reached in the 51.6° orbit was 354 km (220 miles). The unexpected extension to the mission had gave rise to concerns over the reliability of Soyuz T in supporting a crew after such a long time in space. Soyuz T9 proved such fears were unfounded, however, and the recovery occurred without incident, giving great confidence for longer Soyuz T-supported station residences. Milestones 92nd manned space flight 54th Soviet manned space flight 47th manned Soyuz space flight 8th manned Soyuz T space flight 7th Soviet and 23rd flight with EVA operations Lyakhov celebrates his 42nd birthday in space (20 July)
Flight Crew HARTSFIELD, Henry Warren “Hank”, 51, USAF, commander, 3rd mission Previous missions: STS-4 (1982); STS 41-D (1984) NAGEL, Steven Ray, 39, USAF, pilot, 2nd mission Previous mission: STS 51-D (1985) DUNBAR, Bonnie Jean, 36, civilian, mission specialist 1 BUCHLI, James Frederick, 40, USMC, mission specialist 2, 2nd mission Previous mission: STS 51-C (1985) BLUFORD, Guion Stewart, 41, USAF, mission specialist 3, 2nd mission Previous mission: STS-8 (1983) MESSERSCHMID, Ernst Willi, civilian, payload specialist 1 FURRER, Reinhard, 44, civilian, payload specialist 2 OCKELS, Wubbo, 39, civilian, payload specialist 3 Flight Log The STS 61-A mission carrying a Spacelab Long Module was chartered by West Germany for $175 million, contributing most of the 76 scientific experiments and two payload specialists – who preferred to be called payload scientists – to the seven-day expedition. The first flight by eight crew members included five NASA astronauts, two Germans and the first space-flying Dutchman, Wubbo Ockels. Pilot Steve Nagel, former mission specialist of 51-G, was flying again after only 128 days since his previous mission, a record turnaround. The Spacelab experiment operations were controlled by the West German DFVLR centre, near Munich, via the TDRS 1 and Intelsat satellites. Lift-off came at 12:00 hrs from Pad 39A and Challenger rolled on to its launch azimuth in dramatic fashion, heading towards its 57° inclination orbit, which would have a highest point of 288 km (179 miles). A few technical problems, including communications, RCS thruster and fuel cell anomalies, delayed the entry into Spacelab by over three hours, but soon a 24-hour
round-the-clock regime of experimental work began, with the crew split into two shifts. They were aided when required by commander Hank Hartsfield and payload specialist Ockels, who overworked early in the mission and was ordered to rest. A unique experiment was the Space Sled, which was designed to investigate the reactions and adaptation of the human balance and orientation functions. It was moved backwards and forwards along a 7 m (23 ft) long track in the module. The Spacelab D1 programme included experiments in basic and applied microgravity research in materials science, life sciences and technology, communications and navigation. Another first was achieved at the end of the 7 day 0 hour 44 minute 51 second mission, on runway 17 at Edwards Air Force Base, when Hartsfield conducted a computer-controlled nosewheel steering test, deliberately steering up to 10 m (33 ft) off the centre line, to gain data on ways of eliminating excessive brake and tyre wear, such as that suffered by Discovery at the end of the 51-D Kennedy landing the previous April. The Spacelab D1 mission was considered a great success, so much so that West Germany booked a repeat mission for five years time (which actually flew eight years later). Milestones 112th manned space flight 53rd US manned space flight 22nd Shuttle flight 9th flight of Challenger 3rd Spacelab Long Module mission 1st flight with eight crew members 1st flight by a Dutchman 1st commercially leased manned space flight 1st flight by two West Germans 1st US flight to be controlled outside the USA |
