Category Praxis Manned Spaceflight Log 1961-2006

Flight Crew

McDIVITT, James Alton, 35, USAF, command pilot WHITE II, Edward Higgins, 34, USAF, pilot

Flight Log

When the flight plan for Gemini 4 was initially worked out, station-keeping with the Titan second stage and spacewalking were not on the agenda. Indeed, doctors were doubtful that the mission should last four days and recommended a two-day mission. The astronauts supported an EVA, but initially this was only a stand-up EVA in the hatch. After Leonov’s exploits, they got what they wanted, but with just nine days to spare – for confirmation of the planned spacewalk was only made on 25 May 1965. Station-keeping with the second stage of the booster was the idea of Gus Grissom and Gordon Cooper, who had light-heartedly suggested such a manoeuvre during space – to-ground communications during Gemini 3.

A misbehaving gantry tower got stuck and spoiled the launch day slightly, delaying the ascent of the rookie astronauts James McDivitt and Edward White by 1 hour 16 minutes. The launch was shown live on television in Britain and the rest of Europe via the Early Bird communications satellite, at 11: 15 hrs Cape time and 10: 15 hrs Houston time, where the new Manned Space Flight Center and flight control room was situated, ready to take command of its first mission. Gemini 4 entered a 32° inclination orbit with a peak apogee of 296 km (184 miles). McDivitt’s station-keeping with the second stage of the Titan was not altogether a success, with 42 per cent of the Orbital Attitude Manoeuvring System (OAMS) propellant being consumed. The experiment was called off and the EVA delayed for an extra orbit.

On orbit No. 3, Edward White exited Gemini 4 for a 21-minute adventure that featured some of the finest space photography, courtesy of McDivitt. White’s 7.62 m (25 ft) long tether provided oxygen and he had a ventilator control module on his chest to provide nine minutes worth of emergency oxygen, if required. The excited and

enthusiastic White controlled his movements using an oxygen-powered hand-held manoeuvring unit, and had to be ordered back into the capsule because night was approaching. The hatch was closed 36 minutes after it had been opened, but only after some strenuous pulling by the two crewmen.

The rest of the flight, lasting a US record 62 orbits, passed quietly as the crew performed 11 scientific experiments and took a fine photo of Cape Kennedy from the cramped confines of the spacecraft. The onboard computer failed towards the end of the flight and McDivitt performed a two-phase manual re-entry, first lowering the orbit to 76 by 158 km (47 by 98 miles) before firing the retros to initiate an 8-G re­entry. Splashdown at T + 4 days 1 hour 56 minutes 12 seconds was 81 km (50 miles) off target, about 625 km (388 miles) east of Cape Kennedy. The jubilant crew, having almost caught up with the Russians, were recovered by a helicopter from USS Wasp.

Milestones

16th manned space flight

8th US manned space flight

2nd Gemini manned flight

1st US and second flight with EVA operations

1st US manned launch seen live in Europe

On 29 June 1965, USAF pilot Joseph Engle, 32, flew the sixth X-15 astro-flight in the number 3 aircraft to an altitude of 85 km. Six weeks later, on 10 August 1965, he was again at the controls of X-15-3 on the seventh astro-flight, this time to 83 km.

Flight Crew

COOPER, Leroy Gordon, 38, USAF, command pilot, 2nd mission Previous mission: Mercury-Atlas 9 (1963)

CONRAD, Charles “Pete” Jr., 35, USN, pilot

Flight Log

Gemini 5 was America’s bid to exceed the Soviet five-day space endurance record. Indeed, such was their determination that the first official astronauts’ flight badge featured an image of a covered wagon of the “Old West’’ whose slogan was “Cali­fornia or bust’’. The Gemini 5 crew emblem carried the motto “Eight Days or Bust’’. When this was proposed, the crew were told to cover the slogan, in case they should “bust’’ before the eight days were reached. Cooper’s connection with the Mercury programme was perpetuated when, after a countdown rehearsal on Pad 19, the crew had to be rescued by the “cherry picker’’ crane used at the Mercury-Redstone Pad 5, after the main gantry failed to erect itself.

The launch was delayed on 19 August by threatening storms and was recycled by 48 hours. At 09: 00hrs local time, Gemini 5 thundered into the skies right on time, entering a record US altitude of 303 km (188 miles) in its 32.6° inclination orbit. A 5m (16 ft) segment of the Titan first stage was recovered in the Atlantic, marking another US space first. The major plan for Gemini 5 was to eject a 34.4 kg (76 lb) radar evaluation pod from the rear adapter section and for the astronauts to back away 84 km (52 miles), then rendezvous with it. These plans were almost immediately thwarted when the fuel cell oxygen pressure decreased from 800 psi to 120 psi. Space­craft power had to be conserved drastically and plans were made to bring the crew home after just three orbits.

The pressure finally dropped to 60 psi but mission planners decided to keep the crew aloft for a lazy, boring drifting flight. This seemed interminable to the crew, who in their months of training had covered almost every topic imaginable and didn’t therefore talk to each other – or the ground – much. Surprisingly, mission control

planned a five-orbit-change “phantom rendezvous” as a practice, which took them even higher to 349 km (217 miles) in the 32.6° orbit. The crew were able to perform 17 science experiments, one of which was to evaluate their ability to see things on the ground, and although they did not see a special “chessboard” target, they did see a rocket launched from Vandenberg AFB.

They also saw the wake of their prime recovery ship USS Lake Champlain on which they would later beam proudly after a flight of 7 days 22 hours 55 minutes 14 seconds, shortened by one orbit because of fears of a hurricane in the splashdown zone. Gemini 5 missed its target by 170 km (106 miles), but it did beat the Soviet endurance record. More importantly, the Americans had flown a mission lasting as long as it would take to fly to the Moon and back. The crew reportedly ripped off the patch covering their emblem slogan, having surpassed their objective.

Milestones

17th manned space flight 9th US manned space flight

3rd Gemini manned flight 1st US on-time lift-off 1st flight to be curtailed

1st manned spacecraft to be powered by fuel cells 1st flight to feature a personal crew emblem

On 28 September 1965, NASA civilian test pilot John McKay, 42, flew the X-15 number 3 aircraft on the eighth astro-flight, to 90 km. The next astro-flight occurred on 14 October 1965, when USAF pilot Joe Engle, 33, flew the X-15 number 1 aircraft on its first such flight. The programme’s ninth astro-flight attained an altitude of almost 81 km.

Flight Crew

LOUSMA, Jack Robert, 46, USMC, commander, 2nd mission Previous mission: Skylab 3 (1973)

FULLERTON, Charles Gordon “Gordo”, 45, USAF, pilot

Flight Log

When Columbia returned to the Kennedy Space Center after STS-2, it was scheduled to be launched again on 22 March 1982. It was launched into murky skies, watched by one of the largest crowds since the moonshots, at 11: OOhrs local time. The first two minutes on the SRBs were enough for Lousma to describe the experience as a real barnburner, during which the vibrations caused the loss of 37 tiles from the nose and rear. His attention was diverted by an overheating APU which had to be shut down and when he got into his 38° inclination orbit, he became sick, repeating his experience of Skylab 3.

Lousma and his balding rookie pilot Gordon Fullerton started work on a hectic schedule of test flying and science. The RMS was to be tested heavily, moving two payloads around but not actually deploying them. The failure of TV cameras on the RMS, however, meant the cancellation of testing with the heaviest payload, although some operations were permitted with the Plasma Diagnosis Package. Other niggling failures, including the much-publicised toilet, were rather over-emphasised in the media, giving STS-3 a reputation it did not necessarily deserve.

Columbia was given long hot and cold soaks, pointing in the same direction for up to 80 hours, exposing it to temperatures of between — 66°C and +93°C. One of these cold soaks froze a fitment on one of the payload bay doors which refused to close properly. The mission, which reached a maximum altitude of 204 km (127 miles), was to last seven days and to end at White Sands for a change, because the runway at Edwards Air Force Base was waterlogged. Just 4O minutes before retro-fire, Columbia was waived off by high winds and given a day’s extension. When she finally came home

to the Northrup Strip’s runway at T + 8 days 0 hours 4 minutes 45 seconds, Lousma caused a scare by looking as though he was trying to take off again, at a record Shuttle landing speed of 404 kph (251 mph), when he over-corrected what he thought was excessive nose pitch down rate.

Milestones

83rd manned space flight 34th US manned space flight 3rd Shuttle flight 3rd flight of Columbia

Flight Crew

BEREZOVOY, Anatoly Nikolayevich, 40, Soviet Air Force, commander LEBEDEV, Valentin Vitalyevich, 40, civilian, flight engineer, 2nd mission Previous mission: Soyuz 13 (1973)

Flight Log

With Salyut 6 and its Heavy Cosmos module orbiting somewhat uselessly, on 19 April 1982 the Soviets launched Salyut 7 (DOS 5-2/1982-033A), similar to Salyut 6 although its interior was fitted with an eye to decor. It was equipped with the Salyut 6-type MKF and Kate telescopes and a new large X-ray telescope for astronomy. Improved medical and physical exercise machines were incorporated, and on the outside the space station had extra handholds to improve EVA productivity. The three solar panels, too, were fitted with an attachment that could hold new, secondary sets of panels. The primary docking port was equipped to accommodate the Heavy Cosmos class modules comfortably and safely, and there were also new portholes.

The first crew to inhabit Salyut 7 was launched at 15: 58 hrs local time on 13 May. It comprised rookie commander Anatoly Berezovoy and the experienced flight en­gineer Valentin Lebedev, a nit-picking duo who were soon to build up such a bad relationship that they only spoke to each other when necessary during the first 200-day long mission in history, which, no doubt fortunately for them, included the visit of a French cosmonaut and the first lady in space since Valentina Tereshkova. Soon after boarding, Berezovoy and Lebedev hand-deployed a small Iskra communications satellite from an airlock, the first such deployment by the Soviets and the first from a space station. Progress 13 then arrived on 25 May, to stock up the station for the long-duration medical and science mission.

The cosmonauts operated cameras, the new telescope, a Kristall materials proces­sing furnace, a star sensor and the Oasis plant growing cabinet. The first visit occurred on 25 June, when French cosmonaut Jean-Loup Chretien and two Soviets came aboard in Soyuz T6 for a short stay. Another Progress, No.14, arrived on 12 July

bearing more cargo, water and fuel. The first Salyut 7 spacewalk was made on 30 July, with the cosmonauts spending 2 hours 33 minutes outside retrieving samples that had been exposed to space and replacing some science equipment. Lebedev was the prime EVA crewman, with his commander supporting activities with a television camera to provide some live pictures for the folks at home. The flight engineer also conducted some space assembly tests under the code name Pamyat, in which joints between girders were made and assessed.

By 20 August, this altogether highly successful mission was receiving Svetlana Savitskaya and two male colleagues from Soyuz T7, and afterwards two more Progress tankers, 15 and 16, came to roost. The cosmonauts, who reached a maximum altitude of 374 km (232 miles) during the 51.6° mission, had even launched another Iskra communications satellite. A manned crew changeover was expected later in the year but never came. Apparently it was decided to bring Berezovoy and Lebedev home earlier than anticipated, before the New Year rather than after.

They had a rough return, coming back at T + 211 days 9 hours 4 minutes 32 seconds aboard the fresh Soyuz T7, which landed hard, turned over and rolled down a slope. Lebedev ended up on top of his commander. The weather conditions were so awful – thick fog, heavy snow and temperatures of — 18°C – that helicopters could not reach them for a day. The pale, tired and drawn duo had to wait 20 minutes for a ground team to reach them and ended up spending the night in the back of a truck! When the helicopter did arrive, it crash-landed and the second vehicle had to be talked down by the commander of the first.

The cosmonauts had lost several pounds in weight, their red blood counts were reduced, and their pulse rates and blood pressure were high. Indeed, Berezovoy and Lebedev were reported to be still suffering from a space hangover by mid-January. On 2 March 1983, the Soviets launched another Heavy Cosmos module, Cosmos 1443. This was similar to the Cosmos 1267 module attached to Salyut 6, with a re-entry capsule at the front. Cosmos 1443 docked with Salyut 7 on 10 March, in preparation for a new manned occupation.

Milestones

84th manned space flight

50th Soviet manned space flight

43rd Soyuz manned space flight

4th Soyuz T manned mission

1st “operational” Soyuz T flight

1st manned space flight over 200 days

New duration record – 211 days 9 hours

6th Soviet and 21st flight with EVA operations

Flight Crew

DZHANIBEKOV, Vladimir Aleksandrovich, 40, Soviet Air Force, commander, 3rd mission

Previous missions: Soyuz 27 (1978); Soyuz 39 (1981) IVANCHENKOV, Aleksandr Sergeyevich, 41, civilian, flight engineer, 2nd mission

Previous mission: Soyuz 29 (1978)

CHRETIEN, Jean-Loup, 44, French Air Force, cosmonaut researcher

Flight Log

The highlight to France’s long-term cooperation with the Soviet Union in space was the decision in 1980 to fly a national cosmonaut. However, the cooperation between the chosen man, Jean-Loup Chretien and the chosen commander, Yuri Malyshev, in 1981, was not very smooth, leading to Malyshev’s replacement by Vladimir Dzhanibekov, with flight engineer Aleksandr Ivanchenkov making up the numbers. The highly qualified Chretien had been forbidden by Malyshev to touch anything during simulations and was so frustrated that he took a pillow along with him for one simulation at Star City and went to sleep during the session, much to Malyshev’s exasperation.

Relations improved with a new commander in the seat, and at 22: 29 hrs local time on 24 June, Soyuz T6 ascended, watched by French officials from a stand some 1,800 m (5,905 ft) away. Before the mission the prime crew and back-up crews had drawn lots to decide which emergency situations they would cope with during final simulator training. Chretien and his colleagues came out with automatic docking failure, which was repeated in space when the spacecraft’s computer failed, necessitat­ing a manual docking by Dzhanibekov. Once the Soyuz trio had joined Berezovoy and Lebedev, the experiments began.

The Soviets thought that working with the French was more like the real thing. The experiments were more technically sophisticated and useful compared with

The Third Decade: 1981-1990

some of those carried on earlier Interkosmos missions. These included the French Echograph heart monitor, which was left on Salyut 7 after Chretien’s departure. During his stay aboard Salyut, during which he reached 360 km (224 miles) in the 51.6° orbit, and with the US Space Shuttle Columbia also in orbit, seven men were in space for the first time since 1969.

Soyuz T6’s successful mission ended in fine weather near Arkalyk at T + 7 days 21 hours 50 minutes 52 seconds, with Chretien highly impressed with the dynamics of re-entry, rather than his launch. Later, he was to criticise the Soviet planners for cramming too much into the work schedule and to remark that throughout the mission he never fully acclimatised to weightlessness.

Milestones

24 June 1982

85th manned space flight

51st Soviet manned space flight

44th Soyuz manned space flight

5th Soyuz T manned space flight

1st Soyuz international mission

1st manned space flight by a Frenchman

1st manned space flight by a West European

Flight Crew

BRANDENSTEIN, Daniel Charles, 42, USN, commander, 2nd mission Previous mission: STS-8 (1983)

CREIGHTON, John Oliver, 42, USN, pilot

FABIAN, John McCreary, 43, USAF, mission specialist 1, 2nd mission Previous mission: STS-7 (1983)

NAGEL, Steven Ray, 38, USAF, mission specialist 2

LUCID, Shannon Wells, 42, civilian, mission specialist 3

BAUDRY, Patrick, 39, French Air Force, payload specialist 1

AL-SAUD, Prince Sultan Salman Abdul Aziz, 28, civilian, payload specialist 2

Flight Log

The smoothest Space Shuttle to date, STS 51-G, with the orbiter Discovery in tow, made a majestic, on-time lift-off at 07: 33 hrs local time from Pad 39A, carrying a cargo of three large communications satellites and a crew of seven which for the first time included passengers (or, more correctly, payload specialists) from two other countries, France (CNES) and Saudi Arabia. Three days later, the Mexican satellite, Morelos, Saudia Arabia’s Arabsat, and the USA’s Telstar were safely deployed en route to geostationary orbit, with the aid of PAM-D stages.

Another satellite payload, called SPARTAN 1, was deployed for an autonomous flight to conduct X-ray observations of the Milky Way, before it was retrieved by the RMS. 51-G also conducted the first manned Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI, or “Star Wars’’)-related tests, attempting, eventually successfully, to reflect a laser beam directed at the Shuttle from Hawaii back to Earth via a small mirror mounted on the orbiter’s mid-deck side hatch window. French crew member Baudry completed a programme of biomedical experiments similar to those flown by his colleague Jean – Loup Chretien aboard Salyut 7 the previous year. Baudry had been Chretien’s back­up on that mission before completing an abbreviated Shuttle payload specialist

training programme in America. The experiments included studies in physiology, biology, materials processing, and astronomy. Al-Saud took photographs of his homeland, participated in several experiments (include assisting Baudry in his pro­gramme) and continued his religious commitments, fulfilling his Muslim customs as well as he could. He admitted that he could not totally “bend down” while floating, due to the tendency to cause space sickness; and facing Mecca created its own problems when he was orbiting Earth every 90 minutes.

Discovery came home to Edwards Air Force Base’s runway 23, making the shortest rollout so far, of 2,265 m (7,431 ft), only for its main landing gear to sink partially in the wet lake bed. It had to be rather ignominiously righted using a plank of wood. Flight time was T + 7 days 1 hour 38 minutes 52 seconds. Orbital inclination was 28.45° and maximum altitude was 334 km (208 miles).

Milestones

107th manned space flight

49th US manned space flight

18th Shuttle flight

5th flight of Discovery

1st flight by crew from three nations

1st flight by a Saudi Arabian

1st royalty in space (Al-Saud)

1st nation (France) to make space flights with both the USA and Russia

Flight Crew

SHRIVER, Loren James, 46, USAF, commander, 2nd mission Previous mission: STS-51C (1985)

BOLDEN Jr., Charles Frank, 44, USMC, pilot, 2nd mission Previous mission: STS 61-C (1986)

McCANDLESS II, Bruce, 53, USN, mission specialist 1, 2nd mission Previous mission: STS 41-B (1984)

HAWLEY, Steven Alan, 39, mission specialist 2, 3rd mission Previous missions: STS 41-D (1984); STS 61-C (1986)

SULLIVAN, Kathryn Dwyer, 39, mission specialist 3, 2nd mission Previous mission: STS 41-G (1984)

Flight Log

The launch of the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) deployment mission was originally set for 18 August, but was moved up to 12 April, then 10 April, following the Flight Readiness Review. This was the first time a Shuttle launch had been advanced following the FRR and not put back. However, the 10 April attempt was scrubbed at T — 4 minutes due to a faulty valve in APU # 1. The battery was replaced and the payload batteries on Hubble were recharged. On 24 April, the count was briefly halted at T — 31 seconds when a fuel valve line failed to shut. This was soon traced to a software failure and was overridden by engineers, allowing the count to continue.

Following a nominal ascent, most of the rest of FD 1 was spent preparing for the deployment of the telescope, which included powering up the RMS 2 hours 54 minutes into the flight. The cabin pressure was lowered in order to reduce the time the EVA crew of McCandless and Sullivan would need to pre-breathe pure oxygen should a contingency EVA be required. About 4.5 hours into the mission the umbilical power connection to the telescope was activated. The next day, the two spacewalkers got themselves partially dressed in their coolant garments, to save time should they need

to exit the airlock in support of HST deployment. Steve Hawley lifted the telescope out of the payload bay using the RMS. Once the end effector had grasped the starboard grapple fixture of the telescope, the five latches that restrained Hubble in the bay were released.

With the telescope out of the payload bay, its solar arrays were deployed. There was some concern early in the process when they became stuck, and at one point, it looked as though the EVA crew would have to go out and assist in the unfurling of the arrays. Eventually, by disengaging the tension warning system, the arrays unfurled to their full length. Nine hours after lifting the telescope out of the bay, Hawley released it from the grip of the RMS. Discovery then completed two separation burns to move away from the telescope. Until the RMS was stowed, the EVA crew remained in the airlock in case they were required to manually retract the arm for entry and landing.

Following the release of the telescope, the crew focused on their programme of secondary and mid-deck experiments, which included monitoring particles in the payload bay, a protein crystal growth experiment, radiation-monitoring equipment, polymer membrane processing and a student experiment to determine the effects of microgravity on electrical arcs. From their 600 km altitude vantage point, the crew also recorded spectacular images of the Earth. This was the highest apogee in the programme to date, and only Gemini 10 and 11 in 1966 and the nine Apollo lunar missions had ever taken astronauts higher. The IMAX camera was flown to record mission events from outside the crew compartment and a hand-held IMAX captured images from inside the flight and mid-deck. Sequences from STS-31 footage were later used in the IMAX movie presentation The Blue Planet in IMAX theatres. On FD 4, HST controllers managed to open the aperture door of the telescope and, with the astronauts no longer required to support the telescope, the crew turned their attention to preparations for landing on FD 6. Over the coming weeks, the telescope was checked out in orbit. Unfortunately, about two months after its deployment, it became apparent that the mirror on the telescope was not focusing as designed due to a production error. It was decided that a set of corrective optics would have to be developed and then installed, during the first scheduled servicing mission in 1993. This, however, was not the fault of the astronauts or the mission of STS-31, which was a complete success.

Milestones

133rd manned space flight

65th US manned space flight

35th Shuttle mission

10th flight of OV-103 Discovery

1st use of carbon brakes at landing

1st launch set earlier than planning following FRR

Highest orbit in Shuttle programme to date (600 km)

Flight Crew

RICHARDS, Richard Noel, 45, USN, commander, 3rd mission Previous missions: STS-28 (1989), STS-41 (1990)

BOWERSOX, Kenneth Duane, 36, USN, pilot

DUNBAR, Bonnie Jean, 43, civilian, mission specialist 1, payload commander, 3rd mission

Previous missions: STS 61-A (1985), STS-32 (1990)

BAKER, Ellen Louise, 39, civilian, mission specialist 2, 2nd mission Previous mission: STS-34 (1989)

MEADE, Carl Joseph, 41, USAF, mission specialist 3, 2nd mission Previous mission: STS-38 (1990)

DELUCAS, Lawrence James, 41, civilian, payload specialist 1 TRINH, Eugene Huu-Chau, 41, civilian, payload specialist 2

Flight Log

The longest flight to date in the Shuttle programme was made possible after an extensive modification programme for Columbia at the Rockwell facility in Cali­fornia. The upgrades comprised over fifty modifications, including the installation of a drag chute and the first fitting to any orbiter of the Extended-Duration Orbiter hardware (incorporating the EDO cryogenic pallet). The EDO pallet carried addi­tional hydrogen and oxygen supplies in the cargo bay. Other system improvements included upgraded carbon dioxide filters and stowage provision for cabin waste, additional food supplies and equipment.

USML-1 was the first of a planned series of at least four flights of the pressurised Spacelab module, which should have flown every two or three years. It was designed to advance US microgravity research efforts in several disciplines but, like many of these science-orientated Shuttle/Spacelab missions, the USML series was cancelled after

only two missions due to the changing priorities in favour of the Shuttle-Mir and ISS programmes. USML-1 featured 31 experiments, ranging from manufacturing crystals for possible semiconductor use, to studies of the behaviour of liquids in microgravity. The flight also featured an experiment in manufacturing polymers as filters for terrestrial industries and another flight of the Shuttle Amateur Radio experiment. In addition, the EDO Medical Project (EDOMP) was a series of medical investigations designed to provide further data and experience in the development of counter­measures against the adverse effects of space flight on the human body. A significant focus of this research was in the re-adaptation process upon return to Earth, looking for potential problems that might hinder a station crew in the event of an emergency escape and recovery situation.

During the two-shift operation (in which Richards, Bowersox, Dunbar and DeLucas formed the Red Team, and Baker, Mead and Trinh the Blue Team), the crew worked with a whole range of equipment for the USML payload, including four experiments in the Crystal Growth Furnace, three experiments in the Drop Physics Module and sixteen experiments using the Glove Box. There was also a surface tension-driven convection experiment, a solid surface combustion experiment, a space acceleration measurement experiment and four biological experiments in the mid-deck.

The landing was delayed by a day due to rain at the primary landing site at Edwards AFB. Mission controllers hoped to land at Edwards, where Columbia would have had more room on the runway (and substantial overshoot capacity on the dry lake beds), given that it was returning with 104,328 kg of payload and flying new landing systems. However, the landing at Kennedy occurred without incident and saved precious processing time. The mission eclipsed all previous US manned space flight durations save for those of the three Skylab missions in 1973-1974. It also set a new US duration record for a spacecraft – as opposed to a space station – mission, surpassing the Gemini 7 record set in 1965.

Milestones

151st manned space flight 78th US manned space flight 48th Shuttle mission 12th flight of Columbia

1st Extended-Duration Orbiter (EDO) mission 1st landing of OV-102 at KSC 1st use of new synthetic tread tyres 1st flight of USML laboratory configuration 6th Spacelab Long Module mission

1994-015A 4 March 1994

Pad 39B, Kennedy Space Center, Florida 18 March 1994

Runway 33, Shuttle Landing Facility, Kennedy Space Center, Florida

OV-103 Discovery/ET-62/SRB BI-064/SSME #1 2031;

#2 2109; #3 2029

13 days 23hrs 16 min 41 sec

Discovery

United States Microgravity Payload (USMP)-2; Office of Aeronautics and Space Technology-2 payload

Flight Crew

CASPER, John Howard, 50, USAF, commander, 3rd mission Previous missions: STS-36 (1990); STS-54 (1993)

ALLEN, Andrew Michael, 38, USMC, pilot, 2nd mission Previous mission: STS-46 (1992)

THUOT, Pierre Joseph, 38, USN, mission specialist 1, 3rd mission Previous missions: STS-36 (1990); STS-49 (1992)

GEMAR, Charles Donald (“Sam”), 38, US Army, mission specialist 2, 3rd mission

Previous missions: STS-38 (1990); STS-48 (1991)

IVINS, Marsha Sue, 42, civilian, mission specialist 3, 3rd mission Previous missions: STS-32 (1990); STS-46 (1992)

Flight Log

The 11 March launch attempt was postponed at the T — 11 hours mark when the forecast indicated that the weather would not clear in time for the launch. The launch itself proceeded without a problem, but the retrieval of the SRBs and their parachutes was delayed by two days as the recovery ships could not be deployed due to high seas.

This was the second flight under the USMP programme and the payload also featured the OAST-2 package. The OAST-1 package flew on STS-2 in 1981 and included Earth observation experiments, but this time the six experiments focused on space-related technology with potential application for satellites, circuits, sensors, processors and the International Space Station. The USMP-2 payload comprised five experiments that focused on the effects of the microgravity environment on materials and fundamental sciences. The experiments included the Advanced Automated Directional Solidification Furnace, the Critical Fluid Light Scattering Experiment,

the Isothermal Dendritic Growth Experiment, Materials for the Study of Interesting Phenomena of Solidification on Earth and in Orbit and the Space Acceleration Measurement System. On orbit, the crew would activate both the USMP-2 experi­ments and the OAST-2 package, but they would be controlled by investigators and controllers on the ground at the Marshall Spacelab Mission Operations Control Center. USMP-2 was the main focus of the early part of the STS-62 mission, before the orbit of Columbia was lowered by about 20 nautical miles to favour the OAST package more. By flying the orbiter with an EDO pallet and in a gravity gradient mode, this flight was another step towards future space station research operations.

While the payload bay experiments were being manipulated via the ground, the crew focused on the mid-deck and other payload bay investigations. The Shuttle

Solar Backscatter UV/A and Limited Duration Space Environment Candidate Material Exposure experiments were in the payload bay, while on the mid-deck, further research was conducted in protein crystal growth, generic bioprocessing, zero-gravity dynamics, auroral photography and Earth observations, keeping the crew busy. In addition, the crew were occupied with evaluating the Dexterous End Effector, a new magnetic grapple fixture that was being evaluated in space for possible use on future RMS operations. The astronauts also completed a programme of biomedical activities, linked to the Extended-Duration Orbiter Medical Project, aimed at providing a better understanding of, and baseline data for, counteracting the effects of prolonged orbital space flight.

Milestones

168th manned space flight

91st US manned space flight

61st Shuttle mission

16th flight of Columbia

2nd flight of USMP payload

3rd Extended-Duration Orbiter (EDO) mission

Flight Crew

HENRICKS, Terence Thomas “Tom”, 43, USAF, commander, 4th mission Previous missions: STS-44 (1991); STS-55 (1993); STS-70 (1995)

KREGEL, Kevin Richard, 39, civilian, pilot, 2nd mission Previous missions: STS-70 (1995)

LINNEHAN, Richard Michael, 38, civilian, mission specialist 1 HELMS, Susan Jane, 38, USAF, mission specialist 2, 3rd mission Previous missions: STS-54 (1993); STS-64 (1994)

BRADY Jr., Charles Eldon, 44, USN, mission specialist 3 FAVIER, Jean-Jacques, 47, civilian, French payload specialist 1 THIRSK, Robert Brent, 42, civilian, Canadian payload specialist 2

Flight Log

The launch of STS-78 not only occurred on time, it also featured the first use of a video TV camera transmitting images from the flight deck. Filming began with the ingress of the crew into their seats and finished at MECO. The video link was also used during the descent on 7 July. During post-launch assessment of the SRBs, it was found that a hot-gas path had penetrated the motor field joints up to, but not past, the O-ring capture feature. This was the first time that a Redesigned SRM (RSRM) had shown penetration into the J-joint, although flight safety was not compromised and all performance data indicated that the design specifications were met. The problem was attributed to new, environmentally friendly adhesive and cleaning fluid used in the area. The rather quick turnaround of the commander/pilot pairing from STS-70 (less than one year) was done to evaluate the effects of such a short gap between flights on mission training and preparation time. NASA had often reviewed proposals to re-fly an “orbiter” crew (commander, pilot and MS2/flight engineer), or to re-fly an MS on a mission with a similar science payload to reduce training time, but this was yet to be

fully implemented given the frequent, real-time changes to the Shuttle manifest. On this flight, the crew worked a single shift.

During the mission, the longest flight of the Shuttle to date, five space agencies and research scientists from more than ten countries participated in the 40 ex­periments flown on LMS. The experiments were grouped into life sciences and materials sciences research. The life sciences experiments included research into human physiology and space biology, while the materials sciences experiments encompassed basic fluid physics, advanced semi-conductor and metal alloy materials processing, and medical research into protein crystal growth. The mission also expanded the use of telescience, to the point where four locations in Europe and four remote locations in the US were utilised by investigators involved in the mission. This was a demonstration of the way science activities were being planned for ISS opera­tions. Video-imaging was also valuable to assist the crew in completing some of the in­flight maintenance procedures required during the flight.

Whereas previous life sciences investigations had focused on the changes in the microgravity environment on the human body, those on STS-78 examined why such changes occurred. There were extensive studies of sleep cycles, circadian rhythms and task performance in microgravity, as well as studies into bone and muscle loss in space. Biopsy tissue samples were taken both before and after flight to record changes from one-G to microgravity and then back again.

Columbia’s RCS engines were pulsed as a test to try boosting the vehicle’s altitude without disturbing the delicate instruments in the Spacelab module. This was in preparation for the next Hubble servicing mission (STS-82), in which the space telescope’s orbit would need to be raised without damaging its fragile solar arrays.

Milestones

190th manned space flight 108th US manned space flight 78th Shuttle mission 20th flight of Columbia

13th flight of Spacelab Long Module configuration 8th EDO flight

New Shuttle flight duration record

1st live downlink during orbiter ascent and descent

Henricks celebrates his 44th birthday in space (5 Jul)

Flight Crew

ROMINGER, Kent Vernon, 42, USN, commander, 4th mission Previous missions: STS-73 (1995); STS-80 (1996); STS-85 (1997)

HUSBAND, Rick Douglas, 41, USAF, pilot

JERNIGAN, Tamara Elizabeth, 40, civilian, mission specialist 1, 5th mission Previous missions: STS-40 (1991); STS-52 (1992); STS-67 (1995); STS-80 (1996) OCHOA, Ellen Lauri, 41, civilian, mission specialist 2, 3rd mission Previous missions: STS-56 (1993); STS-66 (1994)

BARRY, Daniel Thomas, 45, civilian, mission specialist 3, 2nd mission Previous mission: STS-72 (1996)

PAYETTE, Julie, 35, civilian, Canadian, mission specialist 4 TOKAREV, Valery Ivanovich, 46, Russian Air Force, mission specialist 5

Flight Log

This mission was the first logistics flight to the station in preparation for the arrival of the Russian Service Module Zvezda (“Star”) scheduled for later in 1999. Due to weight limitations on the previous STS-88 mission, not all the logistics could be taken to the station in one go. STS-96 was originally planned for later in the year, after STS-93 had deployed the Chandra X-ray telescope, but early in 1999 there were problems in the circuitry boards on Chandra which needed to be replaced, forcing the launch to be delayed. In early May, weather damage to the ET intended for STS-96 resulted in further delays for repairs. With the Russian Service Module also being delayed, further ISS Shuttle missions and the arrival of the first resident crew were put back until 2000. This meant there would be a long gap in ISS-related missions between STS-88 and support missions for the first resident crew in 2000. This gap was filled only with the STS-96 logistics mission.

After the STS-96 stack was returned to the VAB for ET tank repairs, during which 460 critical divots out of a total of 650 divots in the ET outer foam were

repaired, the only other concern prior to launch was when a sail-boarder ventured into the SRB recovery zone. Once that was removed, the launch proceeded smoothly. Two days after launch, Discovery completed the first docking with ISS. The Shuttle remained docked to ISS for 138 hours, during which members of the crew spent over 79 hours inside the station and 7 hours 55 minutes hours outside during the mission’s only EVA. During the 28 May EVA, Jernigan (EV1) and Barry (EV2) transferred the US-built Orbital Transfer Device crane and elements of the Russian Strela crane from the cargo bay of Discovery to their locations on the exterior of the station. They also installed EVA foot restraints that could accommodate either American or Russian EVA footwear and three bags of tools and handrails for future assembly operations. An insulation cover was placed over a trunnion pin on Unity, they inspected one of

two Early Communication Systems (Е-Com) antennas on Unity, and finally photo- documented the exterior paint surfaces of both modules.

Upon entering the station, the crew were concerned over the quality of air circulation inside Zarya, but this was solved by changing the orientation of panel doors that were interrupting the flow of air around the station. Eighteen battery recharge controllers were replaced in Zarya and mufflers were installed over fans inside the FGB to reduce noise levels in the module. The crew also transferred over 1,618 kg of logistics across to the ISS, including clothing, sleeping bags, spare parts, medical equipment and 318 litres of water. They also installed the first of a series of strain gauges, which would be important as the station expanded to record the stress on docking interfaces, and cleaned filters and checked smoke detectors. Transferred in the opposite direction was 90 kg of equipment (198 items), which was moved back into Discovery for the return to Earth.

The day before undocking, the RCS on Discovery were pulsed 17 times to boost the station’s orbit slightly, pending the arrival of the next Shuttle (which turned out to be a year later). Discovery was undocked from ISS on 4 June and after flying two circuits around the station for photo-documentation, the crew prepared for the return to Earth. One of their last tasks prior to landing was the release of a small reflective satellite, which would be a target for student observations around the world.

Milestones

212th manned space flight

124th US manned space flight

94th Shuttle mission

28th flight of Discovery

2nd Shuttle ISS mission

1st Discovery ISS mission

1st Shuttle mission to dock with ISS

Flight Crew

COLLINS, Eileen Marie, 42, USAF, commander, 3rd mission Previous missions: STS-63 (1995); STS-84 (1997)

ASHBY, Jeffrey Shears, 45, USN, pilot

COLEMAN, Catherine Grace (“Cady”), 38, USAF, mission specialist 1,

2nd mission

Previous mission: STS-73 (1995)

HAWLEY, Steven Alan, 47, civilian, mission specialist 2, 5th mission Previous missions: STS 41-D (1984); STS 61-C (1986); STS-31 (1990);

STS-87 (1997)

TOGNINI, Michel Ange Charles, 49, French Air Force, mission specialist 3, 2nd mission

Previous mission: Soyuz TM15 (1992)

Flight Log

If the launch of STS-93 had occurred on time on 20 July, Eileen Collins, the first female commander of a US space mission, could have taken Columbia to orbit on the 30th anniversary of the Apollo 11 lunar landing (whose Command Module was also called Columbia). However, the launch was terminated at the T — 7 second mark when more than double the permitted amount of hydrogen was detected in the aft engine compartment of the orbiter. System engineers in the firing room at KSC noted the indication and manually cut off the ground launch sequencers less than a second before SSME ignition. Post-abort evaluation determined that the reading was false. The next launch attempt, on 22 July, was scrubbed due to adverse weather conditions at KSC, but the launch attempt on 23 July was successful, the only delay being a communications problem with Columbia during the countdown which forced a seven minute slip in the launch time.

Five seconds after leaving the pad, flight controllers noted a voltage drop in one of the electrical buses on the Columbia. As a result of the drop in voltage, one of two redundant main engine controllers on two of the three SSME (centre and right position) shut down. But the others performed nominally, supporting the climb to orbit. However, the orbit attained was 11.2 km lower than planned due to the premature cut-off of the SSME. This was later traced to a hydrogen leak in the #3 main engine nozzle, caused by the loss of an LO pin from the main injector during engine ignition. This had struck the hot wall of the nozzle and ruptured three LH coolant tubes.

Columbia’s manoeuvring engines were used subsequently to raise the orbit to its proper altitude, allowing the deployment of the primary payload into its desired orbit. The Chandra X-Ray Observatory (formerly known as the Advanced X-Ray Astrophysical Facility, or AXAF) was successfully deployed using its two-stage IUS on FD 1. The IUS propelled the observatory into an operational orbit of approxi­mately 10,000 x 140,000 km – at its farthest, almost one-third of the way to the Moon – in an orbital period of about 64 hours. This would permit the telescope to make 55 hours of uninterrupted observations each orbit. The primary mission of Chandra was scheduled to last five years through to 2004, although this was subsequently extended to ten years of operational activity until 2009.

During the remainder of the mission, secondary payloads and experiments were activated. These included the South-Western UV Imaging System (SWUIS) used to obtain UV imagery of Earth, the Moon, Mercury, Venus and Jupiter. The crew monitored several plant growth experiments and collected data from a biological cell culture experiment. They also evaluated the Treadmill Vibration Information System, which measured vibrations and the changes in microgravity levels caused by on-orbit exercise periods. This was important for gathering data to ensure that exercise periods on ISS did not disrupt delicate instruments and experiments. The crew also evaluated high-definition TV equipment for future use on both the Shuttle and ISS, which conformed to the latest industry standards for TV products. Tognini, who visited the Mir space station in 1992, spoke over the radio with his colleague and fellow countryman Jean-Pierre Haignere, who was on the fifth of his six-month stay on the Russian Mir space station. Collins and Ashby also evaluated the Portable In-flight Landing Operations Trainer (PILOT), which utilised a laptop computer, simulation software and a joystick combination to provide refresher and skills train­ing to the commander and pilot prior to performing the actual landing.

Milestones

213th manned space flight 125th US manned space flight 95th Shuttle mission 26th flight of Columbia

1st female Shuttle commander and 1st US female crew commander (Collins) Shortest scheduled flight since 1990

Flight Crew

KORZUN, Valery Nikolayevich, 49, Russian Air Force, ISS-5 and Soyuz

commander, 2nd mission

Previous mission: Soyuz TM24 (1996)

WHITSON, Peggy Annette, 42, civilian, ISS-5 science officer TRESCHEV, Sergei Vladimiriovich, 43, civilian, Russian ISS-5 flight engineer

Flight Log

The fifth expedition to the ISS featured a science programme of 24 American and 29 Russian experiments. Whitson had the added privilege of performing an experiment during her mission on ISS for which she was principle investigator. The renal stone experiment was a research programme to study the possible formation of kidney stones during prolonged space flight. Whitson kept regular logs of her food intake and took a regular course of tablets of either potassium citrate or a placebo. By mid-July, the ESA glove box facility had been activated, but communication problems with the new unit meant that Whitson had to forego regular daily exercises for a couple of days while the problems were resolved.

During the residency, the crew received two Progress re-supply craft. In late June, Progress M1-8 was replaced by Progress M46, which delivered 2,580 kg of cargo for the crew and 825 kg of fuel. Three months later, Progress M1-9 replaced the M46 ferry and brought over 2,600 kg of cargo, including equipment for the ESA Odessa science programme in November. These regular re-supply flights were the lifeline of the station’s main crew, supplementing the heavy lift capability of the Shuttle, and serving as an orbital refuse collection service once the new cargo had been unpacked.

August was mainly focused on EVAs. The first (16 Aug for 4 hours 25 minutes) saw Whitson and her commander start late due to a caution and warning signal that indicated a fault on their Orlan pressure suits. Recycling the pre-EVA operations to fix the problem meant that the EVA started 1 hour and 43 minutes late. The two crew members used the Strela boom to access the work area to place six (of an eventual 23)

micrometeoroid protection panels on the Zvezda module. Due to the late start, the installation of a Kromka detector, and the gathering of samples of thruster residue on the surface of Zvezda caused by other thrusters on the module, would be rescheduled for later EVAs. The second excursion (26 Aug for 5 hours 21 minutes) was also delayed 27 minutes, this time by a small leak from the pressure seals between Zvezda transfer compartments and where Pirs was docked to it. Recycling the hatch valves seemed to solve the problem. The cosmonauts set up TV cameras to record their activities, as well as an external Japanese experiment for specialists back in Japan. They also deployed the Kromka-2 deflector plate evaluator and retrieved an earlier plate to be returned to Earth for analysis, as well as deploying the final two ham radio antennas.

The ISS-5 crew received the STS-112 Shuttle crew in October (who delivered the S1 Truss), as well as the fourth visiting crew in the new spacecraft Soyuz TMA in November. After just over a week aboard the station, the visiting crew departed in the older TM34, marking the final re-entry and landing of that variant of the venerable Soyuz. Shortly after the departure of the visiting crew, STS-113 arrived with the replacement ISS-6 resident crew, returning home with the ISS-5 crew.

During their residency, the ISS-5 crew encountered and overcame a number of equipment problems, and conducted repairs and maintenance. Whitson wrote a series of journals about life and work on board ISS that were posted on the NASA web site and provided a fascinating insight into life aboard the station. On 16 September, NASA designated her the first NASA science officer, a designation that would be assigned to an American member of each crew from now on. She later wrote that the title was fine, apart from the number of emails she had received from friends all likening her to Mr. Spock, the science officer of the USS Enterprise in the original Star Trek.

Milestones

5th ISS resident crew

4th ISS EO crew to be launched by Shuttle 1st designated NASA science officer (Whitson)