STS-42

Int. Designation	1992-002A
Launched	22 January 1992
Launch Site	Pad 39A, Kennedy Space Center, Florida
Landed	30 January 1992
Landing Site	Runway 22, Edwards AFB, California
Launch Vehicle	OV-103 Discovery/ET-52/SRB BI-048/SSME #1 2026; #2 2022; # 3 2027
Duration	8 days 1 hr 14 min 44 sec
Call sign	Discovery
Objective	Operation of International Microgravity Laboratory 1 (IML-1) payload; fifty-five experiments devoted to space medicine and manufacturing utilising a Spacelab Long Module

Flight Crew

GRABE, Ronald John, 46, USAF, commander, 3rd mission Previous missions: STS 51-J (1985); STS-30 (1989)

OSWALD, Stephen Scott, 40, civilian, pilot

THAGARD, Norman Earl, 48, civilian, mission specialist 1, payload commander, 4th mission

Previous missions: STS-7 (1985); STS 51-B (1985); STS-30 (1989)

READDY, William Francis, 39, civilian, mission specialist 2 HILMERS, David Carl, 41, USMC, mission specialist 3, 4th mission Previous missions: STS 51-J (1985); STS-26 (1988); STS-36 (1990)

BONDAR, Roberta Lynn, 46, civilian, Canadian payload specialist 1 MERBOLD, Ulf Dietrich, 50, civilian, ESA payload specialist 2, 2nd mission Previous mission: STS-9 (1983)

Flight Log

As Discovery landed at Edwards AFB in California at the end of the IML-1 mission, the crew were told that their mission had provided a preview of both space station operations and the kind of international cooperation that would be part of future space exploration. As a new Russia emerged from the turmoil of the break-up of the Soviet Union, the Freedom Space Station was itself struggling to survive. But there was a glimmer of hope in the potential cooperation of the Russians in the future programme. However, there was still much to be done on Earth before any hardware would fly in space, but the mission of STS-42 and the first flight of the International Microgravity Laboratory had demonstrated that such cooperation was feasible.

The international crew of IML-1 pose for the traditional in space “star-burst” portrait inside the Spacelab module. At top centre is MS Hilmers, and clockwise are commander Grabe, MS Readdy, ESA PS Merbold, payload commander Thagard, pilot Oswald and Canadian PS Bondar. The rotating chair used often in biomedical tests is partially obscured in the centre of frame

Both the launch and landing of Discovery passed without incident, apart from a one-hour delay to the launch to evaluate indications of power surges from one of the fuel cells. With the vehicle cleared for launch, and safely on orbit just over an hour later, Shuttle operations in 1992 opened with one of the most successful Spacelab missions of all. With the crew operating in two shifts for round-the-clock activity (Red – Readdy, Hilmers, Merbold; Blue – Grabe, Oswald, Thagard, Bondar), opera­tions primarily focused on the adaptation of the human nervous system to low gravity and on the effects of microgravity on other life forms. These included shrimp eggs, lentil seedlings, fruit fly eggs and bacteria. There was also a programme of materials processing experiments, including crystal growth from a range of substances such as enzymes, mercury iodide and a virus. The secondary payloads carried included twelve GAS canisters attached to a GAS Bridge Assembly in the payload bay. This contained numerous US and international experiments, ranging from materials processing to investigations into the development of animal life in weightlessness.

The IML experiment programme was a cooperative effort between the space agencies of the United States (NASA), Europe (ESA), Canada (CSA), France

(CNES), Germany (DARA) and Japan (NASDA). The GAS experiments also origin­ated from multiple countries (Australia, China, Federal Republic of Germany, Japan, Sweden and the United States). There were also two student experiments flown, as well as the IMAX large-format camera and a package of on-going small mid-deck experiments. In all, over 200 scientists from sixteen countries participated in the flight and investigation programme.

Though minor problems occurred, they were all overcome with no adjustments to the flight plan, nor loss of science results. On 24 January, the Mir space station passed within 39 nautical miles of Discovery and the crew reported that the sunlight reflecting off the station looked as bright as planet Mercury when seen after sunset from Earth. On board Discovery, Thagard observed the Russian space station that he would live aboard just three years later. Towards the end of the flight, mission managers concluded that the crew had conserved their consumables so well that they would be able to stay an extra day in orbit to continue their science experiment programme.

IML-1 was the first of a series of four or five such flights that were envisaged over a ten-year period (one flight every two years), dedicated to the study of life and materials sciences and providing important data for planning and executing follow-on research on Space Station Freedom. Such was the success of IML-1 that the prospect of international cooperation on Freedom looked assured, even if the programme itself was floundering due to complexity and cost. Ironically, the revised ISS programme would signal the demise of Spacelab missions due to limited resources. The IML series was reduced from a ten-year programme to just two missions.

Milestones

147th manned space flight

75th US manned space flight

45th Shuttle mission

14th flight of Discovery

1st flight of IML configuration

5th flight of Spacelab Long Module

Readdy celebrates his 40th birthday in space (24 Jan)

Hilmers celebrates his 42nd birthday in space (28 Jan)

1st female Canadian in space (Bondar)