STS-50

Int. Designation	1992-034A
Launched	25 June 1992
Launch Site	Pad 39A, Kennedy Space Center, Florida
Landed	9 July 1992
Landing Site	Runway 33, Kennedy Space Center, Florida
Launch Vehicle	OV-102 Columbia/ET-50/SRB BI-051/SSME #1 2019; #2 2031; #3 2011
Duration	13 days 19 hrs 30 min 4 sec
Call sign	Columbia
Objective	Operation of first US Microgravity Laboratory payload utilising the Spacelab pressurised module

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

In Orbiter Processing Facility High Bay 3, workers continue to establish the mechanical interfaces between the USML-1 laboratory and Columbia. The first Extended-Duration Orbiter Pallet that allowed a mission duration of 13 days is visible to the left of the science module

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