STS-37
Encyclopedia
STS-37, the eighth flight of the Space Shuttle
Atlantis
, was a six-day mission with the primary objective of launching the Compton Gamma Ray Observatory
(GRO), the second of the Great Observatories program
which included the visible-spectrum Hubble Space Telescope
, the Chandra X-ray Observatory
and the infrared Spitzer Space Telescope
. The mission also featured two spacewalks, the first since 1985.
9:22:44AM EST on April 5, 1991 from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Resumption of the countdown after the T-9 minute hold was delayed about 4 minutes 45 seconds because of two possible
weather-condition violations of the launch commit criteria (LCC). The first
concerned the cloud ceiling being 500 feet less than the minimum of 8000 feet for a
return-to-launch-site (RTLS) abort, and the second concerned the possible
weather-condition (wind) effects on blast propagation. Both conditions were
found acceptable and the launch countdown proceeded to a satisfactory launch to
an inclination of 28.45 degrees. Launch weight: 116040 kilograms (255,824.4 lb).
(EGRET) and Oriented Scintillation Spectrometer Experiment (OSSE). GRO was the second of NASA
's four Great Observatories. The Hubble Space Telescope
, deployed during Mission STS-31
in April 1990, was the first. GRO was launched on a two-year mission to search for the high-energy celestial gamma ray emissions, which cannot penetrate Earth's atmosphere. At about 35,000 pounds, GRO was the heaviest satellite
to be deployed into low-Earth orbit
from the Shuttle. It was also designed to be the first satellite that could be refueled in orbit by Shuttle crews. Five months after deployment, NASA renamed the satellite the Arthur Holly Compton Gamma Ray Observatory
, or Compton Observatory, after the Nobel Prize-winning physicist who did important work in gamma ray astronomy.
Manipulator System (RMS) robot arm, as well as GRO's antenna dish, were to no avail in dislodging the boom. Ross and Apt were prepared for such a contingency, and Ross freed the antenna boom within 17 minutes after beginning the spacewalk. It was the first unscheduled contingency EVA since STS-51-D
in April 1985. Deployment occurred about 18:35 EST, approximately 4 hours after it was scheduled.
The following day, on 8 April 1991, Ross and Apt made the first scheduled EVA since Mission STS-61-B
in November 1985. The spacewalk was to test methods of moving crew members and equipment around the future Space Station Freedom
. One of the experiments was to evaluate manual, mechanical
and electrical power
methods of moving carts around the outside of large structures in space. Although all three methods worked, the astronauts reported that propelling the cart manually or hand-over-hand worked best. With both EVAs, Ross and Apt logged 10 hours and 49 minutes walking in space during STS-37. Crew members also reported success with secondary experiments.
During one of the EVAs, a small rod from within the spacesuit punctured the seal of one of the gloves of one of the astronauts (the name is undisclosed, but it was either Jerry L. Ross or Jay Apt). However, the astronaut's hand partially sealed the hole, resulting in no detectable depressurization. In fact, the puncture was not noticed until after the spacewalkers were safely back inside Atlantis.
Among the other payloads flown was the first flight of the Bioserve Instrumentation Technology Associates Materials Dispersion Apparatus (BIMDA) to explore the commercial potential of experiments in the biomedical, manufacturing processes and fluid sciences fields, and the Protein Crystal Growth experiment, which has flown eight times before in various forms. Astronaut Pilot Kenneth Cameron
was the primary operator of the Shuttle Amateur Radio Experiment (SAREX), although all five crew members participated as amateur radio operators.
It was arguably the first time that the astronauts received amateur television
video from the ham radio club station (W5RRR) at JSC.
, CA. Rollout distance: 6,364 feet. Rollout time: 56 seconds. Landing originally scheduled for 10 April 1991, but delayed one day due to weather conditions at Edwards and Kennedy Space Center
(KSC). Orbiter returned to KSC 18 April 1991. Landing weight: 86227 kilograms (190,098 lb).
Due to an incorrect call on winds aloft, Atlantis landed 623 feet short of the runway. This did not present a problem, since the orbiter landed on the dry lake bed of Edwards and a problem was not obvious to most viewers. Had the landing been attempted at the Kennedy Space Center, the result would have been a touchdown on the paved underrun preceding the runway and would have been much more obvious.
Space Shuttle
The Space Shuttle was a manned orbital rocket and spacecraft system operated by NASA on 135 missions from 1981 to 2011. The system combined rocket launch, orbital spacecraft, and re-entry spaceplane with modular add-ons...
Atlantis
Space Shuttle Atlantis
The Space Shuttle Atlantis is a retired Space Shuttle orbiter in the Space Shuttle fleet belonging to the National Aeronautics and Space Administration , the spaceflight and space exploration agency of the United States...
, was a six-day mission with the primary objective of launching the Compton Gamma Ray Observatory
Compton Gamma Ray Observatory
The Compton Gamma Ray Observatory was a space observatory detecting light from 20 KeV to 30 GeV in Earth orbit from 1991 to 2000. It featured four main telescopes in one spacecraft covering x-rays and gamma-rays, including various specialized sub-instruments and detectors...
(GRO), the second of the Great Observatories program
Great Observatories program
NASA's series of Great Observatories satellites are four large, powerful space-based telescopes. Each of the Great Observatories has had a similar size and cost at program outset, and each has made a substantial contribution to astronomy...
which included the visible-spectrum Hubble Space Telescope
Hubble Space Telescope
The Hubble Space Telescope is a space telescope that was carried into orbit by a Space Shuttle in 1990 and remains in operation. A 2.4 meter aperture telescope in low Earth orbit, Hubble's four main instruments observe in the near ultraviolet, visible, and near infrared...
, the Chandra X-ray Observatory
Chandra X-ray Observatory
The Chandra X-ray Observatory is a satellite launched on STS-93 by NASA on July 23, 1999. It was named in honor of Indian-American physicist Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar who is known for determining the maximum mass for white dwarfs. "Chandra" also means "moon" or "luminous" in Sanskrit.Chandra...
and the infrared Spitzer Space Telescope
Spitzer Space Telescope
The Spitzer Space Telescope , formerly the Space Infrared Telescope Facility is an infrared space observatory launched in 2003...
. The mission also featured two spacewalks, the first since 1985.
Crew
Mission parameters
- MassMassMass can be defined as a quantitive measure of the resistance an object has to change in its velocity.In physics, mass commonly refers to any of the following three properties of matter, which have been shown experimentally to be equivalent:...
:- Orbiter landing with payload: 86651 kilograms (191,032.8 lb)
- Payload: 17204 kilograms (37,928.3 lb)
- PerigeePerigeePerigee is the point at which an object makes its closest approach to the Earth.. Often the term is used in a broader sense to define the point in an orbit where the orbiting body is closest to the body it orbits. The opposite is the apogee, the farthest or highest point.The Greek prefix "peri"...
: 450 kilometres (279.6 mi) - Apogee: 462 kilometres (287.1 mi)
- InclinationInclinationInclination in general is the angle between a reference plane and another plane or axis of direction.-Orbits:The inclination is one of the six orbital parameters describing the shape and orientation of a celestial orbit...
: 28.5° - PeriodOrbital periodThe orbital period is the time taken for a given object to make one complete orbit about another object.When mentioned without further qualification in astronomy this refers to the sidereal period of an astronomical object, which is calculated with respect to the stars.There are several kinds of...
: 93.7 min
Space walks
- Ross and Apt – EVA 1
- EVA 1 Start: 7 April 1991
- EVA 1 End: 7 April 1991
- Duration: 4 hours, 26 minutes
- Ross and Apt – EVA 2
- EVA 2 Start: 8 April 1991
- EVA 2 End: 8 April 1991
- Duration: 5 hours, 47 minutes
Preparations and Launch
The STS-37 mission was successfully launched from launch pad 39B at9:22:44AM EST on April 5, 1991 from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Resumption of the countdown after the T-9 minute hold was delayed about 4 minutes 45 seconds because of two possible
weather-condition violations of the launch commit criteria (LCC). The first
concerned the cloud ceiling being 500 feet less than the minimum of 8000 feet for a
return-to-launch-site (RTLS) abort, and the second concerned the possible
weather-condition (wind) effects on blast propagation. Both conditions were
found acceptable and the launch countdown proceeded to a satisfactory launch to
an inclination of 28.45 degrees. Launch weight: 116040 kilograms (255,824.4 lb).
Compton Gamma Ray Observatory
The primary payload, Gamma Ray Observatory (GRO), was deployed on flight day 3. GRO's high-gain antenna failed to deploy on command; it was finally freed and manually deployed by Ross and Apt during an unscheduled contingency space walk, the first since April 1985. The following day, the two astronauts performed first scheduled space walk since November 1985 to test means for astronauts to move themselves and equipment about while maintaining the then-planned Space Station Freedom. GRO science instruments were Burst and Transient Source Experiment (BATSE), Imaging Compton Telescope (COMPTEL), Energetic Gamma Ray Experiment TelescopeEnergetic Gamma Ray Experiment Telescope
The Energetic Gamma Ray Experiment Telescope was one of four instruments outfitted on NASA’s Compton Gamma Ray Observatory satellite. Since lower energy gamma rays cannot be accurately detected on Earth’s surface, EGRET was built to detect gamma rays while in space...
(EGRET) and Oriented Scintillation Spectrometer Experiment (OSSE). GRO was the second of NASA
NASA
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration is the agency of the United States government that is responsible for the nation's civilian space program and for aeronautics and aerospace research...
's four Great Observatories. The Hubble Space Telescope
Hubble Space Telescope
The Hubble Space Telescope is a space telescope that was carried into orbit by a Space Shuttle in 1990 and remains in operation. A 2.4 meter aperture telescope in low Earth orbit, Hubble's four main instruments observe in the near ultraviolet, visible, and near infrared...
, deployed during Mission STS-31
STS-31
STS-31 was the thirty-fifth mission of the American Space Shuttle program, which launched the Hubble Space Telescope astronomical observatory into Earth orbit...
in April 1990, was the first. GRO was launched on a two-year mission to search for the high-energy celestial gamma ray emissions, which cannot penetrate Earth's atmosphere. At about 35,000 pounds, GRO was the heaviest satellite
Satellite
In the context of spaceflight, a satellite is an object which has been placed into orbit by human endeavour. Such objects are sometimes called artificial satellites to distinguish them from natural satellites such as the Moon....
to be deployed into low-Earth orbit
Orbit
In physics, an orbit is the gravitationally curved path of an object around a point in space, for example the orbit of a planet around the center of a star system, such as the Solar System...
from the Shuttle. It was also designed to be the first satellite that could be refueled in orbit by Shuttle crews. Five months after deployment, NASA renamed the satellite the Arthur Holly Compton Gamma Ray Observatory
Compton Gamma Ray Observatory
The Compton Gamma Ray Observatory was a space observatory detecting light from 20 KeV to 30 GeV in Earth orbit from 1991 to 2000. It featured four main telescopes in one spacecraft covering x-rays and gamma-rays, including various specialized sub-instruments and detectors...
, or Compton Observatory, after the Nobel Prize-winning physicist who did important work in gamma ray astronomy.
Spacewalks
The first U.S. extravehicular activity (EVA) or spacewalk since 1985 was performed by Mission Specialists Jerry L. Ross and Jay Apt after six failed attempts to deploy the satellite's high-gain antenna. Repeated commands by ground controllers at the Payload Operations Control Center, Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD, and maneuvering of Atlantis and its RemoteManipulator System (RMS) robot arm, as well as GRO's antenna dish, were to no avail in dislodging the boom. Ross and Apt were prepared for such a contingency, and Ross freed the antenna boom within 17 minutes after beginning the spacewalk. It was the first unscheduled contingency EVA since STS-51-D
STS-51-D
STS-51-D was the sixteenth flight of NASA's Space Shuttle program, and the fourth flight of Space Shuttle Discovery. The launch of STS-51-D from Kennedy Space Center , Florida, on 12 April 1985 was delayed by 55 minutes, after a boat strayed into the restricted Solid Rocket Booster recovery zone...
in April 1985. Deployment occurred about 18:35 EST, approximately 4 hours after it was scheduled.
The following day, on 8 April 1991, Ross and Apt made the first scheduled EVA since Mission STS-61-B
STS-61-B
STS-61-B was NASA's 23rd Space Shuttle mission, and its second using Space Shuttle Atlantis. The shuttle was launched from Kennedy Space Center, Florida, on 26 November 1985. During STS-61-B, the shuttle crew deployed three communications satellites, and tested techniques of constructing...
in November 1985. The spacewalk was to test methods of moving crew members and equipment around the future Space Station Freedom
Space Station Freedom
Space Station Freedom was a NASA project to construct a permanently manned Earth-orbiting space station in the 1980s. Although approved by then-president Ronald Reagan and announced in the 1984 State of the Union Address, Freedom was never constructed or completed as originally designed, and after...
. One of the experiments was to evaluate manual, mechanical
Machine
A machine manages power to accomplish a task, examples include, a mechanical system, a computing system, an electronic system, and a molecular machine. In common usage, the meaning is that of a device having parts that perform or assist in performing any type of work...
and electrical power
Electric power
Electric power is the rate at which electric energy is transferred by an electric circuit. The SI unit of power is the watt.-Circuits:Electric power, like mechanical power, is represented by the letter P in electrical equations...
methods of moving carts around the outside of large structures in space. Although all three methods worked, the astronauts reported that propelling the cart manually or hand-over-hand worked best. With both EVAs, Ross and Apt logged 10 hours and 49 minutes walking in space during STS-37. Crew members also reported success with secondary experiments.
During one of the EVAs, a small rod from within the spacesuit punctured the seal of one of the gloves of one of the astronauts (the name is undisclosed, but it was either Jerry L. Ross or Jay Apt). However, the astronaut's hand partially sealed the hole, resulting in no detectable depressurization. In fact, the puncture was not noticed until after the spacewalkers were safely back inside Atlantis.
Additional Payloads and Experiments
Secondary payloads included Crew and Equipment Translation Aids (CETA), which involved scheduled six-hour space walk by astronauts Ross and Apt (see above); Ascent Particle Monitor (APM); Shuttle Amateur Radio Experiment II (SAREX II); Protein Crystal Growth (PCG); Bioserve/instrumentation Technology Associates Materials Dispersion Apparatus (BIMDA); Radiation Monitoring Equipment III (RME Ill); and Air Force Maui Optical Site (AMOS) experiment.Among the other payloads flown was the first flight of the Bioserve Instrumentation Technology Associates Materials Dispersion Apparatus (BIMDA) to explore the commercial potential of experiments in the biomedical, manufacturing processes and fluid sciences fields, and the Protein Crystal Growth experiment, which has flown eight times before in various forms. Astronaut Pilot Kenneth Cameron
Kenneth D. Cameron
Kenneth Donald Cameron , Colonel, USMC, Ret., is a former NASA astronaut.-Background:Cameron was born on November 29, 1949, in Cleveland, Ohio. He graduated from Rocky River High School, Rocky River, Ohio, in 1967...
was the primary operator of the Shuttle Amateur Radio Experiment (SAREX), although all five crew members participated as amateur radio operators.
It was arguably the first time that the astronauts received amateur television
Amateur television
Amateur television is the transmission of Broadcast quality video and audio over the wide range of frequencies of allocated for Radio amateur use. ATV is used for non-commercial experimentation, pleasure and public service events...
video from the ham radio club station (W5RRR) at JSC.
Landing
11 April 1991, 06:55:29 PDT, Runway 33, Edwards Air Force BaseEdwards Air Force Base
Edwards Air Force Base is a United States Air Force base located on the border of Kern County, Los Angeles County, and San Bernardino County, California, in the Antelope Valley. It is southwest of the central business district of North Edwards, California and due east of Rosamond.It is named in...
, CA. Rollout distance: 6,364 feet. Rollout time: 56 seconds. Landing originally scheduled for 10 April 1991, but delayed one day due to weather conditions at Edwards and Kennedy Space Center
Kennedy Space Center
The John F. Kennedy Space Center is the NASA installation that has been the launch site for every United States human space flight since 1968. Although such flights are currently on hiatus, KSC continues to manage and operate unmanned rocket launch facilities for America's civilian space program...
(KSC). Orbiter returned to KSC 18 April 1991. Landing weight: 86227 kilograms (190,098 lb).
Due to an incorrect call on winds aloft, Atlantis landed 623 feet short of the runway. This did not present a problem, since the orbiter landed on the dry lake bed of Edwards and a problem was not obvious to most viewers. Had the landing been attempted at the Kennedy Space Center, the result would have been a touchdown on the paved underrun preceding the runway and would have been much more obvious.
Mission insignia
The three stars on the top and seven stars on the bottom of the insignia symbolize the flight's numerical designation in the Space Transportation System's mission sequence.See also
- Space scienceSpace scienceThe term space science may mean:* The study of issues specifically related to space travel and space exploration, including space medicine.* Science performed in outer space ....
- Space shuttleSpace ShuttleThe Space Shuttle was a manned orbital rocket and spacecraft system operated by NASA on 135 missions from 1981 to 2011. The system combined rocket launch, orbital spacecraft, and re-entry spaceplane with modular add-ons...
- List of space shuttle missions
- List of human spaceflights chronologically