STS-5
Encyclopedia
STS-5 was a NASA
Space Shuttle
mission, the fifth shuttle mission overall and the fifth flight of the Space Shuttle Columbia
. It was the first shuttle mission to deploy communications satellite
s into orbit. STS-5 launched on 11 November 1982 and landed five days later on 16 November.
Columbia launched on schedule from Kennedy Space Center
(KSC) at 7:19 am EST, 11 November 1982. The shuttle carried a crew of four - the largest spacecraft crew up to that time - and the first two commercial communications satellite
s to be flown on the shuttle.
The commercial satellites were deployed successfully and subsequently propelled into their operational geosynchronous orbit
s by booster rockets. The two satellites were Satellite Business Systems
-3, owned by Satellite Business Systems, and Anik
C3, owned by Telesat Canada
; both were Hughes
-built HS-376-series satellites. In addition, STS-5 carried a West German
-sponsored microgravity GAS
experiment canister in the payload bay. The crew furthermore conducted three student-designed experiments during the flight.
A planned spacewalk by Lenoir and Allen, the first of the Space Shuttle program, was postponed by one day after Lenoir became ill, and then had to be cancelled when the two spacesuits that were to be used developed problems.
Columbia landed on Runway 22 at Edwards Air Force Base
on 16 November 1982, at 6:33 am PST, having traveled 2 million miles in 81 orbits during a mission that lasted 5 days, 2 hours, 14 minutes and 26 seconds. Columbia was returned to KSC on 22 November 1982. STS-5 was the first shuttle flight in which the crew did not wear pressure suits for the launch, reentry, and landing portions of the flight, similar to the Soviet Voskhod
and Soyuz
missions prior to the ill-fated Soyuz 11
mission in 1971.
in 2003, asserted that the orbiter should never have been considered operational and that, while not intrisically unsafe, it was in fact an experimental vehicle. The CAIB's rationale was that civilian and military aircraft that are considered operational must have been tested and proven over thousands of safe flights in their final operational configurations, whereas the shuttle had only had under 200 flights, with continuous modification. NASA operated the Space Shuttle as an experimental vehicle for the remainder of the programme.
. Each track is specially chosen, often by the astronauts' families, and usually has a special meaning to an individual member of the crew, or is applicable to their daily activities.
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...
Space Shuttle
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...
mission, the fifth shuttle mission overall and the fifth flight of the Space Shuttle Columbia
Space Shuttle Columbia
Space Shuttle Columbia was the first spaceworthy Space Shuttle in NASA's orbital fleet. First launched on the STS-1 mission, the first of the Space Shuttle program, it completed 27 missions before being destroyed during re-entry on February 1, 2003 near the end of its 28th, STS-107. All seven crew...
. It was the first shuttle mission to deploy communications satellite
Communications satellite
A communications satellite is an artificial satellite stationed in space for the purpose of telecommunications...
s into orbit. STS-5 launched on 11 November 1982 and landed five days later on 16 November.
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 Liftoff: 112088 kilograms (247,111.7 lb)
- Orbiter Landing: 91841 kilograms (202,474.7 lb)
- Payload: 14551 kilograms (32,079.5 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"...
: 294 kilometres (182.7 mi) - Apogee: 317 kilometres (197 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...
: 90.5 min
Mission summary
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) at 7:19 am EST, 11 November 1982. The shuttle carried a crew of four - the largest spacecraft crew up to that time - and the first two commercial communications satellite
Communications satellite
A communications satellite is an artificial satellite stationed in space for the purpose of telecommunications...
s to be flown on the shuttle.
The commercial satellites were deployed successfully and subsequently propelled into their operational geosynchronous orbit
Geosynchronous orbit
A geosynchronous orbit is an orbit around the Earth with an orbital period that matches the Earth's sidereal rotation period...
s by booster rockets. The two satellites were Satellite Business Systems
Satellite Business Systems
Satellite Business Systems, abbreviated as SBS, was a company founded by IBM, Aetna, Comsat , that provided private professional satellite communications through its SBS fleet of FSS geosynchronous satellites, and was the first company to do so.SBS was founded on December 15, 1975 by the...
-3, owned by Satellite Business Systems, and Anik
Anik (satellite)
The Anik satellites are geostationary communications satellites launched by Telesat Canada for television in Canada. In Inuktitut, Anik means "little brother".-The Satellites:-Anik A:...
C3, owned by Telesat Canada
Telesat Canada
Telesat Canada is a Canadian satellite communications company founded on May 2, 1969. The company is headquartered in Ottawa, Ontario as well as having offices in the United States and Brazil.On October 5, 2007 Loral Space & Communications Inc...
; both were Hughes
Hughes Aircraft
Hughes Aircraft Company was a major American aerospace and defense contractor founded in 1932 by Howard Hughes in Culver City, California as a division of Hughes Tool Company...
-built HS-376-series satellites. In addition, STS-5 carried a West German
West Germany
West Germany is the common English, but not official, name for the Federal Republic of Germany or FRG in the period between its creation in May 1949 to German reunification on 3 October 1990....
-sponsored microgravity GAS
Getaway Special
Getaway Special was a NASA program that offered interested individuals, or groups, opportunities to fly small experiments aboard the Space Shuttle...
experiment canister in the payload bay. The crew furthermore conducted three student-designed experiments during the flight.
A planned spacewalk by Lenoir and Allen, the first of the Space Shuttle program, was postponed by one day after Lenoir became ill, and then had to be cancelled when the two spacesuits that were to be used developed problems.
Columbia landed on Runway 22 at Edwards Air Force Base
Edwards 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...
on 16 November 1982, at 6:33 am PST, having traveled 2 million miles in 81 orbits during a mission that lasted 5 days, 2 hours, 14 minutes and 26 seconds. Columbia was returned to KSC on 22 November 1982. STS-5 was the first shuttle flight in which the crew did not wear pressure suits for the launch, reentry, and landing portions of the flight, similar to the Soviet Voskhod
Voskhod programme
The Voskhod programme was the second Soviet human spaceflight project. Two manned missions were flown using the Voskhod spacecraft and rocket, one in 1964 and one in 1965....
and Soyuz
Soyuz programme
The Soyuz programme is a human spaceflight programme that was initiated by the Soviet Union in the early 1960s, originally part of a Moon landing project intended to put a Soviet cosmonaut on the Moon...
missions prior to the ill-fated Soyuz 11
Soyuz 11
Soyuz 11 was the first manned mission to arrive at the world's first space station, Salyut 1. The mission arrived at the space station on June 7, 1971 and departed on June 30, 1971. The mission ended in disaster when the crew capsule depressurized during preparations for re-entry, killing the...
mission in 1971.
Operational status
While the shuttle was declared "operational" after STS-4, the Columbia Accident Investigation Board (CAIB), in its report on the loss of Columbia during STS-107STS-107
-Mission parameters:*Mass:**Orbiter Liftoff: **Orbiter Landing: **Payload: *Perigee: *Apogee: *Inclination: 39.0°*Period: 90.1 min- Insignia :...
in 2003, asserted that the orbiter should never have been considered operational and that, while not intrisically unsafe, it was in fact an experimental vehicle. The CAIB's rationale was that civilian and military aircraft that are considered operational must have been tested and proven over thousands of safe flights in their final operational configurations, whereas the shuttle had only had under 200 flights, with continuous modification. NASA operated the Space Shuttle as an experimental vehicle for the remainder of the programme.
Mission insignia
The five points of the blue star of the mission patch indicate the flight's numerical designation in the Space Transportation System's mission sequence.Wake-up calls
NASA began a tradition of playing music to astronauts during the Gemini program, and first used music to wake up a flight crew during Apollo 15Apollo 15
Apollo 15 was the ninth manned mission in the American Apollo space program, the fourth to land on the Moon and the eighth successful manned mission. It was the first of what were termed "J missions", long duration stays on the Moon with a greater focus on science than had been possible on previous...
. Each track is specially chosen, often by the astronauts' families, and usually has a special meaning to an individual member of the crew, or is applicable to their daily activities.
| Flight Day | Song | Artist/Composer |
|---|---|---|
| Day 2 | "76 Trombones" | The Music Man The Music Man The Music Man is a musical with book, music, and lyrics by Meredith Willson, based on a story by Willson and Franklin Lacey. The plot concerns con man Harold Hill, who poses as a boys' band organizer and leader and sells band instruments and uniforms to naive townsfolk before skipping town with... |
| Day 3 | "Cotton Eye Joe" | |
| Day 4 | "Marine Hymn" | |
| Day 5 | "The Stroll The Stroll The Stroll was both a slow Rock 'n' Roll dance and a song that was popular in late 1950s. The dance called the Stroll began in black communities to the song "C. C. Rider" by Chuck Willis prior to the song by the same name.... " |
|
| Day 6 | "Take Me Home, Country Roads Take Me Home, Country Roads "Take Me Home, Country Roads" is a song written by John Denver, Taffy Nivert, and Bill Danoff and initially recorded by John Denver. It was included on his 1971 breakout album Poems, Prayers and Promises; the single went to #2 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100... " |
John Denver John Denver Henry John Deutschendorf, Jr. , known professionally as John Denver, was an American singer/songwriter, activist, and humanitarian. After growing up in numerous locations with his military family, Denver began his music career in folk music groups in the late 1960s. His greatest commercial success... |
See also
- Space explorationSpace explorationSpace exploration is the use of space technology to explore outer space. Physical exploration of space is conducted both by human spaceflights and by robotic spacecraft....
- Space Shuttle Columbia disasterSpace Shuttle Columbia disasterThe Space Shuttle Columbia disaster occurred on February 1, 2003, when shortly before it was scheduled to conclude its 28th mission, STS-107, the Space Shuttle Columbia disintegrated over Texas and Louisiana during re-entry into the Earth's atmosphere, resulting in the death of all seven crew members...
- List of space shuttle missions
- List of human spaceflights chronologically