George H. Diller December 11, 1992 Kennedy Space Center 407/867-2468 KSC Release No: 167-92 KSC CLOSES OUT 1992 WITH 8 SPACE SHUTTLE AND 5 EXPENDABLE VEHICLE LAUNCHES Kennedy Space Center successfully launched eight Space Shuttle missions in 1992, with five flights ending at KSC's Shuttle Land- ing Facility. The Expendable Vehicles Directorate at KSC also coordinated launch activities for 5 liftoffs of scientific spacecraft. Improved efficiency was the watchword for 1992. The launch countdown for all eight Shuttle missions began on the day set by NASA management at the Flight Readiness Review (FRR). Seven were launched on the date set at the FRR, with one mission, STS-47, lifting off on the hour, minute and second scheduled. None had any major flight or ground support equipment hardware (GSE) problems and there were no in-flight anomalies associated with processing work. Additionally, Shuttle processing work hours, overtime, GSE open paperwork and vehicle problem reports were reduced significantly. Launches in 1992 began with the Space Shuttle Discovery. On January 22, at 9:53 a.m. EST, Discovery lifted off from Pad 39-A on STS-42, carrying the first International Microgravity Laboratory, or IML-1. The international crew consisted of Com- mander Ronald J. Grabe, Pilot Stephen S. Oswald, Mission Specialists William F. Readdy, Norman E. Thagard, David C. Hil- mers, Canadian Payload Specialist Roberta L. Bondar and German Payload Specialist Ulf D. Merbold. The crew conducted experiments on the human nervous system's adaptation to low gravity and the effects of microgravity on other life forms such as shrimp, eggs, lentil seedlings, fruit fly eggs and bacteria. Low gravity materials processing experi- ments included crystal growth from a variety of substances such as enzymes, a virus, and mercury iodide. There were also 10 Get Away Special canisters on board, a number of mid-deck payloads and two Shuttle Student Involvement Program experiments. Landing was on Jan. 30 at Edwards Air Force Base, Calif., on Run- way 22, on orbit 129, with a mission duration of 8 days, 1 hour, 14 minutes, 45 seconds. The second flight of the year was STS-45 with the Space Shuttle Atlantis. This was the first launch of ATLAS-1, or the Atmos- pheric Laboratory for Applications and Science. Liftoff was on March 24 at 8:13 a.m. EST from Pad 39-A. The seven crew members aboard included Commander Charles F. Bolden, Pilot Brian Duffy, Mission Specialists Kathryn D. Sul- livan, C. Michael Foale, David C. Leestma and Payload Specialists Byron K. Lichtenberg and Belgium's Dirk D. Frimout. The ATLAS-1 experiments were mounted on pallets in the orbiter's cargo bay and included 12 instruments from the U.S., France, Ger- many, Belgium, Switzerland, The Netherlands and Japan. Studies were conducted in atmospheric chemistry, solar radiation, space plasma physics and ultraviolet astronomy. Other payloads included SSBUV, or the Shuttle Solar Backscatter Ultraviolet experiment, one Get Away Special experiment and six mid-deck experiments. Landing came on orbit 143 on April 2 at the Kennedy Space Center's Shuttle Landing Facility, Runway 33. The mission elapsed time was 8 days, 22 hours, 9 minutes, 24 seconds. The maiden flight of NASA's new Space Shuttle Endeavour, STS-49, produced the most spectacular mission of the year as its seven member astronaut crew set out to retrieve an Intelsat satellite stranded in low earth orbit. Endeavour's first launch, the third Space Shuttle launch of the year, occurred on May 7 at 7:40 p.m. EDT from Pad 39-B. Aboard were Commander Dan C. Brandenstein, Pilot Kevin P. Chilton and Mission Specialists Bruce E. Melnick, Thomas D. Akers, Richard J. Hieb, Kathryn C. Thornton and Pierre J. Thuot. Carry- ing a new perigee kick motor into orbit to be attached to the satellite, the capture required three EVA's and the first spacewalk ever by three astronauts. Eventually shagged by hand so that a special capture bar could be attached, the 4.5-ton satellite was maneuvered by the astronauts into the payload bay, mated to the solid rocket motor and then released back into space. A planned EVA also was performed by astronauts Thornton and Akers as part of the Assembly of Station by EVA Methods (ASEM) to verify assembly and maintenance techniques for Space Station Freedom. The flight set a record for the longest EVA time for a single mission: 25 hours and 27 minutes. There were also three secondary "payload of opportunity" experiments. Landing occurred on May 16 at Edwards Air Force Base, Calif., Runway 22, on Orbit 141. The mission elapsed time was 8 days, 21 hours, 17 minutes, 38 seconds. This was also the first use of the orbiter drag chute during landing. The fourth launch of 1992 was the Space Shuttle Columbia, embark- ing on mission STS-50. The primary payload was the first United States Microgravity Laboratory, USML-1, a manned Spacelab module with connecting tunnel to the orbiter crew compartment. Launch occurred on June 25 at 12:12 p.m. EDT from Pad 39-A. USML was a national effort to advance microgravity research in a broad num- ber of disciplines. Crew members included Commander Richard N. Richards, Pilot Ken- neth D. Bowersox, Mission Specialists Bonnie J. Dunbar, Carl J. Meade and Ellen S. Baker and Payload Specialists Lawrence J. DeLucas and Eugene H. Trinh. The first Extended Duration Orbiter flight was also the longest Space Shuttle flight to date, lasting 13 days, 19 hours, 30 minutes, 4 seconds. The 11 primary experiments provided new in- formation on the effects of long-term human stay in space. Three secondary experiments were also flown. Landing was on July 9, orbit 220, at the Kennedy Space Center on Runway 33. The Space Shuttle Atlantis embarked on the STS-46 mission in July for flight number five in 1992. Aboard were the European Space Agency's European Retrievable Carrier (EURECA) and the Tethered Satellite System (TSS). Astronauts aboard included Commander Loren J. Shriver, Pilot Andrew M. Allen, Mission Specialists Jef- frey A. Hoffman, Franklin R. Chang-Diaz, Marsha S. Ivins and Claude Nicollier and Payload Specialist Franco Malerba from Italy. Launch from Pad 39-B was on July 31 at 9:57 a.m. EDT. After the successful deployment of EURECA, the crew's attention was turned to the release of the Tethered Satellite. However, during deployment, the satellite reached a maximum dis- tance of only 860 feet from the orbiter, instead of the planned 12.5 miles, because of a jammed tether line. After numerous at- tempts to free the line, TSS operations were curtailed and the satellite was stowed for return to Earth. Eight secondary experiments were also flown on the mission. Landing on orbit 127 occurred on Aug. 8 at KSC using Runway 33, with a mission elapsed time of 7 days, 23 hours, 15 minutes, 3 seconds. KSC's sixth Space Shuttle launch of the year was with Endeavour carrying the Spacelab J laboratory module. A joint mission be- tween NASA and Japan's NASDA space agency, microgravity inves- tigations were conducted in the disciplines of materials sciences and life sciences. Launch from Pad 39-B occurred on Sept. 12 at 10:23 a.m. EDT. Aboard Endeavour were Commander Robert L. Gibson, Pilot Curtis L. Brown, Mission Specialists Mark C. Lee, N. Jan Davis and Mae C. Jemison and Payload Specialist Mamoru Mohri of Japan. Three space firsts were recorded: the first Japanese astronaut to fly aboard the Space Shuttle, the first African-American woman to fly in space and the first married couple to fly on the same space mission. Spacelab J included 24 materials science and 20 life science ex- periments of which 35 were sponsored by NASDA, seven by NASA, and two more were collaborative efforts. Some of the materials science investigations covered fields including electronic materials, fluid dynamics, glasses and ceramics, metals and al- loys. Life sciences experiments included animal and human physiology, space radiation, biological development, biological rhythms and cell separation. Test subjects included the astronauts, frogs and frog eggs, carp, chicken embryos, fruit flys, plant seeds and fungi. There were five mid-deck exoeriments, plus 12 Get Away Special canisters in the cargo bay. Landing was at Kennedy Space Center on Sept. 20, on Runway 33. The mission elapsed time was 7 days, 22 hours, 31 minutes, 11 seconds, with a touchdown on Orbit 127. The seventh launch of 1992 was Columbia on the STS-52 mission. The crew members included Commander James B. Weatherbee, Pilot Michael A. Baker, Mission Specialists Willam M. Shepard, Tamara E. Jernigan and Charles Lacy Veach and Payload Specialist Steven G. MacLean of Canada. The liftoff occurred on Oct. 22 at 1:10 p.m. EDT from Pad 39-B. The primary objective of STS-52 was to deploy the Laser Geodynamic Satellite (LAGEOS II) atop an Italian Research Interim Stage (IRIS) upper stage booster. LAGEOS II was a joint effort between NASA and the Italian Space Agency (ASI). USMP-1, the first U.S. Microgravity Payload, was also part of Endeavour's STS-52 primary mission, conducting three experiments using weightlessness to research the potential of space manufacturing of new materials. There were also more than a dozen secondary experiments aboard, carried in the cargo bay and on Columbia's mid-deck. Landing of Columbia was on orbit 159 at the Kennedy Space Center on Nov. 1, Runway 33, with a mission elapsed time of 9 days, 20 hours, 56 minutes, 13 seconds. The last flight of 1992 was that of the Space Shuttle Discovery, launched on a mission for the Department of Defense. This was Discovery's fifteenth launch, most for any orbiter in the fleet. Launch from Pad 39-A was at 8:24 a.m. EST on December 2. While the primary payload was classified, there were a dozen unclas- sified secondary payloads aboard. The STS-53 astronauts included Commander David Walker, Pilot Robert Cabana and Mission Specialists Guion Bluford, Michael Clifford and James Voss. Landing was diverted to Edwards Air Force Base, Calif., because of cloud cover at KSC, with a landing on Runway 22, orbit 115. Mission elapsed time was 7 days, 7 hours, 19 minutes, 17 seconds. There were five expendable vehicles launches in 1992 involving NASA, Air Force and contractor personnel from Kennedy Space Cen- ter and Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. The first unmanned launch of 1992 was NASA's Extreme Ultraviolet Explorer (EUVE) aboard an Air Force Delta II rocket from Launch Complex 17. Liftoff occurred on June 7 at 12:50 p.m. from Pad 17-A. The spacecraft carried four telescopes into orbit to map and study extreme ultraviolet sources within and also outside of the Milky Way galaxy. The second unmanned launch of the year was Geotail, a spacecraft in the International Solar Terrestrial Physics Program (ISTP). The spacecraft was developed by Japan in a collaborative launch initiative with NASA. This was the first mission to be flown un- der NASA's Medium Expendable Launch Vehicle contract, awarded to McDonnell Douglas for a civil launch of a Delta II vehicle. Liftoff occurred at 10:26 a.m. on July 24 from Pad A at Launch Complex 17. The third and final unmanned flight from the Cape was the Mars Observer spacecraft atop a Martin Marietta Titan III rocket. The launch occurred from Complex 40 on September 25 at 1:05 p.m. At- tached to the spacecraft was the first TOS, or Transfer Orbit Stage, a solid propellant single stage upper stage booster manufactured by Orbital Sciences Corporation. The Titan III/TOS combination placed the spacecraft on a near-perfect planetary trajectory for an 11-month cruise toward Mars. There were also two NASA Scout launches from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, performed by a KSC launch team on temporary duty at the west coast launch site. A NASA science payload, the Small Anomalous and Magnetospheric Particle Explorer (SAMPEX) was launched from Space Launch Complex 5 on July 3 at 10:19 a.m. EDT. Also launched aboard a NASA Scout vehicle was a research and development payload for the Strategic Defense Initiative Organization. The payload was called MSTI, which stands for Miniature Seeker Technology Integration, and was the first in a planned series. The launch occurred at 8:45 a.m. EST on Nov. 21. It was the 116th successful launch of a Scout. In addition to a busy launch year, other significant milestones and accomplishments were achieved by KSC in 1992. Pad 39-B was returned to service for Endeavour's maiden voyage after $3.5 million dollars in modifications and upgrades. A to- tal of 51 modifications were made to improve processing ef- ficiency and enhance safety at the pad. The Orbiters Columbia and Discovery were also returned to the fleet after a period of extensive improvements and modifications were made, approximately 50 in number. A drag chute was added, the nose wheel steering was improved, new carbon brakes and im- proved auxiliary power units were added, and five new general purpose computers were installed. Also, Columbia became an "extended duration orbiter," capable of flying missions of 16 days or more. In mid-October, Orbiter Atlantis was returned to the Rockwell plant in Palmdale for similar modifications. In April this year, a milestone in construction was reached when the final structural steel beam was hoisted atop the giant Space Station Processing Facility (SSPF). The SSPF is the biggest new construction effort undertaken at KSC since the Apollo era, comprising a total of 466,000 square feet. The build- ing is expected to be ready for use in mid-1994. In late July, the new Space Shuttle Processing Control Center (PCC) was dedicated. The new three-story, 99,000-square-foot facility is dedicated to Space Shuttle orbiter testing, launch team training, and maintenance of the Launch Processing System (LPS). The building houses control rooms for orbiter processing control equipment and will provide Space Shuttle engineers with state-of-the-art areas to improve and maintain their skills during processing flows of the orbiters. The facility's first floor consists of offices, workshops and laboratories for the maintenance and testing of LPS and related equipment. The second floor contains additional office space and areas for launch team training and computer software production. Orbiter control rooms dominate the third floor. Ground was broken in October for the new Hazardous Processing Facility (HPF) being constructed in the KSC Industrial Area near the exisiting Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility. The facility will be used to process the propulsion assemblies that provide the thrust to allow Space Station Freedom to maintain its orbit and attitude. Other hazardous operations such as spacecraft fueling and spin testing can also be performed there. The facility replaces the Payload Spin Test Facility on Cape Canaveral Air Force Station which has been turned over to the U.S. Air Force to support Delta launches. The HPF will feature a 1,800-square-foot environmen- tally controlled high bay and spin table, with an adjacent 9,000-square-foot low bay area. Another ground-breaking took place Dec. 10 at Spaceport USA for a new education facility sponsored by the Astronaut Memorial Foun- dation. It will be operated for the educational community by the KSC Education Office and the Foundation. Several functions now being performed in facilities on KSC and Spaceport USA will move to the new facility. Enhancements were made at the Shuttle Landing Facility this year in an effort to increase safety margins for orbiter landings. These improvements included a beef-up of the shoulders, replacing the runway lights and adding conduit for future electrical needs. In the area of Life Sciences at NASA's Hangar L on Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, scientists pulled out their pruning shears and scales once again to harvest nearly 350 pounds of potatoes grown without soil inside a computer-controlled biomass chamber. The potato harvest was the eleventh in the history of KSC's Closed Ecological Life Support System (CELSS) program. Previous crops have included lettuce, wheat and soybeans. The program is con- tinuing to provide information on how astronauts can grow much of their own food in space. The year 1993 will again prove to be a busy time for NASA-KSC. A total of eight Space Shuttle launches and four expendable vehicle launches are scheduled. Among the payloads to be launched on the Space Shuttle will be TDRS-F, another in the series of NASA Tracking and Data Relay Satellites; two laboratory modules in- cluding Spacelab D-2 in collaboration with Germany and also NASA's Spacelab Life Sciences-2; the second in the Atmospheric Laboratory for Applications and Science, known as ATLAS-2, mounted on Spacelab pallets; the Advanced Communications Technol- ogy Satellite (ACTS) to be deployed from the Space Shuttle on a Transfer Orbit Stage (TOS); the first flight of Spacehab, a pres- surized crew cabin extension module with numerous additional mid-deck locker space for experiments; a mission for the retrieval of EURECA, the European Space Agency's European Retrievable Carrier; and a mission to repair the Hubble Space Telescope. On Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, two launches for NASA are tentatively planned. These include a Delta launch for WIND, a satellite to investigate the solar wind, and the Atlas Centaur launch of GOES-I, the first in the next generation of geostation- ary weather satellites for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Two Scout launches are also scheduled for the KSC launch team from Vandenberg Air Force Base. MSTI-2, and also RADCAL which stands for Radiation Calibration experiment -- a research and development payload for the U.S. Air Force.