STS-48
Encyclopedia
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: 87321 kilograms (192,509.9 lb)
- Payload: 7865 kilograms (17,339.4 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"...
: 575 kilometres (357.3 mi) - Apogee: 580 kilometres (360.4 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...
: 57.0° - 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...
: 96.2 min
Mission highlights
Space Shuttle Discovery was launched into a 57-degree inclination orbit from theKennedy Space Center (KSC) Launch Complex 39A at 7:11 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time
(EDT) on September 12, 1991. Launch was delayed for 14 minutes at the T-5 minute
mark due to a noise problem in the air-to-ground link. The noise cleared itself, and the
countdown proceeded normally to launch.
On the third day of the mission, the Upper Atmosphere Research Satellite
Upper Atmosphere Research Satellite
The Upper Atmosphere Research Satellite was a NASA-operated orbital observatory whose mission was to study the Earth’s atmosphere, particularly the protective ozone layer. The satellite was deployed from Space Shuttle Discovery during the STS-48 mission on September 15, 1991...
(UARS) was deployed from Discovery's payload bay 350 statute miles above Earth to study human effects on the planet's atmosphere and its shielding ozone layer. The UARS mission objectives were to provide an increased understanding of the energy input into the upper atmosphere, global photochemistry of the upper atmosphere, dynamics of the upper atmosphere, the coupling among these processes, and the coupling between the upper and lower atmosphere. This provided data for a coordinated study of the structure, chemistry, energy balance, and physical action of the Earth's middle atmosphere - that
slice of air between 10 and 60 miles above the Earth. The UARS was the first major flight element of NASA's Mission to Planet Earth, a multi-year global research program that would use ground-based, airborne, and space-based instruments to study the Earth as a complete environmental system. UARS had ten sensing and measuring devices: Cryogenic Limb Array Etalon Spectrometer (CLAES); Improved Stratospheric and Mesospheric Sounder (ISAMS); Microwave Limb Sounder
Microwave Limb Sounder
The Microwave Limb Sounder experiments measure microwave thermal emission from the limb of Earth's upper atmosphere...
(MLS); Halogen Occultation Experiment (HALOE); High Resolution Doppler Imager (HRDI); Wind Imaging Interferometer (WlNDII); Solar Ultraviolet Spectral Irradiance Monitor (SUSIM); Solar/Stellar Irradiance Comparison Experiment (SOLSTICE); Particle Environment Monitor (PEM) and Active Cavity Radiometer Irradiance Monitor (ACRIM II). UARS's initial 18-month mission was extended several times – it was finally retired after 14 years of service.
Secondary payloads were: Ascent Particle Monitor (APM); Middeck 0-Gravity Dynamics Experiment (MODE); Shuttle Activation Monitor (SAM); Cosmic Ray Effects and Activation Monitor (CREAM); Physiological and Anatomical Rodent Experiment (PARE); Protein Crystal Growth II-2 (PCG II-2); Investigations into Polymer Membrane Processing (IPMP); and the Air Force Maui Optical Site (AMOS) experiment.
The flight was the first to test an electronic still camera in space, a modified Nikon F4. Images obtained during the flight were monochrome with 8 bits of digital information per pixel (256 gray levels) and stored on a removable hard disk. The images could be viewed and enhanced on board using a modified lap-top computer before being transmitted to the ground via the orbiter digital downlinks.
STS-48 was the second post-Challenger mission to have Kennedy Space Center as the planned
End-Of-Mission landing site, and the first mission to have a planned night landing at KSC. However, due to weather conditions at KSC in Florida, Discovery flew one extra orbit and landed at Edwards Air Force Base, California, at 3:38 a.m. EDT on September 18, 1991. The orbiter returned to KSC 26 September 1991.
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 ....
- List of space shuttle missions
- List of human spaceflights chronologically
- Nikon NASA F4Nikon NASA F4The Nikon NASA F4 Electronic Still Camera was one of the first and rarest fully digital cameras ever. Constructed for NASA, it was first flown in September 1991 on board the Space Shuttle Discovery, mission STS-48...