STS-80

STS-80

Columbia launches on STS-80
Mission type Research
Operator NASA
COSPAR ID 1996-065A
SATCAT № 24660
Mission duration 17 days, 15 hours, 53 minutes, 18 seconds
Distance travelled 11,000,000 kilometres (6,800,000 mi)
Orbits completed 279
Spacecraft properties
Spacecraft Space Shuttle Columbia
Payload mass 13,006 kilograms (28,673 lb)
Crew
Crew size 5
Members Kenneth D. Cockrell
Kent Rominger
Story Musgrave
Thomas David Jones
Tamara E. Jernigan
Start of mission
Launch date 19 November 1996, 19:55:47 (1996-11-19UTC19:55:47Z) UTC
Launch site Kennedy LC-39B
End of mission
Landing date 7 December 1996, 11:49:05 (1996-12-07UTC11:49:06Z) UTC
Landing site Kennedy SLF (Rwy 33)
Orbital parameters
Reference system Geocentric
Regime Low Earth
Perigee 318 kilometres (198 mi)
Apogee 375 kilometres (233 mi)
Inclination 28.45 degrees
Period 91.5 min


Left to right - Seated: Rominger, Cockrell; Standing: Jernigan, Musgrave, Jones

Space Shuttle program
← STS-79 STS-81 →

STS-80 was a Space Shuttle mission flown by Space Shuttle Columbia. The launch was originally scheduled for 31 October 1996, but was delayed to 19 November for several reasons.[1] Likewise, the landing, which was originally scheduled for 5 December, was pushed back to 7 December after bad weather prevented landing for two days.[2] The mission was the longest Shuttle mission ever flown at 17 days, 15 hours, and 53 minutes.[2] Although two spacewalks were planned for the mission, they were both canceled after problems with the airlock hatch prevented astronauts Tom Jones and Tammy Jernigan from exiting the orbiter.

Crew

Position Astronaut
Commander Kenneth D. Cockrell
Third spaceflight
Pilot Kent V. Rominger
Second spaceflight
Mission Specialist 1 F. Story Musgrave
Sixth spaceflight
Mission Specialist 2 Thomas D. Jones
Third spaceflight
Mission Specialist 3 Tamara E. Jernigan
Fourth spaceflight

Mission highlights

Mission payload

The payload is prepared for launch. Visible is the WSF-3 (being lowered in), and ORFEUS-SPAS II (Already in place)

Columbia brought with it two free floating satellites, both of which were on repeat visits to space. Also, a variety of equipment to be tested on two planned spacewalks was part of the payload. These would have been used to prepare for construction of the International Space Station. Included in the Shuttle's payload were[9]

Scientific projects

The ORFEUS SPAS is prepared for launch

Columbia carried into orbit two satellites that were released and recaptured after some time alone. The first was the Orbiting and Retrievable Far and Extreme Ultraviolet Spectrometer-Shuttle Pallet Satellite II (ORFEUS-SPAS II). The main component of the satellite, the ORFEUS telescope, had two spectrographs, for far and extreme ultraviolet. Another spectrograph, the Interstellar Medium Absorption Profile Spectrograph, was also on board the satellite. Several payloads not relevant to astronomy rounded out the satellite. It performed without problems for its flight, taking 422 observations of almost 150 astronomical bodies, ranging from the moon to extra-galactic stars and a quasar. Being the second flight of ORFEUS-SPAS II allowed for more sensitive equipment, causing it to provide more than twice the data of its initial run.[1]

Also deployed from Columbia was the Wake-Shield Facility (WSF), a satellite that created an ultra-vacuum behind it, allowing for the creation of semiconductor thin films for use in advanced electronics. WSF created seven films before being recaptured by Columbia's robotic arm after three days of flight.[1] The 12-foot-diameter (3.7 m) craft was on its third mission, including STS-60, when hardware problems prevented it from deploying off the robotic arm. Wake Shield was designed and built by the Space Vacuum Epitaxy Center at the University of Houston in conjunction with its industrial partner, Space Industries, Inc.[10]

Another inclusion was a Space Experiment Module (SEM).[10] The SEM included student research projects selected to fly into space.[11] This was the first flight of the program.[12] Among the experiments conducted were analysis of bacteria growth on food in orbit, crystal growth in space, and microgravity's effect on a pendulum.[13]

NIH.R4 was an experiment conducted for the National Institute of Health and Oregon Health Sciences University.[10] It was designed to test the effects of spaceflight on circulation and vascular constriction.[14] Biological Research in Canister (BRIC) explored gravity's effects on tobacco and tomato seedlings. Visualization in an Experimental Water Capillary Pumped Loop (VIEW-CPL) was conducted to test a new idea in thermal spacecraft management.[15] The Commercial MDA ITA Experiment were a variety of experiments submitted by high school and middle school students sponsored by Information Technology Associates.[16]

Mission background

Columbia is rolled out to launch pad 39B

Astronauts were selected for the mission on 17 January 1996.[17] Stacking of the Solid Rocket Boosters (SRBs) began 9 September 1996.[18] On 18 September, the launch date was bumped back from no earlier than (NET) 31 October to 8 November.[19] Payload doors were closed on 25 September.[20] The following day, the External fuel tank was mated to the SRBs inside the Vehicle Assembly Building.[21] Further progress was delayed while two windows on the orbiter were replaced; NASA feared that they might be susceptible to breakage after seven and eight flights.[22] Columbia was rolled over to the VAB on 9 October to begin final assembly preparations.[23] On 11 October, Columbia was mated with the external fuel tank, and the payload was delivered and transferred.[24] Rollout to Pad 39B occurred on 16 October, which was followed by flight readiness checks of the main propulsion system.[25] After a Flight Readiness Review on 28 October, an additional FRR was requested to further analyze the Redesigned Solid Rocket Motor (RSRM) due to nozzle erosion that occurred on STS-79; on the 29th, a fuel pump failed, delaying the fueling process of Columbia.[26] The erosion problem led to a week long delay instituted on 4 November.[27] A launch date of 15 November was set, contingent on a successful Atlas launch two days prior.[28] The forecast of bad weather pushed the launch back even further, to a date of 19 November.[29]

Wake-up calls

NASA began a tradition of playing music to astronauts during the Gemini program, which was first used to wake up a flight crew during Apollo 15.[30] Each track is specially chosen, often by their families, and usually has a special meaning to an individual member of the crew, or is applicable to their daily activities.[30][31]

Flight Day Song Artist/Composer
Day 2 "I Can See For Miles" The Who
Day 3 "Theme From Fireball XL5" Barry Gray
Day 4 "Roll With the Changes" REO Speedwagon
Day 5 "Reelin’ and Rockin" Chuck Berry
Day 6 "Roll with It" Steve Winwood
Day 7 "Good Times Roll" The Cars
Day 8 "Red Rubber Ball" Cyrkle
Day 9 "Alice’s Restaurant" Arlo Guthrie
Day 10 "Some Guys Have All the Luck" Robert Palmer
Day 11 "Changes" David Bowie
Day 12 "Break on Through (To the Other Side)" The Doors
Day 13 "Shooting Star" Bad Company
Day 14 "Stay" Jackson Browne
Day 15 "Return to Sender" Elvis Presley
Day 16 "Should I Stay or Should I Go" The Clash
Day 17 "Nobody Does It Better" Carly Simon
Day 18 "Please Come Home For Christmas" Sawyer Brown

See also

References

 This article incorporates public domain material from websites or documents of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration.

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "NASA – STS-80". NASA. Retrieved 14 November 2011.
  2. 1 2 "STS-80 Day 19 Highlights". NASA. 7 December 1996. Retrieved 14 November 2011.
  3. ↑ "STS-80 Day 2 Highlights". NASA. 20 November 1996. Retrieved 14 November 2011.
  4. ↑ "STS-80 Day 16 Highlights". NASA. 4 December 1996. Retrieved 14 November 2011.
  5. ↑ "CNN Student News One-Sheet: Space Shuttle Facts". CNN. 11 March 2008. Retrieved 24 May 2010.
  6. ↑ "Story Musgrave 6-time Space Shuttle Astronaut simulates Space Flight | Hubble Space Telescope | Space Exploration". Space Story. Retrieved 14 November 2011.
  7. ↑ "STS-124 Shuttle Report | Current Space Demographic Data". Spaceflight Now. Retrieved 14 November 2011.
  8. ↑
  9. ↑ http://science.ksc.nasa.gov/shuttle/missions/sts-80/sts-80-press-kit.txt
  10. 1 2 3 "STS-80". NASA. Retrieved 14 November 2011.
  11. ↑ "NASA – Space Experiment Module (SEM)". NASA. 8 November 2011. Retrieved 14 November 2011.
  12. ↑ Goddard News – Top Feature Archived 3 October 2006 at the Wayback Machine.
  13. ↑ "SEM 1 on STS-80". Musc.edu. Retrieved 14 November 2011.
  14. ↑ "NIH.R4/STS-80". NASA. Retrieved 14 November 2011.
  15. ↑ "KSC Fact Sheet "STS-80/Columbia – ORFEUS-SPAS-2/Wake Shield Facility-3"". NASA. Retrieved 14 November 2011.
  16. ↑ "ITA student program". Itaspace.com. Retrieved 14 November 2011.
  17. ↑ Jones, Thomas (2006). Sky Walking. New York, NY: HarperCollins. p. 159. ISBN 0-06-085152-X.
  18. ↑ "10 September 1996 Shuttle Status Report". NASA. Retrieved 14 November 2011.
  19. ↑ "18 September 1996 Shuttle Status Report". NASA. Retrieved 14 November 2011.
  20. ↑ "25 September 1996 Shuttle Status Report". NASA. Retrieved 14 November 2011.
  21. ↑ "26 September 1996 Shuttle Status Report". NASA. Retrieved 14 November 2011.
  22. ↑ "4 October 1996 Shuttle Status Report". NASA. Retrieved 14 November 2011.
  23. ↑ "10 October 1996 Shuttle Status Report". NASA. Retrieved 14 November 2011.
  24. ↑ "11 October 1996 Shuttle Status Report". NASA. Retrieved 14 November 2011.
  25. ↑ "16 October 1996 Shuttle Status Report". NASA. Retrieved 14 November 2011.
  26. ↑ "29 October 1996 Shuttle Status Report". NASA. Retrieved 14 November 2011.
  27. ↑ "4 November 1996 Shuttle Status Report". NASA. Retrieved 14 November 2011.
  28. ↑ "12 November 1996 Shuttle Status Report". NASA. Retrieved 14 November 2011.
  29. ↑ "14 November 1996 Shuttle Status Report". NASA. 14 November 1996. Retrieved 14 November 2011.
  30. 1 2 Fries, Colin (25 June 2007). "Chronology of Wakeup Calls" (PDF). NASA. Retrieved 13 August 2007.
  31. ↑ NASA (11 May 2009). "STS-80 Wakeup Calls". NASA.
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