STS-61-B

Last updated

STS-61-B
Structures in Space - GPN-2000-001080.jpg
Construction of the ACCESS structure.
Names Space Transportation System-23
Mission typeSatellites deployment
Technology
Operator NASA
COSPAR ID 1985-109A OOjs UI icon edit-ltr-progressive.svg
SATCAT no. 16273 OOjs UI icon edit-ltr-progressive.svg
Mission duration6 days, 21 hours, 4 minutes, 49 seconds
Distance travelled3,970,181 km (2,466,956 mi)
Orbits completed109
Spacecraft properties
Spacecraft Space Shuttle Atlantis
Launch mass118,664 kg (261,609 lb)
Landing mass93,316 kg (205,727 lb)
Payload mass21,791 kg (48,041 lb)
Crew
Crew size7
Members
EVAs 2
EVA duration
  • 12 hours, 13 minutes
  • 1st EVA: 5 hours, 32 minutes
  • 2nd EVA: 6 hours, 41 minutes
Start of mission
Launch dateNovember 27, 1985, 00:29:00 (November 27, 1985, 00:29:00)  UTC (7:29 am  EST)
Launch site Kennedy, LC-39A
Contractor Rockwell International
End of mission
Landing dateDecember 3, 1985, 21:33:49 (December 3, 1985, 21:33:49) UTC (1:33:49 pm  PST)
Landing site Edwards, Runway 22
Orbital parameters
Reference system Geocentric orbit
Regime Low Earth orbit
Perigee altitude 361 km (224 mi)
Apogee altitude 370 km (230 mi)
Inclination 28.45°
Period 91.90 minutes
Instruments
  • Assembly Concept for Construction of Erectable Space Structures (ACCESS)
  • Continuous Flow Electrophoresis System (CFES)
  • Diffusive Mixing of Organic Solutions (DMOS)
  • Experimental Assembly of Structures in EVA (EASE)
  • Getaway Special (GAS) canister
  • Morelos Payload Specialist Experiments (MPSE)
  • Orbiter Experiments (OEX)
Sts-61-b-patch.png
STS-61-B mission patch
STS-61-B crew.jpg
Back row: Walker, Ross, Cleave, Spring and Neri Vela
Front row: O'Connor and Shaw
←  STS-61-A (22)
STS-61-C (24) →

STS-61-B was the 23rd NASA Space Shuttle mission, and its second using Space Shuttle Atlantis . The shuttle was launched from Kennedy Space Center, Florida, on November 26, 1985. During STS-61-B, the shuttle crew deployed three communications satellites, and tested techniques of constructing structures in orbit. Atlantis landed at Edwards Air Force Base, California, at 16:33:49 EST on December 3, 1985, after 6 days, 21 hours, 4 minutes, and 49 seconds in orbit.

Contents

STS-61-B marked the quickest turnaround of a Shuttle orbiter from launch to launch in history – just 54 days elapsed between Atlantis' launch on STS-51-J and launch on STS-61-B. As of August 2022, this is still the record for turn around between two flights of the same orbital space vehicle. The mission was also notable for carrying the first Mexican astronaut, Rodolfo Neri Vela. This was also Atlantis' second and final mission before the Space Shuttle Challenger disaster in 1986. The Challenger disaster would ground the shuttle fleet for two and a half years and Atlantis would not fly again until STS-27, which launched three years later on December 2, 1988.

Crew

Position Astronaut
Commander Flag of the United States.svg Brewster H. Shaw Jr.
Second spaceflight
Pilot Flag of the United States.svg Bryan D. O'Connor
First spaceflight
Mission Specialist 1 Flag of the United States.svg Jerry L. Ross
First spaceflight
Mission Specialist 2
Flight Engineer		 Flag of the United States.svg Mary L. Cleave
First spaceflight
Mission Specialist 3 Flag of the United States.svg Sherwood C. Spring
Only spaceflight
Payload Specialist 1 Flag of the United States.svg Charles D. Walker
Third and last spaceflight
McDonnell Douglas
Payload Specialist 2 Flag of Mexico.svg Rodolfo Neri Vela
Only spaceflight
SCT

Backup crew

Position Astronaut
Payload Specialist 1 Flag of the United States.svg Robert J. Wood
McDonnell Douglas
Payload Specialist 2 Flag of Mexico.svg Ricardo Peralta y Fabi
SCT

Crew seat assignments

Seat [1] LaunchLanding Space Shuttle seating plan.svg
Seats 1–4 are on the flight deck.
Seats 5–7 are on the mid-deck.
1Shaw
2O'Connor
3RossSpring
4Cleave
5SpringRoss
6Walker
7Neri Vela

Shuttle processing

After landing at the Edwards Air Force Base at the end of STS-51-J on October 7, 1985, Atlantis returned to the Kennedy Space Center on October 12, 1985. The shuttle was moved directly into an Orbiter Processing Facility (OPF), where post-flight de-servicing and pre-flight processing took place simultaneously.

After only 26 days in the OPF, a record fast processing in the history of the Space Shuttle program, the shuttle was rolled to the Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB) on November 7, 1985. [2] Atlantis was mated with the External Tank (ET) and Solid Rocket Booster (SRB) stack and was rolled out to launch LC-39A on November 12, 1985.

Payload

Deployment of the Satcom-K2 satellite STS-61-B SATCOM Ku-2 deployment.jpg
Deployment of the Satcom-K2 satellite

Three satellites were deployed during this mission: Aussat-2, Morelos-2, and Satcom-K2. Aussat-2 and Morelos-2 were the second satellites in their series (the first satellites in the series were deployed during STS-51-I and STS-51-G). Both of these were Hughes Space and Communications HS-376 satellites and were equipped with a Payload Assist Module (PAM-D) booster to reach geostationary transfer orbit (GTO). Satcom-K2 was a version of the RCA 4000 series satellites, which were owned and operated by RCA American Communications (RCA). This satellite was deployed using a PAM-D2 booster (which was a larger version of the PAM-D). This was the first flight of the PAM-D2 booster on a Space Shuttle.

All three satellites were successfully deployed, one at a time, and their booster stages fired automatically to lift them to geostationary transfer orbits. Their respective owners assumed charge, and later fired the onboard kick motors at apogee, to circularize the orbits and align them with the equator.

Middeck payloads

Other items

A checkered racing flag was carried on board Atlantis during STS-61-B; the flag is now on display at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Hall of Fame Museum. This was also the second test flight of the Orbiter Experiments (OEX) advanced autopilot. It ran for approximately 65 hours and demonstrated the ability to fly the orbiter on nose jets only, aft jets only, to automatically stationkeep on another satellite and to fly an orbit with zero aerodynamic drag. The OEX autopilot was also more fuel efficient than the baseline system.

Mission summary

Night launch of Atlantis at the beginning of the STS-61-B mission STS61B Launch.jpg
Night launch of Atlantis at the beginning of the STS-61-B mission
Construction of the EASE structure Ease assembly.jpg
Construction of the EASE structure

Space Shuttle Atlantis lifted off from Launch Complex 39A at Kennedy Space Center at 19:29:00 p.m. EST on November 26, 1985. The launch marked the second night launch of the Space Shuttle program, and the ninth and final flight of 1985. [3]

A key element of the mission's objectives was EASE/ACCESS, an experiment in assembling large structures in space. EASE/ACCESS was a joint venture between the Langley Research Center (LRC) and the Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC). ACCESS was a "high-rise" tower composed of many small struts and nodes. EASE was a geometric structure shaped like an inverted pyramid, that was composed of a few large beams and nodes. Together, these experiments demonstrated the feasibility of assembling large preformed structures in space. Astronauts Ross and Spring performed two spacewalks on the mission, which marked the 50th, and 51st extravehicular activity (EVAs) for the United States, and the 12th and the 13th for the Shuttle program. An IMAX camera mounted in the cargo bay filmed the activities of the astronauts engaged in the EASE/ACCESS work, as well as other scenes of interest.

"This is probably not the preferred way of building a space station", Ross said later of EASE. [4] [5] The astronauts reported that the most difficult part of the spacewalks was torquing their own masses while holding the EASE beams. They found that ACCESS worked well, while EASE required too much free floating. The astronauts judged that performing six-hour spacewalks every other day over a five or six-day period was feasible, and recommended glove changes to reduce hand fatigue. Ross said in the EVA debrief that the crew had tried to have the Manned Maneuvering Unit (MMU) manifested for use in the second spacewalk, because "for certain applications it would be very useful. In particular if you were building portions of a space station attached to the orbiter, then moving those portions farther than the manipulator arm could transport them". He added that the MMU could be used to attach cable runs and instruments in places that were out of reach of the shuttle's robotic arm (Canadarm).

During the mission astronaut Rodolfo Neri Vela accomplished a series of experiments, that were primarily related to human physiology. He also photographed Mexico and Mexico City as part of the mission's Earth observations. However, Commander Brewster Shaw installed a padlock on the hatch control because he was "particularly concerned" that the Mexican could "flip out" during the mission. [6] Shaw had noted that he didn't think that Neri Vela noticed the padlock, but that the other members of the crew did. [6] Astronaut Charles Walker again operated the Continuous Flow Electrophoresis System (CFES), the third flight of this larger and improved equipment, to produce commercial pharmaceutical products in microgravity. An experiment in Diffusive Mixing of Organic Solutions (DMOS), was conducted successfully for 3M. The object of this experiment was to grow single crystals that were larger and more pure than any that could be grown on Earth. One Getaway Special (GAS) canister stored in Atlantis's payload bay carried a Canadian student experiment, which involved the fabrication of mirrors in microgravity with higher performance than ones made on Earth.

All the experiments on this mission were successfully accomplished, and all equipment operated within established parameters. Atlantis landed safely at Edwards Air Force Base at 16:33:49 EST on December 3, 1985, after a mission lasting 6 days, 21 hours, 4 minutes, 49 seconds. Atlantis landed one orbit earlier than planned due to lighting concerns at the Edwards. Rollout distance on landing was 3,279 m (10,758 ft) lasting 78 seconds. [7]

Spacewalks

Two spacewalks were conducted during the STS-61-B mission to demonstrate assembly techniques which might be used in space station assembly. [4]

EVASpacewalkersStart (UTC)End (UTC)Duration
1Jerry L. Ross
Sherwood C. Spring		November 29, 1985, 24:42 [1] November 30, 1985, 03:17 [1] 5 hours, 32 minutes
EVA 1 focused on human performance during assembling of an experimental erectable truss structure. Ross and Spring first assembled the 3.4 m (11 ft) Assembly Concept for Construction of Erectable Space Structures (ACCESS) assembly jig in Atlantis' payload bay. Each cell was assembled in the jig, then pushed up so that the next cell could be assembled. The astronauts assembled the ACCESS truss in 55 minutes, (EVA time line allotted two hours for a single ACCESS assembly) so they assembled it and built it again. The Experimental Assembly of Structures through EVA (EASE) task involved putting together beams weighing 29 kg (64 lb) to make a 3.6 m (12 ft) three-sided pyramid assessed the capabilities of free-floating astronauts. EASE was scheduled to be assembled six times, but Ross and Spring managed eight assemblies. During the first four assemblies the astronauts used foot restraints. In his post flight debriefing, Spring noted that his fingers grew numb during the third EASE assembly and very tired during the fourth. At the end of the EVA Spring assembled and hand-deployed a small target satellite to be used after the EVA as a station-keeping target for Atlantis, which played the role of an automated orbital maneuvering vehicle in rendezvous software tests.
2Jerry L. Ross
Sherwood C. Spring		December 1, 1985, ≈20:30 [1] December 2, 1985, ≈03:10 [1] 6 hours, 41 minutes
The purpose of EVA 2 was to assess the ability of astronauts to handle large structural elements and the ability of the Shuttle's robotic arm (Canadarm), to support future station assembly. Ross and Spring assembled nine bays of ACCESS, then placed parts for the tenth bay on the Canadarm. Ross stepped into the Manipulator Foot Restraint (MFR) and astronaut Mary C. Cleave positioned him within reach of the top of the ACCESS girder, where he assembled the tenth bay. The parts were not tethered. Ross performed a cable run assembly simulation by attaching a tether along the side of the tower while Cleave positioned him. Then Spring released the bottom of the tower so Ross could try to precisely handle the beam from the RMS. He replaced it in the assembly jig where it started, demonstrating astronaut ability to assemble a truss in one place and install it in another. Spring then replaced Ross on the MFR. He changed a beam on the tower to simulate structural repair, then pointed the truss at the Moon to judge his handling ability. The astronauts took down ACCESS, and Spring assembled EASE from the RMS. Before finishing, he joined two beams to simulate handling a thermal control heat pipe. Ross unlatched the EASE pyramid so that Spring could maneuver it. Then he replaced Spring on the MFR to duplicate the EASE activities.

Wake-up calls

NASA began a tradition of playing music to astronauts during the Project Gemini, and first used music to wake up a flight crew during Apollo 15. 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. [8]

Flight DaySongArtist/ComposerPlayed for
Day 2"Air Force Hymn"Brewster H. Shaw Jr.
Day 3"America the Beautiful"
Day 4"Marine Corps Hymn" Bryan O'Connor
Day 5"Notre Dame Victory March"Jerry L. Ross
Day 6"Born in the U.S.A." Bruce Springsteen

See also

Related Research Articles

Space Shuttle <i>Atlantis</i> Retired Space Shuttle orbiter (1985–2011)

Space Shuttle Atlantis is a retired Space Shuttle orbiter vehicle which belongs to NASA, the spaceflight and space exploration agency of the United States. Atlantis was manufactured by the Rockwell International company in Southern California and was delivered to the Kennedy Space Center in Eastern Florida in April 1985. Atlantis is also the fourth operational and the second-to-last Space Shuttle built. Its maiden flight was STS-51-J made from October 3 to 7, 1985.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">STS-6</span> 1983 American crewed spaceflight and maiden flight of Space Shuttle Challenger

STS-6 was the sixth NASA Space Shuttle mission and the maiden flight of the Space ShuttleChallenger. Launched from Kennedy Space Center on April 4, 1983, the mission deployed the first Tracking and Data Relay Satellite, TDRS-1, into orbit, before landing at Edwards Air Force Base on April 9, 1983. STS-6 was the first Space Shuttle mission during which a Extravehicular activity was conducted, and hence was the first in which the Extravehicular Mobility Unit (EMU) was used.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">STS-41-C</span> 1984 American crewed spaceflight to the Solar Maximum Mission satellite

STS-41-C was NASA's eleventh Space Shuttle mission, and the fifth mission of Space Shuttle Challenger. The launch, which took place on April 6, 1984, marked the first direct ascent trajectory for a Space Shuttle mission. During the mission, Challenger's crew captured and repaired the malfunctioning Solar Maximum Mission satellite, and deployed the Long Duration Exposure Facility (LDEF) experimental apparatus. STS-41-C was extended one day due to problems capturing the Solar Max satellite, and the landing on April 13, 1984, took place at Edwards Air Force Base, instead of at Kennedy Space Center as had been planned. The flight was originally numbered STS-13.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jerry L. Ross</span> NASA astronaut and engineer (born 1948)

Jerry Lynn Ross is a retired United States Air Force officer, engineer, and a former NASA astronaut. Ross is a veteran of 7 Space Shuttle missions, making him the joint record holder for most spaceflights.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Marsha Ivins</span> American astronaut (born 1951)

Marsha Sue Ivins is an American retired astronaut and a veteran of five Space Shuttle missions.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">STS-51-D</span> 1985 American crewed spaceflight to deploy communications satellites

STS-51-D was the 16th 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 (KSC), Florida, on April 12, 1985, was delayed by 55 minutes, after a boat strayed into the restricted Solid Rocket Booster (SRB) recovery zone. STS-51-D was the third shuttle mission to be extended.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">STS-51-G</span> 1985 American crewed spaceflight to deploy communications satellites

STS-51-G was the 18th flight of NASA's Space Shuttle program, and the fifth flight of Space Shuttle Discovery. The seven-day mission launched from Kennedy Space Center, Florida, on June 17, 1985, and landed at Edwards Air Force Base, California, on June 24, 1985. Sultan bin Salman Al Saud from Saudi Arabia was on board as a payload specialist; Al Saud became the first Arab, the first Muslim, and the first member of a royal family to fly into space. It was also the first Space Shuttle mission which flew without at least one astronaut from the pre-Shuttle era among its crew.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">STS-37</span> 1991 American crewed spaceflight to deploy the Compton Gamma Ray Observatory

STS-37, the thirty-ninth NASA Space Shuttle mission and the eighth flight of the Space Shuttle Atlantis, was a six-day mission with the primary objective of launching the Compton Gamma Ray Observatory (CGRO), the second of the Great Observatories program which included the visible-spectrum Hubble Space Telescope (HST), the Chandra X-ray Observatory (CXO) and the infrared Spitzer Space Telescope. The mission also featured two spacewalks, the first since 1985.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Shannon Lucid</span> American biochemist and astronaut (born 1943)

Shannon Matilda Wells Lucid is an American biochemist and retired NASA astronaut. She has flown in space five times, including a prolonged mission aboard the Russian space station Mir in 1996, and is the only American woman to have stayed on Mir. From 1996 to 2007, Lucid held the record for the longest duration spent in space by an American and by a woman. She was awarded the Congressional Space Medal of Honor in December 1996, making her the tenth person and the first woman to be accorded the honor.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Karol J. Bobko</span> American astronaut (1937–2023)

Karol Joseph "Bo" Bobko was an American aerospace engineer, U.S. Air Force officer, test pilot, and a USAF and NASA astronaut. Bobko was the first graduate of the U.S. Air Force Academy to travel in space and the first person to fly on a space shuttle on three different missions: STS-6, STS-51-D, STS-51-J.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Richard O. Covey</span> American astronaut (born 1946)

Richard Oswalt Covey is a retired United States Air Force officer, former NASA astronaut, and a member of the United States Astronaut Hall of Fame.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">STS-112</span> 2002 American crewed spaceflight to the ISS

STS-112 was an 11-day Space Shuttle mission to the International Space Station (ISS) flown by Space ShuttleAtlantis. Space Shuttle Atlantis was launched on 7 October 2002 at 19:45 UTC from the Kennedy Space Center's launch pad 39B to deliver the 28,000 pound Starboard 1 (S1) truss segment to the Space Station. Ending a 4.5-million-mile journey, Atlantis landed at 15:44 UTC on 18 October 2002 on runway 33 at the Kennedy Space Center's Shuttle Landing Facility.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Brewster H. Shaw</span> American astronaut and USAF colonel (born 1945)

Brewster Hopkinson Shaw Jr. is a retired NASA astronaut, U.S. Air Force colonel, and former executive at Boeing. Shaw was inducted into the U.S. Astronaut Hall of Fame on May 6, 2006.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mary L. Cleave</span> American astronaut and engineer (1947–2023)

Mary Louise Cleave was an American engineer and NASA astronaut. She also served from 2005 to 2007 as NASA Associate Administrator for the Science Mission Directorate.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">David C. Hilmers</span> American astronaut (born 1950)

David Carl Hilmers is a former NASA astronaut who flew four Space Shuttle missions. He was born in Clinton, Iowa, but considers DeWitt, Iowa, to be his hometown. He has two grown sons. His recreational interests include playing the piano, gardening, electronics, spending time with his family, and all types of sports. His parents are deceased. With five academic degrees, he is the second most formally educated U.S. astronaut, behind Story Musgrave with six.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Steven R. Nagel</span> American test pilot, astronaut and engineer (1946–2014)

Steven Ray Nagel, , was an American astronaut, aeronautical and mechanical engineer, test pilot, and a United States Air Force pilot. In total, he logged 723 hours in space. After NASA, he worked at the University of Missouri College of Engineering as an instructor in its Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Department.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rodolfo Neri Vela</span> Mexican scientist and astronaut (born 1952)

Rodolfo Neri Vela is a Mexican scientist and astronaut who flew aboard a NASA Space Shuttle mission in the year 1985. He is the second Latin American to have traveled to space after Cuban cosmonaut Arnaldo Tamayo Méndez.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">STS-129</span> 2009 American crewed spaceflight to the ISS

STS-129 was a NASA Space Shuttle mission to the International Space Station (ISS). Atlantis was launched on November 16, 2009, at 14:28 EST, and landed at 09:44 EST on November 27, 2009, on runway 33 at the Kennedy Space Center's Shuttle Landing Facility. It was also the last Shuttle mission of the 2000s.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">STS-132</span> 2010 American crewed spaceflight to the ISS

STS-132 was a NASA Space Shuttle mission, during which Space Shuttle Atlantis docked with the International Space Station on May 16, 2010. STS-132 was launched from the Kennedy Space Center on May 14, 2010. The primary payload was the Russian Rassvet Mini-Research Module, along with an Integrated Cargo Carrier-Vertical Light Deployable (ICC-VLD). Atlantis landed at the Kennedy Space Center on May 26, 2010.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">STS-135</span> 2011 American crewed spaceflight to the ISS and final flight of the Space Shuttle program

STS-135 was the 135th and final mission of the American Space Shuttle program. It used the orbiter Atlantis and hardware originally processed for the STS-335 contingency mission, which was not flown. STS-135 launched on July 8, 2011, and landed on July 21, 2011, following a one-day mission extension. The four-person crew was the smallest of any shuttle mission since STS-6 in April 1983. The mission's primary cargo was the Multi-Purpose Logistics Module (MPLM) Raffaello and a Lightweight Multi-Purpose Carrier (LMC), which were delivered to the International Space Station (ISS). The flight of Raffaello marked the only time that Atlantis carried an MPLM.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 "STS-61B". Spacefacts. Retrieved February 26, 2014.
  2. ↑ Chris Gebhardt (July 2, 2011). "OV-104/ATLANTIS: An International Vehicle for a Changing World". NASASpaceFlight.com. Retrieved July 3, 2011.
  3. ↑ "SPACE SHUTTLE MISSION STS-61B PRESS KIT" (PDF). NASA. November 1985. Retrieved July 3, 2011.PD-icon.svg This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain .
  4. 1 2 David S. Portree and Robert C. Trevino (October 1997). "Walking to Olympus: An EVA chronology (Monograpahs in Aerospace History Series #7)" (PDF). NASA History Office. Retrieved July 3, 2011.PD-icon.svg This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain .
  5. ↑ "Astronauts Believe Lengthy EVA Building Sessions are Feasible". Aviation Week & Space Technology. December 16, 1985. pp. 20–21.
  6. 1 2 Evans, Ben (2012). Tragedy and triumph in orbit: the eighties and early nineties. New York, N.Y.: Springer. p. 424. ISBN   978-1-46143-430-6.
  7. ↑ "STS-61B". NASA. Retrieved July 3, 2011.PD-icon.svg This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain .
  8. ↑ Fries, Colin (June 25, 2007). "Chronology of Wakeup Calls" (PDF). NASA. Retrieved August 13, 2007.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.