Casper

Creighton

Hilmers

Mullane

Thuot

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STS-36 Credit - NASA

28 February 1990 07:55 GMT. Landing Date: 1990-03-04 18:13:35 PM. Flight Time: 4.43 days. Flight Up: STS-36. Flight Back: STS-36. Call Sign: Atlantis. Crew: Casper, Creighton, Hilmers, Mullane, Thuot. Program: STS.

On the lighter side: One of the few unclassified experiments involved a head phantom - a human skull , covered with plastic muscle and skin, loaded with dosimeters to attempt to measure radiation penetrating the human brain during an orbital spaceflight. The crew played around with the head, attaching it to a sleeping bag and scaring the wits out of the busy pilot, placing it emerging from the toilet. Due to the classified mission, the joke pictures of this phantom in various positions were just about the only film available for public release - and NASA squelched that, for fear it would make it look like they were spending billions so some wiseacre astronauts could joke around.

NASA was conducting an experiment called the Bowel Sound Monitor to record the gurgles of the astronaut's digestive tract before launch and during the adjustment to zero-G. It was the unfortunate duty of one Air Force officer to have to listen to these tapes in their entirety to make sure no classified information had been recorded before they could be released to the doctors.

What went wrong: Launch delayed due to illness of crew members. Classified mission in 62 degree orbit, the highest inclination orbit ever flown by an American mission. Landed at: Runway 23 dry lake bed at Edwards Air Force Base, . Landing Speed: 368 kph. Touchdown miss distance: 494.00 m. Landing Rollout: 2,407.00 m. Payloads: DoD Mission - Record altitude (through 5/93).

STS-36 Credit- www.spacefacts.de

The first launch attempt was scrubbed when all but two of the crew came down with the flu. After a second scrub for weather, a third launch attempt came on February 25.

As the crew entered the room to suit up, they found the name tags misspelled on each recliner in which they were prepared. Thuot had done this in revenge for an early version of the crew patch that had misspelled his name. On the way out to the crew van, his oxygen hose snagged on a rail, nearly pulling him down to the ground. The commander and pilot still carried net backs full of medications to fight off their flu symptoms. The crew was led by astronaut Coats in prayer before they departed for the gantry "God help you if you screw this up". The view of the shuttle, prepared for night launch, reminded Mullane of Chesley Bonestell's classic painting "Zero Hour Minus Five" from the 1950's Conquest of Space. However this launch was again scrubbed due to failure of a range safety backup computer.

A fourth attempt, again after loading the crew into the shuttle, was scrubbed due to bad weather at an RTLS abort site. The launch was rescheduled for two days later to give everyone time to rest after days of all-night work.

Finally launched on 28 February, the work in orbit was almost entirely classified.

Mullane enjoyed, on his last mission, the best view from the shuttle - by floating horizontally, and putting his body over the control panel, his face looking out through the forward windscreen, offering a completely unobstructed view.

After the mission, the crew was invited to the White House to meet President Bush - an unusual thing, and indicative of the importance given to the secret mission.

Mission Name: STS-36 (34)
Atlantis (6)
Pad 39-A (38)
34th Shuttle mission
6th Flight OV-104
4th Night launch

Crew:
John O. Creighton (2), Commander
John H. Casper (1), Pilot
Richard M. Mullane (3), Mission Specialist 1
David C. Hilmers (3), Mission Specialist 2
Pierre J. Thuot (1), Mission Specialist 3

Milestones:
OPF - Oct. 30, 1989
VAB - Jan. 19, 1990
PAD - Jan. 25, 1990

Payload:
DoD(6)
Mission Objectives:

Launch:
February 28, 1990, 2:50:22 a.m. EST. Launch set for Feb. 22 postponed to Feb 23, Feb. 24, and Feb. 25 due to illness of the crew commander and weather conditions. First time since Apollo 13 in 1970 that manned space mission was affected by illness of crew member. Launch set for Feb. 25 scrubbed due to malfunction of range safety computer. Launch set for Feb. 26 scrubbed due to weather conditions. (Note: external tank loaded only for launch attempts on Feb. 25 and 26, and launch on Feb. 28.) Launch Feb. 28 set for classified window lying within launch period extending from 12 midnight to 4 a.m. EST. Launch Weight: Classified.
Orbit:
Altitude: 132
Inclination: 62.0 degrees
Orbits: 72
Duration: 4 days, 10 hours, 18 minutes, 22 seconds.
Distance: 1,920,000 miles (approx)

STS-36 Aerial view of STS-36 Atlantis, OV-104, at KSC LC Pad 39A with T-38A in-flight... Credit- NASA

Hardware:
SRB: BI-036
SRM: 360L009
ET : 33/LWT-26
MLP : 1
SSME-1: SN-2019
SSME-2: SN-2030
SSME-3: SN-2027

Landing:
March 4, 1990, 10:08:44 a.m. PST, Runway 23, Edwards Air Force Base, Calif. Rollout distance: 7,900 feet. Rollout time: 53 sec. Orbiter returned to KSC on March 13,1990. Landing Weight: 187,200 lbs.

Mission Highlights:
Sixth mission dedicated to Department of Defense.

• 1990 Feb 28 - STS-36  Crew: Casper, Creighton, Hilmers, Mullane, Thuot. Spacecraft: Atlantis. Payload: Atlantis F06 / KH-12 1. Launch Site: Cape Canaveral. Launch Vehicle: Shuttle. Duration: 4.43 days. Perigee: 198 km (123 mi). Apogee: 204 km (126 mi). Inclination: 62.00 deg. Period: 88.50 min.

  Manned five crew. Deployed a classified payload. Landed at: Runway 23 dry lake bed at Edwards Air Force Base, . Landing Speed: 368 kph. Touchdown miss distance: 494.00 m. Landing Rollout: 2,407.00 m. Payloads: DoD Mission - Record altitude (through 5/93).

• 1990 Mar 4 - Landing of STS-36 

  STS-36 landed at 18:13 GMT.