Barry

Chiao

Duffy

Jett

Scott Winston

Wakata

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11 January 1996 09:41 GMT. Landing Date: 1996-01-20 07:42:47 PM. Flight Time: 8.92 days. Flight Up: STS-72. Flight Back: STS-72. Call Sign: Endeavour. Crew: Barry, Chiao, Duffy, Jett, Scott Winston, Wakata. Program: STS. Deployed and retrieved OAST Flyer; retrieved SFU Space Flyer Unit. Beside the two satellite retrievals, the mission included two spacewalks.

Deployed and retrieved OAST Flyer; retrieved SFU Space Flyer Unit. Beside the two satellite retrievals, the mission included two spacewalks. Endeavour completed its rendezvous with the Space Flyer Unit satellite on Jan 13. The SFU successfully retracted its solar panels, but failed to latch them, so the decision was made to jettison them. The first panel was ejected at 0935 GMT and the second at 0947 GMT. At 1057 GMT the RMS 303 robot arm was used to grapple SFU, and it was berthed in Endeavour's payload bay at 1139 GMT. SFU carried science and technology experiments for Japan's National Space Development Agency.

Endeavour then lowered its orbit to 302 x 311 km x 28.5 deg. The OAST-Flyer (Spartan 206) satellite was released using the RMS arm at 1132 GMT on Jan 14. OAST-Flyer carried an experiment to measure contamination caused by spacecraft outgassing, and a test of a laser-fired explosive separation device to make sure the device doesn't go off accidentally in sunlight. It also carried an amateur radio experiment.

Astronauts Leroy Chiao and Daniel Barry carried out a spacewalk on Jan 15. The airlock was depressurized at 0525 GMT, and NASA declared the EVA in progress at 0535 GMT. The hatch was opened at 0540 GMT. Chiao and Barry tested out Space Station equipment including a portable work platform and a rigid umbilical truss for carrying electrical cables and fluid lines. The astronauts returned to the airlock at 1130 GMT and closed the hatch 3 minutes later, returning their suits to orbiter power and repressurizing the airlock at 1144 GMT. NASA's official time for the walk was 6h 9m 19s.

STS-72 Credit- www.spacefacts.de

On Jan 15-16 the Shuttle carried out a series of rendezvous burns to approach the OAST-Flyer Spartan, and on Jan 16 at 0947 GMT Wakata grappled the satellite with the RMS arm.

The second spacewalk to test out Space Station tools and equipment was performed by Chiao and Winston Scott. It started a little behind schedule, with depressurization at 0534 GMT on Jan 17, and hatch opening at 0554. The spacewalk ended at 1234 GMT, for a duration 6h 53m 41s. Scott tested out the thermal modifications to the spacesuit by standing in shadow on the Spartan Flight Support Structure while the Orbiter was turned to make the payload bay as cold as possible.

Endeavour closed its payload bay doors early on Jan 20, firing its braking rockets at 0641 GMT and reentered to a night-time landing on runway 15 at Kennedy Space Center at 0742 GMT on Jan 20.

Orbits of Earth: 142. Distance traveled: 5,954,572 km. Orbiter Liftoff Mass: 112,182 kg. Orbiter Mass at Landing: 98,549 kg. Payload to Orbit: 6,510 kg. Payload Returned: 10,084 kg. Landed at: Concrete runway 15 at Kennedy Space Center, Florid. Landing Speed: 342 kph. Touchdown miss distance: 1,032 m. Landing Rollout: 2,459 m. EVA: EVA No. 1, Leroy Chiao and Daniel T. Barry, 6 hours, 9 minutes; EVA No. 2, Leroy Chiao and Winston E. Scott, 6 hours, 53 minutes. Chiao and Barry evaluated a new EVA workstation, a movable stanchion that provides stability for astronauts and holders for tools, a flexible foot restraint, and a rigid umbilical that may be used on the International Space Station to hold fluid and electrical umbilicals in place. Payloads: Space Flyer Unit (SFU) retrieval; Office of Aeronautics and Space Technology (OAST) Flyer; Shuttle Solar Backscatter Ultraviolet (SSBUV/A; Shuttle Laser Altimeter (SLA) 01/ Getaway Special (GAS)(5); Extravehicular Activity Development Flight Test (EDFT) 03; Physiological and Anatomical Rodent Experiment (PARE)/National Institutes of Health (NIH) Rodents (R) 03; Protein Crystal Growth (PCG) Single-Locker Thermal Enclosure System (STES) 04; Commercial Protein Crystal Growth (CPCG) 08; Space Tissue Loss (STL)/National Institutes of Health (NIH) Cells (C) 05. Chiao and Scott evaluated a utility box designed to hold avionics and fluid line connections on the space station, an on-orbit-installed slidewire to which tethers can be connected, thermal improvements of space suits, and a wrist-mounted computer called the electronic cuff checklist. They also took measurements of the forces induced by work.

Launch:

January 11, 1996, 4:41:00 a.m. EST. Countdown to first Shuttle launch of year proceeded smoothly except for 23-minute delay due to communication glitches between various sites on ground, and to avoid potential collision with space debris.

Landing:

January 20, 1996, 2:41:41 a.m. EST, Runway 15, Kennedy Space Center, Fla. Rollout distance: 8,770 feet (2,673 meters). Rollout time: 66 seconds. Mission duration: eight days, 22 hours, 1 minute, 47 seconds. Landed revolution 141. Endeavour returned to Florida on first opportunity.

Mission Highlights:

First Shuttle flight of 1996 highlighted by retrieval of a Japanese satellite, deployment and retrieval of a NASA science payload, and two spacewalks.

Mission Specialist Wakata operated remote manipulator system arm on flight day three to pluck Japanese Space Flyer Unit (SFU) from orbit, completing 10-month scientific mission involving almost a dozen experiments ranging from materials science to biological studies. SFU was launched aboard a Japanese H-2 rocket March 18, 1995 from Tanegashima Space Center. Both solar arrays on SFU had to be jettisoned prior to retrieval when sensors indicated improper latching following retraction.

On flight day four, Wakata again operated Endeavour’s robot arm, this time to deploy Office of Aeronautics and Space Technology- Flyer (OAST-Flyer), sending experiment-laden platform on its way to a two-day free-flight at a distance of approximately 45 miles (72 kilometers) from the orbiter.

OAST-Flyer comprised of Spartan platform holding four experiments: Return Flux Experiment (REFLEX) to test accuracy of computer models predicting spacecraft exposure to contamination; Global Positioning System (GPS) Attitude Determination and Control Experiment (GADACS), to demonstrate GPS technology in space; Solar Exposure to Laser Ordnance Device (SELODE) to test laser ordnance devices; and Spartan Packet Radio Experiment (SPRE), an amateur radio communications experiment.

OAST-Flyer retrieved on flight day six, with Wakata again operating the remote manipulator system arm to retrieve the platform.

Two extravehicular activities (EVAs) conducted as part of continuing series to prepare for on-orbit construction of International Space Station. During first EVA on flight day five lasting 6 hours, nine minutes, Mission Specialists Chiao and Barry evaluated new portable work platform and a structure known as the rigid umbilical, which may be used on station to hold various fluid and electrical lines.

During second spacewalk on flight day seven, conducted by Chiao and Scott and lasting six hours, 53 minutes, portable work platform again evaluated. Also tested were a space station utility box designed to hold avionics and fluid line connects. Scott also tested spacesuit’s warmth in severe cold up to minus 104 degrees F. (-75 degrees C.).

Additional cargo bay payloads: Shuttle Solar Backscatter Ultraviolet (SSBUV) instrument flying for eighth time and designed to measure ozone concentrations in atmosphere. Also a Hitchhiker carrier holding Shuttle Laser Altimeter-01 (SLA-01)/Get Away Special (GAS) payload. SLA-01 first of four planned remote sensing flights to accurately measure distance between Earth’s surface and orbiter; five other GAS canisters held variety of experiments. In-cabin payloads: Physiological and Anatomical Rodent Experiment/ National Institutes of Health-Rodents (PARE/NIH-R3), one in series of experiments designed to study effect of microgravity on rodent anatomy and physiology; Space Tissue Loss/National Institutes of Health-C (STL/NIH-C5) to validate models of microgravity’s effects on bone, muscle and cells; Protein Crystal Growth-Single Locker Thermal Enclosure (PCG-STES) for growing high-quality protein crystals; and Commercial Protein Crystal Growth-8 (CPCG- 8) payload, which featured crystal growth of new form of recombinant human insulin.

• 1996 Jan 11 - STS-72  Crew: Barry, Chiao, Duffy, Jett, Scott Winston, Wakata. Spacecraft: Endeavour. Payload: Endeavour F10 / OAST / FSU. Mass: 6,510 kg (14,350 lb). Launch Site: Cape Canaveral. Launch Vehicle: Shuttle. Duration: 8.92 days. Perigee: 302 km (187 mi). Apogee: 310 km (190 mi). Inclination: 28.50 deg. Period: 90.60 min.

  Deployed and retrieved OAST Flyer; retrieved SFU Space Flyer Unit. Beside the two satellite retrievals, the mission included two spacewalks.

• 1996 Jan 15 - EVA STS-72-1  Crew: Chiao, Barry. EVA Type: Extra-Vehicular Activity. EVA Duration: 0.26 days. Spacecraft: Endeavour.

  Tested tools and techniques for extravehicular activity.

• 1996 Jan 17 - EVA STS-72-2  Crew: Chiao, Scott Winston. EVA Type: Extra-Vehicular Activity. EVA Duration: 0.29 days. Spacecraft: Endeavour.

  Tested tools and techniques for extravehicular activity.

• 1996 Jan 20 - Landing of STS-72 

  STS-72 landed at 07:42 GMT.