AKA: Discovery. Launched: 1990-10-06. Returned: 1990-10-10. Number crew: 5 . Duration: 4.09 days.
Payloads: Deploy Ulysses, Shuttle Solar Backscatter Ultraviolet, Intelsat Solar Array Coupon, Solid-Surface Combustion Experiment, Investigations Into Polymer Membrane Processing, Chromo-some and Plant Cell Division in Space, Physiological Systems Experiment, Voice Command System, Radiation Monitoring Equipment III, Air Force Maui Optical Site.
Orbits of Earth: 65. Distance traveled: 2,747,866 km. Orbiter Liftoff Mass: 132,911 kg. Orbiter Mass at Landing: 89,803 kg. Payload to Orbit: 22,140 kg. Payload Returned: 4,662 kg. Landed at: Concrete runway 22 at Edwards Air Force Base, Cali. Landing Speed: 359 kph. Touchdown miss distance: 699 m. Landing Rollout: 2,600 m.
NASA Official Mission Narrative
Mission Name: STS-41 (36)
DISCOVERY (11)
Pad 39-B (15)
36th Shuttle mission
11th Flight OV-103
Crew:
Richard N. Richards (2), Commander
Robert D. Cabana (1), Pilot
William M. Shepherd (2), Mission Specialist 1
Bruce E. Melnick (1), Mission Specialist 2
Thomas D. Akers (1), Mission Specialist 3
Milestones:
OPF - May 8, 1990
VAB - Aug. 27, 1990
PAD - Sept. 4, 1990
Payload:
ULYSSES,SSBUV-02,ISAC
Mission Objectives:
Launch:
October 6, 1990, 7:47:15 a.m. EDT. Liftoff occurred 12 minutes after two-and-a-half-hour launch window opened at 7:35 a.m. EDT, Oct.6. Heaviest payload to date. Launch Weight: 259,593 lbs.
Orbit:
Altitude: 160nm
Inclination: 28.45 degrees
Orbits: 66
Duration: 4 days, 2 hours, 10 minutes, 4 seconds.
Distance: 1,707,445 miles
Hardware:
SRB: BI-040
SRM: 360Q013
ET : 39/LWT-32
MLP : 2
SSME-1: SN-2011
SSME-2: SN-2031
SSME-3: SN-2107
Landing:
October 10, 1990, 6:57:18 a.m. PDT, Runway 22, Edwards Air Force Base, Calif. Rollout distance: 8,276 feet. Rollout time: 49 seconds (braking test). Orbiter returned to KSC Oct. 16,1990. Landing Weight: 196,869 lbs.
Mission Highlights:
Primary payload, ESA-built Ulysses spacecraft to explore polar regions of Sun, deployed. Two upper stages, Inertial Upper Stage (IUS) and a mission-specific Payload Assist Module-S (PAM-S), combined together for first time to send Ulysses toward out-of- ecliptic trajectory. Other payloads and experiments: Shuttle Solar Backscatter Ultraviolet (SSBUV) experiment; INTELSAT Solar Array Coupon (ISAC); Chromosome and Plant Cell Division Experiment (CHROMEX); Voice Command System (VCS); Solid Surface Combustion Experiment (SSCE), Investigations into Polymer Membrane Processing (IPMP); Physiological Systems Experiment (PSE); Radiation Monitoring Experiment III (RME III); Shuttle Student involvement Program (SSIP) and Air Force Maui Optical Site (AMOS) experiment.
STS-41 Credit: www.spacefacts.de |
STS-41 Rare view of two space shuttles on adjacent KSC Launch Complex (LC) 39 pads Credit: NASA |
STS-41 STS-41 Discovery, OV-103, lifts off from KSC Launch Complex (LC) Pad 39 Credit: NASA |
STS-41 STS-41 external tank (ET) falls back to Earth after release from OV-103 Credit: NASA |
STS-41 STS-41 crewmembers conduct DSO 0472 Intraocular Pressure on OV-103's middeck Credit: NASA |
STS-41 STS-41 ISAC deployed on remote manipulator system (RMS) lower arm boom Credit: NASA |
STS-41 Ulysses spacecraft and its upper stage system are deployed during STS-41 Credit: NASA |
STS-41 Ulysses spacecraft and its upper stage system are deployed during STS-41 Credit: NASA |
STS-41 Ulysses spacecraft and its upper stage system are deployed during STS-41 Credit: NASA |
Manned five crew. Deployed Ulysses spacecraft. Payloads: Deploy Ulysses, Shuttle Solar Backscatter Ultraviolet, Intelsat Solar Array Coupon, Solid-Surface Combustion Experiment, Investigations Into Polymer Membrane Processing, Chromo-some and Plant Cell Division in Space, Physiological Systems Experiment, Voice Command System, Radiation Monitoring Equipment III, Air Force Maui Optical Site.
"Rise and Shine, Discovery!" written and performed by Boeing Aerospace & Electronics Co. Employees as a tribute to the successful deployment of the Ulysses probe, using a Boeing built booster. Sung by the Boeing Employees Choir. Michael Kysar, Boeing Choir Director, and Gloria Ball, choir member, collaborated on words and music. It includes the refrain: Sailing along, sailing along, flying to explore the galaxy.