STS-45

First Belgian astronaut. Carried ATLAS-1 experimental package.

NASA Official Mission Narrative

Mission Name: STS-45 (46)
Atlantis (11)
Pad 39-A (45)
46th Shuttle Flight
11th Flight OV-104
KSC Landing (9)

Crew:
Charles F. Bolden (3), Commander
Brian Duffy (1), Pilot
Kathyrn D. Sullivan (3), Payload Commander
David C. Leestma (3), Mission Specialist 2
C. Michael Foale (1), Mission Specialist 3
Byron K. Lichtenberg (2), Payload Specialist 1
Dirk D. Frimout (1), Payload Specialist 2

Milestones:
OPF - 12/9/91
VAB - 2/13/92
PAD - 2/19/92

Payload:
ATLAS-01,SSBUV-04,STL-01,IPMP,SAREX(2),VFT-2,RME-III,CLOUDS-1A,GAS(x1)
Mission Objectives:

Launch:
March 24, l992, 8:13 a.m. EST. Launch originally scheduled for March 23, but was delayed one day because of higher the allowable concentrations of liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen in the orbiter's aft compartment during tanking operations. During troubleshooting, the leaks could not be reproduced, leading engineers to believe that they were the result of plumbing in the main propulsion system not thermally conditioned to the super cold propellants. Launch was rescheduled for March 24. Launch Weight: 233,650 lbs.
Orbit:
Altitude: 160nm
Inclination: 57.0 degrees
Orbits: 143
Duration: 8 days, 22 hours, 9 minutes 28 seconds.
Distance: 3,238,177 miles

Hardware:
SRB: BI-049
SRM: 360L/W021
ET : 44/LWT-37
MLP : 1
SSME-1: SN-2024
SSME-2: SN-2012
SSME-3: SN-2028

Landing:
April 2, 1992, 6:23 a.m. EST, Runway 33, Kennedy Space Center. Rollout distance 9,227 feet. Mission extended one day to continue science experiments. Landing Weight: 205,042 lbs.

Mission Highlights:
Carried first Atmospheric Laboratory for Applications and Science (ATLAS-1) on Spacelab pallets mounted in orbiter's cargo bay. The non-deployable payload, equipped with l2 instruments from the U.S., France, Germany, Belgium, Switzerland, The Netherlands and Japan, conducted studies in atmospheric chemistry, solar radiation, space plasma physics and ultraviolet astronomy. ATLAS-1 instruments were: Atmospheric Trace Molecule Spectroscopy (ATMOS); Grille Spectrometer; Millimeter Wave Atmospheric Sounder (MAS); Imaging Spectrometric Observatory (ISO); Atmospheric Lyman-Alpha Emissions (ALAE); Atmospheric Emissions Photometric Imager (AEPI); Space Experiments with Particle Accelerators (SEPAC); Active Cavity Radiometer (ACR); Measurement of Solar Constant (SOLCON); Solar Spectrum (SOLSPEC); Solar Ultraviolet Spectral Irradiance Monitor (SUSIM); and Far Ultraviolet Space Telescope (FAUST). Other payloads included Shuttle Solar Backscatter Ultraviolet (SSBUV) experiment, one get-away Special (GAS) experiment and six mid-deck experiments.