STS-48

Infobox Space mission
mission_name = STS-48
insignia = Sts-48-patch.png shuttle = Discovery
launch_pad = 39-A
launch = September 12, 1991, 7:11:04 p.m. EDT
landing = September 18, 1991, 12:38:42 a.m. PDT, Runway 22, Edwards AFB, California
duration = 5 days, 8 hours, 27 minutes, 38 seconds
altitude = 313 nautical miles (580 km)
inclination = 57.0 degrees
orbits = 81
distance = 2,193,670 miles (3,530,369 km)
crew_photo = STS-48 crew.jpg
crew_caption =
previous = STS-43
next = STS-44

STS-48 was a Space Shuttle "Discovery" mission that launched on September 12, 1991, from Kennedy Space Center, Florida. The primary payload was the Upper Atmosphere Research Satellite.

Crew

* John O. Creighton (3), Commander
* Kenneth S. Reightler, Jr. (1), Pilot
* James F. Buchli (4), Mission Specialist 1
* Charles D. Gemar (2), Mission Specialist 2
* Mark N. Brown (2), Mission Specialist 3

Mission parameters

*Mass:
**"Orbiter landing with payload:" 87,321 kg
**"Payload:" 7,865 kg
*Perigee: 575 km
*Apogee: 580 km
*Inclination: 57.0°
*Period: 96.2 min

Mission highlights

Launch: September 12, 1991, 7:11:04 p.m. EDT. Launch was delayed 14 minutes by a faulty communication link between KSC and Mission Control in Houston. Launch weight was 240,062 lb (108,890 kg).

The primary payload, the Upper Atmosphere Research Satellite (UARS), was deployed on the third day of the mission. During its planned 18-month mission, the 14,500-pound observatory was to make the most extensive study ever conducted of the Earth's troposphere, the upper level of the planet's envelope of life-sustaining gases which also include the protective ozone layer. UARS had ten sensing and measuring devices: Cryogenic Limb Array Etalon Spectrometer (CLAES); Improved Stratospheric and Mesospheric Sounder (ISAMS); Microwave Limb Sounder (MLS); Halogen Occultation Experiment (HALOE); High Resolution Doppler Imager (HRDI); Wind Imaging Interferometer (WlNDII); Solar Ultraviolet Spectral Irradiance Monitor (SUSIM); Solar/Stellar Irradiance Comparison Experiment (SOLSTICE); Particle Environment Monitor (PEM) and Active Cavity Radiometer Irradiance Monitor (ACRIM II). UARS's initial 18-month mission was extended several times — it was finally retired after 14 years of service.

Secondary payloads were: Ascent Particle Monitor (APM); Middeck 0-Gravity Dynamics Experiment (MODE); Shuttle Activation Monitor (SAM); Cosmic Ray Effects and Activation Monitor (CREAM); Physiological and Anatomical Rodent Experiment (PARE); Protein Crystal Growth II-2 (PCG II-2); Investigations into Polymer Membrane Processing (IPMP); and the Air Force Maui Optical Site (AMOS) experiment.

Landing: September 18, 1991, 12:38:42 a.m. PDT, Runway 22, Edwards AFB, CA. Rollout distance: 9,513 feet. Rollout time: 50 seconds. Landed scheduled for KSC, but diverted to Edwards due to bad weather. Orbiter returned to KSC September 26, 1991. Landing Weight: 192,780 lb (87,444 kg).

ee also

*Space science
*Space shuttle
*List of space shuttle missions
*List of human spaceflights chronologically

External links

* [http://science.ksc.nasa.gov/shuttle/missions/sts-48/mission-sts-48.html NASA mission summary]
* [http://www.nss.org/resources/library/shuttlevideos/shuttle43.htm STS-48 Video Highlights]