- STS-53
Infobox Space mission
mission_name = STS-53
insignia = STS-53 patch.svg
shuttle = Discovery
launch_pad = 39-A
launch =December 2 ,1992 , 8:24 a.m. EST
landing =December 9 ,1992 , 3:43.17 p.m. EST, Runway 22, Edwards AFB, California
duration = 7 days, 7 hours, 19 minutes, 47 seconds
altitude = 174 nautical miles (322 km)
inclination = 57 degrees
orbits = 116
distance = 3 million miles (4.8 million km) approx.
crew_photo = Sts-53_crew.jpg
crew_caption =
previous =STS-52
next =STS-54 STS-53 was a
Space Shuttle "Discovery" mission in support of theUnited States Department of Defense . The mission was launched onDecember 2 ,1992 fromKennedy Space Center ,Florida .Crew
*David M. Walker (3), Commander
*Robert D. Cabana (2), Pilot
*Guion S. Bluford (4), Mission Specialist 1
*James S. Voss (2), Mission Specialist 2
*Michael R. Clifford (1), Mission Specialist 3Mission parameters
*
Mass :
**"Orbiter landing with payload:" 87,565 kg
**"Payload:" 11,860 kg
*Perigee : 365 km
*Apogee : 376 km
*Inclination : 57.0°
*Period: 92.0 minMission highlights
Discovery carried a classified primary payload for the
United States Department of Defense , two unclassified secondary payloads and nine unclassified middeck experiments.Discovery's primary payload, USA-89 NSSDC ID [http://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/database/MasterCatalog?sc=1992-086B 1992-086B] is also known as [http://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/database/MasterCatalog?sc=STSDOD1 "DoD-1",] and was the shuttle's last major payload for the Department of Defense. The satellite was the second launch of a
Satellite Data System -2 military communications satellite, after USA-40 onSTS-28 .Secondary payloads contained in or attached to
Get Away Special (GAS) hardware in the cargo bay included the Orbital Debris Radar Calibration Spheres (ODERACS) the combined Shuttle Glow Experiment/Cryogenic Heat Pipe Experiment (GCP).Middeck experiments included
Microcapsule s in Space (MIS-l); Space Tissue Loss (STL); Visual Function Tester (VFT-2); Cosmic Radiation Effects and Activation Monitor (CREAM); Radiation Monitoring Equipment (RME-III); Fluid Acquisition and Resupply Experiment (FARE); Hand-held, Earth-oriented, Real-time, Cooperative, User-friendly, Location-targeting and Environmental System (HERCULES); Battlefield Laser Acquisition Sensor Test (BLAST); and the Cloud Logic to Optimize Use of Defense Systems (CLOUDS).Mission insignia
The five stars and three stripes of the insignia symbolize the flight's numerical designation in the Space Transportation System's mission sequence.
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-53/mission-sts-53.html NASA mission summary]
* [http://www.nss.org/resources/library/shuttlevideos/shuttle52.htm STS-53 Video Highlights]
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