STS-77

Infobox Space mission
mission_name = STS-77
insignia = STS-77 patch.svg
shuttle = Endeavour
launch_pad = 39-B
launch = May 19, 1996, 6:30:00.066 am EDT
landing = May 29, 1996, 7:09:18 am EDT, KSC, Runway 33
duration = 10 days, 0 hours, 40 minutes, 10 seconds
altitude = 153 nautical miles (283 km)
inclination = 39 degrees
orbits = 161
distance = 4.1 million miles (6.6 million km)
crew_photo = STS-77_crew.jpg
crew_caption =
previous = STS-76
next = STS-78

STS-77 was a Space Shuttle "Endeavour" mission that launched from Kennedy Space Center, Florida on May 19, 1996.

Crew

* John H. Casper (4), Commander
* Curtis L. Brown Jr. (3), Pilot
* Andrew S. W. Thomas (1), Mission Specialist 1
* Daniel W. Bursch (3), Mission Specialist 2
* Mario Runco, Jr.(3), Mission Specialist 3
* Marc Garneau (2), Mission Specialist 4 - CSA

Mission parameters

*Mass:
**"Orbiter liftoff:" 115,456 kg
**"Orbiter landing:" 92,701 kg
**"Payload:" 12,233 kg
*Perigee: 278 km
*Apogee: 287 km
*Inclination: 39.0°
*Period: 90.1 min

Mission highlights

NASA's flight of shuttle "Endeavour" was devoted to opening the commercial space frontier. During the flight the crew performed microgravity research aboard the commercially owned and operated SPACEHAB module. The mission also deployed and retrieved the Spartan-207/IAE (Inflatable Antenna Experiment) satellite and rendezvoused with a test satellite. A suite of four technology experiments known as the Technology Experiments for Advancing Missions in Space (TEAMS) also flew in the Shuttle's payload bay.

The SPACEHAB single module carried nearly 3,000 pounds (1,400 kg) of experiments and support equipment for 12 commercial space product development payloads in the areas of biotechnology, electronic materials, polymers and agriculture as well as several experiments for other NASA payload organizations. One of these, the Commercial Float Zone Facility (CFZF) was developed through international collaboration between the U.S., Canada, and Germany. It heated various samples of electronic and semiconductor material through the float-zone technique. Another facility on SPACEHAB was the Space Experiment Facility (SEF) which grew crystals by vapor diffusion.

The Goddard Space Flight Center's (GSFC) Spartan-207 satellite was used to deploy and test the Inflatable Antenna Experiment (IAE) which laid the groundwork for future technology development in inflatable space structures. It tested the performance of a large inflatable antenna during a ninety-minute mission. The antenna structure was then jettisoned and the SPARTAN-207 spacecraft recovered at mission end.

Inside "Endeavour"'s cargo bay the four TEAMS experiments operated throughout the mission. They included the Global Positioning System (GPS) Attitude and Navigation Experiment (GANE) to determine to what accuracy the GPS system can supply attitude information to a space vehicle; the Vented Tank Resupply Experiment (VTRE) to test improved methods for in-space refueling; the Liquid Metal Thermal Experiment (LMTE) to evaluate the performance of liquid metal heat pipes in microgravity conditions, and the Passive Aerodynamically Stabilized Magnetically Damped Satellite (PAMS) payload to demonstrate the technology of the principle of aerodynamic stabilization in the upper atmosphere. Cameras on the shuttle recorded the PAMS satellite as it was deployed and tracked its movements.

Secondary experiments on the flight included the Brilliant Eyes Ten Kelvin Sorption Cryocooler Experiment (BETSCE), the Aquatic Research Facility (ARF) and the Biological Research In a Canister (BRIC) experiment.

Also onboard was the Plant-Generic Bioprocessing Apparatus (P-GBA) designed by BioServe Space Technologies. Several plant species were flown in this double middeck locker configurated plant growth chamber. Investigations on plant growth in micro-gravity as well as research on the feasibility of agriculture in space were successfully carried out.

Mission insignia

The two red portions of the NASA logo on the left 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-77/mission-sts-77.html NASA mission summary]
* [http://www.nss.org/resources/library/shuttlevideos/shuttle77.htm STS-77 Video Highlights]