STS-29

{{Spaceflight crew

| terminology = Astronaut

| position1 = Commander

| crew1_up = Michael Coats

| flights1_up = Second

| position2 = Pilot

| crew2_up = John E. Blaha

| flights2_up = First

| position3 = Mission Specialist 1

| crew3_up = Robert C. Springer

| flights3_up = First

| position4 = Mission Specialist 2
Flight Engineer

| crew4_up = James Buchli

| flights4_up = Third

| position5 = Mission Specialist 3

| crew5_up = James P. Bagian

| flights5_up = First

}}

Discovery lifted off from Launch Complex 39B, Kennedy Space Center, at 9:57:00 a.m. EST on March 13, 1989.{{cite book |last1=Chen|first1=Adam|title=Celebrating 30 Years of the Space Shuttle|publisher=NASA|location=Washington, D.C.|isbn=978-0-16-090202-4|page=63|url=https://www.nasa.gov/pdf/656773main_ShuttleRetrospectiveBook-ebook.pdf|url-status=live|date=2012|access-date=January 6, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210106150957/https://www.nasa.gov/pdf/656773main_ShuttleRetrospectiveBook-ebook.pdf|archive-date=January 6, 2021}} {{PD-notice}} The launch was originally scheduled for February 18, 1989, but was postponed to allow for the replacement of faulty liquid oxygen turbopumps on the three main engines. The amended target date of March 11, 1989, was postponed by 1 day, because of the failure of a master event controller (MEC); #2 when it was powered up during prelaunch checkout,{{cite web|last1=Legler |first1=Robert D.|last2=Floyd V.|first2=Bennett|title=Space Shuttle Missions Summary|url=https://spaceflight.nasa.gov/outreach/SignificantIncidents/assets/space-shuttle-missions-summary.pdf|work=Scientific and Technical Information (STI) Program Office|publisher=NASA|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200512003324/https://spaceflight.nasa.gov/outreach/SignificantIncidents/assets/space-shuttle-missions-summary.pdf|archive-date=May 12, 2020|pages=2-30–2-31|date=September 2011|url-status=dead}} {{PD-notice}} as well as an additional day to replace a faulty fuel preburner oxidizer valve (FPOV). On the rescheduled launch day of March 13, 1989, the launch was delayed for nearly two hours because of ground fog and high upper winds. A waiver was approved for the orbiter's wing loads.

The primary payload was TDRS-D, the third and final component of the Tracking and Data Relay Satellite System (TDRSS) constellation in geosynchronous orbit. The three on-orbit satellites were stationed over the equator at about {{cvt|35900|km}} above Earth; two of them were positioned 130° apart, while the third was located between them as an on-orbit spare.

On Flight Day 1, one of three cryogenic hydrogen tanks which supplied shuttle's electricity-generating fuel cells exhibited erratic pressure fluctuations. It was deactivated while engineers studied the problem, and the crew was told to conserve electrical power. The tank was reactivated on Flight Day 3, March 15, 1989, and operated successfully thereafter.{{cite web|author1=Office of Safety, Reliability, Maintainability and Quality Assurance|title=Misson Safety Evaluation Report for STS-29 - Postflight Edition|url=https://ntrs.nasa.gov/api/citations/19920013998/downloads/19920013998.pdf#page=71 |publisher=NASA|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210106183632/https://ntrs.nasa.gov/api/citations/19920013998/downloads/19920013998.pdf|archive-date=January 6, 2021|location=Washington, D.C.|page=A-9 |date=May 8, 1989|url-status=live}} {{PD-notice}}

Discovery landed on March 18, 1989, after orbit 80, one orbit earlier than planned, in order to avoid possible excessive wind buildup expected at the landing site. The shuttle touched down on Runway 22 at Edwards Air Force Base, California, at 9:35:51 a.m. EST. The total mission duration was 4 days, 23 hours, 38 minutes, and 52 seconds.

Image:TDRS horizon.jpg after deployment]]

The mission's primary payload was TDRS-D, which became TDRS-4 after deployment, and its attached Inertial Upper Stage (IUS). The satellite was deployed from the shuttle's payload bay less than six hours after launch, at 3:12 a.m. EST. The first-stage orbit burn of the IUS took place an hour later, and the second burn to circularize the orbit occurred 12 hours and 30 minutes into the mission. The satellite was stationed at 41.0° West longitude.

Discovery also carried eight secondary payloads, including two Shuttle Student Involvement Program (SSIP) experiments. One student experiment, using four live rats with tiny pieces of bone removed from their bodies, was to test whether the environmental effects of space flight inhibit bone healing. The other student experiment was to fly 32 chicken eggs to determine the effects of space flight on fertilized chicken embryos.{{cite journal|title=NASA's Educational Programs|journal=Government Information Quarterly|year=1990|last=Brown|first=Robert W. |volume=7|issue=2|pages=185–195|issn=0740-624X|doi=10.1016/0740-624X(90)90054-R|url=https://ntrs.nasa.gov/api/citations/19900019131/downloads/19900019131.pdf|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210106181752/https://ntrs.nasa.gov/api/citations/19900019131/downloads/19900019131.pdf|archive-date=January 6, 2021|url-status=live|hdl=2060/19900019131|hdl-access=free}} {{PD-notice}}

One experiment, mounted in the payload bay, was only termed "partially successful". The Space Station Heat Pipe Advanced Radiator Element (SHARE), a potential cooling system for the planned Space Station Freedom, operated continuously for less than 30 minutes under powered electrical loads. The failure was blamed on the faulty design of the equipment, especially the manifold section.{{citation|last1=Kosson|first1=Robert|last2=Brown|first2=Richard|last3=Ungar|first3=Eugene|contribution=Space Station heat pipe advanced radiator element (SHARE) flight test results and analysis|title=28th Aerospace Sciences Meeting|publisher=American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics|place=Reston, Virginia|date=January 11, 1990|doi=10.2514/6.1990-59|contribution-url=https://arc.aiaa.org/doi/10.2514/6.1990-59|access-date=January 6, 2021}}

All other experiments operated successfully. Crystals were obtained from all the proteins in the Protein Crystal Growth (PCG) experiment. The Chromosomes and Plant Cell Division in Space (CHROMEX), a life sciences experiment, was designed to show the effects of microgravity on root development. An IMAX (70 mm) camera was used to film a variety of scenes for the 1990 IMAX film Blue Planet,{{cite news|last1=Venant|first1=Elizabeth|title=Astronauts Play Film Makers for IMAX 'Blue Planet'|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1989-03-18-ca-273-story.html|url-status=live|newspaper=Los Angeles Times|date=March 18, 1989|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210106175224/https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1989-03-18-ca-273-story.html|archive-date=January 6, 2021}} including the effects of floods, hurricanes, wildfires and volcanic eruptions on Earth. A ground-based U.S. Air Force experiment used the orbiter as a calibration target for the Air Force Maui Optical Site (AMOS) in Hawaii.{{cite conference|last1=Viereck|first1=R. A.|last2=Murad|first2=E.|last3=Pike|first3=C. P.|last4=Kofsky|first4=I. L.|last5=Trowbridge|first5=C. A.|last6=Rall|first6=D. L. A.|last7=Satayesh|first7=A.|last8=Berk|first8=A.|last9=Elgin|first9=J. B. |title=Photometric analysis of a space shuttle water venting|url=https://ntrs.nasa.gov/api/citations/19910011413/downloads/19910011413.pdf|conference=Fourth Annual Workshop on Space Operations Applications and Research (SOAR 90)|publisher=NASA|place=Houston, Texas|year=1990|pages=676–680}} {{PD-notice}}

NASA began a tradition of playing music to astronauts during the Project Gemini, and first used music to wake up a flight crew during Apollo 15. Each track is specially chosen, often by the astronauts' families, and usually has a special meaning to an individual member of the crew, or is applicable to their daily activities.{{cite web|url=https://history.nasa.gov/wakeup%20calls.pdf |title=Chronology of Wakeup Calls|last=Fries|first=Colin|work=History Division|publisher=NASA|date=March 13, 2015|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210105144032/https://history.nasa.gov/wakeup%20calls.pdf|archive-date=January 5, 2021|access-date=January 5, 2021}} {{PD-notice}}

Image:STS-29 Launch.jpg|Liftoff of STS-29

Image:STS-29 External Tank.jpg|The External Tank after separation

Image:1989 s29 TDRS-D deployment.jpg|Closeup shot of the deployment of TDRS-D

Image:EFS highres STS029 STS029-92-38.jpg|Lake Natron, Tanzania, imaged from orbit.

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{{Reflist|30em}}

• [http://science.ksc.nasa.gov/shuttle/missions/sts-29/mission-sts-29.html NASA mission summary] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190610123144/https://science.ksc.nasa.gov/shuttle/missions/sts-29/mission-sts-29.html |date=June 10, 2019 }}
• [http://www.nss.org/resources/library/shuttlevideos/shuttle28.htm STS-29 Video Highlights] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131021145650/http://www.nss.org/resources/library/shuttlevideos/shuttle28.htm |date=October 21, 2013 }}

{{Space Shuttle Discovery}}

{{All U.S. Space Shuttle Missions}}

{{Orbital launches in 1989}}

Category:Space Shuttle missions

Category:Edwards Air Force Base

Category:Spacecraft which reentered in 1989

Category:Spacecraft launched in 1989

Category:March 1989