STS-45
{{Short description|1992 American crewed spaceflight}}
{{Use American English|date=January 2014}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=November 2022}}
{{Infobox spaceflight
| name = STS-45
| names_list = Space Transportation System-45
| image = STS-45 payload.jpg
| image_caption = Components of the ATLAS-1 laboratory in the payload bay of Atlantis
| mission_type = ATLAS-1 astronomy research
| operator = NASA
| mission_duration = {{time interval|March 24, 1992, 13:13:39|April 2, 1992, 11:23:06|show=dhms|sep=,}}
| distance_travelled = {{cvt|5211340|km}}
| orbits_completed = 143
| spacecraft = {{OV|104}}
| launch_mass = {{cvt|105982|kg}}
| landing_mass = {{cvt|93009|kg}}
| payload_mass = {{cvt|9947|kg}}
| crew_size = 7
| crew_members = {{Unbulleted list|Charles Bolden|Brian Duffy|Kathryn D. Sullivan|David Leestma|Michael Foale|Dirk Frimout|Byron K. Lichtenberg}}
| launch_date = {{Start date text|March 24, 1992, 13:13:39|timezone=yes}}{{nbsp}}UTC (8:13:39{{nbsp}}am{{nbsp}}EST)
| launch_site = Kennedy, LC-39A
| launch_contractor = Rockwell International
| landing_date = {{End date text|April 2, 1992, 11:23:06|timezone=yes}}{{nbsp}}UTC (6:23:06{{nbsp}}am{{nbsp}}EST)
| landing_site = Kennedy, SLF Runway 33
| orbit_reference = Geocentric orbit
| orbit_regime = Low Earth orbit
| orbit_periapsis = {{cvt|282|km}}
| orbit_apoapsis = {{cvt|294|km}}
| orbit_inclination = 57.00°
| orbit_period = 90.30 minutes
| apsis = gee
| instruments = {{ubl|Active Cavity Radiometer (ACR)|Atmospheric Emissions Photometric Imager (AEPI)|Atmospheric Lyman-Alpha Emissions (ALAE)|Atmospheric Trace Molecule Spectroscopy (ATMOS)|Far Ultraviolet Space Telescope (FAUST)|Grille Spectrometer|Imaging Spectrometric Observatory (ISO)|Millimeter Wave Atmospheric Sounder (MAS)|Space Experiments with Particle Accelerators (SEPAC)|Measurement of Solar Constant (SOLCON)|Solar Spectrum (SOLSPEC])|Solar Ultraviolet Spectral Irradiance Monitor (SUSIM)}}
| insignia = Sts-45-patch.png
| insignia_caption = STS-45 mission patch
| crew_photo = Sts-45 crew.jpg
| crew_photo_caption = Standing: Lichtenberg, Foale, Leestma, Sullivan and Frimout
Seated: Duffy and Bolden
| programme = Space Shuttle program
| previous_mission = STS-42 (45)
| next_mission = STS-49 (47)
}}
STS-45 was a 1992 NASA Space Shuttle mission using the {{OV|104}}. Its almost nine-day scientific mission was with a non-deployable payload of instruments. It was the 46th Space Shuttle mission and the 11th for Atlantis.
Crew
{{Spaceflight crew
| terminology = Astronaut
| position1 = Commander
| crew1_up = {{flagicon|USA}} Charles Bolden File:Solid blue.svg
| flights1_up = Third
| position2 = Pilot
| crew2_up = {{flagicon|USA}} Brian Duffy File:Solid blue.svg
| flights2_up = First
| position3 = Mission Specialist 1
| crew3_up = {{flagicon|USA}} Kathryn D. Sullivan File:Solid blue.svg
| flights3_up = Third and last
| position4 = Mission Specialist 2
Flight Engineer
| crew4_up = {{flagicon|USA}} David Leestma File:Solid red.svg
| flights4_up = Third and last
| position5 = Mission Specialist 3
| crew5_up = {{flagicon|USA}}/{{flagicon|United Kingdom}} Michael Foale File:Solid red.svg
| flights5_up = First
| position6 = Payload Specialist 1
| crew6_up = {{flagicon|BEL}} Dirk Frimout
| flights6_up = Only
| agency6_up = ESA File:Solid blue.svg
| position7 = Payload Specialist 2
| crew7_up = {{flagicon|USA}} Byron K. Lichtenberg File:Solid red.svg
| flights7_up = Second and last
| notes = File:Solid blue.svg Member of Blue Team
File:Solid red.svg Member of Red Team
The astronauts were divided into a red team and a blue team to allow around-the-clock monitoring of experiments.
}}
{{Spaceflight crew
| terminology = Astronaut
| crew = backup
| position6 = Payload Specialist 1
| crew6_up = {{flagicon|USA}} Michael L. Lampton
| position7 = Payload Specialist 2
| crew7_up = {{flagicon|USA}} Charles R. Chappell
}}
= Crew seat assignments =
| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
! Launch ! Landing |rowspan=8| 150px |
| 1
|colspan=2| Bolden |
|---|
| 2
|colspan=2| Duffy |
| 3
| Sullivan | Foale |
| 4
|colspan=2| Leestma |
| 5
| Foale | Sullivan |
| 6
|colspan=2| Frimout |
| 7
|colspan=2| Lichtenberg |
Mission highlights
{{LaunchAttempt
| date1 = 1992-03-23 8:01 AM
| result1 = Scrubbed
| reason1 = Technical
| decision_date1 = 1992-03-23 3:01
| notes1 = High concentrations of liquid oxygen and liquid hydrogen.
| date2 = 1992-03-24 8:33:39 AM
| result2 = Success
| notes2 = T−9 minute hold extended due to weather concerns.
}}
Atlantis was launched on March 24, 1992, at 8:13 a.m. EST. The launch was originally scheduled for March 23, 1992, but was delayed by one day because of higher-than-allowable concentrations of liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen in the orbiter's aft compartment during tanking operations.{{Cite news |last=Dunn |first=Marcia |date=1992-03-23 |title=Shuttle launch scrapped |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=9fRKRCJz75UC&dat=19920323&printsec=frontpage&hl=en |access-date=2025-03-24 |work=The Free Lance-Star |page=A2 |via=Google News |volume=108 |issue=70 |agency=Associated Press}} 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 cryogenic propellants; the launch was rescheduled for March 24, 1992. Atlantis weighed {{cvt|105982|kg}} at launch.{{Cite report |url=https://ntrs.nasa.gov/api/citations/19930016770/downloads/19930016770.pdf |title=STS-45 Space Shuttle mission report |last=Fricke |first=Robert W. |date=1992-05-01 |access-date=2025-03-24}}{{Reference page|page=2}}{{cite web |last1=Legler |first1=Robert D. |last2=Bennett |first2=Floyd V. |date=September 1, 2011 |title=Space Shuttle Missions Summary |url=https://sma.nasa.gov/SignificantIncidents/assets/space-shuttle-missions-summary.pdf |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201021052010/https://sma.nasa.gov/SignificantIncidents/assets/space-shuttle-missions-summary.pdf |archive-date=October 21, 2020 |access-date=January 6, 2021 |website=Scientific and Technical Information (STI) Program Office |publisher=NASA |page=2-53 |id=NASA/TM–2011–216142}} {{PD-notice}}
STS-45 carried the first Atmospheric Laboratory for Applications and Science (ATLAS-1) experiments, placed on Spacelab pallets mounted in the orbiter's payload bay. The non-deployable payload, equipped with 12 instruments from the United States, France, Germany, Belgium, Switzerland, the Netherlands and Japan, conducted studies in atmospheric chemistry, solar radiation, space plasma physics and ultraviolet astronomy. ATLAS-1 instruments included the 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;{{cite web |title=Background |url=http://solspec.projet.latmos.ipsl.fr/SOLSPEC_GB/Background.html |website=SOLSPEC |publisher=Institut Pierre Simon Laplace |access-date=March 26, 2022}} Solar Ultraviolet Spectral Irradiance Monitor (SUSIM); and Far Ultraviolet Space Telescope (FAUST). Other payloads included the Shuttle Solar Backscatter Ultraviolet (SSBUV) experiment, a Get Away Special (GAS) experiment and six mid-deck experiments.
The mission was extended by a day in order to continue science experiments. The landing occurred on April 2, 1992, 6:23 a.m. EST, on Runway 33 of the Shuttle Landing Facility, located at the Kennedy Space Center. The rollout distance was {{cvt|2812|m}} and Atlantis weighed {{cvt|93005|kg}} on landing.
Mission insignia
The mission insignia covers all aspects of the flight, by featuring Earth and the Sun, and the orbiter on high inclination, as to illustrate the high importance of the mission. The names of all flying members are included in the band, separated by stars. In the 'ring' at the bottom right, a single star is included, separating the unmentioned names of the alternate mission specialists, who are therefore indirectly included; a first and unique tribute to a support crew. Dirk Frimout is the first Belgian citizen to fly into space, and the only one to fly on a Space Shuttle (the other is Frank De Winne (who flies to the International Space Station via Soyuz as mission commander), as the Space Shuttle program was terminated at the time of the latter's flight), but to keep the focus on the mission, no national flag is added nor the customary logo of the European Space Agency (ESA), but the mission main objective, ATLAS, is included below instead.
See also
{{Portal|Spaceflight}}
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
- [http://www.nss.org/resources/library/shuttlevideos/shuttle46.htm STS-45 Video Highlights] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131018012804/http://www.nss.org/resources/library/shuttlevideos/shuttle46.htm |date=October 18, 2013 }}
- [http://science.ksc.nasa.gov/shuttle/missions/sts-45/mission-sts-45.html NASA mission summary] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131130045933/http://science.ksc.nasa.gov/shuttle/missions/sts-45/mission-sts-45.html |date=November 30, 2013 }}
- [https://www.g3xwh.com/index.php/home/sts-45-contact-1992/hlc-sts-45-contact STS-45 Amateur Radio Contact with Harrogate Ladies' College in 1992.]
{{Space Shuttle Atlantis}}
{{All U.S. Space Shuttle Missions}}
{{Orbital launches in 1992}}