STS-52
Template:Short description Template:Use American English Template:Use mdy dates Template:Infobox spaceflight
STS-52 was a NASA Space Shuttle mission using Space Shuttle Columbia, launched on October 22, 1992.<ref name="STS52Archive">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
CrewEdit
Template:Spaceflight crew Template:Spaceflight crew
Crew seat assignmentsEdit
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Launch | Landing | File:Space Shuttle seating plan.svg Seats 1–4 are on the flight deck. Seats 5–7 are on the mid-deck. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Wetherbee | |||
| 2 | Baker | |||
| 3 | Veach | Jernigan | ||
| 4 | Shepherd | |||
| 5 | Jernigan | Veach | ||
| 6 | MacLean | |||
| 7 | Unused | |||
Mission highlightsEdit
Primary mission objectives were deployment of the Laser Geodynamics Satellite 2 (LAGEOS-2) and operation of the U.S. Microgravity Payload-1 (USMP-1). LAGEOS 2, a joint effort between NASA and the Italian Space Agency (ASI), was deployed on day 2 and boosted into an initial elliptical orbit by ASI's Italian Research Interim Stage (IRIS). The spacecraft's apogee kick motor later circularized LAGEOS 2 orbit at its operational altitude of Template:Cvt. The USMP-1, activated on day one, included three experiments mounted on two connected Mission Peculiar Equipment Support Structures (MPESS) mounted in the orbiter's cargo bay. USMP-1 experiments were: Lambda Point Experiment; Matériel pour l'Étude des Phénomènes Intéressant la Solidification sur eT en Orbite (MEPHISTO),<ref name="30years">Template:Cite book</ref> sponsored by the French agency Centre National d'Études Spatiales (CNES); and Space Acceleration Measurement System (SAMS).<ref name="STS52Archive" />
Secondary payloads: (1) Canadian experiment (CANEX-2), located in both the orbiter's cargo bay and middeck and which consisted of Space Vision System (SVS); Materials Exposure in Low-Earth Orbit (MELEO); Queen's University Experiment in Liquid-Metal Diffusion (QUELD); Phase Partitioning in Liquids (PARLIQ); Sun Photospectrometre Earth Atmosphere Measurement-2 (SPEAM-2); Orbiter Glow-2 (OGLOW-2); and Space Adaptation Tests and Observations (SATO).<ref name="LSDA">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> A small, specially marked satellite, the Canadian Target Assembly (CTA), was deployed on day nine, to support SVS experiments. (2) ASP, featuring three independent sensors mounted on a Hitchhiker plate in the cargo bay – Modular Star Sensor (MOSS), Yaw Earth Sensor (YES) and Low Altitude Conical Earth Sensor (LACES), all provided by the European Space Agency (ESA).<ref name="ASP">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Other middeck payloads: Commercial Materials Dispersion Apparatus Instrument Technology Associates Experiments; Commercial Protein Crystal Growth experiment; Chemical Vapor Transport Experiment Heat Pipe Performance Experiment (CVTEHPPE); Physiological Systems Experiment (PSE) (involving 12 rodents); and Shuttle Plume Impingement Experiment (SPIE). The orbiter also was used as a reference point for calibrating an Ultraviolet Plume Instrument on an orbiting Strategic Defense Initiative Organization (SDIO) satellite.<ref name="Chronology">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
The Tank Pressure Control Experiment/Thermal Phenomena (TPCE/TP) was contained in a Getaway Special (GAS) canister in the orbiter's cargo bay.<ref name="KSC">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Some of the ashes of Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry were also carried aboard the orbiter for the duration of the mission.<ref name="TWAN2012-10-23">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Wake-up callsEdit
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. A special musical track is chosen for each day in space, often by the astronauts' families, to have a special meaning to an individual member of the crew, or in reference to the day's planned activities.<ref name="WakeUpChronology">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
| Day | Song | Artist/Composer | Played For |
|---|---|---|---|
| Day 2 | Wake Up Columbia | Crow Carroll | |
| Day 3 | Shake, Rattle and Roll | Big Joe Turner | Deployment of LAGEOS-II |
| Day 5 | The World is Waiting for the Sunrise | Les Paul and Mary Ford | |
| Day 6 | Birthday | The Beatles | Mike Baker's 39th Birthday |
| Day 7 | "Hawaiian music" | ||
| Day 8 | Mack the Knife | Bobby Darin | |
| Day 9 | Bang the Drum | Todd Rundgren | |
| Day 10 | Monster Mash | Bobby "Boris" Picket | To celebrate Halloween |
| Day 11 | Notre Dame Victory March | JSC employees & Notre Dame grads | James Wetherbee |
See alsoEdit
ReferencesEdit
External linksEdit
Template:Space Shuttle Columbia Template:All U.S. Space Shuttle Missions Template:Orbital launches in 1992