|
|
STS-55 Landing at Edwards
| Title |
STS-55 Landing at Edwards |
| Description |
The Space Shuttle Columbia completes the STS-55 Spacelab D-2 mission 6 May with a landing at NASA's Ames-Dryden Flight Research Facility (later redesignated the Dryden Flight Research Center), Edwards, California, at 7:30 a.m. (PDT). The landing was scheduled for the Kennedy Space Center, Florida, but was diverted to Dryden during the final hours of flight because of unacceptable weather at the Florida facility. The STS-55 mission began with the launch from Kennedy at 7:50 a.m. (PDT), 26 April. Aboard Columbia were commander Steve Nagel, pilot Tom Henricks, mission specialists Jerry Ross, Charles Precourt, and Bernard Harris, and payload specialists Hans Schlegel and Ulrich Walter, both from Germany. During Columbia's flight the NASA space shuttle fleet logged more than one year of combined flight time in space, including the time of all previous orbiters and Columbia on this flight. That mark was reached at 7:01:42 (PDT) on 5 May, and with Columbia's landing the total flight time had reached 365 days, 23 hours, and 28 minutes. Space Shuttles are the main element of America's Space Transportation System and are used for space research and other space applications. The shuttles are the first vehicles capable of being launched into space and returning to Earth on a routine basis. Space Shuttles are used as orbiting laboratories in which scientists and mission specialists conduct a wide variety of scientific experiments. Crews aboard shuttles place satellites in orbit, rendezvous with satellites to carry out repair missions and return them to space, and retrieve satellites and return them to Earth for refurbishment and reuse. Space Shuttles are true aerospace vehicles. They leave Earth and its atmosphere under rocket power provided by three liquid-propellant main engines with two solid-propellant boosters attached plus an external liquid-fuel tank. After their orbital missions, they streak back through the atmosphere and land like airplanes. The returning shuttles, however, land like gliders, without power and on runways. Other rockets can place heavy payloads into orbit, but, they can only be used once. Space Shuttles are designed to be continually reused. When Space Shuttles are used to transport complete scientific laboratories into space, the laboratories remain inside the payload bay throughout the mission. They are then removed after the Space Shuttle returns to Earth and can be reused on future flights. Some of these orbital laboratories, like the Spacelab, provide facilities for several specialists to conduct experiments in such fields as medicine, astronomy, and materials manufacturing. Some types of satellites deployed by Space Shuttles include those involved in environmental and resources protection, astronomy, weather forecasting, navigation, oceanographic studies, and other scientific fields. The Space Shuttles can also launch spacecraft into orbits higher than the Shuttle's altitude limit through the use of Inertial Upper Stage (IUS), propulsion units. After release from the Space Shuttle payload bay, the IUS is ignited to carry the spacecraft into deep space. The Space Shuttles are also being used to carry elements of the International Space Station into space where they are assembled in orbit. The Space Shuttles were built by Rockwell International's Space Transportation Systems Division, Downey, California. Rockwell's Rocketdyne Division (now part of Boeing) builds the three main engines, and Thiokol, Brigham City, Utah, makes the solid rocket booster motors. Martin Marietta Corporation (now Lockheed Martin), New Orleans, Louisiana, makes the external tanks. Each orbiter (Space Shuttle) is 121 feet long, has a wingspan of 78 feet, and a height of 57 feet. The Space Shuttle is approximately the size of a DC-9 commercial airliner and can carry a payload of 65,000 pounds into orbit. The payload bay is 60 feet long and 15 feet in diameter. Each main engine is capable of producing a sea level thrust of 375,000 pounds and a vacuum (orbital) thrust of 470,000 pounds. The engines burn a mixture of liquid oxygen and liquid hydrogen. In orbit, the Space Shuttles circle the earth at a speed of 17,500 miles per hour with each orbit taking about 90 minutes. A Space Shuttle crew sees a sunrise or sunset every 45 minutes. When Space Shuttle flights began in April 1981, Dryden Flight Research Center, Edwards, California, was the primary landing site for the Shuttles. Now Kennedy Space Center, Florida, is the primary landing site with Dryden remaining as the principal alternate landing site. |
| Date |
01.01.1993 |
|
Tissue Thickness and Complia
…
johnsonspacecentermediaarchi
…
STS-55 German Payload Specia
…
STS055-106-090
| mediatype |
IMAGE |
| mediatype |
image |
| date |
1993-05-05 |
| creator |
NASA |
| identifier |
STS055-106-090 |
|
STS-55 Columbia, Orbiter Veh
…
johnsonspacecentermediaarchi
…
STS-55 Columbia, Orbiter Veh
…
STS055-S-001
| mediatype |
IMAGE |
| mediatype |
image |
| creator |
NASA |
| identifier |
STS055-S-001 |
|
STS-55 MS1/PLC Ross monitors
…
| Title |
STS-55 MS1/PLC Ross monitors Payload Specialist Walter's Anthrorack activity |
| Description |
STS-55 German Payload Specialist 1 Ulrich Walter breathes into Rack 9 Anthrorack (AR) (Human Physiology Laboratory) device for Pulmonary Perfusion and Ventilation During Rest and Exercise experiment while working inside the Spacelab Deutsche 2 (SL-D2) science module aboard the Earth-orbiting Columbia, Orbiter Vehicle (OV) 102. Seated on the bicycle ergometer, Walter utilizes the respiratory monitoring system, part of a broad battery of experiments designed to investigate human physiology under microgravity conditions. In the background, Mission Specialist 1 (MS1) and Payload Commander (PLC) Jerry L. Ross monitors Walter's activity. Walter represents the German Aerospace Research Establishment (DLR) on the 10-day SL-D2 mission. Visible on the aft end cone are a fire extinguisher and the Crew Telesupport Experiment (CTE) Macintosh portable computer mounted on an adjustable work platform. |
| Date Taken |
1993-05-06 |
|
STS-55 MS1/PLC Ross and Payl
…
| Title |
STS-55 MS1/PLC Ross and Payload Specialist Walter work in SL-D2 module |
| Description |
STS-55 Mission Specialist 1 (MS1) and Payload Commander (PLC) Jerry L. Ross floats near cycle ergometer and Rack 9 Anthrorack (AR) (Human Physiology Laboratory) as German Payload Specialist 1 Ulrich Walter reviews a checklist in front of Rack 11 Experiment Rack. These experiment stations and the crewmembers are in the shirt-sleeve environment of the Spacelab Deutsche 2 (SL-D2) science module onboard the Earth-orbiting Columbia, Orbiter Vehicle (OV) 102. In the background is the SL-D2 aft end cone. Behind Ross and Walter is Rack 12 Experiment Rack with Baroreflex (BA). |
| Date Taken |
1993-05-06 |
|
STS-55 German payload specia
…
| Title |
STS-55 German payload specialists Walter and Schlegel work in SL-D2 module |
| Description |
STS-55 German Payload Specialist 1 Ulrich Walter, wearing special head gear, conducts Tissue Thickness and Compliance Along Body Axis salt-water balance experiment in the Spacelab Deutsche 2 (SL-D2) science module aboard the Earth-orbiting Columbia, Orbiter Vehicle (OV) 102. Walter's activities in front of Rack 9 Anthrorack (AR) are monitored by German Payload Specialist 2 Hans Schlegel. Walter uses intravehicular activity (IVA) foot restraints. Walter and Schlegel represent the German Aerospace Research Establishment (DLR). |
| Date Taken |
1993-05-06 |
|
STS-55 German payload specia
…
| Title |
STS-55 German payload specialist Schlegel and MS3 Harris work in SL-D2 module |
| Description |
STS-55 German Payload Specialist 2 Ulrich Walter, wearing special head gear, finds plenty of room to "spread out" (head to the floor, feet at the ceiling) while conducting Tissue Thickness and Compliance Along Body Axis salt-water balance experiment in the Spacelab Deutsche 2 (SL-D2) science module aboard the Earth-orbiting Columbia, Orbiter Vehicle (OV) 102. Schlegel represents the German Aerospace Research Establishment (DLR). In the background, Mission Specialist 3 (MS3) Bernard A. Harris, Jr monitors an experiment in Rack 11, an experiment rack. |
| Date Taken |
1993-05-06 |
|
STS-55 crewmembers work in t
…
| Title |
STS-55 crewmembers work in the SL-D2 module onboard OV-102 |
| Description |
Working in the shirt-sleeve research environment of the Spacelab Deutsche 2 (SL-D2) science module are STS-55 Mission Specialist 1 (MS1) and Payload Commander (PLC) Jerry L. Ross, MS3 Bernard A. Harris, Jr, German Payload Specialist 2 Hans Schlegel, and German Payload Specialist 1 Ulrich Walter. Ross examines sample tube at Rack 8 Werkstofflabor (WL) (left). Harris, holding his arm, waits to have his blood drawn by Schlegel (right). Wearing the baroreflex (BA) collar at Rack 12 Experiment Rack and waving is Walter. The SL-D2 module is located in the payload bay (PLB) of the Earth-orbiting Columbia, Orbiter Vehicle (OV) 102. |
| Date Taken |
1993-05-06 |
|
STS-55 German Payload Specia
…
| Title |
STS-55 German Payload Specialist Walter at the SL-D2 Fluid Physics Module |
| Description |
STS-55 German Payload Specialist 1 Ulrich Walter conducts an experiment using the advanced fluid physics module located in Spacelab Deutsche 2 (SL-D2) Rack 8 Werkstofflabor (WL) (Material Sciences Laboratory) aboard Earth-orbiting Columbia, Orbiter Vehicle (OV) 102. Walter uses intravehicular activity (IVA) foot restraints to position himself in front of the rack. Walter represents the German Aerospace Research Establishment (DLR) on the 10-day mission. |
| Date Taken |
1993-05-06 |
|
|
