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STS-40

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1991 American crewed spaceflight

STS-40

Spacelab Module LM1inColumbia's payload bay, serving as the Spacelab Life Sciences laboratory
Names	Space Transportation System-40
Mission type	Spacelab Life Sciences-1 (SLS-1)
Operator	NASA
COSPAR ID	1991-040A
SATCAT no.	21399
Mission duration	9 days, 2 hours, 14 minutes, 20 seconds
Distance travelled	6,083,223 km (3,779,940 mi)
Orbits completed	146
Spacecraft properties
Spacecraft	Space Shuttle Columbia
Launch mass	114,290 kg (251,970 lb)
Landing mass	102,283 kg (225,495 lb)
Payload mass	12,374 kg (27,280 lb)
Crew
Crew size	7
Members	Bryan D. O'Connor Sidney M. Gutierrez James P. Bagian Tamara E. Jernigan Rhea Seddon F. Drew Gaffney Millie Hughes-Fulford
Start of mission
Launch date	June 5, 1991, 13:24:51 UTC
Rocket	Space Shuttle Columbia
Launch site	Kennedy Space Center, LC-39B
Contractor	Rockwell International
End of mission
Landing date	June 14, 1991, 15:39:11 UTC
Landing site	Edwards, Runway 22
Orbital parameters
Reference system	Geocentric orbit
Regime	Low Earth orbit
Perigee altitude	287 km (178 mi)
Apogee altitude	296 km (184 mi)
Inclination	39.02°
Period	90.40 minutes
Instruments
Getaway Special (GAS) canisters Middeck Zero-Gravity Dynamics Experiment (MODE)
STS-40 mission patch Back row: Bryan D. O'Connor, Tamara E. Jernigan, Sidney M. Gutierrez Front row: F. Drew Gaffney, Millie Hughes-Fulford, Rhea Seddon, James P. Bagian Space Shuttle program ← STS-39 (40) STS-43 (42) →

STS-40, the eleventh launch of Space Shuttle Columbia, was a nine-day mission in June 1991. It carried the Spacelab module for Spacelab Life Sciences 1 (SLS-1), the fifth Spacelab mission and the first dedicated solely to biology. STS-40 was the first spaceflight that included three women crew members.^[1]

Crew[edit]

Backup crew[edit]

Crew seating arrangements[edit]

Seat[2]	Launch	Landing	Seats 1–4 are on the Flight Deck. Seats 5–7 are on the Middeck.
S1	O'Connor	O'Connor
S2	Gutierrez	Gutierrez
S3	Bagian	Bagian
S4	Jernigan	Jernigan
S5	Seddon	Seddon
S6	Gaffney	Gaffney
S7	Hughes-Fulford	Hughes-Fulford

Mission highlights[edit]

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The launch was originally set for May 22, 1991. The mission was postponed less than 48 hours before launch when it became known that a leaking liquid hydrogen transducer in the orbiter's main propulsion system, which was removed and replaced during leak testing in 1990, had failed an analysis by a vendor. Engineers feared that one or more of the nine liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen transducers protruding into fuel and oxidizer lines could break off and be ingested by the engine turbopumps, causing engine failure.

In addition, one of the orbiter's five general purpose computers failed completely, along with one of the multiplexer demultiplexers that controlled the orbiter's hydraulics ordinance and Orbital Maneuvering System / Reaction Control System functions in the aft compartment.

A new general purpose computer and multiplexer demultiplexer were installed and tested. One liquid hydrogen and two liquid oxygen transducers were replaced upstream in the propellant flow system near the 43 cm (17 in) disconnect area, which is protected by internal screen. Three liquid oxygen transducers were replaced in the engine manifold area, while three liquid hydrogen transducers here were removed and the openings plugged. The launch was reset for 8:00 a.m. EDT, June 1, 1991, but postponed again after several attempts to calibrate inertial measurement unit 2 failed. The unit was replaced and retested, and the launch was rescheduled for June 5, 1991.^[3] The mission launched successfully on June 5, 1991, at 9:24:51 a.m. EDT and the mission had a launch weight of 114,290 kg (251,970 lb). The launch was also captured on IMAX cameras, and used in the 2015 documentary film Journey to Space.

It was the fifth dedicated Spacelab mission, Spacelab Life Sciences-1, and first dedicated solely to life sciences, using the habitable module. The mission featured the most detailed and interrelated physiological measurements in space since the 1973-1974 Skylab missions. The subjects involved were humans, 30 rodents and thousands of tiny jellyfish. Primary SLS-1 experiments studied six body systems; of 18 investigations, ten involved humans, seven involved rodents, and one used jellyfish.

Six body systems investigated were cardiovascular/cardiopulmonary (heart, lungs and blood vessels); renal/endocrine (kidneys and hormone-secreting organs and glands); blood (blood plasma); immune system (white blood cells); musculoskeletal (muscles and bones); and neurovestibular (brains and nerves, eyes and inner ear). Other payloads included twelve Getaway Special (GAS) canisters installed on GAS bridge in cargo bay for experiments in materials science, plant biology and cosmic radiation (see G-616); Middeck Zero-Gravity Dynamics Experiment (MODE); and seven Orbiter Experiments (OEX).

Columbia landed on June 14, 1991, at 8:39:11 a.m. PDT, on Runway 22, at Edwards Air Force Base, California. It returned to KSC on June 21, 1991.^[4]

Wake-up calls[edit]

NASA began a tradition of playing music to astronauts during the Project Gemini, which was first used 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. ^{[5]: 4, 23}

See also[edit]

• G-616 "The effects of Cosmic Radiation on Floppy Disks"
• List of human spaceflights
• List of Space Shuttle missions
• Outline of space science
• Space Shuttle

Notes[edit]

References[edit]

^ Dumoulin, Jim (June 29, 2001). "STS-40". Kennedy Space Center Science, Technology and Engineering. NASA/KSC Information Technology Directorate. Archived from the original on January 29, 2022. Retrieved June 2, 2024. This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.

External links[edit]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to STS-40.

• NASA mission summary Archived April 21, 2012, at the Wayback Machine
• STS-40 Video Highlights
• From Undersea to Outer Space: The STS-40 Jellyfish Experiment
• STS-40 Liftoff to Learning: All Systems Go!
• SpaceLab Life Sciences-1 overview video