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STS-44

STS-44

Atlantis deploys a Defense Support Program (DSP) satellite.
Names	Space Transportation System-44
Mission type	DSP satellite deployment
Operator	NASA
COSPAR ID	1991-080A
SATCAT no.	21795
Mission duration	6 days, 22 hours, 50 minutes, 44 seconds
Distance travelled	4,651,112 km (2,890,067 mi)
Orbits completed	110
Spacecraft properties
Spacecraft	Space Shuttle Atlantis
Launch mass	117,766 kg (259,630 lb)
Landing mass	87,919 kg (193,828 lb)
Payload mass	20,240 kg (44,620 lb)
Crew
Crew size	6
Members	Frederick D. Gregory Terence T. Henricks James S. Voss Story Musgrave Mario Runco Jr. Thomas J. Hennen
Start of mission
Launch date	November 24, 1991, 23:44:00 UTC
Rocket	Space Shuttle Atlantis
Launch site	Kennedy Space Center, LC-39A
Contractor	Rockwell International
End of mission
Landing date	December 1, 1991, 22:34:12 UTC
Landing site	Edwards Air Force Base, Runway 5
Orbital parameters
Reference system	Geocentric orbit
Regime	Low Earth orbit
Perigee altitude	363 km (226 mi)
Apogee altitude	371 km (231 mi)
Inclination	28.45°
Period	91.90 minutes
Instruments
Air Force Maui Optical Site (AMOS) Bioreactor Flow Cosmic Radiation Effects and Activation Monitor (CREAM) Extended Duration Orbiter Medical Project Extended Duration Orbiter (EDO) Interim Operational Contamination Monitor (IOCM) Military Man in Space (M88-1) Radiation Monitoring Equipment (RME III) Shuttle Activation Monitor (SAM) Terra-Scout Visual Function Tester (VFT-1)
STS-44 mission patch Standing: James S. Voss, Thomas J. Hennen, Mario Runco Jr. Seated: Terence T. Henricks, Frederick D. Gregory, Story Musgrave Space Shuttle program ← STS-48 (43) STS-42 (45) →

STS-44 was a NASA Space Shuttle mission using Atlantis that launched on November 24, 1991. It was a U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) space mission.

Crew[edit]

Backup crew[edit]

Crew seating arrangements[edit]

Seat[1]	Launch	Landing	Seats 1–4 are on the Flight Deck. Seats 5–7 are on the Middeck.
S1	Gregory	Gregory
S2	Henricks	Henricks
S3	Voss	Runco
S4	Musgrave	Musgrave
S5	Runco	Voss
S6	Hennen	Hennen

Mission highlights[edit]

The launch was on November 24, 1991, at 23:44:00 UTC. A launch set for November 19, 1991, was delayed due to replacement and testing of a malfunctioning redundant inertial measurement unit on the Inertial Upper Stage (IUS) booster attached to the Defense Support Program (DSP) satellite. The launch was reset for November 24 and was delayed by 13 minutes to allow an orbiting spacecraft to pass and to allow external tank liquid oxygen replenishment after minor repairs to a valve in the liquid oxygen replenishment system in the mobile launcher platform. Launch weight was 117,766 kilograms (259,630 lb).

The mission was dedicated to the Department of Defense. The unclassified payload included a Defense Support Program (DSP) satellite, DSP-16 attached to Inertial Upper Stage (IUS-14), deployed on flight day one. Cargo bay and middeck payloads included the Interim Operational Contamination Monitor (IOCM), Terra-Scout, Military Man in Space (M88-1), Air Force Maui Optical Site (AMOS), Cosmic Radiation Effects and Activation Monitor (CREAM), Shuttle Activation Monitor (SAM), Radiation Monitoring Equipment (RME III), Visual Function Tester (VFT-1), Bioreactor Flow, and Extended Duration Orbiter Medical Project, a series of investigations in support of Extended Duration Orbiter. The Ultraviolet Plume Instrument (UVPI) experiment was located onboard the previously-launched LACE satellite, and could've been pointed at Atlantis on-orbit to observe the shuttle's thruster findings. However, no opportunities or intersections occurred during this mission.^[2]

The landing was on December 1, 1991, at 22:34:44 UTC, Runway 5, Edwards Air Force Base, California. The rollout distance was 3,411 m (11,191 ft), and the rollout time was 107 seconds. The landing weight was 87,918 kg (193,826 lb). The landing was originally scheduled for Kennedy Space Center on December 4, 1991, but the ten-day mission was shortened and the landing rescheduled following the November 30, 1991, on-orbit failure of one of three orbiter inertial measurement units.^[3] The lengthy rollout was due to minimal braking for test. Atlantis returned to Kennedy on December 8, 1991. This was also the final shuttle landing on a dry lake bed runway.

Wake-up calls[edit]

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.^[4] 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.

See also[edit]

• List of human spaceflights
• List of Space Shuttle missions
• Nikon NASA F4
• Outline of space science

References[edit]

^ Fries, Colin. "Chronology of wakeup calls" (PDF). This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.

External links[edit]

• NASA mission summary Archived May 27, 2010, at the Wayback Machine
• STS-44 Post Flight Presentation