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STS-49

STS-49

Hieb, Akers, and Thuot assist in capturing the Intelsat 603 satellite from its derelict orbit.
Names	Space Transportation System-49
Mission type	Intelsat-603 satellite repair
Operator	NASA
COSPAR ID	1992-026A
SATCAT no.	21963
Mission duration	8 days, 21 hours, 17 minutes, 38 seconds
Distance travelled	5,948,166 km (3,696,019 mi)
Orbits completed	141
Spacecraft properties
Spacecraft	Space Shuttle Endeavour
Launch mass	116,390 kg (256,600 lb) [1]
Landing mass	91,279 kg (201,236 lb)
Payload mass	16,984 kg (37,443 lb) [2]
Crew
Crew size	7
Members	Daniel Brandenstein Kevin P. Chilton Richard Hieb Bruce E. Melnick Pierre J. Thuot Kathryn C. Thornton Thomas Akers
Start of mission
Launch date	May 7, 1992, 23:40:00 UTC
Rocket	Space Shuttle Endeavour
Launch site	Kennedy Space Center, LC-39B
Contractor	Rockwell International
End of mission
Landing date	May 16, 1992, 20:57:38 UTC[3]
Landing site	Edwards Air Force Base, Runway 22
Orbital parameters
Reference system	Geocentric orbit
Regime	Low Earth orbit
Perigee altitude	268 km (167 mi)
Apogee altitude	341 km (212 mi)
Inclination	28.32°
Period	90.60 minutes
Instruments
Air Force Maui Optical Station (AMOS) Commercial Protein Crystal Growth (CPCG) Ultraviolet Plume Imager (UVPI)
STS-49 mission patch Thornton, Melnick, Thuot, Brandenstein, Chilton, Akers, Hieb Space Shuttle program ← STS-45 (46) STS-50 (48) →

STS-49 was NASA's maiden flight of the Space Shuttle Endeavour, which launched on May 7, 1992. The primary goal of its nine-day mission was to retrieve an Intelsat VI satellite, Intelsat 603, which failed to leave Low Earth orbit two years before, attach it to a new upper stage, and relaunch it to its intended geosynchronous orbit. After several attempts, the capture was completed with the only three-person extravehicular activity (EVA) in space flight history.^[4] It would also stand until STS-102 in 2001 as the longest EVA ever undertaken.

Crew[edit]

Spacewalks[edit]

• Thuot and Hieb – EVA 1
• EVA 1 Start: May 10, 1992 – 20:40 UTC
• EVA 1 End: May 11, 1992 – 00:23 UTC
• Duration: 3 hours, 43 minutes

• Thuot and Hieb – EVA 2
• EVA 2 Start: May 11, 1992 – 21:05 UTC
• EVA 2 End: May 12, 1992 – 02:35 UTC
• Duration: 5 hours, 30 minutes

• Thuot, Hieb and Akers – EVA 3
• EVA 3 Start: May 13, 1992 – 21:17 UTC
• EVA 3 End: May 14, 1992 – 05:46 UTC
• Duration: 8 hours, 29 minutes

• Thornton and Akers – EVA 4
• EVA 4 Start: May 14, 1992 – ~21:00 UTC
• EVA 4 End: May 15, 1992 - ~05:00 UTC
• Duration: 7 hours, 45 minutes

Crew seating arrangements[edit]

Seat[5]	Launch	Landing	Seats 1–4 are on the Flight Deck. Seats 5–7 are on the Middeck.
S1	Brandenstein	Brandenstein
S2	Chilton	Chilton
S3	Hieb	Thuot
S4	Melnick	Melnick
S5	Thuot	Hieb
S6	Thornton	Thornton
S7	Akers	Akers

Mission highlights[edit]

The Intelsat 603 satellite, stranded in an unusable orbit since launch aboard a Commercial Titan III launch vehicle in March 1990, was captured by crewmembers during an extravehicular activity (EVA) and equipped with a new perigee kick motor. The satellite was subsequently released into orbit and the new motor fired to put the spacecraft into a geosynchronous orbit for operational use.

The capture required three EVAs: a planned one by astronauts Thuot and Hieb who were unable to attach a capture bar to the satellite from a position on the RMS (Canadarm); a second unscheduled but identical attempt the following day; and finally an unscheduled but successful hand capture by Thuot, Hieb and Akers as commander Brandenstein delicately maneuvered the orbiter to within a few feet of the 4,215 kg (9,292 lb) communications satellite. An Assembly of Station by EVA Methods (ASEM) structure was erected in the cargo bay by the crew to serve as a platform to aid in the hand capture and subsequent attachment of the capture bar. A planned EVA also was performed by astronauts Thornton and Akers as part of the ASEM experiment to demonstrate and verify maintenance and assembly capabilities for Space Station Freedom. The ASEM space walk, originally scheduled for two successive days, was cut to one day because of the lengthy Intelsat retrieval operation.

Other "payloads of opportunity" experiments conducted included: Commercial Protein Crystal Growth (CPCG), Ultraviolet Plume Imager (UVPI) and the Air Force Maui Optical Station (AMOS) investigation. The mission was extended by two days in order to complete all the mission objectives.

On flight day 7, the Ku-band antenna lost its pointing capability. It had to be stowed manually during the final EVA.^[3]

The following records were set during the STS-49 mission:^[6]

• First flight of the Space Shuttle Endeavour
• First (and only) EVA involving three astronauts.
• Second and fourth longest EVAs to date: 8 hours, 29 minutes, 7 hours, and 45 minutes. (Longest EVA to date was during STS-102 in 2001: 8 hours 56 minutes; third longest EVA was during STS-61 in 1993: 7 hour 54 minutes)
• First Shuttle mission to feature four EVAs.
• The second longest EVA time for a single Shuttle mission: 25 hours and 27 minutes, or 59:23 person hours. (The longest is STS-61 with 35 hours and 28 minutes)
• First Shuttle mission requiring three rendezvous with an orbiting spacecraft.
• First use of a drogue chute during a Shuttle landing.

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.^[7] 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.

Gallery[edit]

• 
  Thuot during one of the capture attempts
• 
  Re-deployment of Intelsat 603
• 
  ASEM is manipulated by the Canadarm; Thornton and Akers during EVA 4.

See also[edit]

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

References[edit]

^ "Space Shuttle Missions Summary" (PDF). NASA. Retrieved February 8, 2022. This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.

^ ^{a b} Fricke, Robert W. (July 1992). "STS-49: Space shuttle mission report". NASA. p. 17 of report. NASA-TM-108104. Retrieved February 8, 2022. This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.

^ "Facts about spacesuits and spacewalks". June 3, 2013. Archived from the original on June 3, 2013. Retrieved February 8, 2022. This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.

^ "STS-49". NASA. 2001. Archived from the original on February 17, 2013. Retrieved February 8, 2022. This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.

^ Fries, Colin. "Chronology of wakeup calls" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on December 20, 2023. Retrieved February 8, 2022. This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.

External links[edit]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to STS-49.

• NASA mission summary Archived February 17, 2013, at the Wayback Machine
• STS-49 Video Highlights Archived April 3, 2012, at the Wayback Machine