STS-27
Names | Space Transportation System-27 STS-27R |
---|---|
Mission type | DoD satellite deployment |
Operator | NASA |
COSPAR ID | 1988-106A |
SATCAT no. | 19670 |
Mission duration | 4 days, 9 hours, 5 minutes, 37 seconds (achieved) |
Distance travelled | 2,916,252 km (1,812,075 mi) |
Orbits completed | 68 |
Spacecraft properties | |
Spacecraft | Space Shuttle Atlantis |
Landing mass | 86,616 kg (190,956 lb) |
Payload mass | 14,500 kg (32,000 lb) |
Crew | |
Crew size | 5 |
Members | |
Start of mission | |
Launch date | December 2, 1988, 14:30:34 UTC |
Rocket | Space Shuttle Atlantis |
Launch site | Kennedy Space Center, LC-39B |
Contractor | Rockwell International |
End of mission | |
Landing date | December 6, 1988, 23:36:11 UTC |
Landing site | Edwards Air Force Base, Runway 17 |
Orbital parameters | |
Reference system | Geocentric orbit |
Regime | Low Earth orbit |
Perigee altitude | 437 km (272 mi) |
Apogee altitude | 447 km (278 mi) |
Inclination | 57.00° |
Period | 93.40 minutes |
STS-27 mission patch Back row: William M. Shepherd, Richard M. Mullane Front row: Guy S. Gardner, Robert L. Gibson, Jerry L. Ross |
STS-27 was the 27th
The mission is technically designated STS-27R, as the original STS-27 designator belonged to STS-51-I, the twentieth Space Shuttle mission. Official documentation for that mission contained the designator STS-27 throughout. As STS-51-L was designated STS-33, future flights with the STS-26 through STS-33 designators would require the R in their documentation to avoid conflicts in tracking data from one mission to another.[3]
Crew
Position | Astronaut | |
---|---|---|
Commander | Robert L. Gibson Third spaceflight | |
Pilot | Guy S. Gardner First spaceflight | |
Mission Specialist 1 | Richard M. Mullane Second spaceflight | |
Mission Specialist 2 | Jerry L. Ross Second spaceflight | |
Mission Specialist 3 | William M. Shepherd First spaceflight |
Crew seating arrangements
Seat[4] | Launch | Landing | Seats 1–4 are on the Flight Deck. Seats 5–7 are on the Middeck. |
---|---|---|---|
S1 | Gibson | Gibson | |
S2 | Gardner | Gardner | |
S3 | Mullane | Shepherd | |
S4 | Ross | Ross | |
S5 | Shepherd | Mullane |
Mission summary
The Space Shuttle Atlantis (OV-104), at the time the youngest in NASA's shuttle fleet, made its third flight on a classified mission for the United States Department of Defense (DoD). It deployed a single satellite, USA-34.[5] NASA archival information has identified USA-34 as Lacrosse 1, a side-looking radar, all-weather surveillance satellite for the U.S. National Reconnaissance Office (NRO) and the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA).[6]
The mission was originally scheduled to launch on December 1, 1988, but the launch was postponed one day because of cloud cover and strong wind conditions at the launch site. Liftoff occurred from LC-39B at Kennedy Space Center, Florida, on December 2, 1988, at 09:30:34 a.m. EST. Atlantis touched down on December 6, 1988, on Runway 17 at Edwards Air Force Base, California, at 18:36:11 EST. The total mission elapsed time at wheels-stop was 4 days, 9 hours, 5 minutes, and 37 seconds. Atlantis was returned to the Kennedy Space Center on December 13, 1988, and moved into an OPF on December 14, 1988.
There has been speculation that an EVA was conducted during this mission.[7] Interviews with members of the crew several years after the flight confirmed there had been a problem with the satellite upon release, whereupon a rendezvous with the satellite was effected and repairs performed.[8][9] These unspecified repairs could have necessitated a spacewalk, likely performed by Ross and Shepherd. As a classified DoD mission, details or confirmation of such an EVA remain unreleased.[7]
The day after Atlantis landed, the 1988 Armenian earthquake killed tens of thousands in the Soviet Union. At an astronaut meeting Gibson said, "I know many of you may have been very curious about our classified payload. While I can't go into its design features, I can say Armenia was its first target! And we only had the weapon set on stun!"[8]
Tile damage
Atlantis'
The problem was compounded by the fact that the crew was prohibited from using their standard method of sending images to ground control due to the classified nature of the mission. The crew was forced to use a slow, encrypted transmission method, likely causing the images NASA engineers received to be of poor quality, causing them to think the damage was actually "just lights and shadows". They told the crew the damage did not look any more severe than on past missions.[1]
One report describes the crew as "infuriated" that
Mullane recalled that while filming the reentry through the upper deck's overhead windows, "I had visions of molten aluminum being smeared backwards, like rain on a windshield". Although the shuttle landed safely, "The damage was much worse than any of us had expected", he wrote.
A review team investigated the cause, beginning with a detailed inspection of the Atlantis TPS damage, and a review of related inspection reports to establish an in-depth anomaly definition. An exhaustive data review followed to develop a fault tree and several failure scenarios. This and other information gained during the review formed the basis for the team's findings and recommendations.[10]
Wake-up calls
NASA began a tradition of playing music to astronauts during Project Gemini, and first used music to awaken 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.[14]
Flight Day | Song | Artist/Composer |
---|---|---|
Day 2 | Army fight song | |
Day 3 | "Rawhide" parody | Dimitri Tiomkin |
Day 4 | "Do You Want to Know a Secret" parody | Mike Cahill |
Gallery
-
Atlantis on its launchpad
-
The Brahmaputra River imaged from orbit.
-
Fiji imaged from orbit.
See also
References
- ^ a b c d e Harwood, William (March 27, 2009). "Legendary commander tells story of shuttle's close call". Spaceflight Now. Retrieved April 1, 2018.
- ^ a b "Tell Me A Story: Astronaut Hoot Gibson's and Atlantis' Close Call". Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex. April 25, 2015. This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
- ISBN 978-1580072496.
- ^ a b Becker, Joachim. "Spaceflight mission report: STS-27". SPACEFACTS. Archived from the original on September 28, 2020. Retrieved February 26, 2014.
- ^ "NASA - NSSDCA - Spacecraft - Details". nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov. NASA. This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
- ^ "Lacrosse 1". Space Science Data Coordinated Archive. NASA. Archived from the original on August 15, 2020. Retrieved August 12, 2010. This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
- ^ a b Cassutt, Michael (August 2009). "Secret Space Shuttles". Air & Space magazine. Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Institution. Archived from the original on January 6, 2021.
- ^ a b c d e f Evans, Ben (January 30, 2012). "Into the Black: NASA's Secret Shuttle Missions – Part Two". AmericaSpace. Archived from the original on January 6, 2021.
- ^ a b Evans, Ben (December 9, 2018). "'Dying All Tensed-Up': 30 Years Since the Troubled Secret Mission of STS-27". AmericaSpace. Archived from the original on January 6, 2021.
- ^ a b STS-27R OV-104 Orbiter TPS Damage Review Team (February 1989). "Summary Report - Volume I" (PDF). NASA. Retrieved July 3, 2011.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link) This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain. - ^ Wade, Mark. "STS-27". Astronautix. Archived from the original on January 28, 2020. Retrieved January 6, 2021.
- ISBN 978-0743296762.
- ^ Gebhardt, Chris (July 2, 2011). "OV-104/ATLANTIS: An International Vehicle for a Changing World". NASASpaceFlight.com. Archived from the original on December 1, 2020.
- ^ Fries, Colin (March 13, 2015). "Chronology of Wakeup Calls" (PDF). History Division. NASA. Archived (PDF) from the original on January 5, 2021. Retrieved January 5, 2021. This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
External links
- NASA mission summary Archived June 25, 2020, at the Wayback Machine
- STS-27 Video Highlights Archived October 3, 2013, at the Wayback Machine
- STS-27R OV-104 Orbiter TPS damage review team, volume 1