 Discovery in orbit; in-flight photography on thisDepartment of Defense (DoD) support mission is limited. | |
| Names | Space Transportation System-33 STS-33R |
|---|---|
| Mission type | DoD satellite deployment |
| Operator | NASA |
| COSPAR ID | 1989-090A |
| SATCATno. | 20329 |
| Mission duration | 5 days, 6 minutes, 48 seconds |
| Distance travelled | 3,400,000 km (2,100,000 mi) |
| Orbits completed | 79 |
| Spacecraft properties | |
| Spacecraft | Space Shuttle Discovery |
| Landing mass | 88,125 kg (194,282 lb) |
| Payload mass | 21,000 kg (46,000 lb) |
| Crew | |
| Crew size | 5 |
| Members | |
| Start of mission | |
| Launch date | November 23, 1989, 00:23:30 (1989-11-23UTC00:23:30Z) UTC (7:23 pm EST) |
| Launch site | Kennedy,LC-39B |
| Contractor | Rockwell International |
| End of mission | |
| Landing date | November 28, 1989, 00:30:18 (1989-11-28UTC00:30:19Z) UTC (4:30:18 pm PDT) |
| Landing site | Edwards, Runway 4 |
| Orbital parameters | |
| Reference system | Geocentric orbit |
| Regime | Low Earth orbit |
| Perigee altitude | 519 km (322 mi) |
| Apogee altitude | 519 km (322 mi) |
| Inclination | 28.45° |
| Period | 88.70 minutes |
| Instruments | |
| |
 STS-33 mission patch  Back row:Carter andBlaha Front row:Thornton,Gregory andMusgrave | |
STS-33 was aNASASpace Shuttle mission and the 9th flight ofDiscovery, during whichSpace ShuttleDiscovery deployed a payload for theUnited States Department of Defense (DoD). It was the 32nd shuttle mission overall, the ninth flight ofDiscovery, the fifth shuttle mission in support of the DoD, the seventh post-Space Shuttle Challenger disaster mission and the last Shuttle mission of the 1980s. Due to the nature of the mission, specific details remain classified.Discovery lifted off fromLaunch Complex 39B atKennedy Space Center (KSC),Florida, on November 22, 1989, at 7:23:30 p.m.EST; it landed atEdwards Air Force Base,California, on November 27, 1989, at 7:30:16 p.m. EST.
The mission was officially designatedSTS-33R as the original STS-33 designator belonged to the ill-fated ChallengerSTS-51-L, the 25th Space Shuttle mission. Official documentation for that mission contained the designator STS-33 throughout. AsSTS-51-L was designated STS-33, future flights with theSTS-26 through STS-33 designators would require theR in their documentation to avoid conflicts in tracking data from one mission to another.
| Position | Astronaut | |
|---|---|---|
| Commander | Frederick D. Gregory Second spaceflight | |
| Pilot | John E. Blaha Second spaceflight | |
| Mission Specialist 1 | Sonny Carter Only spaceflight | |
| Mission Specialist 2 Flight Engineer | Story Musgrave Third spaceflight | |
| Mission Specialist 3 | Kathryn C. Thornton First spaceflight | |
| Seat[1] | Launch | Landing |  Seats 1–4 are on the flight deck. Seats 5–7 are on the mid-deck. |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Gregory | ||
| 2 | Blaha | ||
| 3 | Carter | Thornton | |
| 4 | Musgrave | ||
| 5 | Thornton | Carter | |
| 6 | Unused | ||
| 7 | Unused | ||
STS-33 was the original designation for the mission that became STS-51-L, theChallenger disaster. AfterChallenger's destruction, NASA recycled the mission numbering system back toSTS-26, which was the 26th shuttle mission and the first to fly after the disaster.
S. David Griggs, a veteran ofSTS-51-D, was to have been the pilot of this mission. He was killed in the crash of avintage World War II aircraft in June 1989 while training to serve as pilot on STS-33, and is commemorated on the mission insignia with a single gold star on the blue field.[2] He was replaced by John Blaha. Sonny Carter, a mission specialist on this flight, was killed in a commercialplane crash on April 5, 1991[3] while training to fly onSTS-42.
STS-33 was originally scheduled to launch on November 20, 1989, but was delayed because of problems with the integrated electronics assemblies which controlled the ignition and separation of the shuttle'ssolid rocket boosters (SRBs). STS-33 was the third night launch of the Space Shuttle program, and the first since shuttle flights resumed in 1988 following theChallenger disaster of 1986.
During the mission,Discovery deployed a single satellite,USA-48 (1989-090B). Experts believe that this was a secretMagnumELINT (ELectronic INTelligence) satellite headed forgeosynchronous orbit, similar to that launched bySTS-51-C in 1985, making this mission essentially a duplicate of that earlier mission.[4] According to Jim Slade ofABC News, USA-48 was intended to eavesdrop on military and diplomatic communications from theSoviet Union, China, and othercommunist states. The satellite deployed by STS-33 was a replacement for the one launched by STS-51-C, which was running out of the maneuvering fuel required for keeping its station over theIndian Ocean.[5] However, astronautGary E. Payton stated in 2009 that STS-51-C's payload is "still up there, and still operating".[4]
Aviation Week claimed that during STS-33, the shuttle initially entered an 204 km (127 mi) x 519 km (322 mi) orbit at aninclination of 28.45° to theequator. It then executed threeOrbital Maneuvering System (OMS) burns, the last on its fourth orbit. The first burn was to circularize the orbit at 519 km (322 mi). The satellite was deployed on the seventh orbit, and ignited itsInertial Upper Stage (IUS) booster at the ascending node of the eighth orbit, successfully placing it in ageostationary transfer orbit (GTO). This was the eighth IUS launched aboard the shuttle, and the seventh successfully deployed.
STS-33 suffered a cabin leak in theWaste Collection System.[6]
STS-33 was observed by the 1.6 m (5 ft 3 in) telescope of theU.S. Air ForceAir Force Maui Optical and Supercomputing observatory (AMOS) during five passes overHawaii. Spectrographic and infrared images of the shuttle obtained with the Enhanced Longwave Spectral Imager (ELSI) were aimed at studying the interactions between gases released by the shuttle's primaryreaction control system (RCS) and residual atmosphericoxygen andnitrogen species in orbit.[7][8]
The landing was initially scheduled for November 26, 1989, but was postponed for a day because of strong winds at the landing site.Discovery landed at Edwards Air Force Base, California, on November 27, 1989, at 7:30:16 p.m. EST, after a mission duration of 5 days, 0 hour, 6 minutes, and 46 seconds.
This article incorporates text from this source, which is in thepublic domain. This article incorporates text from this source, which is in thepublic domain. This article incorporates text from this source, which is in thepublic domain.Space ShuttleDiscovery (OV-103) | ||
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| On display | ||
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