.jpg) Galileo and itsInertial Upper Stage (IUS) in the payload bay ofAtlantis | |
| Names | Space Transportation System-34 STS-34 |
|---|---|
| Mission type | Galileo spacecraft deployment |
| Operator | NASA |
| COSPAR ID | 1989-084A |
| SATCATno. | 20297 |
| Mission duration | 4 days, 23 hours, 39 minutes, 20 seconds |
| Distance travelled | 2,900,000 km (1,800,000 mi) |
| Orbits completed | 79 |
| Spacecraft properties | |
| Spacecraft | Space Shuttle Atlantis |
| Launch mass | 116,831 kg (257,568 lb) |
| Landing mass | 88,881 kg (195,949 lb) |
| Payload mass | 22,064 kg (48,643 lb) |
| Crew | |
| Crew size | 5 |
| Members | |
| Start of mission | |
| Launch date | October 18, 1989, 16:53:40 (1989-10-18UTC16:53:40Z) UTC (12:53:40 pm EDT) |
| Launch site | Kennedy,LC-39B |
| Contractor | Rockwell International |
| End of mission | |
| Landing date | October 23, 1989, 16:33:00 (1989-10-23UTC16:34Z) UTC (9:33 am PDT) |
| Landing site | Edwards, Runway 23 |
| Orbital parameters | |
| Reference system | Geocentric orbit |
| Regime | Low Earth orbit |
| Perigee altitude | 298 km (185 mi) |
| Apogee altitude | 307 km (191 mi) |
| Inclination | 34.33° |
| Period | 90.60 minutes |
| Instruments | |
| |
 STS-34 mission patch  Back row:Williams andMcCulley Front row:Lucid,Chang-Díaz andBaker | |
STS-34 was aNASASpace Shuttle mission usingAtlantis. It was the 31st shuttle mission overall, and the fifth flight forAtlantis.[1] STS-34 launched fromKennedy Space Center,Florida, on October 18, 1989, and landed atEdwards Air Force Base,California, on October 23, 1989. It was also the first shuttle mission since theChallenger disaster to have two female astronauts on board. During the mission, theJupiter-boundGalileo probe was deployed into space.
| Position | Astronaut | |
|---|---|---|
| Commander |  Donald E. WilliamsSecond and last spaceflight | |
| Pilot | Michael J. McCulley Only spaceflight | |
| Mission Specialist 1 | Shannon Lucid Second spaceflight | |
| Mission Specialist 2 Flight Engineer | / Franklin Chang-DíazSecond spaceflight | |
| Mission Specialist 3 | Ellen S. Baker First spaceflight | |
| Seat[2] | Launch | Landing |  Seats 1–4 are on the flight deck. Seats 5–7 are on the mid-deck. |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Williams | ||
| 2 | McCulley | ||
| 3 | Lucid | Baker | |
| 4 | Chang-Díaz | ||
| 5 | Baker | Lucid | |
| 6 | Unused | ||
| 7 | Unused | ||
| Attempt | Planned | Result | Turnaround | Reason | Decision point | Weather go (%) | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 12 Oct 1989, 1:29:00 pm | Scrubbed | — | Technical | 11 Oct 1989, 4:00 pm (T−19:00:00) | 75[3] | Faulty SSME controller in engine no. 2.[4] |
| 2 | 17 Oct 1989, 12:57:00 pm | Scrubbed | 4 days 23 hours 28 minutes | Weather | 17 Oct 1989, 1:15 pm (T−00:05:00) | 80,[5] later 60[6] | Rain at Shuttle Landing Facility.[4][7] |
| 3 | 18 Oct 1989, 12:53:40 pm | Success | 0 days 23 hours 57 minutes | Countdown clock held at T−5 minutes to change TAL sites. |
Atlantis lifted off fromLaunch Complex 39B, Kennedy Space Center (KSC), at 12:53:40 EDT on October 18, 1989. It carried theJupiter-boundGalileo spacecraft in its cargo bay. Thecountdown was delayed at T-minus 5 minutes for 3 minutes and 40 seconds to update the onboard computer for a change in theTransoceanic Abort Landing (TAL) site. The TAL site was changed fromBen Guerir Air Base,Morocco, toZaragoza Air Base,Spain, because of heavy rain at Ben Guerir.
The launch was originally targeted for October 12, 1989, the first day of a 41-day launch period during which the planets were properly aligned for a direct flight to Jupiter. The liftoff was rescheduled for October 17, 1989, to replace a faulty main engine controller forSpace Shuttle Main Engine No. 2.[8] It was postponed again until October 18, 1989, because of rain-showers within 32 kilometres (20 mi; 17 nmi) of Kennedy Space Center'sShuttle Landing Facility. The weather conditions were in violation of the launch commit criteria for aReturn To Launch Site (RTLS) landing in the event of an aborted flight.[9]
The primary payload, theGalileo spacecraft with its attachedInertial Upper Stage (IUS), was successfully deployed on its journey to Jupiter. STS-34 was only the second shuttle flight to deploy a planetary spacecraft, the first beingSTS-30, which deployed theMagellan spacecraft.
Galileo became the first spacecraft to orbit anouter Solar System planet and to penetrate the atmosphere of an outer planet. Also, the spacecraft was scheduled to make the first extended observations of the Jovian system and first direct sampling of Jupiter's atmosphere, as well as the firstasteroid flybys.
Several anomalies occurred during the flight, but none had a major impact on the mission. On October 22, 1989, an alarm woke the shuttle crew when the gas generator fuel pump system A heaters onAuxiliary Power Unit (APU) 2 failed to recycle at the upper limits of the system. There were also some minor problems with the Flash Evaporator System for cooling the orbiter, and the cryogenic oxygen manifold valve 2, which was left closed for the rest of the mission. AHasselblad camera jammed twice, and a spare camera had to be used.
Chang-Díaz described his second flight as much more "subdued". Demonstrators protested at launch time against the flight because theGalileo spacecraft, the mission's payload, was powered by aradioisotope thermoelectric generator. Díaz also claimed the flight was almost aborted in orbit three times because of malfunctions, but continued because the alternative was to landAtlantis, carryingGalileo and its generator, at an airport inSenegal, which could have caused an "international incident", according to the astronaut. He identified the deployment ofGalileo as another tricky part of the mission as he only had a tight six-second opportunity to succeed.[10]
On October 21, 1989,Costa Rican President Dr.Óscar Arias talked inSpanish with Chang-Díaz, a native of Costa Rica, and greeted the other crew members via a special telephone linkup. Arias told Chang-Díaz, "You raise high the name of Costa Rica and Latin America in general". Chang-Díaz also explained the mission's objectives in Spanish to Costa Rican listeners on the ground.[11]
Because of high winds predicted at the planned landing time, reentry was moved two orbits earlier.Atlantis landed on Runway 23 at Edwards Air Force Base in California at 16:33:00 UTC (9:33 am PDT local time at the landing site) on October 23, 1989 after a mission duration of 4 days, 23 hours, 39 minutes, and 20 seconds.
The mission's primary task was to deploy theGalileo spacecraft with its attached IUS booster. Deployment occurred on schedule at 19:15 EDT on October 18, 1989, slightly more than six hours after launch, and the IUS successfully boostedGalileo towardVenus on the first leg of its six-year journey to Jupiter. The spacecraft was injected on a Venus transfer orbit at 20:20 EDT, and separated from the IUS 47 minutes later.
Galileo required a triple gravity assist – from Venus, Earth, and then Earth again – to propel it from the inner part of theSolar System to Jupiter in the outer system. The trajectory made it possible to also observe asteroids951 Gaspra and243 Ida.Galileo had two major components: an orbiter which examined Jupiter and its four largest moons for eight years, and a probe which descended into the Jovian atmosphere to take direct samplings before being destroyed by the gas giant's heat and pressure.
Besides theGalileo spacecraft,Atlantis' payload bay held two canisters containing the Shuttle Solar Backscatter Ultraviolet (SSBUV) experiment. SSBUV, which made its first flight on STS-34, was developed by NASA to check the calibration of theozone sounders on free-flying satellites, and to verify the accuracy of atmospheric ozone andsolar irradiance data. The experiment operated successfully.
STS-34 carried a further five mid-deck experiments, all of which were deemed successful, including the Polymer Morphology (PM) experiment, sponsored by the3M company under a joint endeavor agreement with NASA. The PM experiment was designed to observe the melting and resolidifying of different types ofpolymers while in orbit. The Mesoscale Lightning Experiment (MLE), which had been flown on previous shuttle missions, observed the visual characteristics of large-scalelightning in theupper atmosphere.
The crew successfully troubleshot a student experiment onice crystal growth. The experiment's first activation did not produce crystals because the supercooled water formed an ice slag on the cooling plate. The crew turned the experiment off, allowing the ice to thaw, and then redispersed the liquid. Several crystals formed. On October 22, 1989, Lucid and Baker completed the Growth Hormone Concentration and Distribution in Plants experiment by freezing samples ofcorn seedlings grown in orbit during the mission.
In the cabin, the crew operated anIMAX (70 mm) camera, last flown onSTS-29.Werner Herzog's 2005 filmThe Wild Blue Yonder featured footage filmed on the flight.
Chang-Díaz and Baker, a medical doctor, performed a detailed supplementary objective by photographing and videotaping theveins andarteries in the retinal wall of Baker's eyeball to provide detailed measurements which might give clues about a possible relationship between cranial pressure and motion sickness. Baker also tested the effectiveness of anti-motion sickness medication in space.
NASA began a tradition of playing music to astronauts during theProject Gemini, and first used music to wake up a flight crew duringApollo 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.[12]
| Flight Day | Song | Artist/Composer | Played for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Day 2 | "Hail Purdue" | Donald E. Williams | |
| Day 3 | University of Oklahoma fight song | Shannon W. Lucid | |
| Day 4 | "Bohemian Rhapsody" | Queen | |
| Day 5 | "Centerfield" | John Fogerty | Sports fans onboard |
| Day 6 | "Fly Like An Eagle" | Steve Miller Band |
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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 ShuttleAtlantis (OV-104) | ||
|---|---|---|
| Completed flights | .jpg) | |
| Status |
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| On display | ||
