STS-47

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STS-47
Mission insignia
Mission statistics
Mission name	STS-47
Space Shuttle	Endeavour
Launch pad	39-B
Launch date	12 September 1992, 10:23:00.0680 a.m. EDT.
Landing	20 September 1992, 8:53:24 a.m. EDT, Runway 33, Kennedy Space Center. FL
Mission duration	7 days, 22 hours, 30 minutes, 23 seconds
Orbital altitude	166 nautical miles (307 km)
Orbital inclination	57.0 degrees
Distance traveled	3,271,844 miles (5,265,523 km)
Crew photo
Related missions
Previous mission Next mission STS-46 STS-52

STS-47 Shuttle mission was the 50th Space Shuttle mission of the program.

[edit] Crew

• Robert L. Gibson (4), Commander
• Curtis L. Brown, Jr. (1), Pilot
• Mark C. Lee (2), Payload Commander
• N. Jan Davis (1), Mission Specialist
• Jay Apt (2), Mission Specialist
• Mae C. Jemison (1), Mission Specialist
• Mamoru Mohri (1), Payload Specialist -  Japan NASDA
  • Chiaki Naito-Mukai, Backup Payload Specialist -  Japan NASDA
  • Takao Doi, Backup Payload Specialist -  Japan NASDA
  • Stanley L. Koszelak, Backup Mission Specialist

[edit] Mission parameters

• Mass:
  • Orbiter landing with payload: 99,450 kg
  • Payload: 12,485 kg
• Perigee: 297 km
• Apogee: 310 km
• Inclination: 57.0°
• Period: 7 days, 22 hours, 30 minutes, 23 seconds

[edit] Mission highlights

View of Endeavour's payload bay showing spacelab

Unimak Island as seen from Endeavour.

Spacelab-J -- a joint NASA and National Space Development Agency of Japan (NASDA) mission utilizing a manned Spacelab module -- conducted microgravity investigations in materials and life sciences. The international crew, consisting of the first Japanese astronaut to fly aboard the Shuttle, the first African-American woman to fly in space and the first married couple to fly on the same space mission, was divided into red and blue teams for around the clock operations. Spacelab-J included 24 materials science and 20 life sciences experiments, of which 35 were sponsored by NASDA, 7 by NASA and 2 collaborative efforts.

Materials science investigations covered such fields as biotechnology, electronic materials, fluid dynamics and transport phenomena, glasses and ceramics, metals and alloys, and acceleration measurements. Life sciences included experiments on human health, cell separation and biology, developmental biology, animal and human physiology and behavior, space radiation, and biological rhythms. Test subjects included the crew, Japanese koi fish (carp), cultured animal and plant cells, chicken embryos, fruit flies, fungi and plant seeds, and frogs and frog eggs.

Twelve Get Away Special (GAS) canisters (10 with experiments, 2 with ballast) were carried in the payload bay. Middeck experiments were: Israeli Space Agency Investigation About Hornets (ISAIAH), Solid Surface Combustion Experiment (SSCE), Shuttle Amateur Radio Experiment (SAREX II), Air Force Maui Optical Site (AMOS), and Ultraviolet Plume Imager (UVPI).

STS-47 Endeavour crewmembers and backup payload specialists, wearing clean suits, pose for a group portrait in the Spacelab Japan module. Kneeling, from left, are backup Payload Specialist Chiaki Naito-Mukai; Mission Specialist N. Jan Davis; and backup Payload Specialist Takao Doi. Standing, from the left, are Pilot Curtis L. Brown,Jr; MS and Payload Commander Mark C. Lee; MS Jerome Apt; Payload Specialist Mamoru Mohri; Commander Robert L. Gibson; MS Mae C. Jemison; and backup Payload Specialist Stanely L. Koszelak. Mohri, Mukai, and Doi represent the National Space Development Agency of Japan NASDA.

Amongst the GAS Cansisters was G-102 Sponsored by the Boy Scouts of America's Exploring Division in cooperation with the TRW Systems Integration Group, Fairfax, Va. The project was named Project POSTAR which was the first space experiment created entirely by members of the Boy Scouts of America.

[edit] See also

• Space science
• Space shuttle
• List of space shuttle missions
• List of human spaceflights chronologically
• Project POSTAR

[edit] External links

• NASA mission summary
• STS-47 Video Highlights
• Project POSTAR