STS-42

STS-42 was a Space Shuttle Discovery mission with the Spacelab module. Liftoff which was originally scheduled for 8:45 EST (13:45 UTC) 22 January 1992, but the launch was delayed due to weather constraints. Discovery successfully lifted off an hour later at 9:52 EST (14:52 UTC).^[1] The main goal of the mission was to study the effects of microgravity on a variety of organisms. The shuttle landed at 8:07 PST (16:07 UTC) on 30 January 1992 on Runway 22, Edwards Air Force Base, California.^[1]

STS-42 was the first of two flights in 1992 of Discovery, the second of which occurred during STS-53, which launched on 2 December 1992. The mission was also the last mission of the Space Shuttle Discovery to have a seven-member crew until STS-82, which was launched on 11 February 1997.

Crew

The crew of STS-42 included West Germany's first astronaut, Ulf Merbold, who was making his second spaceflight, and Canada's first female astronaut, Roberta Bondar. In order to allow around-the-clock monitoring of experiments, the astronauts were divided into a red team and a blue team.

Crew Notes

Manley L. Carter, was originally assigned to fly as a Mission Specialist for this mission, but died 7 months prior the launch.

Mission parameters

• Mass:
  • Orbiter at launch: 110,400 kilograms (243,000 lb)^[1]
  • Orbiter landing with payload: 98,890 kilograms (218,000 lb)^[1]
  • Payload: 13,066 kilograms (28,810 lb)
• Perigee: 291 kilometres (181 mi)
• Apogee: 307 kilometres (191 mi)
• Inclination: 57.0°
• Period: 90.5 min

Mission highlights

Launch: 22 January 1992, 9:52:33 am EST. Launch delayed one hour due to weather constraints. Launch Weight: 243,396 pounds (110.403 Mg).

Carried into orbit the International Microgravity Laboratory-1 (IML-1), a pressurized manned Spacelab module, to explore in depth the complex effects of weightlessness on living organisms and materials processing. The international crew, divided into Red and Blue teams, conducted experiments on the human nervous system's adaptation to low gravity and the effects of microgravity on other life forms such as shrimp eggs, lentil seedlings, fruit fly eggs and bacteria. Low gravity materials processing experiments included crystal growth from a variety of substances such as enzymes, mercury iodine and a virus. Other payloads included 10 Get Away Special (GAS) canisters, a number of middeck payloads and two Shuttle Student Involvement Program (SSIP) experiments. Middeck payloads included Gelation of SOLS: Applied microgravity research (GOSAMR), Investigations into Polymer Membrane Processing (IPMP) and the Radiation Monitoring Experiment (RME-III).

Landing: 30 January 1992, 8:07:17 am PST, Runway 22, Edwards Air Force Base, CA., Rollout distance: 9,811 feet. Mission extended one day for continued scientific experimentation. Orbiter returned to Kennedy Space Center on 16 February 1992. Landing Weight: 218,016 pounds (98.890 Mg).

Mission insignia

The four stars in the lower blue field and two stars in the upper blue field of the insignia symbolize the flight's numerical designation in the Space Transportation System's mission sequence. The single gold star above the horizon on the right is in honor of astronaut Manley "Sonny" Carter, who was killed in the crash of Atlantic Southeast Airlines Flight 2311 in Brunswick, Georgia while on a commercial airplane traveling for NASA. Carter was originally assigned as a mission specialist on STS-42 at the time of his death.

See also

• Space science
• Space Shuttle
• List of space shuttle missions
• List of human spaceflights chronologically

References

External links

• NASA mission summary
• STS-42 Press Kit
• STS-42 Video Highlights