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STS-85

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STS-85

AKA: Discovery. Launched: 1997-08-07. Returned: 1997-08-19. Number crew: 6 . Duration: 11.85 days.

The CRISTA-SPAS-2 was making its second flight on the Space Shuttle and represented the fourth mission in a cooperative venture between the German Space Agency (DARA) and NASA.

CRISTA-SPAS was deployed by the RMS arm at 22:27 GMT on August 7 and was recaptured by Discovery's RMS arm at 15:14 GMT on August 16. Because of unfavorable weather conditions at the primary shuttle landing site at the Kennedy Space Center, Discovery was waved off for its scheduled August 18 landing. STS-85 landed the next day, at Kennedy Space Center at 11:08 GMT.

Cargo Bay Payloads:

• Bay 1-2: External Airlock
• Bay 5: MPESS (Multi Purpose Experiment Support Structure) with the MFD (Manipulator Flight Demonstration) payload from the Japanese space agency. This was a 'robot hand' that will be at the end of the robot arm being developed for the Japanese space station module.
• Bay 6 Port sidewall: A small carrier with the ITEPC radiation dose counter.
• Bay 7: MPESS with the TAS-01 payload (Technology Applications and Science) from NASA-Goddard's Hitchhiker-M program. TAS-01 consisted of several GAS cans with science experiments, including the second flight of the Shuttle Laser Altimeter and an instrument to measure the absolute bolometric flux of the Sun.
• Bay 9: ASTRO-SPAS, a free flying platform built by Germany's DASA, carrying the CRISTA-SPAS atmospheric science payload on its second mission.
• Bay 11 Port sidewall: a small carrier with the ERPCL transmitter/receiver which communicates with SPAS during its flight.
• Bay 12: MPESS with the IEH-2 Hitchhiker payload from Goddard. The International Extreme Ultraviolet Hitchhiker was a joint NASA-Italian astronomy payload. Its two main instruments were the UVSTAR ultraviolet spectrograph and the SHE solar extreme ultraviolet instrument. The MPESS also carried the GLO-5 and GLO-6 airglow studies and the Data-Chaser technology experiment. UVSTAR's main objective is to study the extreme UV emissions from the Io plasma torus around Jupiter.
• Bay 13 Starboard sidewall: GABA (GAS Beam Adapter) with two GAS experiment cans, G-572 and G-745. G-572 has experiments from Bellermine College and Utah State, and G-745 has student experiments from Mayo High School.

In-Cabin Payloads: BDS-03; BRIC; PCG-STES-05; ACIS; MSX; SIMPLEX; SWUIS; SSCE.

Developmental Test Objectives
Detailed Supplementary Objectives
Risk Mitigation Experiments

• DTO 255: Wraparound DAP Flight Test Verification
• DTO 312: External Tank TPS Performance
• DTO 700-10: Orbiter Space Vision System Videotaping
• DTO 700-12: Global Positioning System/Inertial Navigation System
• DTO 700-14: Single String Global Positioning System
• DTO 805: Crosswind Landing Performance
• DTO 842: AutoTRAC Computer Vision System
• DTO 843: V-Bar Proximity Operations Demonstration for ISS
• DTO 844: RMS Situational Awareness Displays
• DSO 331: Integration of the Space Shuttle Launch and Entry Suit
• DSO 484C: Assessment of Sleep Quality and Circadian Rhythms in Astronauts
• DSO 485: Intermars Tissue Equivalent Proportional Counter
• DSO 493: Monitoring Latent Virus Reaction and Shedding in Astronauts
• DSO 802: Educational Activities
• RME 1328: Microgravity Vibration Isolation Mount System Performance

Payload And Vehicle Masses: Orbiter (Discovery) empty and 3 SSME's: 69,775 kg; Shuttle System at SRB Ignition 2,047,303 kg; Orbiter Weight at Landing with Cargo 98,847 kg; CRISTA-SPAS 3503 kg; IEH-02 1460 kg; MFD 1647 kg; TAS-01 2516 kg; SWUIS 62 kg.

NASA Official Mission Summary:

STS-85
(CRISTA-SPAS-02)
Discovery
Pad A
86th Shuttle mission
23 flight OV-103
Extended mission
39th KSC landing
Crew:
Curtis L. Brown Jr., Mission Commander (4th Shuttle flight)
Kent V. Rominger, Pilot (3rd)
Jan Davis, Payload Commander (3rd)
Robert L. Curbeam Jr., Mission Specialist (1st)
Stephen K. Robinson, Mission Specialist (1st)
Bjarni V. Tryggvason, Payload Specialist (1st) (Canadian Space Agency)
Orbiter Preps (move to):
OPF - Feb. 21, 1997
VAB - July 7, 1997
Pad - July 14, 1997

Launch:

August 7, 1997, 10:41:00 a.m. EDT. On-time liftoff following smooth countdown.

Landing:

August 19, 1997, 7:07:59 a.m. EDT, Runway 33, Kennedy Space Center, Fla. Rollout distance: 8,792 feet (2,680 meters). Rollout time: One minute, eight seconds. Mission duration: 11 days, 20 hours, 26 minutes, 59 seconds. Landed on revolution 190. Landing opportunity Aug. 18 waved off due to threat of ground fog in local area.

Mission Highlights:

STS-85 carried a complement of payloads in the cargo bay that focused on Mission to Planet Earth objectives as well as preparations for International Space Station assembly: the Cryogenic Infrared Spectrometers and Telescopes for the Atmosphere- Shuttle Pallet Satellite-2 (CRISTA-SPAS-02); the Japanese Manipulator Flight Development (MFD); the Technology Applications and Science-01 (TAS-1) and the International Extreme Ultraviolet Hitchhiker-02 (IEH-02).

This was second flight of CRISTA-SPAS payload. CRISTASPAS- 02 also represented the fourth mission in a cooperative venture between the German Space Agency (DARA) and NASA. Payload included three telescopes and four spectrometers, deployed on flight day one, to gather data about Earth's middle atmosphere. After more than 200 hours of free flight, CRISTASPAS was retrieved on Aug. 16. Complementary instrument, the Middle Atmosphere High Resolution Spectrograph Investigation (MAHRSI) also performed well.

Data from STS-85 and first CRISTA-SPAS flight, STS-66 in 1994, expected to yield new insight into distribution of ozone in Earth's atmosphere. Once science operations were complete, CRISTA-SPAS used in simulation exercise to prepare for first International Space Station (ISS) assembly flight, STS-88, with the payload being manipulated as if it were the Functional Cargo Block (FGB) that will be attached to ISS Node 1.

TAS-1 was a Hitchhiker payload carrying eight experiments designed to demonstrate faster, better, cheaper avionics and processes: Solar Constant Experiment (SOLCON), Infrared Spectral Imaging Radiometer (ISIR) and Shuttle Laster Altimeter (SLA), all part of NASA's Mission to Planet Earth program; and the Critical Viscosity of Xenon (CVX), Space Experiment Module (SEM); Two Phase Flow (TPF); Cryogenic Flight Experiment (CFE) and Stand Alone Acceleration Measurement Device and the Wide-Band Stand Alone Acceleration Measurement Device (SAAMD/ WBSAAMD). All the experiments were completed successfully.

MFD designed to evaluate use of the Small Fine Arm that will be part of the future Japanese Experiment Module's Remote Manipulator System on ISS. Despite some glitches, MFD completed a series of exercises by crew on orbit as well as operators on ground. Two unrelated Japanese experiments, Two-Phase Fluid Loop Experiment (TPFLEX) and Evaluation of Space Environment and Effects on Materials (ESEM), were mounted near the Small Fine Arm in the payload bay.

IEH-02 was flying a second time and consisted of four experiments, all of which performed well on-orbit: Solar Extreme Ultraviolet Hitchhiker-2 (SHE); Ultraviolet Spectrography Telescope for Astronomical Research (UVSTAR); Distribution and Automation Technology Advancement � Colorado Hitchhiker and Student Experiment of Solar Radiation (DATA-CHASER); and Shuttle Glow Experiment-5 and -6, all with common objective to investigate solar extreme ultraviolet (EUV) flux and EUV emissions of the Jupiter Io Plasma Torus system.

In-cabin payloads: Bioreactor Demonstration System-3 (BDS- 3), a cell biology research payload which has flown previously. On this flight, BDS used for growing colon cancer cells to a larger size than can be achieved on Earth. Protein Crystal Growth - Single Locker Thermal Enclosure System (PCG-STES); Midcourse Space Experiment (MSX); Shuttle Ionospheric Modification with Pulsed Local Exhaust (SIMPLEX); Southwest Ultraviolet Imaging System (SWUIS), used to observe the Hale-Bopp comet; two Get Away Special (GAS) payloads; Biological Research in Canisters- 10 (BRIC-10), one in a series of flights; and the Solid Surface Combustion Experiment (SSCE).

Crew also worked with the Orbiter Space Vision System (OSVS), which will be used during ISS assembly. OSVS features series of dots strategically placed on various payload and vehicle structures that permit precise alignment and pointing capability. Orbiter performance was nominal throughout the mission.

Family: Manned spaceflight. People: Tryggvason, Davis, Robinson, Brown, Rominger, Curbeam. Country: USA. Spacecraft: Discovery. Projects: STS. Launch Sites: Cape Canaveral. Agency: NASA, NASA Houston. More at: 8043.

Photo Gallery

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Tryggvason Credit: www.spacefacts.de

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STS-85 Credit: www.spacefacts.de

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• STS-85 - . Call Sign: Discovery. Crew: Brown, Curbeam, Davis, Robinson, Rominger, Tryggvason. Payload: Discovery F23 / CRISTA-SPAS-2. Mass: 116,884 kg (257,685 lb). Nation: USA. Related Persons: Brown, Curbeam, Davis, Robinson, Rominger, Tryggvason. Agency: NASA Houston. Manufacturer: North American. Program: STS. Class: Manned. Type: Manned spaceplane. Flight: STS-85. Spacecraft Bus: Shuttle. Spacecraft: Discovery. Duration: 11.85 days. Decay Date: 1997-08-18 . USAF Sat Cat: 24889 . COSPAR: 1997-039A. Apogee: 261 km (162 mi). Perigee: 249 km (154 mi). Inclination: 57.0000 deg. Period: 89.60 min.

  Deployed and retrieved the CRISTA-SPAS-2 (the Cryogenic Infrared Spectrometers and Telescopes for the Atmosphere-Shuttle Pallet Satellite-2) designed to study Earth's middle atmosphere. The CRISTA-SPAS-2 was making its second flight on the Space Shuttle and represented the fourth mission in a cooperative venture between the German Space Agency (DARA) and NASA.

  CRISTA-SPAS was deployed by the RMS arm at 22:27 GMT on August 7 and was recaptured by Discovery's RMS arm at 15:14 GMT on August 16. Because of unfavorable weather conditions at the primary shuttle landing site at the Kennedy Space Center, Discovery was waved off for its scheduled August 18 landing. STS-85 landed the next day, at Kennedy Space Center at 11:08 GMT.

• STS-85 - Wakeup Song: To the Moon and Back - . Flight: STS-85. "To the Moon and Back" by Savage Garden CAPCOM: Bill McArthur.

• STS-85 - Wakeup Song: Don't Look Down - . Flight: STS-85. "Don't Look Down" by Lindsay Buckingham CAPCOM: Bill McArthur.

• STS-85 - Wakeup Song: My Home's In Alabama - . Flight: STS-85. "My Home's In Alabama" by Alabama CAPCOM: Bill McArthur.

• STS-85 - Wakeup Song: Chances Are - . Flight: STS-85. "Chances Are" by Johnny Mathis CAPCOM: Bill McArthur.

• STS-85 - Wakeup Song: The House is Rockin' - . Flight: STS-85. "The House is Rockin'" by Stevie Ray Vaughn CAPCOM: Marc Garneau.

• STS-85 - Wakeup Song: Good Vibrations - . Flight: STS-85. "Good Vibrations" by The Beach Boys CAPCOM: Marc Garneau.

• STS-85 - Wakeup Song: You Will Go to the Moon - . Flight: STS-85. "You Will Go to the Moon" by Moxy Fruvous CAPCOM: Marc Garneau.

• STS-85 - Wakeup Song: Stay - . Flight: STS-85. "Stay" by Jackson Browne CAPCOM: Marc Garneau.

• STS-85 - Wakeup Song: Mighty Iron Arm Atom - . Flight: STS-85.

  "Mighty Iron Arm Atom" or"Atom Boy" Theme song to Japanese cartoon. There was no Japanese crewmember on this mission, but one of the experiments was a Japanese robot arm, a prototype for the ISS's Japanese Experiment Module, hence this very appropriate music. CAPCOM: Marc Garneau

• STS-85 - Wakeup Song: You're Not From Texas - . Flight: STS-85. "You're Not From Texas" by Lyle Lovett CAPCOM: Marc Garneau.

• STS-85 - Wakeup Song: So Far Away - . Flight: STS-85. "So Far Away" by Dire Straits CAPCOM: Marc Garneau.

• STS-85 - Wakeup Song: Running On Empty - . Flight: STS-85. "Running On Empty" by Jackson Browne CAPCOM: Marc Garneau.

• Landing of STS-85 - . Return Crew: Brown, Curbeam, Davis, Robinson, Rominger, Tryggvason. Nation: USA. Related Persons: Brown, Curbeam, Davis, Robinson, Rominger, Tryggvason. Flight: STS-85. STS-85 landed at 11:08 GMT. .