STS-40 facts for kids

Quick facts for kids
STS-40

Spacelab Module LM1 in Columbia's payload bay, serving as the Spacelab Life Sciences laboratory
Names	Space Transportation System-41
Mission type	Spacelab Life Sciences-1 (SLS-1)
Operator	NASA
Mission duration	9 days, 2 hours, 14 minutes, 20 seconds (achieved)
Distance travelled	6,083,223 km (3,779,940 mi)
Orbits completed	146
Spacecraft properties
Spacecraft	Space Shuttle Columbia
Launch mass	114,290 kg (251,970 lb)
Landing mass	102,283 kg (225,495 lb)
Payload mass	12,374 kg (27,280 lb)
Crew
Crew size	7
Members	Bryan D. O'Connor Sidney M. Gutierrez James P. Bagian Tamara E. Jernigan Margaret Rhea Seddon F. Drew Gaffney Millie Hughes-Fulford
Start of mission
Launch date	5 June 1991, 13:24:51 UTC
Rocket	Space Shuttle Columbia
Launch site	Kennedy Space Center, LC-39B
Contractor	Rockwell International
End of mission
Landing date	14 June 1991, 15:39:11 UTC
Landing site	Edwards, Runway 22
Orbital parameters
Reference system	Geocentric orbit
Regime	Low Earth orbit
Perigee	287 km (178 mi)
Apogee	296 km (184 mi)
Inclination	39.02°
Period	90.40 minutes
STS-40 mission patch Back row: Bryan D. O'Connor, Tamara E. Jernigan, Sidney M. Gutierrez Front row: F. Drew Gaffney, Millie Hughes-Fulford, Margaret Rhea Seddon, James P. Bagian Space Shuttle program ← STS-39 (40) STS-43 (42) →

STS-40, the eleventh launch of Space Shuttle Columbia, was a nine-day mission in June 1991. It carried the Spacelab module for Spacelab Life Sciences 1 (SLS-1), the fifth Spacelab mission and the first dedicated solely to biology. STS-40 was the first spaceflight that included three women crew members.

Crew

Backup crew

Crew seating arrangements

Seat	Launch	Landing	upright-1.0 Seats 1–4 are on the Flight Deck. Seats 5–7 are on the Middeck.
S1	O'Connor	O'Connor
S2	Gutierrez	Gutierrez
S3	Bagian	Seddon
S4	Jernigan	Jernigan
S5	Seddon	Bagian
S6	Gaffney	Gaffney
S7	Hughes-Fulford	Hughes-Fulford

Mission highlights

Launch of STS-40

Launch originally set for 22 May 1991. Mission postponed less than 48 hours before launch when it became known that a leaking liquid hydrogen transducer in orbiter main propulsion system which was removed and replaced during leak testing in 1990, had failed an analysis by vendor. Engineers feared that one or more of the nine liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen transducers protruding into fuel and oxidizer lines could break off and be ingested by the engine turbopumps, causing engine failure.

In addition, one of orbiter five general purpose computers failed completely, along with one of the multiplexer demultiplexers that control orbiter hydraulics ordinance and orbiter maneuvering system / reaction control system functions in the aft compartment.

A new general purpose computer and multiplexer demultiplexer were installed and tested. One liquid hydrogen and two liquid oxygen transducers were replaced upstream in propellant flow system near the 43 cm (17 in) disconnect area, which is protected by internal screen. Three liquid oxygen transducers replaced at engine manifold area, while three liquid hydrogen transducers here were removed and openings plugged. Launch reset for 8:00 a.m. EDT, 1 June 1991, but postponed again after several attempts to calibrate inertial measurement unit 2 failed. Unit was replaced and retested, and launch was rescheduled for 5 June 1991. The mission launched successfully on 5 June 1991, at 9:24:51 a.m. EDT and the mission had a launch orbiter weight of 114,290 kg (251,970 lb). The launch was also captured on IMAX cameras, and used in the 2015 documentary film Journey to Space.

It was the fifth dedicated Spacelab mission, Spacelab Life Sciences-1, and first dedicated solely to life sciences, using the habitable module. Mission featured most detailed and interrelated physiological measurements in space since 1973-1974 Skylab missions. Subjects were humans, 30 rodents and thousands of tiny jellyfish. Primary SLS-1 experiments studied six body systems; of 18 investigations, ten involved humans, seven involved rodents, and one used jellyfish.

Six body systems investigated were cardiovascular/cardiopulmonary (heart, lungs and blood vessels); renal/endocrine (kidneys and hormone-secreting organs and glands); blood (blood plasma); immune system (white blood cells); musculoskeletal (muscles and bones); and neurovestibular (brains and nerves, eyes and inner ear). Other payloads included twelve Getaway Special (GAS) canisters installed on GAS bridge in cargo bay for experiments in materials science, plant biology and cosmic radiation (see G-616); Middeck Zero-Gravity Dynamics Experiment (MODE); and seven Orbiter Experiments (OEX).

Landing was on 14 June 1991, at 8:39:11 a.m. PDT, on Runway 22, at Edwards Air Force Base, California. Rollout distance: 2,866 m (9,403 ft). Rollout time: 55 seconds. Orbiter returned to KSC on 21 June 1991. Landing weight: 102,755 kg (226,536 lb).

Wake-up calls

NASA began a tradition of playing music to astronauts during the Project Gemini, which was first used to wake up a flight crew during Apollo 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.