STS-52 facts for kids

Quick facts for kids
STS-52

Columbia's payload bay, with the LAGEOS 2 satellite being deployed.
Names	Space Transportation System-51
Mission type	Microgravity research LAGEOS 2 satellite deployment
Operator	NASA
Mission duration	9 days, 20 hours, 56 minutes, 13 seconds (achieved)
Distance travelled	6,645,026 km (4,129,028 mi)
Orbits completed	159
Spacecraft properties
Spacecraft	Space Shuttle Columbia
Launch mass	113,460 kg (250,140 lb)
Landing mass	97,574 kg (215,114 lb)
Payload mass	8,078 kg (17,809 lb)
Crew
Crew size	6
Members	James D. Wetherbee Michael A. Baker Charles L. Veach William M. Shepherd Tamara E. Jernigan Steven G. MacLean
Start of mission
Launch date	22 October 1992, 17:09:39 UTC
Rocket	Space Shuttle Columbia
Launch site	Kennedy Space Center, LC-39B
Contractor	Rockwell International
End of mission
Landing date	1 November 1992, 14:05:52 UTC
Landing site	Kennedy Space Center, SLF Runway 33
Orbital parameters
Reference system	Geocentric orbit
Regime	Low Earth orbit
Perigee	300 km (190 mi)
Apogee	302 km (188 mi)
Inclination	28.45°
Period	90.60 minutes
STS-52 mission patch Back: Michael A. Baker, James D. Wetherbee, Steven G. MacLean Front: Charles L. Veach, Tamara E. Jernigan, William M. Shepherd Space Shuttle program ← STS-47 (50) STS-53 (52) →

STS-52 was a Space Transportation System (NASA Space Shuttle) mission using Space Shuttle Columbia, and was launched on 22 October 1992.

Crew

Backup crew

Mission highlights

Liftoff

Primary mission objectives were deployment of the Laser Geodynamics Satellite 2 (LAGEOS-2) and operation of the U.S. Microgravity Payload-1 (USMP-1). LAGEOS 2, a joint effort between NASA and the Italian Space Agency (ASI), was deployed on day 2 and boosted into an initial elliptical orbit by ASI's Italian Research Interim Stage (IRIS). The spacecraft's apogee kick motor later circularized LAGEOS 2 orbit at its operational altitude of 5,900 km (3,700 mi). The USMP-1, activated on day one, included three experiments mounted on two connected Mission Peculiar Equipment Support Structures (MPESS) mounted in the orbiter's cargo bay. USMP-1 experiments were: Lambda Point Experiment; Matériel pour l'Étude des Phénomènes Intéressant la Solidification sur eT en Orbite (MEPHISTO), sponsored by the French agency Centre National d'Études Spatiales (CNES); and Space Acceleration Measurement System (SAMS).

Secondary payloads: (1) Canadian experiment (CANEX-2), located in both the orbiter's cargo bay and middeck and which consisted of Space Vision System (SVS); Materials Exposure in Low-Earth Orbit (MELEO); Queen's University Experiment in Liquid-Metal Diffusion (QUELD); Phase Partitioning in Liquids (PARLIQ); Sun Photospectrometre Earth Atmosphere Measurement-2 (SPEAM-2); Orbiter Glow-2 (OGLOW-2); and Space Adaptation Tests and Observations (SATO). A small, specially marked satellite, the Canadian Target Assembly (CTA), was deployed on day nine, to support SVS experiments. (2) ASP, featuring three independent sensors mounted on a Hitchhiker plate in the cargo bay - Modular Star Sensor (MOSS), Yaw Earth Sensor (YES) and Low Altitude Conical Earth Sensor (LACES), all provided by the European Space Agency (ESA).

Other middeck payloads: Commercial Materials Dispersion Apparatus Instrument Technology Associates Experiments; Commercial Protein Crystal Growth experiment; Chemical Vapor Transport Experiment Heat Pipe Performance Experiment (CVTEHPPE); Physiological Systems Experiment (PSE) (involving 12 rodents); and Shuttle Plume Impingement Experiment (SPIE). The orbiter also was used as a reference point for calibrating an Ultraviolet Plume Instrument on an orbiting Strategic Defense Initiative Organization (SDIO) satellite.

The Tank Pressure Control Experiment/Thermal Phenomena (TPCE/TP) was contained in a Getaway Special (GAS) canister in the orbiter's cargo bay.

Some of the ashes of Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry were also carried aboard the orbiter for the duration of the mission.

Wake-up calls

NASA began a tradition of playing music to astronauts during the Project Gemini, and first used music to wake up a flight crew during Apollo 15. A special musical track is chosen for each day in space, often by the astronauts' families, to have a special meaning to an individual member of the crew, or in reference to the day's planned activities.