STS-68
STS-68 was a human spaceflight mission using that launched from Kennedy Space Center, Florida on September 30, 1994.
Crew
Launch
Launch September 30, 1994, at 7:16:00.068 am EDT from Kennedy Space Center Launch Pad 39-A. The Launch window opened at 7:16 am EDT with a 2-hour-30-minute window. Orbiter mass at liftoff was 247,129 pounds including payload. Total vehicle mass was. Payload liftoff mass. Main Engine Cutoff was at an apogee of and a perigee of at MET of 8 min 35 s with Endeavour traveling at. No OMS-1 burn was required. OMS-2 burn was 1 min 42 s at MET 33 min.The launch was originally scheduled August 18, 1994, but there was an RSLS abort at T−1.9 s, after all three main engines ignited – the fifth time in the shuttle program where an RSLS abort occurred after main engine ignition. Previous aborts occurred on STS-41-D, STS-51-F, STS-55 and STS-51. The automatic abort was initiated by the onboard General Purpose Computers when the discharge temperature on MPS Main Engine #3 High Pressure Oxidizer Turbopump exceeded its redline value. The HPOT typically operates at 28,120 rpm and boosts the liquid oxygen pressure from 422 to 4,300 psi. There are 2 sensor channels measuring temperature on the HPOT. The B channel indicated a redline condition while the other was near redline conditions. The redline limit to initiate a shutdown is at 867 K. This limit increases to 980 K at . Main Engine #3 has been used on two previous flights with of hot-fire time and a total of eight starts. This was the first flight for the HPOT on Main Engine #3. Mission specialist Dan Bursch became the only astronaut to experience two RSLS aborts, having previously experienced one on STS-51.
A new launch date was set for early October and then moved up to late September. The procedure that has been used on previous aborts treats an RSLS abort after SSME ignition as a launch and to require a complete engine reinspection. A rollback of Endeavour to the VAB was done on August 24, 1994. Afterwards, Endeavour's SSMEs were removed and inspected. Three flight certified SSMEs were installed on the orbiter and Endeavour was rolled back to the launch pad on September 13, 1994. SSME #3 was shipped to the Stennis Space Center in Mississippi for test stand firing over the Labor day weekend. The engine was later flown on STS-70 in 1995.
Transatlantic Abort Landing sites for the initial launch attempt were Zaragoza, Spain, Moron, Spain and Ben Guerir, Morocco. Abort Once Around landing site was White Sands Space Harbor, New Mexico, USA.
Landing
Landing October 11, 1994, 1:02:09 pm EDT. Edwards Air Force Base concrete Runway 22. Endeavour did an OMS deorbit burn at 12:09 pm EDT about from the landing strip at Edwards Air Force Base. The burn lasted 2 min 17 s which lowered Endeavour's velocity. Astronaut John Casper flew the shuttle training aircraft at Edwards and said the weather was clear with light winds. Approach was from the southwest with a right overhead turn of 280 degrees. Nose wheel touchdown at 13:02:21 EDT. Wheel stop at 13:03:08 EDT. Rollout was approximately down the runway. Landing speed at main touchdown was approximately. Orbiter landing mass was. Payload landing mass was.Landing was originally scheduled for KSC, October 11, 1994, at 11:36 am EDT. The KSC landing attempts on that date were waved off due to cloud cover over the Shuttle Landing Facility.
Crew seat assignments
Mission highlights
September 30, 1994 (Flight Day 1)
On Friday, September 30, 1994, at 9 am CST, STS-68 MCC Status Report #1 reports: The Flight Control team in Houston gave the "Go for Orbit Operations" just before 8 am. The crew then began setting up the experiment and systems hardware aboard Endeavour. The primary payload on this flight is the Space Radar Laboratory, making its second flight to study the Earth's environment.Experiment operations will be conducted around the clock on this flight, with the astronauts divided into two teams. Commander Michael A. Baker, pilot Terrence W. Wilcutt and mission specialist Peter J. K. Wisoff are the "red team". Mission specialists Daniel W. Bursch, Thomas D. Jones and Steven L. Smith are the "blue team".
On Friday, September 30, 1994, at 5 pm CDT, STS-68 MCC Status Report # 2 reports: Shortly after 4 pm that day, flight controllers reported that the on-orbit checkout of the Spaceborne Imaging Radar-C and the Synthetic Aperture Radar had been completed, and that the primary SRL-2 instruments were ready for operation. Throughout the checkout, data takes were recorded over a number of sites, including Raco, Michigan; Bermuda; Bebedouro, Brazil; the Northeast Pacific Ocean and the Juan de Fuca Strait, between the United States and Canada.
In addition to the prime payload, Wilcutt also activated the Commercial Protein Crystal Growth Experiment, the Cosmic Radiation Effects and Activation Monitor, and checked on the mouse-ear cress seedlings growing in the CHROMEX-05 experiment. The crew successfully engineered an in-flight maintenance procedure to get additional cooling air to the CPCG apparatus after higher than desired temperatures were noted by crystal growth sensors.
October 1, 1994 (Flight Day 2)
On Saturday, October 1, 1994, at 9 am CDT, STS-68 MCC Status Report # 3 reports: Environmental studies continued throughout Saturday morning aboard Endeavour as six astronauts working around the clock in two shifts assisted the Space Radar Laboratory science team on the ground with real-time observations from space.While Commander Mike Baker and Pilot Terry Wilcutt made attitude adjustments of the orbiter to assist in precisely pointing the radar systems, Mission Specialist Jeff Wisoff provided running commentary and tape recording assistance for the many ground sites as Endeavour passed overhead at an altitude of. The STS-68 mission's three other crew members—Steve Smith, Dan Bursch and Tom Jones—perform the same duties on the opposite shift, beginning at about 4:30 this afternoon.
Late Friday night, Tom Jones sent down some video of a volcano erupting in Kamchatka. The experiment scientists reported the volcano began erupting a couple of weeks ago, but the latest "burst" from the Kliuchevskoi volcano occurred about eight hours after Endeavour's 6:16 am launch Friday.
The SRL team is planning a series of data takes using the radar equipment as Endeavour moves over that area of the world. Those images will be compared with similar radar images gathered during the STS-59 mission in April, prior to the volcanic activity. Other radar data gathering of the Earth's surface today included the desert regions of Africa, both the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans and mountainous regions of the East and West coasts of the United States.
Early Saturday, Mike Baker sent down a short video tape of smudges and streaks he noticed shortly after launch on several of the forward flight deck windows. None of the streaks would hamper visual observations during entry and landing slated for Monday, October 10.
October 2, 1994 (Flight Day 3)
On Sunday, October 2, 1994, at 9 am CDT, STS-68 MCC Status Report # 4 reports: Radar data gathering today included forest areas of North Carolina, ocean current patterns in the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, desert areas in Africa, and mountainous regions of the East and West coasts of the United States.October 3, 1994 (Flight Day 4)
On Monday, October 3, 1994, at 10 am CDT, STS-68 MCC Status Report # 5 reports: Endeavour's Space Radar Laboratory equipment continued to search the Earth's land masses and oceans for environmental changes that have occurred since the last SRL mission in April.The Red Team of Mike Baker, Terry Wilcutt and Jeff Wisoff will be on duty throughout much of the day while the Blue Team of Steve Smith, Dan Bursch and Tom Jones sleeps. Radar data gathering today included much of the East Coast of the United States, current patterns in the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans as well as other bodies of water, desert areas in Africa, and mountainous regions around the world.
Mission Specialist Jeff Wisoff pinpointed storms, lightning and fires and relayed the information to the SRL science team. His observations help correlate and corroborate data collected from the science instruments, including the measurement of air pollution by satellite, which measures carbon monoxide levels in the atmosphere.
Taking such measurements on this flight helps understand changes in the distribution of carbon monoxide as well as other seasonal changes in the environment that have occurred since Endeavour's last mission in April.
On Monday, October 3, 1994, at 5 pm CDT, STS-68 MCC Status Report # 6 reports: Endeavour's payload bay cameras sent to Earth dramatic video of the western coast of Oregon and the length of California and the Baja Peninsula that scientists will compare with radar images downlinked from Space Radar Laboratory-2 instruments earlier in the flight. The observations were part of a continuing effort to watch the Earth below for evidence of environmental changes that have occurred since the last SRL mission in April. The overall goal of the mission to better understand the differences in changes caused by natural processes and compare them to changes brought about by human activity. Radar data was recorded today over much of the East Coast of the United States, the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, Manitoba, Canada, and French Guiana.
Special readings were taken with the Measurement of Air Pollution by Satellite instrument as intentionally set fires were monitored by scientists from the University of Iowa and the Canadian Forest Service. The wind field and thermal evolution of the fires will be analyzed to provide a better interpretation of carbon monoxide emissions from the burning forest and to help calibrate color infrared photography taken by the STS-68 crew. These fires were planned in advance of the mission, and would have been set for forest management purposes even if the shuttle mission were not in progress.
Astronauts relayed information about storms, lightning, fires and clear cutting to the SRL science team that will be used to help understand the radar images and MAPS data on carbon monoxide levels in the atmosphere.