STS-66
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STS-66 is a Space Shuttle program mission.
| Space Shuttle program | |
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| Mission Insignia | |
Missing image Sts-66-patch.jpg | |
| Mission Statistics | |
| Mission: | STS-66 |
| Shuttle: | Atlantis |
| Launch Pad: | 39-B |
| Launch: | November 3, 1994. 11:59:43.060 am EDT |
| Landing: | 11/14/94 at 10:33:45 am EST. Edwards Air Force Base Runway 22. |
| Duration: | 10 days, 22 hours, 34 minutes, 2 seconds. |
| Orbit Altitude: | 164 nautical miles (304 km) |
| Orbit Inclination: | 57 degrees |
| Distance Traveled: | 4,554,791 miles (7,330,226 km) |
| Crew photo | |
| Missing image STS066(S)002.jpg | |
| Previous Mission: STS-68 |
Next Mission: STS-63 |
| Contents |
Crew
- Donald R. McMonagle (3), Commander
- Curtis L. Brown Jr. (2), Pilot
- Ellen Ochoa (2), Payload Commander
- Scott E. Parazynski, M.D. (1), Mission Specialist
- Joseph R. Tanner (1), Mission Specialist
- Jean-François Clervoy (1), Mission Specialist - France
Mission Parameters
- Mass: 10,544 kg payload
- Perigee: 296 km
- Apogee: 310 km
- Inclination: 57°
- Period: 90.6 min
Mission Highlights
The Atmospheric Laboratory for Applications and Sciences - 3 (ATLAS-03) is the primary payload aboard STS-66. It will continue the series of Spacelab flights to study the energy of the sun and how it affects the Earth's climate and environment. The ATLAS 3 mission will make the first detailed measurements from the Shuttle of the Northern Hemisphere's middle atmosphere in late fall. The timing of the flight, when the Antarctic ozone hole is diminishing, allows scientists to study possible effects of the ozone hole on mid-latitudes, the way Antarctic air recovers, and how the northern atmosphere changes as the winter season approaches.
In addition to the ATLAS-03 investigations, the mission will include deployment and retrieval of the Cryogenic Infrared Spectrometer Telescopefor Atmosphere, or CRISTA. Mounted on the Shuttle Pallet Satellite, the payload is designed to explore the variability of the atmosphere and provide measurements that will complement those obtained by the Upper Atmosphere Research Satellite launched aboard Discovery in 1991. CRISTA-SPAS is a joint U.S./German experiment.
Other payloads in Atlantis cargo bay include the Shuttle Solar Backscatter Ultraviolet (SSBUV-7) payload and the Experiment on the Sun Complementing ATLAS (ESCAPE-II). Payloads located in the middeck include the Physiological & Anatomical Rodent Experiment (PARE/NIR-R), Protein Crystal Growth-Thermal Enclosure (PCG-TES), Protein Crystal Growth- Single Locker (PCG-STES), Space Tissue Loss/National Institute of Health (STL/NIH-C), Space Acceleration Measurement System (SAMS) and the Heat Pipe Performance-2 Experiment (HPP-2).
STS-66 further advanced comprehensive effort to collect data about sun's energy output, chemical makeup of the Earth's middle atmosphere, and how these factors affect global ozone levels. Seven instruments on the Atmospheric Laboratory for Applications and Science-3 (ATLAS-3) also flew on first two ATLAS flights. No other collection of space-based instruments provides same extensive range of atmospheric measurements. Also considered a primary payload was the Cryogenic Infrared Spectrometers and Telescopes for the Atmosphere-Shuttle Pallet Satellite (CRISTA-SPAS), continuing joint NASA-German Space Agency (DARA) series of scientific missions. ATLAS-3 and CRISTA-SPAS considered as joint mission with single set of science objectives. During mission, crew divided into two teams for around-the-clock research.
ATLAS-3 instruments, mounted on a Spacelab pallet in cargo bay, included Atmospheric Trace Molecule Spectroscopy (ATMOS), which collected more data on trace gases in the atmosphere than on all three of its previous flights combined; Shuttle Solar Backscatter Ultraviolet Spectrometer (SSBUV), which took ozone measurements to calibrate ozone monitor on aging NOAA-9 satellite as well as cooperative measurements with other ATLAS-3 instruments; Active Cavity Radiometer Irradiance Monitor (ACRIM), which took extremely precise measurements of the sun's total radiation for 30 orbits as calibration reference for sister instrument on Upper Atmosphere Research Satellite (UARS) launched in 1991; Measurement of the Solar Constant (SOLCON), provided by Belgium, which also measured solar radiation but as reference point to track changes over years; Solar Spectrum Measurement (SOLSPEC), French instrument, measured sun's radiation as function of wavelength; and Solar Ultraviolet Spectral Irradiance Monitor (SUSIM), which collected its highest precision solar ultraviolet radiation measurements in its 15-year lifetime. Millimeter Wave Atmospheric Sounder (MAS), collected nine hours of observations, measuring distribution of water vapor, chlorine monoxide and ozone at altitudes between 12 and 60 miles (20-100 kilometers), before computer malfunction halted instrument operations.
CRISTA-SPAS released from orbiter's Remote Manipulator System arm on second day of mission. Flying at distance of about 25-44 miles (40-70 kilometers) behind Shuttle, payload collected data for more than eight days before being retrieved and returned to cargo bay. CRISTA instrument gathered first global information about medium- and small- scale disturbances in trace gases in middle atmosphere, which could lead to better models of the atmosphere and Earth's energy balance. Second CRISTA-SPAS instrument, the Middle Atmosphere High Resolution Spectrograph Investigation (MAHRSI) measured amounts of ozone-destroying hydroxyl and nitric oxide in the middle atmosphere and lower thermosphere from 24-72 miles (40-120 kilometers). MAHRSI yielded first complete global maps of hydroxyl in atmosphere.
For retrieval of CRISTA-SPAS, different approach method to spacecraft was successfully tested as prelude to upcoming U.S. Shuttle/Russian Space Station Mir docking flights. Called R-Bar approach, it is expected to save propellant while reducing risk of contamination to Mir systems from orbiter thruster jet firings.
Related articles
- Space science
- Space shuttle
- List of space shuttle missions
- List of human spaceflights chronologically
External links
- NASA mission summary (http://science.ksc.nasa.gov/shuttle/missions/sts-66/mission-sts-66.html)
| Previous Mission: STS-68 |
Space Shuttle program | Next Mission: STS-63 |