STS-32

Launch, orbit & landing data: Designation  20409 /90002A Launch date - time  09 Jan 1990 - 12:35:00 UT Launch site  KSC, LC39A Launch vehicle  Space Shuttle Orbiter  Columbia OV-102 (#9) Primary payload  Leasat 5 Mass (kg)   Flight Crew  Brandenstein, Wetherbee Dunbar, Ivins, Low Call Sign   Earth orbit on :    - Perigee / Apogee   km    - Inclination  28.5°    - Period   min Landing date - time  20 Jan 1990 - 09:35:37 UT Landing location  Edwards AFB, Runway 22 Flight Duration (d:hr:min)  10d 21h 00m Nbr orbits  172

Emblazoned with the surnames of the crew, STS-32 patch includes Syncom 4-5, Columbia and LDEF in pride of place. Image Credit: NASA

Crew

Mission details:

• Columbia was launched on mission STS-32 on Jan 9, 1990 it deployed the Syncom IV-5 (Leasat 5) comsat for Hughes Communications. Hughes leases the use of the satellite to the US Navy.
• Deploying of defense communications satellite Syncom-IV-F5; retrieval of 1984 stranded "Long Duration Exposure Facility" (LDEF), with 57 long duration experiments and bringing it back to Earth. The mission was the longest flight to date (261 hrs 1 min).

Air-to-air view of STS-32 Columbia, OV-102, liftoff and SRB separation - Credit: NASA.

Manned five crew. Deployed Leasat 5, retrieved LDEF. Night landing. Payloads: Deployment of Syncom IV-5, retrieval of Long Duration Exposure Facility (LDEF), Fluids Experiment Apparatus (FEA)-3, Protein Crystal Growth (PCG) III-2, Latitude/Longitude Locator (L3), American Flight Echocardiograph (AFE), Characterization of Neurospora Circadian Rhythms in Space (CNCR)-01, Air Force Maui Optical Site (AMOS)-4, Mesoscale Lightning Experiment (MLE), IMAX, Interim Operational Contamination Monitor (lOCM).

SYNCOM IV-5 satellite drifts over cloud-covered Earth after STS-32 deploymen - Credit: NASA.

LDEF Retrieval over the Namib Desert, Namibia, Africa - Credit: NASA.

Mission Name: STS-32 (33)
COLUMBIA (9)
Pad 39-A (37)
33rd Shuttle mission
9th Flight OV-102
3rd Night landing
1st use MLP-3 for Shuttle

STS-32 LDEF positioned by RMS over OV-102′s payload during STS-32 retrieval - Credit: NASA.

STS-32 crewmembers, wearing thermal underwear, line up on OV-102's middeck - Credit: NASA.

Payload:
SYNCOM IV-5,IMAX-03,LDEF
Mission Objectives:

Launch:
January 9,1990,7:35:00 a.m. EST. Launch scheduled for Dec. 18, 1989, postponed to complete and verify modifications to Pad A, being used for first time since January 1986. Launch Jan. 8, 1990 scrubbed due to weather conditions. Launch Weight: 255,994 lbs.
Orbit:
Altitude: 178nm
Inclination: 28.5 degrees
Orbits: 172
Duration: 10 days, 21 hours, 0 minutes, 36 seconds.
Distance: 4,509,972 miles

STS-32 STS-32 photographic equipment (cameras,lenses,film magazines) on flight deck - Credit: NASA.

Landing:
January 20, 1990, 1:35:37 a.m. PST, Runway 22, Edwards Air Force Base, Calif. Rollout distance: 10,731 feet. Rollout time: 62 seconds. Longest Space Shuttle flight to date. Orbiter returned to KSC Jan. 26, 1990. Landing Weight: 228,335 lbs.

STS-32 Mission Specialist Ivins is surrounded by cameras on aft flight deck - Credit: NASA.

STS-32 MS Dunbar with fluids experiment apparatus (FEA) on OV-102's middeck - Credit: NASA.

STS-32 view of the moon setting over the Earth′s limb - Credit: NASA.

Christmas Island, Line Island Group, Pacific Ocean - Credit: NASA.

LDEF grappled by remote manipulator system (RMS) during STS-32 retrieval - Credit: NASA.

External links:

• AmericaSpace: Remembering Columbia′s STS-32 Mission