STS-37

Launch, orbit & landing data: Designation  21224 / 91027A Launch date - time  05 Apr 1991 - 14:22:45 UT Launch site  KSC, LC39B Launch vehicle  Space Shuttle Orbiter  Atlantis OV-104 (#8) Primary payload  CGRO (Compton Gamma Ray Observatory) Mass (kg)   Flight Crew  Nagel, Cameron, Godwin, Ross, Apt Call Sign   Earth orbit on :    - Perigee / Apogee   km    - Inclination  28.45°    - Period   min Landing date - time  11 Apr 1991 - 13:55:29 UT Landing location  Edwards AFB, Runway 33 Flight Duration (d:hr:min)  5d 23h 32m Nbr orbits  93

Crew

Mission details:

• The Space Shuttle Atlantis was launched on mission STS-37 on Friday morning, April 5, 1991.
• Atlantis landed at 1355 UT on Apr 11, on lakebed runway 33 at Edwards AFB, after 143 hours and 32 minutes in space. After 8 flights, Atlantis has flown 952 hr 15 min.

Manned five crew. Unscheduled EVA to manually deploy the Gamma-Ray Observatory's high-gain antenna, which failed to deploy upon ground command. Payloads: Gamma-Ray Observatory (GRO), Crew/ Equipment Translation Aids (part of Extravehicular Activity Development Flight Experiment), Ascent Particle Monitor (APM), Bioserve Instrumentation Technology Associates Materials Dispersion Apparatus (BlMDA), Protein Crystal Growth (PCG)-Block Il, Space Station Heatpipe Advanced Radiator Element (SHARE)-ll, Shuttle Amateur Radio Experiment (SAREX)-ll, Radiation Monitoring Equipment (RME)-lIl, Air Force Maui Optical Site (AMOS) Calibration Test.

Distance traveled: 3,952,972 km. Orbiter Liftoff Mass: 115,652 kg. Orbiter Mass at Landing: 86,657 kg. Payload to Orbit: 16,611 kg. Payload Returned: 1,033 kg. Landed at: Runway 33 dry lake bed at Edwards Air Force Base, . Landing Speed: 348 kph. Touchdown miss distance: 192 m. Landing Rollout: 2,011 m. EVA: Jerry L. Ross and Jerome Apt: EVA No. 1 duration, 4 hours, 38 minutes; EVA No. 2 duration, 6 hours, 11 minutes. EVA No. 1 was an unscheduled EVA to manually deploy the Gamma-Ray Observatory's high-gain antenna, which failed to deploy upon ground command. Following the successful deploy of the antenna, the astronauts spent the remainder of the EVA on Extravehicular Activity Develop-ment Flight Experiment activities.

Mission Name: STS-37 (39)
Atlantis (8)
Pad 39-B (17)
39th Shuttle mission
8th Flight OV-104
Extended mission

Crew:
Steven R. Nagel (3), Commander
Kenneth D. Cameron (1), Pilot
Jerry L. Ross (3), Mission Specialist 1
Jay Apt (1), Mission Specialist 2
Linda M. Godwin (1), Mission Specialist 3

Milestones:
OPF - Nov. 20, 1990
VAB - March 8,1991
PAD - March 15,1991

Payload:
GRO,CETA,APM-02
Mission Objectives:

Launch:
April 5, 1991, 9:22:44 a.m. EST. Launch set for 9:18 a.m., April 5th. Was briefly delayed due to low-level clouds in area. Launch Weight: 255,824 lbs.
Orbit:
Altitude: 248nm
Inclination: 28.45 degrees
Orbits: 93
Duration: 5 days, 23 hours, 32 minutes, 44 seconds.
Distance: 2,456,263 miles

Hardware:
SRB: BI-042
SRM: 360L014
ET : 37/LWT-30
MLP : 1
SSME-1: SN-2019
SSME-2: SN-2031
SSME-3: SN-2107

Landing:
April 11, 1991, 6:55:29 a.m. PDT, Runway 33, Edwards AFB, Calif. Rollout distance: 6,364 feet. Rollout time: 56 seconds. Landing originally scheduled for April 10, but delayed one day due to weather conditions at Edwards and KSC. Orbiter returned to KSC April 18,1991. Landing Weight: 190,098 lbs.

Mission Highlights:
Primary payload, Gamma Ray Observatory (GRO), deployed on flight day three. GRO high-gain antenna failed to deploy on command; finally freed and manually deployed by Ross and Apt during unscheduled contingency space walk, first since April 1985. Following day, two astronauts performed first scheduled space walk since November 1985 to test means for astronauts to move themselves and equipment about while maintaining planned Space Station Freedom. GRO science instruments were Burst and Transient Source Experiment (BATSE), Imaging Compton Telescope (COMPTEL), Energetic Gamma Ray Experiment Telescope (EGRET) and Oriented Scintillation Spectrometer Experiment (OSSEE). Secondary payloads included Crew and Equipment Translation Aids (CETA), which involved scheduled six-hour space walk by astronauts Ross and Apt (see above); Ascent Particle Monitor (APM); Shuttle Amateur Radio Experiment II (SAREX II); Protein Crystal Growth (PCG); Bioserve/instrumentation Technology Associates Materials Dispersion Apparatus (BIMDA); Radiation Monitoring Equipment III (RME Ill); and Air Force Maui Optical Site (AMOS) experiment.

External links:

• AmericaSpace: Remembering STS-37 Mission

Astrophilately covers:

Launch cancel KSC.