STS-81

Launch, orbit & landing data: Designation  24711 / 97001A Launch date - time  12 Jan 1997 - 09:27:23 UT Launch site  KSC, LC39B Launch vehicle  Space Shuttle Orbiter  Atlantis #18 (OV-104) Primary payload  Spacehab SH-07 Mass (kg)   Flight Crew  Baker, Jett, Wisoff Grunsfeld, Ivins, Linenger Docking date - time  15 Jan 1997 - 03:55 UT Target spacecraft/port  Mir/ Earth orbit on :    - Perigee / Apogee  343 / 380 km    - Inclination  51.7°    - Period  91.8 min Undocking date - time  20 Jan 1997 - 02:16 UT Landing date - time  22 Jan 1997 - 14:22:44 UT Landing location  KSC, Runway 33 Flight Duration (d:hr:min)  10d 04h 56m Nbr orbits  160 Landing crew  Baker, Jett, Wisoff, Grunsfeld, Ivins, Blaha  (crew STS-81 & STS-79)

Crew

Mission details:

• fifth MIR-mission
• Atlantis was launched at 09:28 UTC on Jan 12, 1997 from pad 39B. Solid rocket booster came at 0930 UTC. The orbiter entered a 51.6 degree inclination orbit around the Earth at 0936 UTC.
• Atlantis docked with Mir at 03:55 UTC on Jan 15. Jerry Linenger will replaced John Blaha on the Mir crew.
• STS-81 transferred 2,715 kg of equipment to and from the Mir, the largest transfer of items to that date. During the docked phase, 640 kg of water, 515 kg of U.S. science equipment, 1,000 kg of Russian logistics, and 120 kg of miscellaneous material were transferred to Mir. Returned to Earth aboard Atlantis were 570 kg of U.S. science material, 405 kg of Russian logistics and 98 kg of miscellaneous material.
• Cargo Bay Payloads: SPACEHAB-Double Module; Orbiter Docking System. In-Cabin Payloads: VIS; Biorack; KidSat; CREAM; Orbiter Space Vision System; MSX.

  Developmental Test Objectives Detailed Supplementary Objectives Risk Mitigation Experiments

  DTO 255: Wraparound DAP Flight Test Verification

  DTO 256 Alt PRCS Flight Test

  DTO 312: ET TPS Performance

  DTO 700-10: Orbiter Space Vision System Flight Video Taping

  DTO 700-12: GPS/Inertial Navigation System Test

  DTO 700-14: Single String Global Positioning System Test

  DTO 805: Crosswind Landing Performance

  DTO 840: Hand Held Lidar Procedures

  DTO 1118: Photographic and Video Survey of Mir Space Station

  DTO 1125: Measurements of Dose as a Function of Shielding Thickness

  DSO 487: Immunological Assessment of Crewmembers

  RME 1302: Electric Fields High Inclination for the Mir

  RME 1303: Shuttle/Mir Experiment Kit Transportation

  RME 1307: Optical Properties Monitor

  RME 1317: Mir Structural Dynamics Experiment Joint Operations

  RME 1318: Treadmill Vibration Isolation and Stabilization System (TVIS)

  RME 1319: Inventory Management System Test for the SPACEHAB

• Payload And Vehicle Masses: Orbiter (Atlantis) empty and 3 SSME’s 81,975 kg; Shuttle System at SRB Ignition 2,046,619 kg; Orbiter Weight at Landing with Cargo 113,375 kg; Spacehab-Double Module 4,774 kg; Orbiter Docking System 1,821 kg.
• The Shuttle undocked from the SO module on Mir at 02:16 UTC on Jan 20, after picking up John Blaha, who had arrived aboard STS-79 on September 19, 1996, and dropping off Jerry Linenger, who was to stay aboard Mir for over four months.
• The Shuttle backed off along the -RBAR (i.e. toward the Earth) to a distance of 140m before beginning a flyaround at 02:31 UTC. Most of the flyaround was at a distance from Mir of about 170m. The first 'orbit' around Mir was complete at 03:15, and the second was completed at 0402 UTC,
• Then the Orbiter fired its jets to drift away from the orbit of Mir. The return crew for Atlantis comprised Mike Baker, Brent Jett, Marsha Ivins, Jeff Wisoff, John Grunsfeld, and John Blaha.
• Atlantis closed its payload bay doors early on Jan 22 and fired the OMS engines for the deorbit burn at 13:17 UTC. The spaceship touched down on Runway 33 at Kennedy Space Center at 14:22 UTC (after the first opportunity was waved off due to cloud cover at the Cape), completing mission STS-81.