STS-42

STS -42 (English Space Transportation System) is a mission name for the U.S. Space Shuttle Discovery ( OV -103 ) from NASA. The launch took place on 22 January 1992. It was the 45th Space Shuttle mission and the 14th flight of the Space Shuttle Discovery.

Team

Home team

  • Ronald Grabe ( third space flight), Commander
  • Stephen Oswald ( first space flight), Pilot
  • Norman Thagard (4th space flight), Mission Specialist
  • David Hilmer (4th space flight), Mission Specialist
  • William Readdy ( first space flight), Mission Specialist
  • Roberta Bondar ( first space flight ), Payload Specialist (CSA / Canada)
  • Ulf Merbold ( second space flight), Payload Specialist (ESA / Germany )

Originally Mary Cleave was provided as a mission specialist. Since she left NASA for personal reasons, it was replaced by Sonny Carter in January 1990. Carter came in April 1991 in a plane crash. David Hilmer took over his duties.

Replacement

  • Kenneth Money ( CSA / Canada) for Bondar
  • Roger Crouch for Merbold

Mission overview

The mission STS -42 began with a running start on 22 January 1992. 's Payload bay of the Space Shuttle there was the microgravity laboratory -1 (IML -1). This based on the Spacelab module contained experiments to explore the complex effects of weightlessness on living organisms and other materials. In order to conduct experiments around the clock, the crew worked in shifts. Grave, Oswald, Thagard and Bondar made ​​the blue team, while Hilmer, Readdy and Merbold were the red team.

In addition to the experiments in the IML - 1, 10 Get-Away canisters were in the payload bay, where expired automated experiments. On the middle deck of the shuttle itself were also experiments on biological topics. To increase the scientific yield of the flight, the mission was finally extended by one day, so the landing took place at Edwards Air Force Base only on January 30. Two weeks later, the Discovery was flown back to KSC.

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