| STS-52 | |
| Names List: | Space Transportation System-52 |
| Mission Type: | LAGEOS 2 satellite deployment Microgravity research |
| Operator: | NASA |
| Orbits Completed: | 159 |
| Landing Mass: | [1] |
| Crew Size: | 6 |
| Launch Date: | UTC (1:09:39pmEDT)[2] |
| Launch Site: | Kennedy, LC-39B |
| Launch Contractor: | Rockwell International |
| Landing Date: | UTC (9:05:53amEST) |
| Landing Site: | Kennedy, SLF Runway 33 |
| Orbit Reference: | Geocentric orbit |
| Orbit Regime: | Low Earth orbit |
| Orbit Inclination: | 28.45° |
| Orbit Period: | 90.60 minutes |
| Apsis: | gee |
| Insignia: | Sts-52-patch.png |
| Insignia Caption: | STS-52 mission patch |
| Crew Photo: | Sts-52 crew.jpg |
| Crew Photo Caption: | Back: Baker, Wetherbee and MacLean Front: Veach, Jernigan and Shepherd |
| Programme: | Space Shuttle program |
| Previous Mission: | STS-47 (50) |
| Next Mission: | STS-53 (52) |
STS-52 was a Space Transportation System (NASA Space Shuttle) mission using Space Shuttle Columbia, and was launched on October 22, 1992.[3]
| Seat[4] | Launch | Landing | Seats 1–4 are on the flight deck. Seats 5–7 are on the mid-deck. |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Wetherbee | ||
| 2 | Baker | ||
| 3 | Veach | Jernigan | |
| 4 | Shepherd | ||
| 5 | Jernigan | Veach | |
| 6 | MacLean | ||
| 7 | Unused | ||
Primary mission objectives were deployment of the Laser Geodynamics Satellite 2 (LAGEOS-2) and operation of the U.S. Microgravity Payload-1 (USMP-1). LAGEOS 2, a joint effort between NASA and the Italian Space Agency (ASI), was deployed on day 2 and boosted into an initial elliptical orbit by ASI's Italian Research Interim Stage (IRIS). The spacecraft's apogee kick motor later circularized LAGEOS 2 orbit at its operational altitude of . The USMP-1, activated on day one, included three experiments mounted on two connected Mission Peculiar Equipment Support Structures (MPESS) mounted in the orbiter's cargo bay. USMP-1 experiments were: Lambda Point Experiment; Matériel pour l'Étude des Phénomènes Intéressant la Solidification sur eT en Orbite (MEPHISTO),[5] sponsored by the French agency Centre National d'Études Spatiales (CNES); and Space Acceleration Measurement System (SAMS).
Secondary payloads: (1) Canadian experiment (CANEX-2), located in both the orbiter's cargo bay and middeck and which consisted of Space Vision System (SVS); Materials Exposure in Low-Earth Orbit (MELEO); Queen's University Experiment in Liquid-Metal Diffusion (QUELD); Phase Partitioning in Liquids (PARLIQ); Sun Photospectrometre Earth Atmosphere Measurement-2 (SPEAM-2); Orbiter Glow-2 (OGLOW-2); and Space Adaptation Tests and Observations (SATO).[6] A small, specially marked satellite, the Canadian Target Assembly (CTA), was deployed on day nine, to support SVS experiments. (2) ASP, featuring three independent sensors mounted on a Hitchhiker plate in the cargo bay – Modular Star Sensor (MOSS), Yaw Earth Sensor (YES) and Low Altitude Conical Earth Sensor (LACES), all provided by the European Space Agency (ESA).[7]
Other middeck payloads: Commercial Materials Dispersion Apparatus Instrument Technology Associates Experiments; Commercial Protein Crystal Growth experiment; Chemical Vapor Transport Experiment Heat Pipe Performance Experiment (CVTEHPPE); Physiological Systems Experiment (PSE) (involving 12 rodents); and Shuttle Plume Impingement Experiment (SPIE). The orbiter also was used as a reference point for calibrating an Ultraviolet Plume Instrument on an orbiting Strategic Defense Initiative Organization (SDIO) satellite.[8]
The Tank Pressure Control Experiment/Thermal Phenomena (TPCE/TP) was contained in a Getaway Special (GAS) canister in the orbiter's cargo bay.[9]
Some of the ashes of Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry were also carried aboard the orbiter for the duration of the mission.[10]
NASA began a tradition of playing music to astronauts during the Project Gemini, and first used music to wake up a flight crew during Apollo 15. A special musical track is chosen for each day in space, often by the astronauts' families, to have a special meaning to an individual member of the crew, or in reference to the day's planned activities.[11]
| Day | Song | Artist/Composer | Played For | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Day 2 | Wake Up Columbia | Crow Carroll | ||
| Day 3 | Shake, Rattle and Roll | Big Joe Turner | Deployment of LAGEOS-II | |
| Day 5 | The World is Waiting for the Sunrise | Les Paul and Mary Ford | ||
| Day 6 | Birthday | The Beatles | Mike Baker's 39th Birthday | |
| Day 7 | "Hawaiian music" | |||
| Day 8 | Mack the Knife | Bobby Darin | ||
| Day 9 | Bang the Drum | Todd Rundgren | ||
| Day 10 | Monster Mash | Bobby "Boris" Picket | To celebrate Halloween | |
| Day 11 | Notre Dame Victory March | JSC employees & Notre Dame grads | James Wetherbee |