STS-93

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STS-93
Organization NASA-Office of Space Flight (United States)
Mission type Astronomy,Engineering,Human Crew,Life Science,Microgravity
Launch date July 23, 1999 (1999-07-23)
Launch vehicle Space Shuttle
Launch site Cape Canaveral, United States
COSPAR ID 1999-040A
Inclination 28.45 degrees
Experiments Here
Alternate Names 25866
Additional Information Here
Telecommunications Information Here
Data Collection Here
Payload Mass Up 22583.91 kg
Payload Mass Down 3049.55 kg
Orbiter Columbia
Lift Off Mass 2,056,805.45 kg
Orbiter Weight at Liftoff 122,903.18 kg
Orbiter Weight at Landing 91,971.82 kg
Landed Concrete runway 33 at Kennedy Space Center, Fla.
Orbits of Earth 80
Orbital Altitude 153 nautical miles (176 statute miles)


Contents

[edit] Crew

  • Commander: Eileen M. Collins
  • Pilot: Jeffrey S. Ashby
    • Payload Commander:
    • Mission Specialist 1: Steven A. Hawley
    • Mission Specialist 2: Catherine G. Coleman
    • Mission Specialist 3: Michael Tognini, Centre National d'Etades Spatiales (CNES)
    • Mission Specialist 4:
    • Mission Specialist 5:
    • Payload Specialist 1:
    • Payload Specialist 2:


ISS/Mir Crew Transport


[edit] Mission

The primary objective of the STS 93 mission was to deploy the Advanced X-ray Astrophysics Facility. AFAX was the most sophisticated X-ray observatory ever built. It was designed to observe X-rays from high energy regions of the universe, such as hot gas in the remnants of exploding stars. It was renamed the Chandra X-Ray Observatory in honor of the late Indian-American Nobel Laureate Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar. "Chandra" also means "moon" or "luminous" in Sanskrit. Other payloads on STS 93 were: Midcourse Space Experiment (MSX); Shuttle Ionospheric Modification with Pulsed Local Exhaust (SIMPLEX); Southwest Ultraviolet Imaging System (SWUIS); Gelation of Sols: Applied Microgravity Research (GOSAMR); Space Tissue Loss-B (STL-B); Light Weight Flexible Solar Array Hinge (LFSAH); Cell Culture Module (CCM); Shuttle Amateur Radio Experiment-II (SAREX-II); EarthKam; Plant Growth Investigations in Microgravity (PGIM); Commercial Generic Bioprocessing Apparatus (CGBA); Micro-Electrical Mechanical System (MEMS); and the Biological Research in Canisters (BRIC). This mission also featured the first female shuttle commander, Eileen Collins. Columbia landed at Kennedy Space Center on July 27, 1999 at 11:20 EDT. The crew consisted of the following: Eileen M. Collins - Mission Commander; Jeffrey S. Ashby - Pilot; Steven A. Hawley - Mission Specialist; Catherine G. Coleman - Mission Specialist; Michel Tognini(CNES) - Mission Specialist.


[edit] EVA

[edit] Payload

Chandra X-Ray Observatory (CXO); Plant Growth Investigations in Microgravity 1; Southwest Ultraviolet Imaging System; Gelation of Sols: Applied Microgravity Research; Space Tissue Loss; Lightweight Flexible Solar Array Hinge; Cell Culture Module, Configuration C; Shuttle Amateur Radio Experiment II; Commercial Generic Bioprocessing Apparatus; Micro-Electro-Mechanical Systems; Biological Research in Canisters (BRIC)


Mission patch:

[edit] Books about the Space Shuttle Program