STS-53
COSPAR ID | 1992-086A |
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SATCAT no. | 22259![]() |
End of mission | |
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STS-53 was a Space Shuttle Discovery mission in support of the United States Department of Defense. The mission was launched on December 2, 1992 from Kennedy Space Center, Florida.
Crew
- David M. Walker (3), Commander
- Robert D. Cabana (2), Pilot
- Guion S. Bluford (4), Mission Specialist 1
- James S. Voss (2), Mission Specialist 2
- Michael R. Clifford (1), Mission Specialist 3
Mission parameters
- Mass:
- Orbiter landing with payload: 87,565 kg
- Payload: 11,860 kg
- Perigee: 365 km
- Apogee: 376 km
- Inclination: 57.0°
- Period: 92.0 min
Mission highlights
Discovery carried a classified primary payload for the United States Department of Defense, two unclassified secondary payloads and nine unclassified middeck experiments.
Discovery's primary payload, USA-89 NSSDC ID 1992-086B is also known as "DoD-1", and was the shuttle's last major payload for the Department of Defense. The satellite was the second launch of a Satellite Data System-2 military communications satellite, after USA-40 on STS-28.
Secondary payloads contained in or attached to Get Away Special (GAS) hardware in the cargo bay included the Orbital Debris Radar Calibration Spheres (ODERACS) the combined Shuttle Glow Experiment/Cryogenic Heat Pipe Experiment (GCP).
Middeck experiments included Microcapsules in Space (MIS-l); Space Tissue Loss (STL); Visual Function Tester (VFT-2); Cosmic Radiation Effects and Activation Monitor (CREAM); Radiation Monitoring Equipment (RME-III); Fluid Acquisition and Resupply Experiment (FARE); Hand-held, Earth-oriented, Real-time, Cooperative, User-friendly, Location-targeting and Environmental System (HERCULES); Battlefield Laser Acquisition Sensor Test (BLAST); and the Cloud Logic to Optimize Use of Defense Systems (CLOUDS).
Mission insignia
The five stars and three stripes of the insignia symbolize the flight's numerical designation in the Space Transportation System's mission sequence.
See also
- Space science
- Space shuttle
- List of space shuttle missions
- List of human spaceflights chronologically