STS-42

STS-42 was a Space Shuttle Discovery mission with the Spacelab module. Liftoff was originally scheduled for 8:45 EST (13:45 UTC) 22 January 1992, but the launch was delayed due to weather constraints. Discovery successfully lifted off an hour later at 9:52 EST (14:52 UTC).[1] The main goal of the mission was to study the effects of microgravity on a variety of organisms. The shuttle landed at 8:07 PST (16:07 UTC) on 30 January 1992 on Runway 22, Edwards Air Force Base, California.[1] STS-42 was the first of two flights in 1992 of Discovery, the second of which occurred during STS-53, which launched on 2 December 1992. The mission was also the last mission of the Space Shuttle Discovery to have a seven-member crew until STS-82, which was launched on 11 February 1997.

STS-42

Spacelab Module LM2 in Discovery's payload bay, serving as the International Microgravity Laboratory
Mission type	Microgravity research
Operator	NASA
COSPAR ID	1992-002A
SATCAT no.	21846
Mission duration	8 days, 1 hour, 14 minutes, 44 seconds
Distance travelled	4,701,140 kilometers (2,921,150 mi)
Orbits completed	129
Spacecraft properties
Spacecraft	Space Shuttle Discovery
Launch mass	110,400 kilograms (243,400 lb)[1]
Landing mass	98,890 kilograms (218,020 lb)[1]
Payload mass	13,066 kilograms (28,806 lb)
Crew
Crew size	7
Members	Ronald J. Grabe Stephen S. Oswald Norman E. Thagard William F. Readdy David C. Hilmers Roberta L. Bondar Ulf Merbold
Start of mission
Launch date	22 January 1992, 14:52:33 UTC
Launch site	Kennedy LC-39A
End of mission
Landing date	30 January 1992, 16:07:17 UTC
Landing site	Edwards Runway 22
Orbital parameters
Reference system	Geocentric
Regime	Low Earth
Perigee altitude	291 kilometres (181 mi)
Apogee altitude	307 kilometres (191 mi)
Inclination	57.0 degrees
Period	90.5 min
Left to right: Oswald, Bondar, Thagard, Grabe, Hilmers, Merbold, Readdy Space Shuttle program

Crew

Position	Astronaut
Commander	Ronald J. Grabe Third spaceflight
Pilot	Stephen S. Oswald First spaceflight
Mission Specialist 1	Norman E. Thagard Fourth spaceflight
Mission Specialist 2	William F. Readdy First spaceflight
Mission Specialist 3	David C. Hilmers Fourth and last spaceflight
Payload Specialist 1	Roberta L. Bondar, CSA Only spaceflight
Payload Specialist 2	Ulf Merbold, ESA Second spaceflight

Crew seating arrangements

Seat[2]	Launch	Landing	Seats 1–4 are on the Flight Deck. Seats 5–7 are on the Middeck.
S1	Grabe	Grabe
S2	Oswald	Oswald
S3	Thagard	Hilmers
S4	Readdy	Readdy
S5	Hilmers	Thagard
S6	Bondar	Bondar
S7	Merbold	Merbold

Crew notes

The crew of STS-42 included West Germany's first astronaut, Ulf Merbold, who was making his second spaceflight, and Canada's first female astronaut, Roberta Bondar. In order to allow around-the-clock monitoring of experiments, the astronauts were divided into a red team and a blue team. Manley L. Carter, was originally assigned to fly as Mission Specialist 3 for this mission, but died 7 months prior the launch in a plane crash. David Hilmers was then chosen to replace him.

Mission highlights

Discovery lifts off at the start of STS-42.

Re-entry

STS-42 was launched on 22 January 1992, 9:52:33 am EST. The launch was delayed by one hour due to weather constraints. The launch weight was 243,396 pounds (110,403 kg).

Discovery carried into orbit the International Microgravity Laboratory-1 (IML-1), a pressurized crewed Spacelab module, to explore in depth the complex effects of weightlessness on living organisms and materials processing. The international crew, divided into Red and Blue teams, conducted experiments on the human nervous system's adaptation to low gravity and the effects of microgravity on other life forms such as shrimp eggs, lentil seedlings, fruit fly eggs and bacteria. Low gravity materials processing experiments included crystal growth from a variety of substances such as enzymes, mercury iodine and a virus. Other payloads included 10 Get Away Special (GAS) canisters, a number of middeck payloads, two Shuttle Student Involvement Program (SSIP) experiments, and an Australian developed ultraviolet telescope Endeavour.[3] Middeck payloads included Gelation of SOLS: Applied Microgravity Research (GOSAMR), Investigations into Polymer Membrane Processing (IPMP) and the Radiation Monitoring Experiment (RME-III).

The mission landed on 30 January 1992, 8:07:17 am PST, Runway 22, Edwards Air Force Base, CA., after being extended by a day for continued scientific experimentation. The rollout distance was 9,811 feet. The orbiter returned to Kennedy Space Center on 16 February 1992. The landing weight was 218,016 pounds (98,890 kg).

Mission insignia

The four stars in the lower blue field and two stars in the upper blue field of the insignia symbolize the flight's numerical designation in the Space Transportation System's mission sequence. The single gold star above the horizon on the right is in honor of astronaut Manley "Sonny" Carter, who was killed in the crash of Atlantic Southeast Airlines Flight 2311 in Brunswick, Georgia while on a commercial airplane traveling for NASA. Carter was originally assigned as a mission specialist on STS-42 at the time of his death.

See also

• List of human spaceflights
• List of Space Shuttle missions
• Destiny in Space, 1994 documentary primarily focused on STS-42
• Nikon NASA F4
• Outline of space science
• Space Shuttle

References

 This article incorporates public domain material from websites or documents of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration.

1. Jim Dumoulin (29 June 2001). "STS-42". NASA. Retrieved 5 January 2006.
2. "STS-42". Spacefacts. Retrieved 26 February 2014.
3. "Endeavour". Sworld. Retrieved 22 July 2019.

External links

• NASA mission summary
• STS-42 Press Kit
• STS-42 Video Highlights