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Sts-27
STS-27 was the 27th NASA Space Shuttle mission, and the third flight of Space Shuttle ''Atlantis''. Launching on December 2, 1988, on a four-day mission, it was the second shuttle flight after the Space Shuttle ''Challenger'' disaster of January 1986. STS-27 carried a classified payload for the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD), ultimately determined to be a Lacrosse surveillance satellite. The vessel's heat shielding was substantially damaged during lift-off, and crew members thought that they would die during reentry. This was a situation that was similar to the one that would prove fatal 15 years later on STS-107. Compared to the damage that '' Columbia'' sustained on STS-107, ''Atlantis'' experienced more extensive damage. However, this was over less critical areas and the missing tile was over an antenna which gave extra protection to the spacecraft structure (and not part of a wing as cited initially). The mission landed successfully, although intense heat damage nee ...
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Guy Gardner (astronaut)
Guy Spence Gardner (born January 6, 1948) is a United States Air Force officer and a former astronaut. He holds the rank of colonel. He flew as pilot on two Space Shuttle missions, STS-27 and STS-35. Gardner was also the 12th president of the Williamson College of the Trades. Background and education Gardner was born on January 6, 1948, in Altavista, Virginia, and grew up in Alexandria, Virginia. He was active in the Boy Scouts of America where he achieved its second-highest rank, Life Scout. He graduated from George Washington High School in Alexandria, Virginia in 1965; received a Bachelor of Science degree with majors in Astronautics, Mathematics, and Engineering Sciences from the United States Air Force Academy in 1969 and a Master of Science degree in Astronautics from Purdue University in 1970. Military experience Gardner completed U.S. Air Force pilot training at Craig Air Force Base, Alabama, and F-4 Phantom II upgrade training at MacDill Air Force Base, Flori ...
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Mike Mullane
Richard Michael Mullane (born September 10, 1945; Col, USAF, Ret.) is an engineer and Weapon Systems Officer, a retired USAF officer, and a former NASA astronaut. During his career, he flew as a mission specialist on STS-41-D, STS-27, and STS-36. Early life and education Richard Michael Mullane was born September 10, 1945, in Wichita Falls, Texas. At the time of his birth, his father, Hugh, was serving as a flight engineer on a B-17 in the Pacific War. His family moved regularly until his father was diagnosed with polio and lost the use of his legs, causing the family to move to Albuquerque, New Mexico. He was a Second Class Scout in the Boy Scouts of America. He graduated from St. Pius X High School, Albuquerque, New Mexico, in 1963, then received a Bachelor of Science degree in Military Engineering from the United States Military Academy in 1967 and was awarded a Master of Science degree in Aeronautical Engineering from the U.S. Air Force Institute of Technology in ...
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William Shepherd
William McMichael "Bill" Shepherd (born July 26, 1949), ( Capt, USN, Ret.), is an American former Navy SEAL, aerospace, ocean, and mechanical engineer, and NASA astronaut, who served as Commander of Expedition 1, the first crew on the International Space Station. He is a recipient of the Congressional Space Medal of Honor. Education and training Shepherd was born on July 26, 1949, to George R. Shepherd and Barbara Shepherd in Oak Ridge, Tennessee, but he considers Babylon, New York, his hometown. He is married to Beth Stringham of Batavia, New York. He graduated from Arcadia High School in Phoenix, Arizona in 1967, and received a Bachelor of Science degree in Aerospace Engineering from the United States Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland in 1971. He completed Basic Underwater Demolition/SEAL (BUD/S) training in 1972, then joined the United States Naval Special Warfare Command and qualified as a Navy SEAL. He served with the Navy's Underwater Demolition Team ELEVEN, SEA ...
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Space Shuttle Atlantis
Space Shuttle ''Atlantis'' (Orbiter Vehicle designation: OV‑104) is a Space Shuttle orbiter vehicle which belongs to NASA, the spaceflight and space exploration agency of the United States. ''Atlantis'' was manufactured by the Rockwell International company in Southern California and was delivered to the Kennedy Space Center in Eastern Florida in April 1985. ''Atlantis'' is also the fourth operational and the second-to-last Space Shuttle built. Its maiden flight was STS-51-J made from October 3 to 7, 1985. ''Atlantis'' embarked on its 33rd and final mission, also the final mission of a space shuttle, STS-135, on July 8, 2011. STS-134 by ''Endeavour'' was expected to be the final flight before STS-135 was authorized in October 2010. STS-135 took advantage of the processing for the STS-335 Launch on Need mission that would have been necessary if STS-134's crew became stranded in orbit. ''Atlantis'' landed for the final time at the Kennedy Space Center on July 21, 2011. ...
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Space Transportation System
The Space Transportation System (STS), also known internally to NASA as the Integrated Program Plan (IPP), was a proposed system of reusable crewed space vehicles envisioned in 1969 to support extended operations beyond the Apollo program. (NASA appropriated the name for its Space Shuttle Program, the only component of the proposal to survive Congressional funding approval). The purpose of the system was two-fold: to reduce the cost of spaceflight by replacing the current method of launching capsules on expendable rockets with reusable spacecraft; and to support ambitious follow-on programs including permanent orbiting space stations around Earth and the Moon, and a human landing mission to Mars. In February 1969, President Richard Nixon appointed a Space Task Group headed by Vice President Spiro Agnew to recommend human space projects beyond Apollo. The group responded in September with the outline of the STS, and three different program levels of effort culminating with ...
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STS-51-I
STS-51-I was the 20th mission of NASA's Space Shuttle program and the sixth flight of Space Shuttle ''Discovery''. During the mission, ''Discovery'' deployed three communications satellites into orbit. The mission launched from Kennedy Space Center, Florida, on August 27, 1985, and landed at Edwards Air Force Base, California, on September 3, 1985. Crew Spacewalks * '' Fisher and van Hoften '' – EVA 1 * EVA 1 Start: August 31, 1985 * EVA 1 End: August 31, 1985 * Duration: 7 hours, 20 minutes * '' Fisher and van Hoften '' – EVA 2 * EVA 2 Start: September 1, 1985 * EVA 2 End: September 1, 1985 * Duration: 4 hours, 26 minutes Crew seating arrangements Launch Mission summary ''Discovery'' launched at 6:58 a.m. EDT on August 27, 1985. Two earlier launch attempts, one on August 24 and another on August 25, were scrubbed – the first because of poor weather, and the second because the backup orbiter computer failed and had to be replaced. The successful launch ...
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Lacrosse (satellite)
Lacrosse or Onyx is a series of terrestrial radar imaging reconnaissance satellites operated by the United States National Reconnaissance Office (NRO). While not officially confirmed by the NRO or the Government of the United States prior to 2008, there was widespread evidence pointing to its existence, including one NASA website. In July 2008, the NRO itself declassified the existence of its synthetic aperture radar (SAR) satellite constellation. According to former Director of Central Intelligence Admiral Stansfield Turner, Lacrosse had its origins in 1950 (1980?) when a dispute between the Central Intelligence Agency and the U.S. Air Force as to whether a combined optical/radar reconnaissance satellite (the CIA proposal) or a radar-only one (the USAF proposal) should be developed was resolved in favor of the USAF. Lacrosse uses synthetic aperture radar as its prime imaging instrument. It is able to see through cloud cover and also has some ability to penetrate soil, thoug ...
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Space Shuttle Columbia Disaster
The Space Shuttle ''Columbia'' disaster was a fatal accident in the United States space program that occurred on February 1, 2003. During the STS-107 mission, Space Shuttle ''Columbia'' disintegrated as it reentered the atmosphere over Texas, killing all seven astronauts on board. The mission was the second that ended in disaster in the Space Shuttle program after the loss of ''Challenger'' and all seven crew members during ascent in 1986. During the STS-107 launch, a piece of the insulative foam broke off from the Space Shuttle external tank and struck the thermal protection system tiles on the orbiter's left wing. Similar foam shedding had occurred during previous Space Shuttle launches, causing damage that ranged from minor to near-catastrophic, but some engineers suspected that the damage to ''Columbia'' was more serious. Before reentry, NASA managers had limited the investigation, reasoning that the crew could not have fixed the problem if it had been confirmed. W ...
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STS-107
STS-107 was the 113th flight of the Space Shuttle program, and the 28th and final flight of Space Shuttle ''Columbia''. The mission launched from Kennedy Space Center in Florida on January 16, 2003, and during its 15 days, 22 hours, 20 minutes, 32 seconds in orbit conducted a multitude of international scientific experiments. It was also the 88th post- Challenger disaster mission. An in-flight break up during reentry into the atmosphere on February 1 killed all seven crew members and disintegrated ''Columbia''. Immediately after the disaster, NASA convened the ''Columbia'' accident Investigation Board to determine the cause of the disintegration. The source of the failure was determined to have been caused by a piece of foam that broke off during launch and damaged the thermal protection system ( reinforced carbon-carbon panels and thermal protection tiles) on the leading edge of the orbiter's left wing. During re-entry the damaged wing slowly overheated and came apart, e ...
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Space Shuttle Columbia
Space Shuttle ''Columbia'' (OV-102) was a Space Shuttle orbiter manufactured by Rockwell International and operated by NASA. Named after the first American ship to circumnavigate the upper North American Pacific coast and the female personification of the United States, ''Columbia'' was the first of five Space Shuttle orbiters to fly in space, debuting the Space Shuttle launch vehicle on its maiden flight in April 1981. As only the second full-scale orbiter to be manufactured after the Approach and Landing Test vehicle ''Enterprise'', ''Columbia'' retained unique features indicative of its experimental design compared to later orbiters, such as test instrumentation and distinctive black chines. In addition to a heavier fuselage and the retention of an internal airlock throughout its lifetime, these made ''Columbia'' the heaviest of the five spacefaring orbiters; around heavier than ''Challenger'' and heavier than '' Endeavour''. ''Columbia'' also carried ejection seats b ...
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Space Shuttle Seating Plan
Space is the boundless three-dimensional extent in which objects and events have relative position and direction. In classical physics, physical space is often conceived in three linear dimensions, although modern physicists usually consider it, with time, to be part of a boundless four-dimensional continuum known as spacetime. The concept of space is considered to be of fundamental importance to an understanding of the physical universe. However, disagreement continues between philosophers over whether it is itself an entity, a relationship between entities, or part of a conceptual framework. Debates concerning the nature, essence and the mode of existence of space date back to antiquity; namely, to treatises like the '' Timaeus'' of Plato, or Socrates in his reflections on what the Greeks called ''khôra'' (i.e. "space"), or in the ''Physics'' of Aristotle (Book IV, Delta) in the definition of ''topos'' (i.e. place), or in the later "geometrical conception of place" as "s ...
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STS-51-L
STS-51-L was the 25th mission of the NASA Space Shuttle program and the final flight of Space Shuttle ''Challenger''. Planned as the first Teacher in Space Project flight in addition to observing Halley's Comet for six days and performing a routine satellite deployment, the mission never achieved orbit; a structural failure during its ascent phase 73 seconds after launch from Kennedy Space Center Launch Complex 39B on January 28, 1986, killed all seven crew members —Commander Francis R. "Dick" Scobee, Pilot Michael J. Smith, Mission Specialists Ellison S. Onizuka, Judith A. Resnik and Ronald E. McNair, and Payload Specialists Gregory B. Jarvis and S. Christa McAuliffe—and destroyed the orbiter. Immediately after the disaster, President Ronald Reagan convened the Rogers Commission to determine the cause of the explosion. The failure of an O-ring seal on the starboard Solid Rocket Booster (SRB) was determined to have caused the shuttle to break up in flight. Spa ...
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