STS-46 was a

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mission using and was launched on July 31, 1992, and landed on August 8, 1992.

Crew

Backup crew

Crew seating arrangements

Mission highlights

The mission's primary objectives were the deployment of the

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European Retrievable Carrier The European Retrievable Carrier (EURECA) was an unmanned 4.5-tonne satellite with 15 experiments. It was a European Space Agency (ESA) mission and the acronym was derived from Archimedes' bathtub revelation " Eureka!". It was built by the Germa ...

(EURECA) and the joint NASA/ASI (

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)

Tethered Satellite System Space tethers are long cables which can be used for propulsion, momentum exchange, stabilization and attitude control, or maintaining the relative positions of the components of a large dispersed satellite/spacecraft sensor system. Depending on t ...

(TSS-1). EURECA was deployed a day later than scheduled because of a problem with its data handling system. Seven and a half hours after deployment, the spacecraft's thrusters were fired to boost EURECA to its planned operating altitude of around . However, thruster firing was cut to six minutes from twenty-four minutes because of unexpected attitude data from the spacecraft. The problem was resolved, and EURECA was successfully boosted to its operational orbit on the mission's sixth day. TSS-1 deployment also was delayed one day because of the problems with EURECA. During deployment, the satellite reached a maximum distance of only from the orbiter instead of the planned because of a jammed tether line. After numerous attempts over several days to free the tether, TSS-1 operations were curtailed, and the satellite was stowed for return to

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. It would be reflown in 1996 on STS-75, with astronauts Allen, Hoffman, Nicollier and Chang-Díaz also flying again on that mission. Secondary payloads included the Evaluation of Oxygen Integration with Materials/Thermal Management Processes (EOIM-III/TEMP 2A), Consortium for Materials Development in Space Complex Autonomous Payload (CONCAP II and CONCAP III),

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Cargo Bay Camera (ICBC), Limited Duration Space Environment Candidate Materials Exposure (LDCE), Pituitary Growth Hormone Cell Function (PHCF), and the Ultraviolet Plume Instrument (UVPI). The mission was extended by a day in order to complete scientific objectives.

Gallery

Image:Sts046-99-039 - cropped.jpg, EURECA after deployment Image:STS-46 TSS-1.jpg, TSS-1 satellite Image:STS-46 TSS-1 tether close-up.jpg, TSS-1 tether close-up deployment Image:STS-46 TSS-1 fully extended.jpg, TSS-1 fully extended deployment

References

External links

NASA mission summary

{{Orbital launches in 1992 Space Shuttle missions Spacecraft launched in 1992