STS-67 was a

human spaceflight Human spaceflight (also referred to as manned spaceflight or crewed spaceflight) is spaceflight with a crew or passengers aboard a spacecraft, often with the spacecraft being operated directly by the onboard human crew. Spacecraft can also be ...

mission using that launched from

Kennedy Space Center The John F. Kennedy Space Center (KSC, originally known as the NASA Launch Operations Center), located on Merritt Island, Florida, is one of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration's (NASA) ten field centers. Since December 1968 ...

, Florida on 2 March 1995.

Crew

Mission highlights

Ultraviolet Imaging Experiments

Astro-2 was the second dedicated Spacelab mission to conduct astronomical observations in the ultraviolet spectral regions (the first was the Astro-1 mission flown on

STS-35 STS-35 was the tenth flight of Space Shuttle ''Columbia'', the 38th shuttle flight, and a mission devoted to astronomical observations with ASTRO-1, a Spacelab observatory consisting of four telescopes. The mission launched from Kennedy Spac ...

). The Astro-2 Spacelab consisted of three unique instruments – the

Hopkins Ultraviolet Telescope The Hopkins Ultraviolet Telescope (HUT) was a space telescope designed to make spectroscopic observations in the far-ultraviolet region of the electromagnetic spectrum. It was flown into orbit on the Space Shuttle and operated from the Shuttle's ...

(HUT), the Ultraviolet Imaging Telescope (UIT) and the

Wisconsin Ultraviolet Photo-Polarimeter Experiment The Wisconsin Ultraviolet Photo-Polarimeter Experiment (WUPPE) was a space telescope with a 50cm diameter mirror for spectroscopy and polarimetry in the ultraviolet spectral range. It was used in conjunction with other telescopes on the shuttle ...

(WUPPE). These took measurements from objects within the solar system as well as individual stars, nebulae, supernova remnants, galaxies and active extragalactic objects. The data supplemented the data obtained from the Astro-1 mission. The purpose of the UIT was to observe UV radiation from space (most UV radiation is absorbed by Earth's atmosphere and cannot be studied from the ground). The data collected from UIT Astro-1 mission provided the first accurate knowledge of UV data from the universe. The UIT in the Astro-2 Spacelab was capable of capturing almost twice the UV spectrum of its predecessor. As STS-67 launched at a different time of year from STS-35, data was collected from portions of the sky that Astro-1 was not able to view.

Middeck Active Control Experiment (MACE)

On the Middeck, science experiments included the Protein Crystal Growth Thermal Enclosure System Vapor Diffusion Apparatus-03 experiment (PCG-TES-03), the Protein Crystal Growth Single Thermal Enclosure System-02 (PCG-STES-02), the Shuttle Amateur Radio Experiment-II (SAREX-II), the Middeck Active Control Experiment (MACE), the Commercial Materials Dispersion Apparatus Instrumentation Technology Associates Experiments-03 (CMIX-03) and the Midcourse Space Experiment (MSX). The Middeck Active Control Experiment (MACE) was a space engineering research payload and activity. It consisted of a rate gyro, reaction wheels, a precision pointing payload, and a scanning and pointing payload that produces motion disturbances. The goal of the experiment was to test a closed loop control system that could compensate for motion disturbances. On orbit, Commander Stephen S. Oswald and Pilot

William G. Gregory William George "Borneo" Gregory (born May 14, 1957) is an American retired NASA astronaut and United States Air Force lieutenant colonel. Early life and education Gregory was born in Lockport (city), New York, Lockport, New York, into an Al ...

used MACE to test about 200 different motion disturbance situations over 45 hours of testing during the mission. Information from MACE was to be used to design better control systems that compensate for motion in future spacecraft.

Getaway Special Payloads

Two

Get Away Special Getaway Special was a NASA program that offered interested individuals, or groups, opportunities to fly small experiments aboard the Space Shuttle. Over the 20-year history of the program, over 170 individual missions were flown. The program, whi ...

(GAS) payloads were also on board. They were the G-387 and G-388 canisters. This experiment was sponsored by the Australian Space Office and AUSPACE ltd. The objectives were to make ultraviolet observations of deep space or nearby galaxies. These observations were made to study the structure of galactic supernova remnants, the distribution of hot gas in the Magellanic Clouds, the hot galactic halo emission, and emission associated with galactic cooling flows and jets. The two GAS canisters were interconnected with a cable. Canister 1 had a motorized door assembly that exposed a UV telescope to space when opened. UV reflective filters on the telescopes optics determine its UV bandpass. Canister 2 contained two video recorders for data storage and batteries to provide experiment power. It was Space Shuttle ''Endeavour'''s longest flight.

Mission insignia

The

spiral galaxy Spiral galaxies form a class of galaxy originally described by Edwin Hubble in his 1936 work ''The Realm of the Nebulae''Jupiter Jupiter is the fifth planet from the Sun and the List of Solar System objects by size, largest in the Solar System. It is a gas giant with a mass more than two and a half times that of all the other planets in the Solar System combined, but ...

, and the four moons (total of six space objects) as well as the seven stars of the insignia symbolize the flight's numerical designation in the Space Transportation System's mission sequence. ''Endeavour'', with ASTRO-2, is speeding by.

References

External links

NASA mission summary

Ultraviolet Imaging Telescope

Wisconsin Ultraviolet Photo-Polarimeter Experiment

R. R. Jayroe Collection, The University of Alabama in Huntsville Archives and Special Collections
Files of Robert R. Jayroe, mission manager for Astro-2. {{DEFAULTSORT:STS-067 Space Shuttle missions Edwards Air Force Base Spacecraft launched in 1995 Crewed space observatories Ultraviolet telescopes