STS-46
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STS-46 was a
NASA The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agency of the US federal government responsible for the civil space program, aeronautics research, and space research. NASA was established in 1958, succeeding t ...
Space Shuttle The Space Shuttle is a retired, partially reusable low Earth orbital spacecraft system operated from 1981 to 2011 by the U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) as part of the Space Shuttle program. Its official program na ...
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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's
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 STS-75 was a 1996 NASA Space Shuttle mission, the 19th mission of the ''Columbia'' orbiter. Crew Allen, Hoffman, Nicollier and Chang-Díaz had previously been members of the STS-46 crew, which had flown the TSS-1 experiment in 1992. Mission ...
, 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


See also

*
STS-75 STS-75 was a 1996 NASA Space Shuttle mission, the 19th mission of the ''Columbia'' orbiter. Crew Allen, Hoffman, Nicollier and Chang-Díaz had previously been members of the STS-46 crew, which had flown the TSS-1 experiment in 1992. Mission ...
, a space shuttle mission with objectives similar to those of STS-46 *
List of human spaceflights This is a list of all human spaceflights throughout history. Beginning in 1961 with the flight of Yuri Gagarin aboard Vostok 1, human spaceflight occurs when a human crew flies a spacecraft into outer space. Human spaceflight is distinguished f ...
* List of Space Shuttle missions *
Outline of space science The following Outline (list), outline is provided as an overview and topical guide to space science: Space science encompasses all of the branches of science, scientific disciplines that involve space exploration and study natural phenomena and ...
*
Space Shuttle The Space Shuttle is a retired, partially reusable low Earth orbital spacecraft system operated from 1981 to 2011 by the U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) as part of the Space Shuttle program. Its official program na ...


References


External links


NASA mission summary


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