STS-70 Totally Explained

Everything about Sts-70 totally explained

STS-70 was a Space Shuttle Discovery mission to insert a Tracking and Data Relay Satellite (TDRS) into earth orbit. It was launched from Kennedy Space Center, Florida, on July 13, 1995.

Crew

Terence T. Henricks (3), Commander
Kevin R. Kregel (1), Pilot
Nancy J. Currie (2), Mission Specialist
Donald A. Thomas (2), Mission Specialist
Mary E. Weber (1), Mission Specialist

Mission parameters

Mass: 20,159 kg payload

Perigee: 257 km

Apogee: 257 km

Inclination: 28.5°

Period: 90.5 min

Mission highlights

The primary mission was the launch and deployment of the 7th Tracking and Data Relay Satellite (TDRS) by means of the two-stage Inertial Upper Stage (IUS) solid rocket.
   The TDRS was the 6th placed in operational use. The first TDRS was launched aboard STS-6 on 4/5/83 with a scheduled lifetime of 7 years. The second TDRS (TDRS-2) was lost aboard Challenger on mission STS-51-L. Other TDRS satellites have flown on STS-26 (TDRS-3), STS-29 (TDRS-4), STS-43 (TDRS-5) and STS-54 (TDRS-6). The on-orbit TDRS network was rearranged and included two fully operational spacecraft occupying the TDRS East and West slots, one on-orbit fully functional spare, a nearly depleted TDRS which had exceeded its planned lifetime, and a partially operational TDRS devoted to supporting the Compton Gamma Ray Observatory (GRO). It was also used to cover an area that can't be seen by the other satellites known as the Zone of Exclusion. The TDRS system is a space-based network that provides communications, tracking, telemetry, data acquisition and command services essential to the Space Shuttle and other low-Earth orbital spacecraft such as the Hubble Space Telescope (HST), the Compton Gamma Ray Observatory (GRO), the Upper Atmosphere Research Satellite (UARS), Cosmic Background Explorer (COBE), Extreme Ultraviolet Explorer (EUVE), TOPEX-Poseidon, Landsat and many more. TDRS-G will reside in geosynchronous orbit at 22,300 miles (35,888 kilometers) at 178 degrees West longitude. It was built by TRW and weighs about 4,900 pounds (2,200 kg).
   The deploy operations utilized 3 separate control centers to manage orbit operations. The White Sands ground station controlled the TDRS, the JSC Mission Control Center (MCC) controlled the shuttle, and the Inertial Upper Stage (IUS) control center at Onizuka Air Force Base in Sunnyvale California controlled the booster stage. Deploy operations begin six hours into the mission. Once it was deployed, the TDRS satellite had a wingspan of 57 ft. TDRSS-G added to the complement of satellites already in orbit.
   Secondary objectives of the mission were to fulfill the requirements of the Physiological and Anatomical Rodent Experiment / National Institutes of Health-Rodents (PARE/NIH-R); Bioreactor Demonstration System (BDS), Commercial Protein Crystal Growth (CPCG); Space Tissue Loss/National Institutes of Health-Cells (STL/NIH-C); Biological Research in Canisters (BRIC); Shuttle Amateur Radio Experiment-II (SAREX-II), Visual Function Tester-4 (VFT-4); Hand-Held, Earth Oriented, Real-Time, Cooperative, User-Friendly, Location-Targeting and Environmental System (HERCULES); Microcapsules in Space-B (MIS-B); Windows Experiment (WINDEX); Radiation Monitoring Equipment-III (RME-III); and the Military Applications of Ship Tracks (MAST).
   STS-70 marked the maiden flight of the new Block 1 orbiter main engine. Engine number 2036 featured the new high-pressure liquid oxygen turbopump, a two-duct powerhead, baffleless main injector, single-coil heat exchanger and start sequence modifications. The modifications were designed to improve both engine performance and safety. The Block I engine flew in the number one position on Discovery. The other two engines were of the existing Phase II design.
   Interesting Sidenote: The External Tank on this flight had to be repaired due to Woodpeckers poking holes towards the top of the tank. http://www.spacepatches.info has a link with a funny STS-70 mission patch depicting the cartoon character 'Woody Woodpecker' popping out of the middle.

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