| STS-28 | |||||
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| Mission statistics | |||||
| Mission name | STS-28 | ||||
| Space shuttle | Columbia | ||||
| Launch pad | 39-B | ||||
| Launch date | August 8, 1989, 8:37:00 a.m. EDT | ||||
| Landing | August 13, 1989, 6:37:08 a.m. PDT, EAFB, Runway 17 | ||||
| Mission duration | 5/01:00:08 | ||||
| Number of orbits | 81 | ||||
| Orbital altitude | Classified | ||||
| Orbital inclination | 57.0 degrees | ||||
| Distance traveled | 2,100,000 miles (3,400,000 km) | ||||
| Crew photo | |||||
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STS-28 was the fourth shuttle mission dedicated to United States Department of Defense, and first flight of Columbia since mission STS-61-C. The details of the mission are classified. The payload is widely believed to have been the first SDS-2 communications satellite. The mission was launched successfully on 8 August 1989. STS-28 lasted just over 5 days and traveled 2.1 million miles in 81 orbits of the earth. The altitude of the mission is classified, but based on the distance traveled and number of orbits, the altitude would have been between 220 km and 380 km. The shuttle landed at Edwards Air Force Base on runway 17.
Contents |
Crew
| Position | Astronaut | |
|---|---|---|
| Commander | Brewster H. Shaw, Jr. Third spaceflight |
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| Pilot | Richard N. Richards First spaceflight |
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| Mission Specialist 1 | James C. Adamson First spaceflight |
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| Mission Specialist 2 | David C. Leestma Second spaceflight |
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| Mission Specialist 3 | Mark N. Brown First spaceflight |
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Mission parameters
- Mass: 19,600? kg Payload Satellite Data System satellite?
- Perigee: 289 km
- Apogee: 306 km
- Inclination: 57.0°
- Period: 90.5 min
Mission highlights
The pioneering Space Shuttle Orbiter Columbia (OV-102), the first operational reusable spaceship in NASA's fleet, lifted off from Pad 39B, Launch Complex 39, KSC, on August 8, 1989. Liftoff time was 8:37 a.m. EDT. It was the 30th flight of the Space Shuttle, and the first flight of the refurbished Columbia since the 61-C mission on January 12, 1986. Landing was at Edwards AFB, CA, at 9:37 a.m. EDT. The mission lasted for 5 days and 1 hour.
Columbia deployed two satellites, 1989-061B (USA-40) and 1989-061C (USA-41). Early reports speculated that STS-28's primary payload was an Advanced KH-11 photo-reconnaissance satellite. Later reports and amateur satellite observations of the satellites suggest that USA-40 was a second-generation Satellite Data System relay similar to those likely launched on STS-38 and STS-53. These spacecraft have the same bus design as the LEASAT satellites deployed on other shuttle missions, and were likely deployed in the same fashion.[2]
During the flight, the crew shut down a thruster in the reaction control system (RCS) because of indications of a leak. Also, an RCS heater malfunctioned.
Interestingly, mission 28 marked the first flight of an 11-pound human skull as the primary element of Detailed Secondary Objective 469, also known as Inflight Radiation Dose Distribution (IDRD). This joint NASA/DoD experiment was designed to examine the penetration of radiation into the human cranium during spaceflight. The female skull was seated in a plastic matrix representative of tissue and sliced into ten layers. Hundrends of thermoluminescent dosimeters were mounted in the skull's layers to record radiation levels at multiple depths. This experiment also flew on STS-36 and STS-31 in the shuttle's middeck lockers, recording radiation levels at different orbital inclinations.[1]
Post-flight analysis of STS-28 discovered unusual heating of the thermal protection system (TPS) during re-entry, caused by an early transition to turbulent plasma flow around the vehicle. A detailed report ([3] identified protruding gap filler as the likely cause. This filler material is the same material which was removed during a spacewalk on the STS-114 Return to Flight mission in 2005.
The Shuttle Leeside Temperature Sensing (SILTS) infrared camera package made its second flight aboard Columbia on this mission. The distinctive cylindrical pod and surrounding black tiles on the orbiter's vertical stabilizer housed an imaging system designed to map thermodynamic conditions during reentry on the surfaces visible from the top of the tailfin. Ironically, the camera faced the port wing of Columbia, which was breached by superheated plasma on its final flight, destroying the wing and the orbiter. The SILTS system was used for only six missions before being deactivated, but the pod remained for the duration of Columbia's career.[2]
Gallery
 Columbia on pad 39B. |
 Liftoff |
 Malaspina Glacier. |
 STS-28 Robbins Medallion |
See also
- Space science
- Space shuttle
- List of space shuttle missions
- List of human spaceflights chronologically
References
- ^ Macknight, Nigel, Space Year 1991, p.41 ISBN 0-87938-482-4
- ^ Shuttle Infrared Leeside Temperature Sensing,[1]
External links
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