STS-41 (36)

DISCOVERY (11)

Pad 39-B (15)

36th Shuttle mission

11th Flight OV-103

Crew:

Richard N. Richards (2), Commander

Robert D. Cabana (1), Pilot

William M. Shepherd (2), Mission Specialist 1

Bruce E. Melnick (1), Mission Specialist 2

Thomas D. Akers (1), Mission Specialist 3

Milestones:

OPF - May 8, 1990

VAB - Aug. 27, 1990

PAD - Sept. 4, 1990

Payload:

ULYSSES,SSBUV-02,ISAC

Mission Objectives:

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Launch:

October 6, 1990, 7:47:15 a.m. EDT. Liftoff occurred 12 minutes after two-and-a-half-hour launch window opened at 7:35 a.m. EDT, Oct.6. Heaviest payload to date. Launch Weight: 259,593 lbs.

Orbit:

Altitude: 160nm

Inclination: 28.45 degrees

Orbits: 66

Duration: 4 days, 2 hours, 10 minutes, 4 seconds.

Distance: 1,707,445 miles

Hardware:

SRB: BI-040

SRM: 360Q013

ET : 39/LWT-32

MLP : 2

SSME-1: SN-2011

SSME-2: SN-2031

SSME-3: SN-2107

Landing:

October 10, 1990, 6:57:18 a.m. PDT, Runway 22, Edwards Air Force Base, Calif. Rollout distance: 8,276 feet. Rollout time: 49 seconds (braking test). Orbiter returned to KSC Oct. 16,1990. Landing Weight: 196,869 lbs.

Mission Highlights:

Primary payload, ESA-built Ulysses spacecraft to explore polar regions of Sun, deployed. Two upper stages, Inertial Upper Stage (IUS) and a mission-specific Payload Assist Module-S (PAM-S), combined together for first time to send Ulysses toward out-of- ecliptic trajectory. Other payloads and experiments: Shuttle Solar Backscatter Ultraviolet (SSBUV) experiment; INTELSAT Solar Array Coupon (ISAC); Chromosome and Plant Cell Division Experiment (CHROMEX); Voice Command System (VCS); Solid Surface Combustion Experiment (SSCE), Investigations into Polymer Membrane Processing (IPMP); Physiological Systems Experiment (PSE); Radiation Monitoring Experiment III (RME III); Shuttle Student involvement Program (SSIP) and Air Force Maui Optical Site (AMOS) experiment.

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