STS-53

Occurred 32 years ago

A classified Department of Defense primary payload, plus two unclassified secondary payloads and nine unclassified middeck experiments.

orbiter

Discovery

mission duration

7 days, 7 hours, 19 minutes

Launch

December 2, 1992

Landing

December 9, 1992

Five men in orange space suits posing for crew photo in front of model spaceship.

Five astronauts were assigned to fly aboard the Space Shuttle Discovery for the STS-53 mission that flew at the end of 1992. Pictured are, left to right (front), Guion S. Bluford and James S. Voss, mission specialists; and (back row) David M. Walker, mission commander; Robert D. Cabana, pilot; and Michael R.U. (Rich) Clifford, mission specialist.

NASA

STS-53 Mission Facts

Mission: DOD; ODERACS
Space Shuttle: Discovery
Launch Pad: 39A
Launch Weight: 243,952 pounds
Launched: December 2, 1992, 8:24 a.m. EST
Landing Site: Edwards Air Force Base, Calif.
Landing: December 9, 1992, 12:43:47 p.m. PST
Landing Weight: 193,215 pounds
Runway: 22
Rollout Distance: 10,165 feet
Rollout Time: 73 seconds
Revolution: 116
Mission Duration: 7 days, 7 hours, 19 minutes, 47 seconds
Returned to KSC: December 18, 1992
Orbit Altitude: 174 nautical miles
Orbit Inclination: 57 degrees

Crew

David M. Walker, Commander
Robert D. Cabana, Pilot
Guion S. Bluford, Jr., Mission Specialist
James S. Voss, Mission Specialist
Michael R. Clifford, Mission Specialist

Mission Highlights

A classified Department of Defense primary payload, plus two unclassified secondary payloads and nine unclassified middeck experiments.

Secondary payloads contained in or attached to Get Away Special (GAS) hardware in the cargo bay included the Orbital Debris Radar Calibration Spheres (ODERACS), and the combined Shuttle Glow Experiment/Cryogenic Heat Pipe Experiment (GCP).

Middeck experiments included Microcapsules in Space (MIS-l); Space Tissue Loss (STL); Visual Function Tester (VFT-2); Cosmic Radiation Effects and Activation Monitor (CREAM); Radiation Monitoring Equipment (RME-III); Fluid Acquisition and Resupply Experiment (FARE); Hand-held, Earth-oriented, Real-time, Cooperative, User-friendly, Location-targeting and Environmental System (HERCULES); Battlefield Laser Acquisition Sensor Test (BLAST); and the Cloud Logic to Optimize Use of Defense Systems (CLOUDS).