STS-30 was the 29th

NASA The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agencies of the United States government, independent agency of the federal government of the United States, US federal government responsible for the United States ...

Space Shuttle The Space Shuttle is a retired, partially reusable launch system, 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. ...

mission and the fourth mission for Space Shuttle ''Atlantis''. It was the fourth shuttle launch since the

Challenger disaster On January 28, 1986, the Space Shuttle ''Challenger'' broke apart 73 seconds into its flight, killing all seven crew members aboard. The spacecraft disintegrated above the Atlantic Ocean, off the coast of Cape Canaveral, Florida, at 16:3 ...

and the first shuttle mission since the disaster to have a female astronaut on board. The mission launched from

Kennedy Space Center The John F. Kennedy Space Center (KSC, originally known as the NASA Launch Operations Center), located on Merritt Island, Florida, is one of the NASA, National Aeronautics and Space Administration's (NASA) ten NASA facilities#List of field c ...

Florida Florida ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders the Gulf of Mexico to the west, Alabama to the northwest, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the north, the Atlantic ...

, on May 4, 1989, and landed four days later on May 8, 1989. During the mission, ''Atlantis'' deployed the

Venus Venus is the second planet from the Sun. It is often called Earth's "twin" or "sister" planet for having almost the same size and mass, and the closest orbit to Earth's. While both are rocky planets, Venus has an atmosphere much thicker ...

-bound ''Magellan'' probe into orbit. The mission was officially designated STS-30R as the original STS-30 designator belonged to STS-61-A, the 22nd Space Shuttle mission. Official documentation for that mission contained the designator STS-30 throughout. As

STS-51-L STS-51-L was the disastrous 25th mission of NASA's Space Shuttle program and the final flight of Space Shuttle ''Challenger''. It was planned as the first Teacher in Space Project flight in addition to observing Halley's Comet for six day ...

was designated STS-33, future flights with the

STS-26 STS-26 was the 26th NASA Space Shuttle mission and the seventh flight of the orbiter ''Discovery''. The mission launched from Kennedy Space Center, Florida, on September 29, 1988, and landed four days later on October 3, 1988. STS-26 was decla ...

through STS-33 designators would require the R in their documentation to avoid conflicts in tracking data from one mission to another.

Crew

Crew seat assignments

Shuttle processing

Atlantis spent three months in the

Orbiter Processing Facility Orbiter Processing Facility (OPF) is a class of hangars where U.S. Space Shuttle orbiters underwent maintenance between flights. They are located west of the Vehicle Assembly Building, where the orbiter was mated with its external tank and Space ...

(OPF-2) after returning to the Kennedy Space Center at the end of

STS-27 STS-27 was the 27th NASA Space Shuttle program, Space Shuttle mission, and the third flight of Space Shuttle Atlantis, Space Shuttle ''Atlantis''. Launching on December 2, 1988, on a four-day mission, it was the second shuttle flight after the ...

. During this period technicians got to work removing and replacing all of the damaged

Thermal Protection System Atmospheric entry (sometimes listed as Vimpact or Ventry) is the movement of an object from outer space into and through the gases of an atmosphere of a planet, dwarf planet, or natural satellite. Atmospheric entry may be ''uncontrolled entr ...

(TPS) tiles that Atlantis sustained during her prior flight. They also took detailed inspections of the shuttle while simultaneously preparing Atlantis for STS-30R. The shuttle was rolled over to the

Vehicle Assembly Building The Vehicle Assembly Building (originally the Vertical Assembly Building), or VAB, is a large building at NASA's Kennedy Space Center (KSC) in Florida, designed to assemble large pre-manufactured space vehicle components, such as the massive Satu ...

and mated with ET-29 and an SRB set on March 11, 1989. Eleven days later on March 22, 1989, Atlantis was rolled out to launch pad 39B.

Mission summary

Space Shuttle ''Atlantis'' lifted off from

Launch Complex 39B Launch Complex 39B (LC-39B) is the second of Launch Complex 39's three launch pads, located at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Merritt Island, Florida. The pad, along with Launch Complex 39A, was first designed for the Saturn V launch vehicle, ...

at Kennedy Space Center (KSC), Florida, at 14:46:59 EDT on May 4, 1989. The primary payload, the ''Magellan'' spacecraft with its attached

Inertial Upper Stage The Inertial Upper Stage (IUS), originally designated the Interim Upper Stage, was a Multistage rocket, two-stage, Solid-propellant rocket, solid-fueled space launch system developed by Boeing for the United States Air Force beginning in 1976 for ...

(IUS), was successfully deployed later that day. ''Magellan'' was the first American planetary mission in 11 years. The launch was originally scheduled for April 28, 1989, the first day of a 31-day launch period when

Earth Earth is the third planet from the Sun and the only astronomical object known to Planetary habitability, harbor life. This is enabled by Earth being an ocean world, the only one in the Solar System sustaining liquid surface water. Almost all ...

and Venus were properly aligned. However, the liftoff was scrubbed at T−31 seconds because of a problem with the

liquid hydrogen Liquid hydrogen () is the liquid state of the element hydrogen. Hydrogen is found naturally in the molecule, molecular H2 form. To exist as a liquid, H2 must be cooled below its critical point (thermodynamics), critical point of 33 Kelvins, ...

recirculation pump on

Space Shuttle Main Engine The RS-25, also known as the Space Shuttle Main Engine (SSME), is a liquid-fuel cryogenic rocket engine that was used on NASA's Space Shuttle and is used on the Space Launch System. Designed and manufactured in the United States by Rocketd ...

(SSME) No. 1, and a vapor leak in the liquid hydrogen recirculation line between the orbiter and external tank (ET). On the rescheduled liftoff date of May 4, 1989, the launch was again delayed until the final five minutes of the launch window due to cloud cover and excessive crosswinds at KSC's

Shuttle Landing Facility The Shuttle Landing Facility (SLF), also known as Launch and Landing Facility (LLF) , is an airport located on Merritt Island, Florida, Merritt Island in Brevard County, Florida, Brevard County, Florida, United States. It is a part of the Kennedy ...

(SLF). Good landing conditions were required at the SLF in case of a

Return To Launch Site A launch vehicle is typically a rocket-powered vehicle designed to carry a payload (a crewed spacecraft or satellites) from Earth's surface or lower atmosphere to outer space. The most common form is the ballistic missile-shaped multistag ...

(RTLS) abort early in the flight. The only major glitch during the flight occurred on May 7, 1989, when one of the four general-purpose computers programmed to operate the orbiter failed. The shuttle crew replaced the computer, part of a redundant set, with a backup one. It was the first time a computer had been replaced while in orbit. The glitch had no impact on the crew's safety or the primary objectives of the mission, although some of the activities involved in conducting experiments had to be canceled while the crew was replacing the computer. There also was no impact to the mission when one of the three thrusters on ''Atlantis aft right-hand

Orbital Maneuvering System In spaceflight, an orbital maneuver (otherwise known as a burn) is the use of propulsion systems to change the orbit of a spacecraft. For spacecraft far from Earth, an orbital maneuver is called a ''deep-space maneuver (DSM)''. When a spacec ...

(OMS) pod failed during ascent. However, the STS-30 crew experienced several minor annoyances. A

Hasselblad Victor Hasselblad AB is a Sweden, Swedish manufacturer of medium format (film), medium format cameras, photographic equipment and image scanners based in Gothenburg, Sweden. The company originally became known for its classic analog medium-for ...

camera used to photograph sites on Earth had to be stowed for the remainder of the mission after a shutter stuck during the crew's third day in space. The Text and Graphics Systems (TAGS), a device to send images and graphics to the orbiter from

Mission Control Center A mission control center (MCC, sometimes called a flight control center or operations center) is a facility that manages spaceflight, space flights, usually from the point of launch until landing or the end of the mission. It is part of the gr ...

, had to be turned off on Flight Day 2 because of a paper jam. Commander Walker and Pilot Grabe had problems with a device used to take measurements of central venous pressure to determine the effects of

microgravity Weightlessness is the complete or near-complete absence of the sensation of weight, i.e., zero apparent weight. It is also termed zero g-force, or zero-g (named after the g-force) or, incorrectly, zero gravity. Weight is a measurement of the fo ...

on the

cardiovascular system In vertebrates, the circulatory system is a system of organs that includes the heart, blood vessels, and blood which is circulated throughout the body. It includes the cardiovascular system, or vascular system, that consists of the heart a ...

. On the second full day in space, the water dispensing system in the galley malfunctioned, causing some difficulties for the crew in preparing meals. ''Atlantis'' touched down at Runway 22,

Edwards Air Force Base Edwards Air Force Base (AFB) is a United States Air Force installation in California. Most of the base sits in Kern County, California, Kern County, but its eastern end is in San Bernardino County, California, San Bernardino County and a souther ...

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

, on May 8, 1989, at 15:43:27 EDT. Minutes before landing, the runway had to be switched from 17 to 22 due to high crosswinds. The mission lasted a total of 4days, 0hours, 56minutes, and 28seconds.

Payload and experiments

The ''Magellan'' spacecraft was deployed from the shuttle's payload bay six hours and 14 minutes into the mission. Two successive IUS propulsion burns placed the spacecraft on its trajectory to Venus about an hour later. ''Magellan'' arrived at Venus in August 1990 and began a 243-day mission of mapping the planet's surface with

radar Radar is a system that uses radio waves to determine the distance ('' ranging''), direction ( azimuth and elevation angles), and radial velocity of objects relative to the site. It is a radiodetermination method used to detect and track ...

. Three mid-deck experiments were included on the mission. All had flown before. Mission Specialist Cleave used a portable laptop computer to operate and monitor the Fluids Experiment Apparatus (FEA). An video camcorder, flown for the first time on the Shuttle, provided the opportunity for the crew to record and downlink on-orbit activities such as the FEA, which was a joint endeavor between

Rockwell International Rockwell International was a major American manufacturing conglomerate (company), conglomerate. It was involved in aircraft, the space industry, defense and commercial electronics, components in the automotive industry, printing presses, avioni ...

and NASA. Payload bay video cameras were used to record storm systems from orbit as part of the Mesoscale Lightning Experiment.

Wake-up calls

NASA began a tradition of playing music to astronauts during the

Project Gemini Project Gemini () was the second United States human spaceflight program to fly. Conducted after the first American crewed space program, Project Mercury, while the Apollo program was still in early development, Gemini was conceived in 1961 and ...

, and first used music to awaken a flight crew during

Apollo 15 Apollo 15 (July 26August 7, 1971) was the ninth crewed mission in the Apollo program and the fourth Moon landing. It was the first List of Apollo missions#Alphabetical mission types, J mission, with a longer stay on the Moon and a greate ...

. Each track is specially chosen, often by the astronauts' families, and usually has a special meaning to an individual member of the crew, or is applicable to their daily activities.

Gallery

Image:Magellan at Kennedy Space Center.jpg, The ''Magellan'' probe being tested at Kennedy Space Center. Image:Magellan Preparations.jpg, The probe imaged aboard ''Atlantis''. Image:1989 s30 Magellan aboard Atlantis.jpg, ''Magellan'' in its stowed position. Image:Magellan Overhead.jpg, ''Magellan'' passes overhead. Image:ISD highres STS030 STS030-89-59.jpg, Thunderstorms imaged from orbit. Image:ISD highres STS030 STS030-76-31.jpg, Ocean waves off the coast of

Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...

imaged from orbit.

References

External links

NASA mission summary

{{Orbital launches in 1989 Space Shuttle missions Edwards Air Force Base Spacecraft which reentered in 1989 Spacecraft launched in 1989