STS-45 facts for kids

Quick facts for kids
STS-45

Components of the ATLAS-1 laboratory in the payload bay of Atlantis
Names	Space Transportation System-45
Mission type	Astronomy research
Operator	NASA
Mission duration	8 days, 22 hours, 9 minutes, 28 seconds (achieved)
Distance travelled	5,211,340 km (3,238,180 mi)
Orbits completed	143
Spacecraft properties
Spacecraft	Space Shuttle Atlantis
Launch mass	105,982 kg (233,650 lb)
Landing mass	93,009 kg (205,050 lb)
Payload mass	9,947 kg (21,929 lb)
Crew
Crew size	7
Members	Charles F. Bolden Jr. Brian Duffy Kathryn D. Sullivan David C. Leestma C. Michael Foale Dirk Frimout Byron K. Lichtenberg
Start of mission
Launch date	24 March 1992, 13:13:39 UTC
Rocket	Space Shuttle Atlantis
Launch site	Kennedy Space Center, LC-39A
Contractor	Rockwell International
End of mission
Landing date	2 April 1992, 11:23 UTC
Landing site	Kennedy Space Center, SLF Runway 33
Orbital parameters
Reference system	Geocentric orbit
Regime	Low Earth orbit
Perigee	282 km (175 mi)
Apogee	294 km (183 mi)
Inclination	57.00°
Period	90.30 minutes
STS-45 mission patch Standing: Byron K. Lichtenberg, C. Michael Foale, David C. Leestma, Kathryn D. Sullivan, Dirk Frimout Seated: Brian Duffy, Charles F. Bolden Jr. Space Shuttle program ← STS-42 (45) STS-49 (47) →

STS-45 was a 1992 NASA Space Shuttle mission using the Space Shuttle Atlantis. Its almost nine-day scientific mission was with a non-deployable payload of instruments. It was the 46th Space Shuttle mission and the 11th for Atlantis.

Crew

Position	Astronaut
Commander	Charles F. Bolden Jr. Third spaceflight
Pilot	Brian Duffy First spaceflight
Mission Specialist 1	Kathryn D. Sullivan Third and last spaceflight
Mission Specialist 2	David C. Leestma Third and last spaceflight
Mission Specialist 3	C. Michael Foale First spaceflight
Payload Specialist 1	Dirk Frimout , ESA Only spaceflight
Payload Specialist 2	Byron K. Lichtenberg Second and last spaceflight

Backup crew

Position	Astronaut
Payload Specialist 1	Michael L. Lampton First spaceflight
Payload Specialist 2	Charles R. Chappell First spaceflight

Crew seating arrangements

Seat	Launch	Landing	Seats 1–4 are on the Flight Deck. Seats 5–7 are on the Middeck.
S1	Bolden	Bolden
S2	Duffy	Duffy
S3	Sullivan	Foale
S4	Leestma	Leestma
S5	Foale	Sullivan
S6	Frimout	Frimout
S7	Lichtenberg	Lichtenberg

Mission highlights

Space Shuttle Atlantis lands at the conclusion of STS-45 mission.

Atlantis was launched on 24 March 1992, at 8:13 a.m. EST. The launch was originally scheduled for 23 March 1992, but was delayed by one day because of higher-than-allowable concentrations of liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen in the orbiter's aft compartment during tanking operations. During troubleshooting, the leaks could not be reproduced, leading engineers to believe that they were the result of plumbing in the main propulsion system not thermally conditioned to the cryogenic propellants; the launch was rescheduled for 24 March 1992. Atlantis weighed 105,982 kg (233,650 lb) at launch.

STS-45 carried the first Atmospheric Laboratory for Applications and Science (ATLAS-1) experiments, placed on Spacelab pallets mounted in the orbiter's payload bay. The non-deployable payload, equipped with 12 instruments from the United States, France, Germany, Belgium, Switzerland, the Netherlands and Japan, conducted studies in atmospheric chemistry, solar radiation, space plasma physics and ultraviolet astronomy. ATLAS-1 instruments included the Atmospheric Trace Molecule Spectroscopy (ATMOS); Grille Spectrometer; Millimeter Wave Atmospheric Sounder (MAS); Imaging Spectrometric Observatory (ISO); Atmospheric Lyman-Alpha Emissions (ALAE); Atmospheric Emissions Photometric Imager (AEPI); Space Experiments with Particle Accelerators (SEPAC); Active Cavity Radiometer (ACR); Measurement of Solar Constant (SOLCON); Solar Spectrum; Solar Ultraviolet Spectral Irradiance Monitor (SUSIM); and Far Ultraviolet Space Telescope (FAUST). Other payloads included the Shuttle Solar Backscatter Ultraviolet (SSBUV) experiment, a Get Away Special (GAS) experiment and six mid-deck experiments.

The mission was extended by a day in order to continue science experiments. The landing occurred on 2 April 1992, 6:23 a.m. EST, on Runway 33 of the Shuttle Landing Facility, located at the Kennedy Space Center. The rollout distance was 2,812 m (9,226 ft) and Atlantis weighed 93,005 kg (205,041 lb) on landing.

Mission insignia

The mission insignia covers all aspects of the flight, by featuring Earth and the Sun, and the orbiter on high inclination, as to illustrate the high importance of the mission. The names of all flying members are included in the band, separated by stars. In the 'ring' at the bottom right, a single star is included, separating the unmentioned names of the alternate mission specialists, who are therefore indirectly included; a first and unique tribute to a support crew. Dirk Frimout is the first Belgian citizen to fly into space, and the only one to fly on a Space Shuttle (the other is Frank De Winne (who flies to the International Space Station via Soyuz as mission commander), as the Space Shuttle program was terminated at the time of the latter's flight), but to keep the focus on the mission, no national flag is added nor the customary logo of the European Space Agency (ESA), but the mission main objective, ATLAS, is included below instead.