STS-53
1992 American crewed spaceflight for the Department of Defense
title: "STS-53" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["space-shuttle-missions", "edwards-air-force-base", "spacecraft-launched-in-1992", "department-of-defense-space-shuttle-missions"] description: "1992 American crewed spaceflight for the Department of Defense" topic_path: "general/space-shuttle-missions" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/STS-53" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0
::summary 1992 American crewed spaceflight for the Department of Defense ::
::data[format=table title="Infobox spaceflight"]
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| name | STS-53 |
| names_list | Space Transportation System-53 |
| image | STS-053 shuttle.jpg |
| image_caption | Launch of Discovery for a Department of Defense (DoD) mission |
| mission_type | DoD satellite deployment |
| operator | NASA |
| mission_duration | |
| distance_travelled | 3,034,680 mi |
| orbits_completed | 116 |
| spacecraft | |
| launch_mass | 110655 kg |
| landing_mass | 87565 kg |
| payload_mass | 11860 kg |
| crew_size | 5 |
| crew_members | |
| launch_date | UTC (8:24amEST) |
| launch_site | Kennedy, LC-39A |
| launch_contractor | Rockwell International |
| landing_date | UTC (12:43:47pmPST) |
| landing_site | Edwards, Runway22 |
| orbit_reference | Geocentric orbit |
| orbit_regime | Low Earth orbit |
| orbit_periapsis | 365 km |
| orbit_apoapsis | 376 km |
| orbit_inclination | 57.00° |
| orbit_period | 92.00 minutes |
| apsis | gee |
| instruments | |
| insignia | STS-53 patch.svg |
| insignia_caption | STS-53 mission patch |
| crew_photo | Sts-53_crew.jpg |
| crew_photo_caption | Back: Walker, Cabana and Clifford |
| Front: Bluford and Voss | |
| programme | Space Shuttle program |
| previous_mission | STS-52 |
| next_mission | STS-54 |
| :: |
| name = STS-53 | names_list = Space Transportation System-53 | image = STS-053 shuttle.jpg | image_caption = Launch of Discovery for a Department of Defense (DoD) mission | mission_type = DoD satellite deployment | operator = NASA | mission_duration = | distance_travelled = 3,034,680 mi | orbits_completed = 116 | spacecraft = | launch_mass = 110655 kg | landing_mass = 87565 kg | payload_mass = 11860 kg | crew_size = 5 | crew_members = | launch_date = UTC (8:24amEST) | launch_site = Kennedy, LC-39A | launch_contractor = Rockwell International | landing_date = UTC (12:43:47pmPST) | landing_site = Edwards, Runway22 | orbit_reference = Geocentric orbit | orbit_regime = Low Earth orbit | orbit_periapsis = 365 km | orbit_apoapsis = 376 km | orbit_inclination = 57.00° | orbit_period = 92.00 minutes | apsis = gee | instruments = | insignia = STS-53 patch.svg | insignia_caption = STS-53 mission patch | crew_photo = Sts-53_crew.jpg | crew_photo_caption = Back: Walker, Cabana and Clifford Front: Bluford and Voss | programme = Space Shuttle program | previous_mission = STS-52 | next_mission = STS-54
STS-53 was a NASA Space Shuttle Discovery mission in support of the United States Department of Defense (DoD). It was Discovery's 15th flight. The mission was launched on December 2, 1992, from Kennedy Space Center, Florida. This was also the last mission to have been operated via MCR-2 in JSC. Afterwards the room was restored entirely to its Apollo era appearance.
Crew
| terminology = Astronaut
| position1 = Commander | crew1_up = David M. Walker | flights1_up = Third
| position2 = Pilot | crew2_up = Robert D. Cabana | flights2_up = Second
| position3 = Mission Specialist 1 | crew3_up = Guion Bluford | flights3_up = Fourth and last
| position4 = Mission Specialist 2 Flight Engineer | crew4_up = James S. Voss | flights4_up = Second
| position5 = Mission Specialist 3 | crew5_up = Michael R. Clifford | flights5_up = First
Crew seat assignments
::data[format=table]
| Seat | Launch | Landing | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| [[File:Space Shuttle seating plan.svg | 150px]] | ||||||||
| Seats 1–4 are on the flight deck. | |||||||||
| Seats 5–7 are on the mid-deck. | |||||||||
| Walker | |||||||||
| Cabana | |||||||||
| Bluford | Clifford | ||||||||
| Voss | |||||||||
| Clifford | Bluford | ||||||||
| Unused | |||||||||
| Unused | |||||||||
| :: |
Mission highlights
Discovery carried a classified primary payload (DOD-1) for the United States Department of Defense (DoD), two unclassified secondary payloads and nine unclassified middeck experiments.
Discoverys primary payload, USA-89 (1992-086B) is also known as "DoD-1", and was the shuttle's last major payload for the Department of Defense. The satellite was the third launch of a Satellite Data System-2 (SDS 2-3) military communications satellite, after USA-40 on STS-28 and STS-38's deployment of USA-67.
Secondary payloads contained in or attached to Get Away Special (GAS) hardware in the cargo bay included the Orbital Debris Radar Calibration Spheres (ODERACS) satellites 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).
Mission insignia
The five sides represent the Pentagon, the Department of Defense headquarters. The five stars and three stripes of the insignia symbolize the flight's numerical designation in the Space Transportation System's mission sequence.
References
References
- "STS-53". Spacefacts.
- (June 29, 2001). "STS-53 (52)". NASA.
::callout[type=info title="Wikipedia Source"] This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page. ::