STS-56
1993 American crewed spaceflight
title: "STS-56" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["space-shuttle-missions", "spacecraft-launched-in-1993"] description: "1993 American crewed spaceflight" topic_path: "general/space-shuttle-missions" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/STS-56" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0
::summary 1993 American crewed spaceflight ::
::data[format=table title="Infobox spaceflight"]
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| name | STS-56 |
| names_list | Space Transportation System-56 |
| image | STS056-91-054 - Payload bay view with ATLAS pallet (Retouched).jpg |
| image_caption | Components of the ATLAS-2 laboratory in the payload bay of Discovery |
| mission_type | Scientific research |
| operator | NASA |
| mission_duration | |
| distance_travelled | 6202407 km |
| orbits_completed | 148 |
| spacecraft | |
| landing_mass | 93683 kg |
| payload_mass | 7026 kg |
| crew_size | 5 |
| crew_members | |
| launch_date | UTC (1:29amEDT) |
| launch_site | Kennedy, LC-39B |
| launch_contractor | Rockwell International |
| landing_date | UTC (7:37:19amEDT) |
| landing_site | Kennedy, SLF Runway 33 |
| orbit_reference | Geocentric orbit |
| orbit_regime | Low Earth orbit |
| orbit_periapsis | 291 km |
| orbit_apoapsis | 299 km |
| orbit_inclination | 57.00° |
| orbit_period | 90.40 minutes |
| instruments | |
| insignia | Sts-56-patch.png |
| insignia_caption | STS-56 mission patch |
| crew_photo | Sts-56_crew.jpg |
| crew_photo_caption | Standing: Cockrell, Foale, Ochoa |
| Seated: Oswald, Cameron | |
| programme | Space Shuttle program |
| previous_mission | STS-54 (53) |
| next_mission | STS-55 (55) |
| :: |
| name = STS-56 | names_list = Space Transportation System-56 | image = STS056-91-054 - Payload bay view with ATLAS pallet (Retouched).jpg | image_caption = Components of the ATLAS-2 laboratory in the payload bay of Discovery | mission_type = Scientific research | operator = NASA | mission_duration = | distance_travelled = 6202407 km | orbits_completed = 148 | spacecraft = | launch_mass = | landing_mass = 93683 kg | payload_mass = 7026 kg | crew_size = 5 | crew_members = | launch_date = UTC (1:29amEDT) | launch_site = Kennedy, LC-39B | launch_contractor = Rockwell International | landing_date = UTC (7:37:19amEDT) | landing_site = Kennedy, SLF Runway 33 | orbit_reference = Geocentric orbit | orbit_regime = Low Earth orbit | orbit_periapsis = 291 km | orbit_apoapsis = 299 km | orbit_inclination = 57.00° | orbit_period = 90.40 minutes | instruments = | insignia = Sts-56-patch.png | insignia_caption = STS-56 mission patch | crew_photo = Sts-56_crew.jpg | crew_photo_caption = Standing: Cockrell, Foale, Ochoa Seated: Oswald, Cameron | programme = Space Shuttle program | previous_mission = STS-54 (53) | next_mission = STS-55 (55)
STS-56 was a NASA Space Shuttle Discovery mission to perform special experiments. It was Discovery's 16th flight. The mission was launched from Kennedy Space Center, Florida, on April 8, 1993.
Crew
| terminology = Astronaut
| position1 = Commander | crew1_up = USA Kenneth D. Cameron | flights1_up = Second
| position2 = Pilot | crew2_up = USA Stephen S. Oswald | flights2_up = Second
| position3 = Mission Specialist 1 | crew3_up = USA/United Kingdom Michael Foale | flights3_up = Second
| position4 = Mission Specialist 2 Flight Engineer | crew4_up = USA Kenneth Cockrell | flights4_up = First
| position5 = Mission Specialist 3 | crew5_up = USA Ellen Ochoa | 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. | |||||||||
| Cameron | |||||||||
| Oswald | |||||||||
| Foale | Ochoa | ||||||||
| Cockrell | |||||||||
| Ochoa | Foale | ||||||||
| Unused | |||||||||
| Unused | |||||||||
| :: |
Mission highlights
| date1 = 1993-04-06 2:32 | result1 = Scrubbed | reason1 = Technical | decision_date1 = 1993-04-06 2:31 | decision_clock1 = −00:00:11 | weathergo1 = 80 | notes1 = T−9 minute hold extended for one hour due to high temperatures on SSME 1. The launch was scrubbed when a liquid hydrogen bleed valve was indicated as open when it was actually closed as required. The erroneous indication was caused by a faulty relay. | date2 = 1993-04-08 1:29 | result2 = Success | weathergo2 = 90 | notes2 = Flash evaporator system shut down four minutes into flight, but was manually restarted by the crew. The primary payload of the flight was the Atmospheric Laboratory for Applications and Science-2 (ATLAS-2), designed to collect data on the relationship between the Sun's energy output and Earth's middle atmosphere and how these factors affect the ozone layer. It included six instruments mounted on a Spacelab pallet in the cargo bay, with the seventh mounted on the wall of the bay in two Get Away Special (GAS) canisters. Atmospheric instruments included the Atmospheric Trace Molecule Spectroscopy (ATMOS) experiment, the Millimeter Wave Atmospheric Sounder (MAS), and the Shuttle Solar Backscatter Ultraviolet (SSBUV/A) spectrometer (on the cargo bay wall). Solar science instruments were the solar spectrometry instrument SOLSPEC, the Solar Ultraviolet Irradiance Monitor (SUSIM), and the Active Cavity Radiometer (ACR) and Solar Constant (SOLCON) experiments.
ATLAS-2 is one element of NASA's Mission to Planet Earth program. All seven ATLAS-2 instruments first flew on ATLAS-1 during STS-45, and flew a third time in late 1994 on STS-66.
On April 11, 1993, the crew used the remote manipulator arm (Canadarm) to deploy the Shuttle Point Autonomous Research Tool for Astronomy-201 (SPARTAN-201), a free-flying science instrument platform designed to study velocity and acceleration of the solar wind and observe the Sun's corona. Collected data was stored on tape for playback after return to Earth. SPARTAN-201 was retrieved on April 13, 1993.
The crew also made numerous radio contacts to schools around the world using the Shuttle Amateur Radio Experiment (SAREX II), including brief radio contact with the Russian Mir space station, the first such contact between Space Shuttle and Mir using amateur radio equipment.
Other cargo bay payloads were the Solar Ultraviolet Experiment (SUVE), sponsored by Colorado Space Grant Consortium and located in a GetAway Special canister on the cargo bay wall.
The middeck payloads were the Commercial Materials Dispersion Apparatus Instrumentation Technology Associates Experiment (CMIX), the Physiological and Anatomical Rodent Experiment (PARE), Space Tissue Loss (STL-1) experiment, the Cosmic Ray Effects and Activation Monitor (CREAM) experiment. the Hand-held, Earth-oriented, Real-time, Cooperative, User-friendly, Location-targeting and Environmental System (HERCULES), Radiation Monitoring Equipment (RME III), and an Air Force Maui Optical Site (AMOS) calibration test.
Gallery
Image:STS-56 Launch - GPN-2000-000748.jpg|Launch of STS-56 Image:STS056-90-034 - SPARTAN-201 free-flying (Retouched).jpg|SPARTAN-201 File:STS056-91-054 - Payload bay view with ATLAS pallet (Retouched).jpg|Payload bay view with ATLAS pallet
References
References
- "STS-56". Spacefacts.
- (1993-04-05). "Discovery to lift off tomorrow". Observer–Reporter.
- Leary, Warren E.. (1993-04-07). "FLAW IN SHUTTLE STOPS LAUNCHING". The New York Times.
- (1993-04-08). "NASA ready for launch... again". Observer–Reporter.
- Fricke, Robert W.. (1993-07-01). "STS-56 Space Shuttle mission report". NASA.
- "Background". Institut Pierre Simon Laplace.
- "STS-56". NASA.
- (September 1, 2011). "Space Shuttle Missions Summary". 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. ::