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| STS-59 | |
|---|---|
| Name | STS-59 |
| Mission type | Space Shuttle Earth observation |
| Operator | National Aeronautics and Space Administration |
| Cospar id | 1994-031A |
| Satcat | 23150 |
| Mission duration | 11 days, 5 hours, 49 minutes, 11 seconds |
| Launch date | April 9, 1994 |
| Launch site | Kennedy Space Center Launch Complex 39A |
| Landing date | April 20, 1994 |
| Landing site | Edwards Air Force Base Runway 22 |
| Spacecraft | Space Shuttle Endeavour |
| Orbit periapsis | 233 km |
| Orbit apoapsis | 258 km |
| Orbit inclination | 57.0° |
| Orbit period | 90.8 minutes |
| Program | Space Shuttle program |
| Previous mission | STS-61 |
| Next mission | STS-68 |
STS-59
STS-59 was a United States National Aeronautics and Space Administration spaceflight using the Space Shuttle Endeavour dedicated to high-resolution Earth observation under the Space Radar Laboratory. The mission deployed and operated advanced remote sensing instruments to study atmosphere and biosphere interactions, contributing data used by United States Geological Survey, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, and international research programs focusing on deforestation and volcanology.
The flight carried the Space Radar Laboratory payload combining the Synthetic Aperture Radar-1 and Shuttle Imaging Radar-C instruments and the Measurement of Air Pollution from Satellites package to perform multidisciplinary observations across Central America, South America, Africa, and Southeast Asia. Objectives included mapping land use with support from United States Geological Survey, assessing biomass related to deforestation in the Amazon rainforest, monitoring wildfires and volcanic eruptions with data useful to United Nations Environment Programme and Food and Agriculture Organization. The mission provided coordinated science operations between Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Langley Research Center, Marshall Space Flight Center, and university teams from University of California, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and Colorado State University.
The seven-person crew included mission specialists and a pilot drawn from United States Air Force and Naval Aviation backgrounds and scientists detailed by Ames Research Center and Johnson Space Center. Commander and pilot roles linked to prior flights such as those by John Young and Robert Crippen in the early Space Shuttle Columbia missions, while mission specialists had research affiliations with Carnegie Institution for Science, Smithsonian Institution, and Scripps Institution of Oceanography. The flight surgeon and payload specialists coordinated with international partners including teams from Brazilian Space Agency, Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas Espaciais, and the German Aerospace Center.
Primary payloads were the Shuttle Imaging Radar-C (SIR-C) and the X-band Synthetic Aperture Radar (X-SAR) providing multi-frequency radar imaging to examine geological features such as Andes Mountains tectonics, Amazon Basin biomass estimation, and coastal studies along the Gulf of Mexico and Bay of Bengal. Ancillary instruments included the Measurement of Air Pollution from Satellites (MAPS) for measuring atmospheric carbon monoxide linked to biomass burning and trace gas transport, and the Spaceborne Imaging Radar payload used in coordination with ground campaigns run by United States Geological Survey and National Science Foundation. Additional experiments involved remote sensing calibration using targets in collaboration with California Institute of Technology, Jet Propulsion Laboratory, and field teams from University of Texas and University of Arizona.
Launch occurred on April 9, 1994, from Kennedy Space Center with an on-orbit period of approximately 90 minutes, initiating coordinated observations over targeted regions including flight tracks across Central America, the Amazon rainforest, the Sahara Desert, and the Himalayas. Science operations spanned most of the 11-day mission with daily uplinks managed by Mission Control Center at Johnson Space Center and downlinks processed at White Sands Complex and international receiving stations operated by European Space Agency partners. The crew executed instrument mode changes, calibration maneuvers, and validation overpasses with field teams in Peru, Brazil, Madagascar, and Indonesia. The orbiter deorbited and landed on April 20, 1994, at Edwards Air Force Base following completion of data collection.
Flight operations included radar antenna deployments, power management coordinated with the orbiter's payload bay thermal controls, and frequent real-time adjustments to instrument parameters by teams at Jet Propulsion Laboratory and Langley Research Center. The mission experienced minor anomalies typical of complex payloads: intermittent telemetry dropouts requiring contingency procedures developed with Johnson Space Center flight controllers, transient attitude control thruster firings involving Reaction Control System interfaces that were analyzed by engineers from Marshall Space Flight Center, and an isolated data handling glitch in the SIR-C processing chain corrected through onboard software patches overseen by Ames Research Center personnel. No in-flight safety incidents required crew evacuation or abort contingencies practiced from Shuttle Avionics Integration Laboratory simulations.
Data from the radar and MAPS instruments yielded high-resolution imagery and atmospheric composition measurements that advanced understanding of tropical deforestation rates, wetland biomass, and volcanic plume transport studied by researchers at United States Geological Survey, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Smithsonian Institution, and academic groups at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, University of California, Santa Cruz, and University of Maryland. Results contributed to subsequent missions including those executed by Landsat, Terra, Aqua, and the follow-on Shuttle Imaging Radar campaigns, influencing policy dialogs in forums like United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change and conservation initiatives with World Wildlife Fund and United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization. The mission strengthened operational ties between NASA centers, international space agencies such as German Aerospace Center and Brazilian Space Agency, and remote sensing communities at Jet Propulsion Laboratory and European Space Agency, leaving a legacy of improved calibration techniques, multidisciplinary datasets archived for long-term climate studies, and enhanced procedures for future Earth-observing spacecraft operations.