STS-52

STS-52
source
Mission name	STS-52
Spacecraft	Columbia
Crew members	James W. Voss, William C. McArthur, Richard J. Hieb, Thomas D. Akers, Carl E. Walz, Kenneth D. Cameron

STS-52 was a NASA Space Shuttle mission that launched on October 22, 1992, from Kennedy Space Center's Launch Complex 39B. The mission was crewed by astronauts from the United States, including James W. Voss, William C. McArthur, and Richard J. Hieb, who were joined by Thomas D. Akers, Carl E. Walz, and Kenneth D. Cameron. The mission was the 51st Space Shuttle flight and the 13th flight of the Space Shuttle Columbia. The crew conducted a variety of experiments and deployed the Lageos-2 and Canadian Space Agency's CANEX-2 payloads, in collaboration with the European Space Agency and the Italian Space Agency.

Mission Overview

The STS-52 mission was a 10-day flight that focused on conducting microgravity experiments and deploying scientific payloads, including the Lageos-2 satellite, which was designed to study the Earth's gravitational field and plate tectonics, in partnership with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the United States Geological Survey. The crew also deployed the CANEX-2 payload, which was a joint project between the Canadian Space Agency and the NASA, with contributions from the University of Toronto and the University of British Columbia. The mission was supported by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory and the Goddard Space Flight Center, with additional resources provided by the European Space Agency and the Italian Space Agency.

Crew

The STS-52 crew consisted of six astronauts, including James W. Voss, who served as the mission commander, and Kenneth D. Cameron, who was the pilot, with support from NASA's Astronaut Office and the Johnson Space Center. The crew also included William C. McArthur, Richard J. Hieb, Thomas D. Akers, and Carl E. Walz, who were all mission specialists, and were trained at the NASA's Johnson Space Center and the European Astronaut Centre. The crew worked closely with the Mission Control Center at the Johnson Space Center, which was supported by the Goddard Space Flight Center and the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, with international cooperation from the Canadian Space Agency and the European Space Agency.

Mission Objectives

The primary objectives of the STS-52 mission were to deploy the Lageos-2 and CANEX-2 payloads, and to conduct a variety of microgravity experiments, including the United States Microgravity Laboratory (USML-1) experiments, which were designed to study the effects of microgravity on materials and fluids, in collaboration with the National Institute of Standards and Technology and the University of California, Los Angeles. The crew also conducted experiments on the Space Shuttle's middeck, including the Commercial Protein Crystal Growth (CPCG) experiment, which was sponsored by the National Institutes of Health and the University of Alabama at Birmingham. The mission also included the Space Shuttle's first use of the Orbital Acceleration Research Experiment (OARE) payload, which was designed to study the effects of orbital acceleration on the Space Shuttle's systems, with support from the NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center and the University of Colorado Boulder.

Mission Timeline

The STS-52 mission launched on October 22, 1992, at 1:05 PM Eastern Daylight Time from Kennedy Space Center's Launch Complex 39B, with support from the United Launch Alliance and the Boeing Company. The crew spent the first few days of the mission conducting experiments and deploying the Lageos-2 and CANEX-2 payloads, in collaboration with the European Space Agency and the Italian Space Agency. On October 26, the crew conducted a spacewalk, also known as an Extravehicular Activity (EVA), to test the Space Shuttle's Remote Manipulator System (RMS) arm, with support from the NASA's Johnson Space Center and the Canadian Space Agency. The mission ended on November 1, 1992, when the Space Shuttle Columbia landed at Kennedy Space Center's Shuttle Landing Facility, with support from the NASA's Astronaut Office and the Federal Aviation Administration.

Spacecraft and Payload

The STS-52 mission used the Space Shuttle Columbia, which was the first operational Space Shuttle and had previously flown on several missions, including STS-1 and STS-9, with support from the NASA's Johnson Space Center and the Rockwell International. The Space Shuttle carried a variety of payloads, including the Lageos-2 satellite, which was designed to study the Earth's gravitational field and plate tectonics, in partnership with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the United States Geological Survey. The crew also deployed the CANEX-2 payload, which was a joint project between the Canadian Space Agency and the NASA, with contributions from the University of Toronto and the University of British Columbia. The mission also included the United States Microgravity Laboratory (USML-1) experiments, which were designed to study the effects of microgravity on materials and fluids, in collaboration with the National Institute of Standards and Technology and the University of California, Los Angeles. The Space Shuttle's payload bay was equipped with the Orbital Acceleration Research Experiment (OARE) payload, which was designed to study the effects of orbital acceleration on the Space Shuttle's systems, with support from the NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center and the University of Colorado Boulder.