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STS-58

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STS-58
Spacelab module LM2 in Columbia's payload bay, serving as the Spacelab Life Sciences-2 laboratory
NamesSpace Transportation System-58
Spacelab Life Sciences-2
Mission typeBioscience research
OperatorNASA
COSPAR ID1993-065A Edit this at Wikidata
SATCAT no.22869Edit this on Wikidata
Mission duration14 days, 12 minutes, 32 seconds
Distance travelled9,399,290 km (5,840,450 mi)
Orbits completed225
Spacecraft properties
SpacecraftSpace Shuttle Columbia
Launch mass2,050,223 kg (4,519,968 lb)
Landing mass104,214 kg (229,753 lb)
Payload mass11,803 kg (26,021 lb)
Crew
Crew size7
Members
Start of mission
Launch dateOctober 18, 1993, 14:53:10 (October 18, 1993, 14:53:10) UTC (10:53:10 am EDT)
Launch siteKennedy, LC-39B
ContractorRockwell International
End of mission
Landing dateNovember 1, 1993, 15:05:42 (November 1, 1993, 15:05:42) UTC (7:05:42 am PDT)
Landing siteEdwards, Runway 22
Orbital parameters
Reference systemGeocentric orbit
RegimeLow Earth orbit
Perigee altitude284 km (176 mi)
Apogee altitude294 km (183 mi)
Inclination39°
Period90.3 minutes

STS-58 mission patch

Standing: Blaha, McArthur and Fettman
Seated: Wolf, Lucid, Seddon and Searfoss
← STS-51 (57)
STS-61 (59) →

STS-58 was a NASA mission flown by Space Shuttle Columbia launched from Kennedy Space Center, Florida, on October 18, 1993. The missions was primarily devoted to experiments concerning the physiological effects in space. This was the first in-flight use of the "Portable In-flight Landing Operations Trainer" (PILOT) simulation software. It was also the last time Columbia would land at Edwards Air Force Base, California.

Crew

Position Astronaut
Commander John E. Blaha
Fourth spaceflight
Pilot Richard A. Searfoss
First spaceflight
Mission Specialist 1
Payload Commander 		Rhea Seddon
Third and last spaceflight
Mission Specialist 2
Flight Engineer 		William S. McArthur
First spaceflight
Mission Specialist 3 David Wolf
First spaceflight
Mission Specialist 4 Shannon Lucid
Fourth spaceflight
Payload Specialist 1 Martin J. Fettman
Only spaceflight
Colorado State
Backup crew
Position Astronaut
Payload Specialist Jay C. Buckey
Dartmouth
Payload Specialist Laurence R. Young[1]
MIT

Crew seat assignments

Seat[2] Launch Landing
Seats 1–4 are on the flight deck.
Seats 5–7 are on the mid-deck.
1 Blaha
2 Searfoss
3 Seddon Wolf
4 McArthur
5 Wolf Seddon
6 Lucid
7 Fettman

Mission highlights

Columbia on Pad 39B
Attempt Planned Result Turnaround Reason Decision point Weather go (%) Notes
1 14 Oct 1993, 12:53:00 pm Scrubbed — Technical 14 Oct 1993, 12:57 pm ​(T−00:00:31) The attempt was initially delayed by weather, which later cleared in time for the attempt. However, a problem with the range safety command system occurred and could not be resolved before drainback time expired.[3]
2 15 Oct 1993, 10:53:00 am Scrubbed 0 days 21 hours 60 minutes Technical The orbiter's S-band transponder 2 failed and had to be replaced. In addition, the weather was once again unacceptable.[3]
3 18 Oct 1993, 10:53:10 am Success 3 days 0 hours 0 minutes The countdown was held at T−5 minutes for ten seconds due to an intruding aircraft in the launch area.[3]

STS-58 was a 1993 shuttle mission dedicated to life sciences research.[3][4] Columbia's crew performed a series of experiments to gain knowledge on how the human body adapts to the weightless environment of space. Experiments focused on cardiovascular, regulatory, DNA, neurovestibular and musculoskeletal systems of the body. The experiments performed on Columbia's crew and on laboratory animals (48 rats held in 24 cages), along with data collected on the SLS-1 mission (STS-40) in June 1991, will provide the most detailed and interrelated physiological measurements acquired in the space environment since the Skylab program in 1973 and 1974.[5]

Crew members conducted experiments aimed at understanding bone tissue loss and the effects of microgravity on sensory perception. Two neurovestibular experiments investigating space motion sickness and perception changes were performed on the 2nd day as well. Astronauts Lucid and Fettman wore a headset, called an Accelerometer Recording Unit (ARU), designed to continually record head movements throughout the day.[5]

Only one minor issue came up on October 19, 1993, associated with a circuit breaker that tripped, cutting off power temporarily to one of the rodent cages in the module. Flight controllers in Houston reported it was not caused by a short in the electrical system and the breaker was reset, restoring power to the cage.[5]

McArthur and Blaha began using the Lower Body Negative Pressure device on flight day 3 (FD 3), which is being tested as a countermeasure for the detrimental effects of microgravity. All three flight crew members will collect urine and saliva samples and keep logs of their exercise and food and fluid intake as part of the Energy Utilization detailed supplementary objective. DSO 612 looks at the nutritial and energy requirements of crew members on long-duration space flights and the relationship between fluid and food consumption.[5]

On October 20, 1993, though the space toilet is working fine, the crew detected a slight leak around the filter door before going to bed. They removed the filter and cleaned up about a teaspoon of water — much less than had been expected. As a precaution, a secondary fan separator unit was used to separate fluid from the air before cycling the air back into the cabin through the filter.[5]

On October 21, 1993, Mission specialists Margaret Rhea Seddon (Payload commander), Shannon Lucid and David Wolf and Payload specialist Martin Fettman collected additional blood and urine samples for the series of metabolic experiments. Some of the samples will follow-up on the calcium absorption experiment performed on October 20, 1993. The experiment, sponsored by Dr. C. D. Arnaud of the University of California, San Francisco, studies the mechanisms of how calcium is maintained and used in bone metabolism in space. Based on preliminary results from the 1991 SLS-1 mission (STS-40), Dr. Arnaud believes the decrease in bone density is due to increased bone breakdown that is not compensated for by a subsequent increase in bone formation.[5]

On October 22, 1993, using the on-board ham radio called SAREX-2 for Shuttle Amateur Radio Experiment, Blaha and Searfoss contacted school children at the Sycamore Middle School in Pleasant View, Tennessee, Gardendale Elementary in Pasadena, Texas and Naparima College in Trinidad and Tobago on November 4, 1993. The Standard Interface Rack (SIR), was tested by Searfoss to demonstrate that equipment can be removed from one rack location and reintegrated into another by a single crew member during orbital operations while maintaining reliable mechanical, data and power interfaces.[5]

Another test flying aboard Columbia was the "Portable In-flight Landing Operations Trainer" (PILOT), a laptop computer simulator that was flown to qualify its use as a tool for helping the mission commander and pilot maintain their proficiency for approach and landing during longer duration Space Shuttle flights.[6] The laptop was controlled using a joy stick hand controller similar to the one used to fly the orbiter in the final minutes before landing. The simulator would continue to see use up to and including the final Shuttle flight (STS-135).[7]

On October 23, 1993, the payload crew members were scheduled to devote much of their time to metabolic studies of the 48 rodents on board the Spacelab science workshop. Payload commander Rhea Seddon, and crewmates David Wolf, Shannon Lucid and veterinarian Marty Fettman were scheduled to draw blood from the tails of some of the rodents, then inject a special isotope into the rodents to measure the volume of their plasma. Another blood draw would follow, to measure how weightlessness may be affecting the red blood cell count of the animals.[5]

After several ham radio contacts around the country and work in a vacuum bag designed to ease the body's readaptation to Earth's environment, the orbiter crew made up of Commander John Blaha, Pilot Richard Searfoss and Mission specialist William McArthur oversaw a short firing of one of the orbital maneuvering system engines to drop the low end of Columbia's orbit from 278 × 263 km (173 × 163 mi) to increase the landing opportunities should the mission be extended for weather or a system problem that would keep the crew in orbit two extra days.[5]

On October 27, 1993, Pilot Rick Searfoss put Columbia through some maneuvers as part of the Orbital Acceleration Research Experiment (OARE). The main goal of the experiment was to accurately measure the aerodynamic forces that act on the shuttle in orbit and during the early stages of entry. The information will be useful to scientists and engineers planning future Spacelab microgravity research flights in which experiments will need a quiet, motion-free environment to produce the best possible data. On October 28, 1993, after enjoying a half a day off, the astronauts aboard Columbia continued to collect scientific data on how humans and animals adapt to the absence of Earth's gravity.[5]

Payload commander Rhea Seddon sent down a special message to her husband, Astronaut Office Chief Robert L. Gibson when she surpassed his total of 632 hours, 56 minutes in space. "He's still a really good guy, I still love him a lot, but I've got more hours in space than he does, so there!" she teased. Seddon acknowledged, however, that he has more launches and landings, having flown four times to her three.[5]

Pilot Rick Searfoss took time out from snapping some infrared photography of the wildfires burning in southern California to say that the crew's thoughts are with the firefighters working to quell the flames and the residents whose homes are being threatened. He said he hoped the fires would be brought under control soon, and added that the photographs he was taking will be among some 4,000 frames that will be returned to Earth for meteorologists, geologists, ecologists and archeologists to study after the flight.[5]

See also

References

  1. ^ "People Directory". Archived from the original on February 13, 2022. Retrieved February 13, 2022.
  2. ^ "STS-58". Spacefacts. Retrieved August 1, 2024.
  3. ^ a b c d Legler, Robert D.; Bennett, Floyd V. (September 2011). "Space Shuttle Missions Summary" (PDF). Scientific and Technical Information (STI) Program Office. NASA. pp. 2–69. Archived (PDF) from the original on October 21, 2020. Public Domain This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
  4. ^ Fricke, Robert W. (January 1, 1994). STS-58 Space Shuttle Mission Report (PDF) (Report). NASA. Retrieved October 14, 2024.
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l "STS-58". NASA. June 29, 2001. Archived from the original on February 13, 2022. Retrieved February 13, 2022. Public Domain This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
  6. ^ Overton, William T. (June 21, 1994). "What is PILOT?". NASA-JSC: University of Texas – NASA. Archived from the original on November 11, 2022. Retrieved February 13, 2022. Public Domain This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
  7. ^ "STS-135 Shuttle Report – Astronauts ready Atlantis for Thursday's predawn landing". Spaceflight Now. July 20, 2011. Archived from the original on February 14, 2022. Retrieved February 13, 2022.
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