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STS-51

Not to be confused with STS-51-A, STS-51-B, STS-51-C, STS-51-D, STS-51-F, STS-51-G, STS-51-I, STS-51-J, or STS-51-L.

STS-51
IMAX photography of Discovery in orbit, viewed from the free-flying SPAS-ORFEUS astronomy platform
NamesSpace Transportation System-51
Mission typeAdvanced Communications Technology Satellite (ACTS) satellite deployment
Astronomy
OperatorNASA
COSPAR ID1993-058A Edit this at Wikidata
SATCAT no.22795
Mission duration9 days, 20 hours, 11 minutes, 6 seconds (achieved)
Distance travelled6,608,628 km (4,106,411 mi)
Orbits completed157
Spacecraft properties
SpacecraftSpace Shuttle Discovery
Landing mass92,371 kg (203,643 lb)
Payload mass18,947 kg (41,771 lb)
Crew
Crew size5
Members
Start of mission
Launch dateSeptember 12, 1993, 11:45:00 UTC
Launch siteKennedy, LC-39B
ContractorRockwell International
End of mission
Landing dateSeptember 22, 1993, 07:56:06 UTC
Landing siteKennedy, SLF Runway 15
Orbital parameters
Reference systemGeocentric orbit
RegimeLow Earth orbit
Perigee altitude300 km (190 mi)
Apogee altitude308 km (191 mi)
Inclination28.45°
Period90.60 minutes
Instruments
  • Air Force Maui Optical Site (AMOS)
  • Airborne Support Equipment (ASE)
  • Auroral Photography Experiment (APE-B)
  • Chromosome and Plant Cell Division in Space (CHROMEX)
  • Commercial Protein Crystal Growth (CPCG)
  • High Resolution Shuttle Glow Spectroscopy (HRSGS-A)
  • Interstellar Medium Absorption Profile Spectrograph (IMAPS)
  • Investigation into Polymer Membrane Processing (IPMP)
  • Limited Duration space environment Candidate materials Exposure (LDCE)
  • Radiation Monitoring Equipment (RME-III)

STS-51 mission patch

From left: Culbertson, Bursch, Walz, Readdy and Newman
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STS-58 (58) →

STS-51 was a NASA Space Shuttle Discovery mission that launched the Advanced Communications Technology Satellite (ACTS) in September 1993. Discovery's 17th flight also featured the deployment and retrieval of the SPAS-ORFEUS satellite and its IMAX camera, which captured spectacular footage of Discovery in space. A spacewalk was also performed during the mission to evaluate tools and techniques for the STS-61 Hubble Space Telescope (HST) servicing mission later that year. STS-51 was the first shuttle mission to fly a Global Positioning System (GPS) receiver, a Trimble TANS Quadrex. It was mounted in an overhead window where limited field of view (FoV) and signal attenuation from the glass severely impacted receiver performance.[1] Full triple-redundant 3-string GPS would not happen until 14 years later with STS-118 in 2007.

  1. ^ "Analysis of the First Successful Flight of GPS Abroad the Space Shuttle". NAVAL POSTGRADUATE SCHOOL. Archived from the original on June 4, 2011. Retrieved November 17, 2009.

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