Mission Insignia
Mission Statistics
Mission:	STS-45
Shuttle:	Atlantis
Launch Pad:	39-A
Launch:	March 24, l992, 8:13 a.m. EST.
Landing:	April 2, 1992, 6:23 a.m. EST, Runway 33, Kennedy Space Center.
Duration:	8 days, 22 hours, 9 minutes 28 seconds.
Orbit Altitude:	160 nautical miles (296 km)
Orbit Inclination:	57.0 degrees
Distance traveled:	3,238,177 miles (5,211,340 km)
Crew photo

Crew

• Charles F. Bolden (3), Commander
• Brian Duffy (1), Pilot
• Kathryn D. Sullivan (3), Payload Commander
• David C. Leestma (3), Mission Specialist 2
• C. Michael Foale (1), Mission Specialist 3
• Byron K. Lichtenberg (2), Payload Specialist 1
• Dirk D. Frimout (1), Payload Specialist 2 - Belgium

Mission Parameters

• Mass:
  • Orbiter landing with payload: 93,009 kg
  • Payload: 9,947 kg
• Perigee: 282 km
• Apogee: 294 km
• Inclination: 57.0°
• Period: 90.3 min

Mission Highlights

Launch: March 24, l992, 8:13 a.m. EST. Launch originally scheduled for March 23, but was delayed one day because of higher the allowable concentrations of liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen in the orbiter's aft compartment during tanking operations. During troubleshooting, the leaks could not be reproduced, leading engineers to believe that they were the result of plumbing in the main propulsion system not thermally conditioned to the super cold propellants. Launch was rescheduled for March 24. Launch weight: 233,650 lb (105,982 kg).

Carried first Atmospheric Laboratory for Applications and Science (ATLAS-1) on Spacelab pallets mounted in orbiter's cargo bay. The non-deployable payload, equipped with l2 instruments from the U.S., France, Germany, Belgium, Switzerland, The Netherlands and Japan, conducted studies in atmospheric chemistry, solar radiation, space plasma physics and ultraviolet astronomy. ATLAS-1 instruments were: Atmospheric Trace Molecule Spectroscopy (ATMOS); Grille Spectrometer; Millimeter Wave Atmospheric Sounder (MAS); Imaging Spectrometric Observatory (ISO); Atmospheric Lyman-Alpha Emissions (ALAE); Atmospheric Emissions Photometric Imager (AEPI); Space Experiments with Particle Accelerators (SEPAC); Active Cavity Radiometer (ACR); Measurement of Solar Constant (SOLCON); Solar Spectrum (SOLSPEC); Solar Ultraviolet Spectral Irradiance Monitor (SUSIM); and Far Ultraviolet Space Telescope (FAUST). Other payloads included Shuttle Solar Backscatter Ultraviolet (SSBUV) experiment, one Get Away Special (GAS) experiment and six mid-deck experiments.

Landing: April 2, 1992, 6:23 a.m. EST, Runway 33, Kennedy Space Center. Rollout distance 9,227 feet (2812 m). Mission extended one day to continue science experiments. Landing Weight: 205,042 lb (93,005 kg).

Related articles

• Space science
• Space shuttle
• List of space shuttle missions
• List of human spaceflights chronologically

External links

• NASA mission summary