Mission Insignia
Mission Statistics
Mission:	STS-53
Shuttle:	Discovery
Launch Pad:	39-A
Launch:	Dec. 2, 1992, 8:24 a.m. EST.
Landing:	Dec. 9, 1992, 3:43.17 p.m. EST, Runway 22, Edwards AFB, Calif.
Duration:	7 days, 7 hours, 19 minutes, 47 seconds.
Orbit Altitude:	174 nautical miles (322 km)
Orbit Inclination:	57 degrees
Distance Traveled:	3 million miles (4.8 million km) approx
Crew photo

Crew

• David M. Walker (3), Commander
• Robert D. Cabana (2), Pilot
• Guion S. Bluford (4), Mission Specialist 1
• James S. Voss (2), Mission Specialist 2
• Michael R. Clifford (1), Mission Specialist 3

Mission Parameters

• Mass:
  • Orbiter landing with payload: 87,565 kg
  • Payload: 11,860 kg
• Perigee: 365 km
• Apogee: 376 km
• Inclination: 57.0°
• Period: 92.0 min

Mission Highlights

Classified United States Department of Defense primary payload (possibly a Satellite Data System relay), plus two unclassified secondary payloads and nine unclassified middeck experiments.

Some later reports say the primary payload was a U.S. Navy ELINT / Sigint satellite in the Advanced Jumpseat series.

Secondary payloads contained in or attached to Get Away Special (GAS)hardware in the cargo bay included the Orbital Debris Radar Calibration Spheres (ODERACS) the combined Shuttle Glow Experiment/Cryogenic Heat Pipe Experiment (GCP).

Middeck experiments included Microcapsules in Space (MIS-l); Space Tissue Loss (STL); Visual Function Tester (VFT-2); Cosmic Radiation Effects and Activation Monitor (CREAM); Radiation Monitoring Equipment (RME-III); Fluid Acquisition and Resupply Experiment (FARE); Hand-held, Earth-oriented, Real-time, Cooperative, User-friendly, Location-targeting and Environmental System (HERCULES); Battlefield Laser Acquisition Sensor Test (BLAST); and the Cloud Logic to Optimize Use of Defense Systems (CLOUDS).

Related articles

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

External links

• NASA mission summary