Apr 11 1993
From The Space Library
Space Shuttle Discovery astronauts released a spacecraft that was to study the solar wind and the Sun's corona. The spacecraft would be picked up by Discovery after two days.
Using the Space Shuttle's robot arm, astronauts Ellen Ochoa lifted the $6 million SPARTAN satellite, which is about the size of a large air-conditioning unit, from its position in Discovery's cargo bay and threw it into space.
SPARTAN carried two telescopes that would study the Sun's halo: a white-light coronagraph to examine electrons and an ultraviolet spectrometer that would study protons and hydrogen atoms. The spacecraft was to investigate how the solar wind is generated in the Sun's corona. The wind frequently disrupts navigation, communication, and electrical systems on Earth.
Another highlight of the Discovery mission occurred when Discovery astronaut Michael Foale chatted by ham radio with a crew member on the Russian Space Station Mir. The contact was the first ship-to-ship conversation in the Shuttle program.
Meanwhile, a data relay problem affecting one of the main ozone monitoring instruments on hoard Discovery was solved, and monitor readings were successfully sent, although at a much slower rate. Flight Director John Muratore said such transmissions could free the recorder's tape and allow scientists to obtain all their required data. (AP, Apr 11/93; RTW, Apr 11/93; NY Tames, Apr 12/93; USA Today, Apr 12/93; W Times, Apr 11/93; P Inq, Apr 11/93, Apr 12/93; W Post, Apr 12/93)
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