Oct 6 1990
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(New page: Space Shuttle Discovery, flight STS-41, was launched from Cape Canaveral, Florida after a five-month dry spell; the fleet was grounded during much of this period because of...)
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Space Shuttle Discovery, flight STS-41, was launched from Cape Canaveral, Florida after a five-month dry spell; the fleet was grounded during much of this period because of hydrogen leaks. Ulysses, the craft's 814-pound nuclear powered payload, was released later that afternoon, and a three-stage solid-fuel rocket began the craft on its long trip to Jupiter. Ulysses was to sling shot Jupiter in order to achieve polar orbit about 120 million miles from the sun in May 1994. In order to escape an Earth orbit, the $750 million joint mission between NASA and the European Space Agency reached 34,130 mph-the greatest velocity yet required by an interplanetary probe for the task.
The scientific mission also included a controlled fire to see how flames behave in weightlessness and release of the craft's 50-foot robotic arm, which had a special material attached to estimate effects of deterioration on the INTELSAT satellite, launched earlier this year into a low and useless orbit. Discovery landed at Edwards At Force Base, California, on October 10, ending a four-day, practically flawless mission. (W Post, Oct 7/90; Oct 11/90; NY Times, Oct 7/90; Oct 11/90)
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