STS-93
From The Space Library
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| Organization | NASA-OfficeofSpaceFlight(UnitedStates) |
|---|---|
| Mission type | Astronomy,Engineering,Human Crew,Life Science,Microgravity |
| Launch date | July 23, 1999 |
| Launch vehicle | Space Shuttle |
| Carrier rocket | {$Carrier Rocket} |
| Launch site | Cape Canaveral, United States |
| COSPAR ID | 1999-040A |
| Mass | {$Mass} |
| Experiments | Here |
| Alternate Names | 25866 |
| Nominal Power | {$Nominal Power} |
| Additional Information | Here |
| Telecommunications Information | Here |
| Data Collection | Here |
| Payload Mass Up | 22583.91 kg |
The primary objective of the STS 93 mission was to deploy the Advanced X-ray Astrophysics Facility. AFAX was the most sophisticated X-ray observatory ever built. It was designed to observe X-rays from high energy regions of the universe, such as hot gas in the remnants of exploding stars. It was renamed the Chandra X-Ray Observatory in honor of the late Indian-American Nobel Laureate Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar. "Chandra" also means "moon" or "luminous" in Sanskrit. Other payloads on STS 93 were: Midcourse Space Experiment (MSX); Shuttle Ionospheric Modification with Pulsed Local Exhaust (SIMPLEX); Southwest Ultraviolet Imaging System (SWUIS); Gelation of Sols: Applied Microgravity Research (GOSAMR); Space Tissue Loss-B (STL-B); Light Weight Flexible Solar Array Hinge (LFSAH); Cell Culture Module (CCM); Shuttle Amateur Radio Experiment-II (SAREX-II); EarthKam; Plant Growth Investigations in Microgravity (PGIM); Commercial Generic Bioprocessing Apparatus (CGBA); Micro-Electrical Mechanical System (MEMS); and the Biological Research in Canisters (BRIC). This mission also featured the first female shuttle commander, Eileen Collins. Columbia landed at Kennedy Space Center on July 27, 1999 at 11:20 EDT. The crew consisted of the following: Eileen M. Collins - Mission Commander; Jeffrey S. Ashby - Pilot; Steven A. Hawley - Mission Specialist; Catherine G. Coleman - Mission Specialist; Michel Tognini(CNES) - Mission Specialist.
Mission patch: 
