STS-37

**STS-37**
Organization	NASA-Office of Space Flight (United States)
Mission type	Human Crew
Launch date	April 5, 1991
Launch vehicle	Space Shuttle
Launch site	Cape Canaveral, United States
COSPAR ID	1991-027A
Inclination	28.45 degrees
Experiments	Here
Alternate Names	21224
Additional Information	Here
Telecommunications Information	Here
Data Collection	Here
Payload Mass Up	16611 kg
Payload Mass Down	1035.91 kg
Orbiter	Atlantis
Lift Off Mass	2,054,162.73 kg
Orbiter Weight at Liftoff	115,895.91 kg
Orbiter Weight at Landing	86,840.91 kg
Landed	Runway 33 dry lake bed at Edwards Air Force Base, Calif.
Orbits of Earth	93
Orbital Altitude	243 nautical miles (280 statute miles)

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Crew

Commander: Steven R. Nagel
Pilot: Kenneth D. Cameron
- Payload Commander:
- Mission Specialist 1: Jerry L. Ross
- Mission Specialist 2: Jerome Apt
- Mission Specialist 3: Linda M. Godwin
- Mission Specialist 4:
- Mission Specialist 5:
- Payload Specialist 1:
- Payload Specialist 2:

ISS/Mir Crew Transport

Mission

STS-37 was the eighth flight of the shuttle Atlantis and the 39th shuttle flight. The orbiter weighed 115,502 kg at launch; total vehicle weight was 2,047,178 kg. Much of the load was the Gamma Ray Observatory (GRO), at 15, 620 kg the heaviest shuttle-launched payload to date. STS 37 was staffed by Commander Steven R. Nagel, Pilot Kenneth D. Cameron, Mission Specialists Linda M. Godwin, Jerry L. Ross and Jay Apt. GRO deployment was scheduled from mission day three; an EVA to test conveyance carts and construction aids for large space structures was on the docket for day four. As it happened, GRO deployment was delayed and the first spacewalk since 1985 commenced a day early. Plans were changed by a stubborn antenna. Midway though GRO's deployment sequence, while still attached to the remote manipulator arm, the satellite's high gain antenna boom stuck in its stowed position. Repeated maneuvers to free it failed. Astronauts Ross and Apt were called on to free the boom by hand. Seventeen minutes after the pair exited Atlantis, Ross released the boom. GRO was ultimately cast into orbit only 4.5 hr later than planned. While outside the shuttle, Ross and Apt began the scheduled equipment tests, evaluating hand rails and foot restrains. They reentered the shuttle after 4 hrs, 38 mns. Outdoor activities resumed the next day, with the team testing manual and electric personnel carts during a 6-hr, 11-mn EVA. Several times during the flight, Atlantis passed within view of the Mir station. The crew attempted to contact their Soviet conterparts via ham radio, but were unsuccessful. Landing was delayed one day by gusty winds at Edwards AFB. The 5-day, 23-hr, 33-mn mission concluded on Edward's runway 33 at 13:55, April 11.

EVA

Extravehicular Activity (EVA) conducted by Jerry L. Ross and Jerome Apt during two spacewalks for a total of 10 hours, 49 minutes. EVA 1, 4 hours, 38 minutes; EVA 2, 6 hours, 11 minutes. EVA 1 was an unscheduled EVA to manually deploy the Gamma-Ray Observatory's high-gain antenna, which failed to deploy upon ground command. Following the successful deploy of the antenna, the astronauts spent the remainder of the EVA on Extravehicular Activity Development Flight Experiment activities.

Payload

Gamma-Ray Observatory (GRO); Crew/ Equipment Translation Aids (part of Extravehicular Activity Development Flight Experiment); Ascent Particle Monitor (APM); Bioserve Instrumentation Technology Associates Materials Dispersion Apparatus (BlMDA); Protein Crystal Growth (PCG)-Block Il; Space Station Heatpipe Advanced Radiator Element (SHARE)-ll; Shuttle Amateur Radio Experiment (SAREX)-ll; Radiation Monitoring Equipment (RME)-lIl; Air Force Maui Optical Site (AMOS) Calibration Test

Mission patch: