STS-26

**STS-26**
Organization	NASA-Office of Space Flight (United States)
Mission type	Human Crew
Launch date	September 29, 1988
Launch vehicle	Space Shuttle
Launch site	Cape Canaveral, United States
COSPAR ID	1988-091A
Inclination	28.5 degrees
Experiments	Here
Alternate Names	19547
Additional Information	Here
Data Collection	Here
Payload Mass Up	21082 kg
Payload Mass Down	4074.55 kg
Orbiter	Discovery
Lift Off Mass	2,055,641.36 kg
Orbiter Weight at Liftoff	115,730.00 kg
Orbiter Weight at Landing	88,265.45 kg
Landed	Runway 17 dry lake bed at Edwards Air Force Base, Calif.
Orbits of Earth	63
Orbital Altitude	163 nautical miles (187 statute miles)

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[edit] Crew

Commander: Frederick H. Hauck
Pilot: Richard O. Covey
- Mission Specialist 1: John M. Lounge
- Mission Specialist 2: George D. Nelson
- Mission Specialist 3: David C. Hilmers

[edit] Mission

STS-26 was launched from the Kennedy Space Center utilizing the Shuttle vehicle Discovery. The primary objective of the mission was to deploy the TDRS-C, and to conduct seven mid-deck experiments that were part of NASA's microgravity science and applications program. This mission marked resumption of Shuttle flights after 1986 51-L accident. The primary payload, NASA Tracking and Data Relay Satellite-3 (TDRS-3) attached to an Inertial Upper Stage (IUS), became second TDRS deployed. After deployment, IUS propelled satellite to geosynchronous orbit. Secondary payloads: Physical Vapor Transport of Organic Solids (PVTOS); Protein Crystal Growth (PCG); Infrared Communications Flight Experiment (IRCFE); Aggregation of Red Blood Cells (ARC); Isoelectric Focusing Experiment (IFE); Mesoscale Lightning Experiment (MLE); Phase Partitioning Experiment (PPE); Earth-Limb Radiance Experiment (ELRAD); Automated Directional Solidification Furnace (ADSF); and two Shuttle Student Involvement Program (SSIP) experiments. Orbiter Experiments Autonomous Supporting Instrumentation System-1 (OASIS-1) recorded variety of environmental measurements during various inflight phases of orbiter. The Ku-band antenna in the payload bay was deployed; however, a dish antenna command and actual telemetry did not correspond. Also, the orbiter cabin Flash Evaporator System iced up, raising crew cabin temperature to mid-80s.

[edit] Payload

Deploy IUS (lnertial Upper Stage) with Tracking and Data Relay Satellite (TDRS)-CT; 3M's Physical Vapor Transport Organics Solids 2 experiment (PVTOS); Automated Directional Solidification Furnace (ADSF); Infrared Communications Flight Experiment (lRCFE); Protein Crystal Growth Il (PCG); Isoelectric Focusing (ISF)-2; Phase Partitioning Experiment (PPE); Aggregation of Red Blood Cells (ARC)-2; Mesoscale Lightning Experiment (MLE)-1; Earth Limb Radiance (ELRAD); Orbiter Experiments (OEX); Autonomous Supporting Instrumentation System (OASlS)-I; two Shuttle Student Involvement Project (SSIP) experiments

Mission patch: