STS-31

**STS-31**
Organization	NASA-Office of Space Flight (United States)
Mission type	Human Crew
Launch date	April 24, 1990
Launch vehicle	Space Shuttle
Launch site	Cape Canaveral, United States
COSPAR ID	1990-037A
Inclination	28.45 degrees
Experiments	Here
Alternate Names	20579
Additional Information	Here
Data Collection	Here
Payload Mass Up	13005.85 kg
Payload Mass Down	2167.27 kg
Orbiter	Discovery
Lift Off Mass	2,052,120.45 kg
Orbiter Weight at Liftoff	113,231.36 kg
Orbiter Weight at Landing	85,962.73 kg
Landed	Concrete runway 22 at Edwards Air Force Base, Calif.
Orbits of Earth	76
Orbital Altitude	334 nautical miles (384 statute miles)

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[edit] Crew

Commander: Loren J. Shriver
Pilot: Charles F. Bolden Jr.
- Mission Specialist 1: Steven A. Hawley
- Mission Specialist 2: Bruce McCandless II
- Mission Specialist 3: Kathryn D. Sullivan

[edit] Mission

STS-31 was the tenth launch of the shuttle Discovery. On board were Loren Shriver, Charles Bolden, Bruce McCandless, Steven Hawley, and Kathryn Sullivan. The main purpose of this mission was to deploy the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) astronomical observatory. It was designed to operate above the earth's turbulent and obscuring atmosphere to observe celestial objects at ultraviolet, visible and near-infrared wavelengths. This was a joint NASA-ESA effort. The rest of the mission was devoted to photography and onboard experiments. To launch HST into an orbit that guaranteed longevity, Discovery soared to 600 km - the highest shuttle altitude to date. The record height permitted the crew to photograph earth's large scale geographic features not apparent from lower orbits. Motion pictures were recorded by two IMAX cameras. Experiment activity included a biomedical technology study, advanced materials research; particle contamination and ionizing radiation measurements; and student science project studying zero gravity effects on electronic arcs. Discovery's reentry from its higher than usual orbit call for a 4-mn, 58-sec deorbit burn, the longest in shuttle history. It touched down on Edwards AFB runway 22 at 13:49, April 29, after 5 days, 1 hr, 16 mn.

[edit] Payload

Deployment of Hubble Space Telescope; IMAX camera in payload bay and in crew compartment; Protein Crystal Growth III-03; Investigation Into Polymer Membrane Processing-01; Air Force Maui Optical Site-05; Radiation Monitoring Equipment III01; Student Experiment 82-16; and Ascent Particle Monitor 01

Mission patch: