Oct 18 1989
From The Space Library
October 18-23: The Space Shuttle Atlantis was successfully launched from Kennedy Space Center (KSC), Florida, on mission STS-34 to deploy the $1.4 billion Galileo Jupiter space probe. The Atlantis launch had been delayed by a week because of problems with a computer, a main engine master control device, and, finally, rain. Shortly after reaching orbit, Atlantis released the Galileo probe and the Inertial Upper Stage (MS) from the cargo bay. The INERTIAL UPPER STAGE subsequently fired Galileo on a trajectory toward Venus, in preparation for a gravity assist maneuver that would swing the spacecraft back toward Earth twice and onward to Jupiter. Galileo was scheduled to reach Jupiter in December 1995, whereupon it would begin orbiting the planet for 22 months of observations of the Jovian system. Approximately five months before reaching Jupiter, Galileo would release a 34-inch unpowered descent module that would enter the Jovian upper atmosphere and descend several hundred miles before being destroyed by extreme atmospheric pressure. The Atlantis-Galileo mission had sparked protests and a law suit by anti-nuclear groups concerned over the danger of possible radioactive contamination from the probe's radioisotope thermal generators in the event of a catastrophic accident. In anticipation of possible efforts to disrupt the launch, NASA increased security measures at KSC. In addition to launching Galileo, the STS-34 crew would conduct observations of the Earth's ozone layer and perform several onboard medical, biological and materials processing experiments. The crew included Navy Captain Donald E. Williams (Commander), Navy Commander Michael J. McCulley (Pilot), and Mission Specialists Shannon Lucid, Franklin Chang-Diaz, and Ellen S. Baker. The mission ended successfully on October 23 with Atlantis landing at Edwards Air Force Base, California. (NASA MOR E-829-34-89-01; NASA PFOR M-989-89-34; NASA STS-34 Press Kit, Oct/89; NASA Facts: STS-34; Galileo/KSC Release 79-89, Sep/89; SSR 1989 084 A-D; UPI, Oct 19/89; AP, Oct 19/89; NY Times, Oct 19/89; W Post, Oct 19/89; USA Today, Oct 19/89; WSJ, Oct 19/89; P Inq, Oct 19/89; W Times, Oct 19/89; B Sun, Oct 19/89)
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