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STS-58 (58)
- COLUMBIA (15)
- Pad 39-B (27)
- 58th Shuttle Mission
- 15th Flight OV-102
- EAFB Landing (39)
- John E. Blaha (4), Commander
- Richard A. Searfoss (1), Pilot
- M. Rhea Seddon (3), Mission Specialist 1
- William S. McArthur Jr. (1), Mission Specialist 2
- David A. Wolf (1), Mission Specialist 3
- Shannon W. Lucid (4), Mission Specialist 4
- Martin Fettman (1), Payload Specialist 1
Milestones:
- OPF -- 5/17/93
- 7/24/93 Spacelab Tunnel installed
- VAB -- 8/12/93
- PAD -- 9/17/93
Payload:
- Spacelab-SLS-2, DEEFD, OARE, SAREX-2, PILOT
Mission Objectives:
Click here for Press Kit Click here for Additional Info on STS-58
Launch:
- October 18, 1993 10:53 a.m. EDT. Launch attempt on October 14, 1993
was delayed 2 hours by bad weather. When it cleared and the count resumed,
a failure in an Air Force Range Safety command message encoder verifier at
the Range Control Center canceled the launch at the T-31 seconds mark. This
system is used to transmit a vehicle destruct signal if it should become
necessary. The Space Shuttle Columbia's STS-58 mission was postponed
the following day because one of the two TRW S-Band communication
transponders failed onboard the shuttle. Flight rules require that both
communication transponders be functional for launch. Technicians at the
Kennedy Space Center performed an extended scrub turn-around activities with
Monday, Oct. 18, 1993, being the next launch attempt.
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- October 18, 1993 10:53 a.m. EDT. Launch occurred at just ten seconds
inside the scheduled liftoff window. The minimal delay was due to a stray U.S.
Navy aircraft in the range safety restricted zone. No serious technical issues
were worked during the countdown. This was the 75th space launch from
complex 39 pads A and B.
- All Solid Rocket Booster (SRB) systems performed as expected. Preliminary
data indicate that the flight performance of both RSRMs was well within the
allowable performance envelopes, and was typical of the performance observed
on previous flights. Both RSRMs experienced normal pressure perturbations
with temporary pressure spikes of 8-12 psi for 1-2 seconds between 65-70
seconds into the flight. Nominal pressure is 650 psi for that time frame.
These short duration pressure perturbations are the result of molten
propellant solids that are generated during the flight and expelled through
the nozzle. This is an expected characteristic of the motor.
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- Both SRBs were successfully separated from the External Tank (ET) at T +
123.8 seconds, and reports from the recovery area, based on visual sightings,
indicate that the parachute deceleration subsystems performed as designed.
- During recovery of the boosters, engineers observed one of the four forward
booster separation motor covers was missing from the right-hand booster.
These covers protect the motors that are used to separate the boosters from
the external tank after the boosters have been expended. An investigation
team has been formed to determine the cause and when during the flight of
STS-58 the booster separation motor cover came off. Past occurrences of
missing forward separation motor covers (STS-28, STS-48) have been found to
occur during SRB descent, frustum water impact, or frustum retrieval from the
ocean when parachute lines often become entangled with the doors and cause
damage to doors. Therefore these were not safety of flight issues.
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- The External Tank (ET-57) performed as expected. ET separation was
confirmed, and since Main Engine Cutoff (MECO) occurred within expected
tolerances, ET reentry and breakup is expected to be within the predicted
footprint.
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- Preliminary flight data indicate that the Space Shuttle Main Engine
(SSMEs 2024, 2109, 2018) performance during mainstage, throttling, shutdown
and propellant dump operations was normal. High Pressure Oxidizer Turpopump
(HPOTP) and High Pressure Fuel Turbopump (HPFTP) temperatures appeared to be
well within specification throughout engine operation. Space Shuttle Main
Engine Cutoff (MECO) occurred at T + 515.56 seconds.
Payload Weight up: 23,188 lbs.
Orbit:
- Altitude: 155 nm
- Inclination: 39 degrees
- Orbits: 225
- Duration: 14 days, 0 hours, 12 minutes, 32 seconds.
- Distance: 5,840,450 miles
Hardware:
- SRB: BI-061
- SRM: 360L/W034
- ET : 57
- MLP : 1
- SSME-1: SN-2024
- SSME-2: SN-2109
- SSME-3: SN-2018
Landing:
- November 1, 1993. 10:05.42 am EST Runway 22 Edwards AFB, Calif. Main
gear touchdown: 14:00:12:32 MET, Nose gear touchdown: 14:00:12:44 MET,
Wheel stop 14:00:13.34 MET (10:06.44 EST). Rollout Distance was 9,640 ft.
Landing Weight was 227,400 lbs. The two day ferry back to KSC began on
November 7th and the shuttle returned to KSC on November 9th.
Payload Weight down: 23,188lbs. Orbiter Landing Weight: 229,753 lbs.
Mission Highlights:
- STS-58 was the 4th longest mission in US manned space history and was
dedicated to life sciences research. Columbia's crew performed a series
of experiments to gain knowledge on how the human body adapts to the
weightless environment of space. Experiments focused on cardiovascular,
regulatory, neurovestibular and musculoskeletal systems of the body. The
experiments performed on Columbia's crew and on laboratory animals
(48 rats held in 24 cages), along with data collected on the SLS-1 mission
in June 1991, will provide the most detailed and interrelated physiological
measurements acquired in the space environment since the Skylab program in
1973 and 1974.
- Crew members conducted experiments aimed at understanding bone tissue
loss and the effects of microgravity on sensory perception. Two
neurovestibular experiments investigating space motion sickness and
perception changes were performed on the 2nd day as well. Astronauts Lucid
and Fettman wore a headset, called an Accelerometer recording
Unit, designed to continually record head movements throughout the
day.
- Only one minor issue came up on Tuesday, October 19, 1993 associated with
a circuit breaker that tripped, cutting off power temporarily to one of the
rodent cages in the module. Flight controllers in Houston reported it was
not caused by a short in the electrical system and the breaker was reset,
restoring power to the cage.
- McArthur and Blaha began using the Lower Body Negative Pressure device
on flight day 3, which is being tested as a countermeasure for the detrimental
effects of microgravity. All three flight crew members will collect urine
and saliva samples and keep logs of their exercise and food and fluid intake
as part of the Energy Utilization detailed supplementary objective. DSO 612
looks at the nutritial and energy requirements of crew members on long-duration
space flights and the relationship between fluid and food consumption
- On Wednesday, October 20, though the space toilet is working fine, the crew
detected a slight leak around the filter door before going to bed. They
removed the filter and cleaned up about a teaspoon of water -- much less
than had been expected. As a precaution, a secondary fan separator unit was
used to separate fluid from the air before cycling the air back into the cabin
through the filter.
- On Thursday, October 21, Payload Commander Rhea Seddon, Mission
Specialists Shannon Lucid and David Wolf and Payload Specialist
Martin Fettman collected additional blood and urine samples for the
series of metabolic experiments. Some of the samples will
follow-up on the calcium absorption experiment performed
yesterday. The experiment, sponsored by Dr. C.D. Arnaud of the
University of California at San Francisco, studies the mechanisms
of how calcium is maintained and used in bone metabolism in space.
Based on preliminary results from the 1991 SLS-1 mission, Dr.
Arnaud believes the decrease in bone density is due to increased
bone breakdown that is not compensated for by a subsequent increase
in bone formation.
- On Friday, October 22, 1993, using the on-board ham radio called SAREX
for Shuttle Amateur Radio Experiment, Blaha and Searfoss contacted school
children at the Sycamore Middle School in Pleasant View, TN, and Gardendale
Elementary in Pasadena, TX.
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- The Standard Interface Rack, or SIR, was tested today by Searfoss to
demonstrate that equipment can be removed from one rack location and
reintegrated into another by a single crew member during orbital operations
while maintaining reliable mechanical, data and power interfaces.
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- Another new test flying aboard Columbia is a laptop computer simulator
that is being flown to see if it will qualify as a tool for helping the mission
commander and pilot maintain their proficiency for approach and landing during
longer duration Space Shuttle flights. The laptop is controlled using a joy
stick hand controller similar to the one used to fly the orbiter in the final
minutes before landing.
- On Saturday, the payload crew members will devote much of their time to
metabolic studies of the 48 rodents on board the Spacelab science workshop.
Payload commander Rhea Seddon, and crewmates David Wolf, Shannon Lucid and
veterinarian Marty Fettman are scheduled to draw blood from the tails of some
of the rodents, then inject a special isotope into the rodents to measure the
volume of their plasma. Another blood draw will follow, to measure how
weightlessness may be affecting the red blood cell count of the animals.
- After several ham radio contacts around the country and work in a vacuum bag
designed to ease the body's readaptation to Earth's environment, the orbiter
crew made up of Commander John Blaha, Pilot Rick Searfoss and Mission
Specialist Bill McArthur oversaw a short firing of one of the orbital
maneuvering system engines to drop the low end of Columbia's orbit from 150 to
142 nautical miles to increase the landing opportunities should the mission be
extended for weather or a system problem that would keep the crew in orbit two
extra days.
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- On Wednesday, October 27, 1993, Pilot Rick Searfoss put Columbia through
some maneuvers as part of the Orbital Acceleration Research Experiment. The
main goal of the experiment is to accurately measure the aerodynamic forces
that act on the shuttle in orbit and during the early stages of entry. The
information will be useful to scientists and engineers planning future Spacelab
microgravity research flights in which experiments will need a quiet, motion-
free environment to produce the best possible data.
- On Thursday, October 28, 1993, After enjoying a half a day off, the
astronauts aboard Columbia continued to collect scientific data on how humans
and animals adapt to the absence of Earth's gravity.
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- Payload Commander Rhea Seddon sent down a special message to her husband,
Astronaut Office Chief Hoot Gibson at 4:1 p.m. CDT when she surpassed his
total of 632 hours, 56 minutes in space. "He's still a really good guy, I still
love him a lot, but I've got more hours in space than he does, so there!" she
teased. Seddon acknowledged, however, that he has more launches and landings,
having flown four times to her three.
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- Pilot Rick Searfoss took time out from snapping some infrared photography of
the wildfires burning in southern California to say that the crew's thoughts
are with the firefighters working to quell the flames and the residents whose
homes are being threatened. He said he hoped the fires would be brought under
control soon, and added that the photographs he was taking will be among some
4,000 frames that will be returned to Earth for meteorologists, geologists,
ecologists and archeologists to study after the flight.
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Last Updated Friday June 29 11:21:08 EDT 2001
Jim Dumoulin (dumoulin@titan.ksc.nasa.gov)
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