STS-52


STS-52 was a Space Transportation System mission using Space Shuttle Columbia, and was launched on 22 October 1992.

Crew

Backup Crew

Mission highlights

Primary mission objectives were deployment of the Laser Geodynamics Satellite II and operation of the U.S. Microgravity Payload-1. LAGEOS-II, a joint effort between NASA and the Italian Space Agency, was deployed on day 2 and boosted into an initial elliptical orbit by ASI's Italian Research Interim Stage. The spacecraft's apogee kick motor later circularized LAGEOS orbit at its operational altitude of 3,666 miles. The USMP-1, activated on day one, included three experiments mounted on two connected Mission Peculiar Equipment Support Structures mounted in the orbiter's cargo bay. USMP-1 experiments were: Lambda Point Experiment; Matériel Pour L'Etude Des Phénomènes Intéressant La Solidification Sur Et En Orbite, sponsored by the French agency Centre National d'Études Spatiales; and Space Acceleration Measurement System.
Secondary payloads: Canadian experiment, CANEX-2, located in both the orbiter's cargo bay and middeck and which consisted of Space Vision System ; Materials Exposure in Low-Earth Orbit ; Queen's University Experiment in Liquid-Metal Diffusion ; Phase Partitioning in Liquids ; Sun Photospectrometre Earth Atmosphere Measurement-2 ; Orbiter Glow-2 ; and Space Adaptation Tests and Observations. A small, specially marked satellite, the Canadian Target Assembly, was deployed on day nine, to support SVS experiments. ASP, featuring three independent sensors mounted on a Hitchhiker plate in the cargo bay - Modular Star Sensor, Yaw Earth Sensor and Low Altitude Conical Earth Sensor, all provided by the European Space Agency.
Other middeck payloads: Commercial Materials Dispersion Apparatus Instrument Technology Associates Experiments; Commercial Protein Crystal Growth experiment; Chemical Vapor Transport Experiment; Heat Pipe Performance Experiment; Physiological Systems Experiment ; and Shuttle Plume Impingement Experiment. The orbiter also was used as a reference point for calibrating an Ultraviolet Plume Instrument on an orbiting Strategic Defense Initiative Organization satellite.
The Tank Pressure Control Experiment/Thermal Phenomena was contained in a Getaway Special canister in the orbiter's cargo bay.
Some of the ashes of Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry were also carried aboard the orbiter for the duration of the mission.

Wake-up calls

NASA began a tradition of playing music to astronauts during the Gemini program, and first used music to wake up a flight crew during Apollo 15. A special musical track is chosen for each day in space, often by the astronauts' families, to have a special meaning to an individual member of the crew, or in reference to the day's planned activities.
DaySongArtist/ComposerPlayed For
Day 2Wake Up ColumbiaCrow Carroll
Day 3Shake, Rattle and RollBig Joe TurnerDeployment of LAGEOS-II
Day 5The World is Waiting for the SunriseLes Paul and Mary Ford
Day 6BirthdayThe BeatlesMike Baker's 39th Birthday
Day 7"Hawaiian music"
Day 8Mack the KnifeBobby Darin
Day 9Bang the DrumTodd Rundgren
Day 10Monster MashBobby "Boris" PicketIt was Halloween
Day 11Notre Dame Victory MarchJSC employees & Notre Dame gradsJames Wetherbee