STS-70

2025-07-22T17:37:15Z

71.215.218.87: changed launch time to am from pm

{{short description|1995 American crewed spaceflight to deploy a Tracking and Data Relay Satellite}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=May 2023}}
{{Infobox spaceflight
| name = STS-70
| names_list = [[Space Transportation System]]-70
| image = S070 TDRS-G1.jpg
| image_caption = ''Discovery'' prepares to deploy the [[TDRS-7|TDRS-G]] satellite
| insignia = Sts-70-patch.png
| spacecraft = {{OV|103}}
| mission_type = Satellite deployment
| operator = [[NASA]]
| COSPAR_ID = 
| SATCAT = 
| orbits_completed = 143
| distance_travelled = {{convert|6000000|km}}
| mission_duration = 8 days, 22 hours, 20 minutes, 05 seconds
| launch_mass =
| landing_mass =
| payload_mass = {{convert|20159|kg}}
| launch_site = [[Kennedy Space Center|Kennedy]], [[Kennedy Space Center Launch Complex 39B|LC-39B]]
| launch_date = {{start date text|July 13, 1995, 13:41:55.078|timezone=yes}} UTC, (9:41:55{{nbsp}}am{{nbsp}}[[Eastern Time Zone|EDT]])
| landing_date = {{end date text|July 22, 1995, 12:02|timezone=yes}} UTC, (8:02:00{{nbsp}}am{{nbsp}}[[Eastern Time Zone|EDT]])
| landing_site = Kennedy, [[Shuttle Landing Facility|SLF Runway 33]]
| crew_size = 5
| crew_members = {{Unbulleted list|[[Terence T. Henricks]]|[[Kevin R. Kregel]]|[[Nancy J. Currie]]|[[Donald A. Thomas]]|[[Mary Ellen Weber]]}}
| crew_photo = STS-70_crew.jpg
| crew_photo_caption = Left to right: Kregel, Currie, Henricks; Weber, Thomas
| apsis = gee
| orbit_epoch =
| orbit_reference = [[geocentric orbit|Geocentric]]
| orbit_regime = [[Low Earth orbit|Low Earth]]
| orbit_periapsis = {{convert|257|km}}
| orbit_apoapsis = {{convert|257|km}}
| orbit_period = 90.5 min
| orbit_inclination = 28.45 degrees
| programme = [[Space Shuttle program]]
| previous_mission = [[STS-71]] (69)
| next_mission = [[STS-69]] (71)
}}
'''STS-70''' was the 21st flight of the [[Space Shuttle]] [[Space Shuttle Discovery|''Discovery'']], and the last of 7 shuttle missions to carry a [[Tracking and Data Relay Satellite]] (TDRS). This was the first shuttle mission controlled from the new [[mission control center]] room at the [[Johnson Space Center]] in Houston.<ref name="Status Report #1">{{Cite web |date=1995-07-13 |title=STS-70 Status Report #1 |url=http://science.ksc.nasa.gov/shuttle/missions/sts-70/news/sts-70-mcc-01.txt |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140811091005/http://science.ksc.nasa.gov/shuttle/missions/sts-70/news/sts-70-mcc-01.txt |archive-date=2014-08-11 |access-date=2025-03-05 |website=NASA |place=Mission Control Center |page=1}}</ref>

STS-70 was also the first flight of the new Block 1 orbiter main engine, designed to improve both engine performance and safety. The mission was launched from [[Kennedy Space Center]] in Florida on July 13, 1995, only six days after the landing of sister ship ''Atlantis'', marking the fastest turnaround between flights in the history of the program.

==Crew==
{{Spaceflight crew
|terminology = Astronaut
|position1 = Commander
|crew1_up = [[Terence T. Henricks]]
|flights1_up = Third
|position2 = Pilot
|crew2_up = [[Kevin R. Kregel]]
|flights2_up = First
|position3 = Mission Specialist 1
|crew3_up = [[Donald A. Thomas]]
|flights3_up = Second
|position4 = Mission Specialist 2<br>Flight Engineer
|crew4_up = [[Nancy J. Currie-Gregg]]
|flights4_up = Second
|position5 = Mission Specialist 3
|crew5_up = [[Mary Ellen Weber]]
|flights5_up = First
}}

=== Crew seat assignments ===
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
! Seat<ref name="spacefacts">{{cite web|title=STS-70|url=http://spacefacts.de/mission/english/sts-70.htm|publisher=Spacefacts|access-date=July 29, 2024}}</ref>
! Launch
! Landing
|rowspan=8| [[File:Space Shuttle seating plan.svg|150px]]<br />Seats 1–4 are on the flight deck.<br />Seats 5–7 are on the mid-deck.
|-
! 1
|colspan=2| Henricks
|-
! 2
|colspan=2| Kregel
|-
! 3
|Thomas
|Weber
|-
! 4
|colspan=2|Currie
|-
! 5
|Weber
|Thomas
|-
! 6
|colspan=2 style="background-color:lightgray"| ''Unused''
|-
! 7
|colspan=2 style="background-color:lightgray"| ''Unused''
|}

==Preparations and launch==
[[Image:KSC-95EC-1014.jpg|thumb|right|240px|Liftoff of the 70th Space Shuttle mission.]]
STS-70 had originally moved ahead of STS-71 because of a delay in the launch of the Russian Spektr laboratory module to the Russian space station [[Mir]]. However, on May 31, 1995, shuttle managers assessed damage to the External Tank of STS-70 caused by nesting [[northern flicker|flicker woodpeckers]]. The damage consisted of about 71 holes (ranging in size from 4 inches in diameter to 1/2 inch in diameter) in the ETs thermal protection foam insulation. Technicians installed safeguards against additional damage. On June 2, NASA managers decided to delay the launch of ''Discovery'' in order to make repairs to the insulation, and STS-71 was moved ahead of STS-70. ''Discovery'' was rolled back to the VAB on June 8, and was returned to the pad on June 15.

Launch occurred on July 13, 1995, at 9:41:55.078 a.m. EDT. The launch window was 2 hours 30 min. The hatch was closed at 8:13{{nbsp}}am EDT and the count proceeded smoothly until T−31 sec. The count was held for 55 seconds at T−31 sec by the Booster Range Safety Engineer (CBRS) Tod Gracom<ref name="Ballingrud">{{Cite news |last=Ballingrud |first=David |date=1995-07-14 |title=Shuttle launches _ with a measure of death intact |url=https://www.tampabay.com/archive/1995/07/14/shuttle-launches-with-a-measure-of-death-intact/ |access-date=2025-03-05 |work=Tampa Bay Times}}</ref> at the LCC C-5 Console due to fluctuations seen on the external tank automatic gain control (AGC) ET range safety system receiver. Launch Commit Criteria contingency procedures were worked and the count then proceeded on schedule. STS-70 marked the maiden flight of the new Block 1 orbiter main engine. Engine number 2036 featured the new high-pressure liquid oxygen turbopump, a two-duct powerhead, baffleless main injector, single-coil heat exchanger and start sequence modifications. The Block I engine flew in the number one position on ''Discovery''. The other two engines were of the existing Phase II design.

==Mission highlights==
[[Image:Sts070-702-001 TDRS.jpg|thumb|right|240px|TDRS-G in ''Discovery's'' Payload Bay.]]
The primary mission was the launch and deployment of the 7th Tracking and Data Relay Satellite ([[TDRS-G]]) by means of the two-stage [[Inertial Upper Stage]] (IUS) [[solid rocket]]. It was built by TRW and weighs about {{convert|2200|kg}}. The satellite was ejected from ''Discovery's'' cargo bay exactly on time at 2:55 p.m. CDT, approximately six hours into the flight.<ref name="Fricke">{{Cite report |url=https://ntrs.nasa.gov/api/citations/19960020527/downloads/19960020527.pdf |title=STS-70 Space Shuttle Mission Report - September 1995 |last=Fricke |first=Robert W. |date=1995-09-01 |access-date=2025-03-05}}</ref>{{Reference page|page=6}} The release of the satellite was overseen by Mission Specialists [[Donald A. Thomas|Donald Thomas]] and [[Mary Ellen Weber]].

About 15 minutes later, ''Discovery's'' Commander [[Terence T. Henricks|Tom Henricks]] fired the shuttle's engines to raise the orbit and move away from the vicinity of the satellite and the IUS.<ref name="Status Report #1" /> At about 3:55 p.m., the IUS fired the first of two burns that would put TDRS-G into its proper, 22,000-mile-high geostationary orbit above the central Pacific Ocean at 178 degrees West longitude.

The deployment operations utilized three separate control centers; the [[White Sands Test Facility|White Sands]] ground station controlled the TDRS, the JSC Mission Control Center (MCC) controlled the shuttle, and the Inertial Upper Stage (IUS) control center at Onizuka Air Force Base in Sunnyvale California controlled the booster stage. Once it reached its destination, the fully deployed satellite had a wingspan of 57 ft. The TDRS was the sixth placed in operational use. [[TDRS-1]] was launched aboard [[STS-6]] on 1983-04-04 with a scheduled lifetime of seven years. The second satellite, [[TDRS-B]], was [[Space Shuttle Challenger disaster|lost]] aboard [[Space Shuttle Challenger|''Challenger'']] on mission [[STS-51-L]]. [[TDRS-3]] was deployed from [[STS-26]], [[TDRS-4]] from [[STS-29]], [[TDRS-5]] from [[STS-43]] and [[TDRS-6]] was deployed by [[STS-54]]. The on-orbit [[Tracking and Data Relay Satellite System|TDRS network]] was rearranged and included two fully operational spacecraft occupying the TDRS East and West slots, one on-orbit fully functional spare, TDRS-1, which was nearly depleted having exceeded its planned lifetime, and the partially operational TDRS-3 spacecraft dedicated to supporting the [[Compton Gamma Ray Observatory]] and providing coverage an area that can't be seen by the other satellites known as the Zone of Exclusion.

==Additional payloads and experiments==
[[Image:STS070-325-034.jpg|thumb|right|240px|Mission Specialist Donald Thomas works with Bioreactor samples.]]
Secondary objectives of the mission were to fulfill the requirements of the Physiological and Anatomical Rodent Experiment / National Institutes of Health-Rodents (PARE/NIH-R); Bioreactor Demonstration System (BDS), Commercial Protein Crystal Growth (CPCG); Space Tissue Loss/National Institutes of Health-Cells (STL/NIH-C); Biological Research in Canisters (BRIC); Shuttle Amateur Radio Experiment-II (SAREX-II), Visual Function Tester-4 (VFT-4); Hand-Held, Earth Oriented, Real-Time, Cooperative, User-Friendly, Location-Targeting and Environmental System (HERCULES); Microcapsules in Space-B (MIS-B); Windows Experiment (WINDEX); Radiation Monitoring Equipment-III (RME-III); and the Military Applications of Ship Tracks (MAST).

The Bioreactor Demonstration System was designed to use ground-based and space-bioreactor systems to grow individual cells into organized tissue that is morphologically and functionally similar to the original tissue or organ. The BDS was composed of a device developed at the [[Johnson Space Center]] that used a rotating cylinder to suspend cells and tissues in a growth medium, simulating some aspects of microgravity. The system, which was already used extensively in ground-based research, also provided for gas and nutrient exchange. The purpose of the flight experiment was to demonstrate the performance of the bioreactor in actual microgravity. As such, the primary goal was to assess the fluid dynamic characteristics of the bioreactor in microgravity.<ref name="press kit">{{Cite web |title=STS-70 Press Kit |url=https://www.nasa.gov/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/sts-070-press-kit.pdf?emrc=515ff5 |access-date=2025-03-05 |website=NASA}}</ref>

A club membership patch from the world famous Coney Island Polar Bear Club was carried on this mission.

==Landing==
[[File:Sts-70.jpg|thumb|right|240px|''Discovery'' touches down at KSC]]
Landing opportunities at the [[Kennedy Space Center]] at 7:54 am EDT and 9:31 am July 21, 1995, were waved off due to a buildup of ground fog over the Shuttle Landing Facility. Flight Director Rich Jackson directed the five STS-70 astronauts to remain aloft for another day after poor visibility prevented ''Discovery'''s homecoming on the two consecutive landing opportunities. Discovery's astronauts were informed that their landing had been waved off for the day at 7:10{{nbsp}}am CDT after astronaut Steve Oswald, flying weather reconnaissance in a Shuttle Training Aircraft over the landing strip, reported that he could not see the three-mile-long runway from his vantage point.
STS-70 landed at the Kennedy Space Center on July 22, 1995, at 8:02 a.m. EDT on Runway 33. Nose gear touchdown occurred at 8:02:11 am EDT (Mission Elapsed Time of 8 days 22 hours 20 minutes and 16 seconds) with wheels stop at 8:02:57 am (MET of 8 d 22 h 21 min 2 s). An earlier KSC landing opportunity at 6:26 am EDT was waved off due to marginal yet improving weather conditions at KSC.<ref>{{Cite press release |title=DISCOVERY SCHEDULED TO LAND AT KSC |date=1999-07-20 |publisher=NASA |url=http://www-pao.ksc.nasa.gov/kscpao/release/1995/71-95.htm |access-date=2025-03-05 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/19990117001009/http://www-pao.ksc.nasa.gov/kscpao/release/1995/71-95.htm |archive-date=1999-01-17}}</ref>

==Image gallery==
<gallery>
Image:TDRS-G at KSC.jpg|TDRS-G satellite.
Image:STS-70 Mating - GPN-2000-000976.jpg|''Discovery'' being lowered into position to be mated with its [[Space Shuttle external tank|External Fuel tank]].
Image:STS-70 Rollout - GPN-2000-000974.jpg|STS-70 Rollout on its Crawler Transporter with Mobile Launcher Platform to Launch Pad 39B
Image:Space Shuttle STS-70 Launch DSC00001.jpg|[[Space Shuttle Discovery|Space Shuttle ''Discovery'']] STS-70 Launch. Taken with one of the first digital cameras: a [[Nikon E2]].
Image:STS070-701-070 Moonrise.jpg|Moonrise viewed from the orbiter.
Image:STS070-386-027 Thruster.jpg|Thruster firing photographed in support of WINDEX experiment.
Image:STS070-705-094.jpg|Dune fields in Algeria.
Image:S070 TDRSG3.jpg|TDRS moving away following deployment.
Image:STS070-372-004 Crest.jpg|Toothbrush and tube of toothpaste floating in microgravity.
</gallery>

==See also==
{{Portal|Spaceflight}}
* [[List of human spaceflights]]
* [[List of Space Shuttle missions]]
* [[Outline of space science]]
* [[Space Shuttle]]

==Notes==
{{Include-NASA}}
{{reflist}}

==External links==
* [http://science.ksc.nasa.gov/shuttle/missions/sts-70/mission-sts-70.html NASA mission summary] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160522024425/http://science.ksc.nasa.gov/shuttle/missions/sts-70/mission-sts-70.html |date=May 22, 2016 }}
* [http://www.nss.org/resources/library/shuttlevideos/shuttle70.htm STS-70 Video Highlights] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131109161556/http://www.nss.org/resources/library/shuttlevideos/shuttle70.htm |date=November 9, 2013 }}

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STS-70