STS-44

STS-44 was a NASA Space Shuttle mission using Atlantis that launched on November 24, 1991. It was a U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) space mission.

Crew

Crew seat assignments

Seat<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>	Launch	Landing	File:Space Shuttle seating plan.svg Seats 1–4 are on the flight deck. Seats 5–7 are on the mid-deck.
1	Gregory
2	Henricks
3	Voss	Runco
4	Musgrave
5	Runco	Voss
6	Hennen
7	Unused

Mission highlights

Template:LaunchAttempt The launch was on November 24, 1991, at 23:44:00 UTC. A launch set for November 19, 1991, was delayed due to replacement and testing of a malfunctioning redundant inertial measurement unit on the Inertial Upper Stage (IUS) booster attached to the Defense Support Program (DSP) satellite.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The launch was reset for November 24 and was delayed by 13 minutes to allow an orbiting spacecraft to pass and to allow external tank liquid oxygen replenishment after minor repairs to a valve in the liquid oxygen replenishment system in the mobile launcher platform. Launch weight was Template:Convert.<ref name="STIsummary">Template:Cite web Template:PD-notice</ref>

The mission was dedicated to the Department of Defense. The unclassified payload included a Defense Support Program (DSP) satellite, DSP-16 attached to Inertial Upper Stage (IUS-14), deployed on flight day one. Cargo bay and middeck payloads included the Interim Operational Contamination Monitor (IOCM), Terra-Scout, Military Man in Space (M88-1), Air Force Maui Optical Site (AMOS), Cosmic Radiation Effects and Activation Monitor (CREAM), Shuttle Activation Monitor (SAM), Radiation Monitoring Equipment (RME III), Visual Function Tester (VFT-1), Bioreactor Flow, and Extended Duration Orbiter Medical Project, a series of investigations in support of Extended Duration Orbiter. The Ultraviolet Plume Instrument (UVPI) experiment was located onboard the previously-launched LACE satellite, and could've been pointed at Atlantis on-orbit to observe the shuttle's thruster firings. However, no opportunities or intersections occurred during this mission.<ref>Template:Cite report</ref>

The landing was on December 1, 1991, at 22:34:44 UTC, Runway 5, Edwards Air Force Base, California. The rollout distance was Template:Cvt, and the rollout time was 107 seconds. The landing weight was Template:Cvt. The landing was originally scheduled for Kennedy Space Center on December 4, 1991, but the ten-day mission was shortened and the landing rescheduled following the November 30, 1991, on-orbit failure of one of three orbiter inertial measurement units.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The lengthy rollout was due to minimal braking for test. Atlantis returned to Kennedy on December 8, 1991. This was also the final shuttle landing on a dry lake bed runway.

Wake-up calls

NASA began a tradition of playing music to astronauts during the Project Gemini, and first used music to wake up a flight crew during Apollo 15.<ref name=":0">Template:Cite web Template:PD-notice</ref> Each track is specially chosen, often by the astronauts' families, and usually has a special meaning to an individual member of the crew, or is applicable to their daily activities.

Day	Song	Artist	Played/For
2	Recorded message from Patrick Stewart		Mario Runco
3	This Is the Army	Irving Berlin
4	It's Time to Love (Put a little love in your heart)	James Brown
5	Cheesburger in Paradise	Jimmy Buffett
6	Twist and Shout from Ferris Bueller's Day Off
7	University of Alabama and Auburn University fight songs		Jim Voss and Jan Davis
8	In the Mood

See also

• List of human spaceflights
• List of Space Shuttle missions
• Militarization of space
• Nikon NASA F4
• Outline of space science

External links

• NASA mission summary Template:Webarchive
• STS-44 Post Flight Presentation