STS-53

STS-53
	Launch of Discovery for a Department of Defense (DoD) mission
Names	Space Transportation System-53
Mission type	DoD satellite deployment
Operator	NASA
COSPAR ID	1992-086A
SATCAT no.	22259
Mission duration	7 days, 7 hours, 19 minutes, 17 seconds
Distance travelled	4,883,840 km (3,034,680 mi)
Orbits completed	116
Spacecraft properties
Spacecraft	Space Shuttle Discovery
Launch mass	110,655 kg (243,953 lb)
Landing mass	87,565 kg (193,048 lb)
Payload mass	11,860 kg (26,150 lb)
Crew
Crew size	5
Members	David M. Walker ; Robert D. Cabana ; Guion Bluford ; Michael R. Clifford ; James S. Voss ;
Start of mission
Launch date	December 2, 1992, 13:24:00 UTC (8:24 am EST)
Launch site	Kennedy, LC-39A
Contractor	Rockwell International
End of mission
Landing date	December 9, 1992, 20:43:17 UTC (12:43:47 am PST)
Landing site	Edwards, Runway 22
Orbital parameters
Reference system	Geocentric orbit
Regime	Low Earth orbit
Perigee altitude	365 km (227 mi)
Apogee altitude	376 km (234 mi)
Inclination	57.00°
Period	92.00 minutes
Instruments
	Battlefield Laser Acquisition Sensor Test (BLAST); Cloud Logic to Optimize Use of Defense Systems (CLOUDS); Cosmic Radiation Effects and Activation Monitor (CREAM); Fluid Acquisition and Resupply Experiment (FARE); Get Away Special (GAS); Shuttle Glow Experiment/Cryogenic Heat Pipe Experiment (GCP); Hand-held, Earth-oriented, Real-time, Cooperative, User-friendly, Location-targeting and Environmental System (HERCULES); Microcapsules in Space (MIS-l); Radiation Monitoring Equipment (RME-III); Space Tissue Loss (STL); Visual Function Tester (VFT-2);
	; STS-53 mission patch; ; Back: Walker, Cabana and Clifford ; Front: Bluford and Voss Space Shuttle program ← STS-52 STS-54 →

Last updated February 24, 2025

STS-53 was a NASA Space Shuttle Discovery mission in support of the United States Department of Defense (DoD). It was Discovery's 15th flight. The mission was launched on December 2, 1992, from Kennedy Space Center, Florida. This was also the last mission to have been operated via MCR-2 in JSC. Afterwards the room was restored entirely to its Apollo era appearance.

Crew


Position	Astronaut
Commander	David M. Walker Third spaceflight
Pilot	Robert D. Cabana Second spaceflight
Mission Specialist 1	Guion Bluford Fourth and last spaceflight
Mission Specialist 2 Flight Engineer	James S. Voss Second spaceflight
Mission Specialist 3	Michael R. Clifford First spaceflight

Crew seat assignments

Seat^[1]	Launch	Landing	Seats 1–4 are on the flight deck. Seats 5–7 are on the mid-deck.
1	Walker
2	Cabana
3	Bluford	Clifford
4	Voss
5	Clifford	Bluford
6	Unused
7	Unused

Mission highlights

Discovery carried a classified primary payload (DOD-1) for the United States Department of Defense (DoD), two unclassified secondary payloads and nine unclassified middeck experiments.^[2]

Discovery's primary payload, USA-89 (1992-086B) is also known as "DoD-1", and was the shuttle's last major payload for the Department of Defense. The satellite was the third launch of a Satellite Data System-2 (SDS 2-3) military communications satellite, after USA-40 on STS-28 and STS-38's deployment of USA-67.^[2]

Secondary payloads contained in or attached to Get Away Special (GAS) hardware in the cargo bay included the Orbital Debris Radar Calibration Spheres (ODERACS) satellites and the combined Shuttle Glow Experiment/Cryogenic Heat Pipe Experiment (GCP).^[2]

Middeck experiments included Microcapsules in Space (MIS-l); Space Tissue Loss (STL); Visual Function Tester (VFT-2); Cosmic Radiation Effects and Activation Monitor (CREAM); Radiation Monitoring Equipment (RME-III); Fluid Acquisition and Resupply Experiment (FARE); Hand-held, Earth-oriented, Real-time, Cooperative, User-friendly, Location-targeting and Environmental System (HERCULES); Battlefield Laser Acquisition Sensor Test (BLAST); and the Cloud Logic to Optimize Use of Defense Systems (CLOUDS).^[2]

Mission insignia

The five sides represent the Pentagon, the Department of Defense headquarters. The five stars and three stripes of the insignia symbolize the flight's numerical designation in the Space Transportation System's mission sequence.

References

↑ "STS-53". Spacefacts. Retrieved July 29, 2024.
1 2 3 4 "STS-53 (52)". NASA. June 29, 2001. Archived from the original on March 18, 2021. Retrieved February 11, 2022. This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain .

External links

NASA mission summary Archived April 21, 2012, at the Wayback Machine
STS-53 Video Highlights Archived October 29, 2013, at the Wayback Machine

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
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[1] "STS-53". Spacefacts. Retrieved July 29, 2024.

[STS53KSC-2] 1 2 3 4 "STS-53 (52)". NASA. June 29, 2001. Archived from the original on March 18, 2021. Retrieved February 11, 2022. This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain .

[1]

[2]

v t e Space Shuttle Discovery (OV-103)
Completed flights	STS-41-D STS-51-A STS-51-C STS-51-D STS-51-G STS-51-I STS-26 STS-29 STS-33 STS-31 STS-41 STS-39 STS-48 STS-42 STS-53 STS-56 STS-51 STS-60 STS-64 STS-63 STS-70 STS-82 STS-85 STS-91 STS-95 STS-96 STS-103 STS-92 STS-102 STS-105 STS-114 STS-121 STS-116 STS-120 STS-124 STS-119 STS-128 STS-131 STS-133
Status	Retired
On display	Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center, Washington, D.C.
Related	Destiny in Space (1994 documentary)

v t e ← 1991 Orbital launches in 1992 1993 →
January	Kosmos 2175 STS-42 Kosmos 2176 Progress M-11 Kosmos 2177, Kosmos 2178, Kosmos 2179
February	Unnamed USA-78 Fuyo 1 Kosmos 2180 USA-79 Superbird B1, Arabsat 1C
March	Molniya 1-83 Kosmos 2181 Galaxy 5 Soyuz TM-14 STS-45
April	Kosmos 2182 Gorizont No.36L Kosmos 2183 USA-80 Kosmos 2184 Telecom 2B, Inmarsat-2 F4 Progress M-12 USA-81 Resurs-F2 No.8 Kosmos 2185
May	STS-49 Palapa B4 SROSS-C Kosmos 2186
June	Kosmos 2187, Kosmos 2188, Kosmos 2189, Kosmos 2190, Kosmos 2191, Kosmos 2192, Kosmos 2193, Kosmos 2194 EUVE Intelsat K Resurs-F1 No.55 STS-50 Progress M-13
July	Kosmos 2195 USA-82 SAMPEX USA-83 Kosmos 2196 INSAT-2A, Eutelsat-2 F4 Kosmos 2197, Kosmos 2198, Kosmos 2199, Kosmos 2200, Kosmos 2201, Kosmos 2202 Gorizont No.37L Geotail, DUVE Kosmos 2203 Soyuz TM-15 Kosmos 2204, Kosmos 2205, Kosmos 2206 Kosmos 2207 STS-46 (EURECA, TSS-1)
August	Molniya 1-84 FSW-13 TOPEX/Poseidon, Uribyol 1, S80/T Kosmos 2208 Optus B1 Progress M-14 Resurs-F1 No.54, Pion-Germes 1, Pion-Germes 2 Galaxy 1R Satcom C4
September	USA-84 Kosmos 2209 Hispasat 1A, Satcom C3 STS-47 Kosmos 2210 Mars Observer
October	FSW-14, Freja Foton No.8L DFS-Kopernikus 3 Molniya-3 No.50 Kosmos 2211, Kosmos 2212, Kosmos 2213, Kosmos 2214, Kosmos 2215, Kosmos 2216 Kosmos 2217 STS-52 (LAGEOS-2, CTA) Progress M-15 (Znamya-2) Galaxy 7 Kosmos 2218 Ekran-M No.15L
November	Resurs 500 Kosmos 2219 Kosmos 2220 MSTI-1 USA-85 Kosmos 2221 Kosmos 2222 Gorizont No.38L USA-86
December	Superbird A1 Molniya-3 No.56 STS-53 (USA-89, ODERACS ) Kosmos 2223 Kosmos 2224 USA-87 Optus B2 Kosmos 2226 Kosmos 2225 Kosmos 2227 Kosmos 2228 Kosmos 2229
Launches are separated by dots ( • ), payloads by commas ( , ), multiple names for the same satellite by slashes ( / ). Crewed flights are underlined. Launch failures are marked with the † sign. Payloads deployed from other spacecraft are (enclosed in parentheses).