View source for STS-56

{{Short description|1993 American crewed spaceflight}}
{{Use American English|date=January 2014}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=November 2022}}
{{Infobox spaceflight
| name               = STS-56
| names_list         = [[Space Transportation System]]-56
| image              = STS056-91-054 - Payload bay view with ATLAS pallet (Retouched).jpg
| image_caption      = Components of the [[Spacelab|ATLAS-2 laboratory]] in the payload bay of ''Discovery''
| mission_type       = Scientific research
| operator           = [[NASA]]
| mission_duration   = {{time interval|April 8, 1993, 05:29:00|April 17, 1993, 11:37:19|show=dhms|sep=,}}
| distance_travelled = {{cvt|6202407|km}}
| orbits_completed   = 148
| spacecraft         = {{OV|103}}
| launch_mass        =
| landing_mass       = {{cvt|93683|kg}}
| payload_mass       = {{cvt|7026|kg}}
| crew_size          = 5
| crew_members       = {{Unbulleted list|[[Kenneth D. Cameron]]|[[Stephen S. Oswald]]|[[Michael Foale]]|[[Kenneth Cockrell]]|[[Ellen Ochoa]]}}
| launch_date        = {{Start date|April 8, 1993, 05:29:00|timezone=yes}}{{nbsp}}[[Coordinated Universal Time|UTC]] (1:29{{nbsp}}am{{nbsp}}[[Eastern Daylight Time|EDT]])
| launch_site        = [[Kennedy Space Center|Kennedy]], [[Kennedy Space Center Launch Complex 39B|LC-39B]]
| launch_contractor  = [[Rockwell International]]
| landing_date       = {{End date|April 17, 1993, 11:37:19|timezone=yes}}{{nbsp}}UTC (7:37:19{{nbsp}}am{{nbsp}}EDT)
| landing_site       = Kennedy, [[Shuttle Landing Facility|SLF&nbsp;Runway&nbsp;33]]
| orbit_reference    = [[Geocentric orbit]]
| orbit_regime       = [[Low Earth orbit]]
| orbit_periapsis    = {{cvt|291|km}}
| orbit_apoapsis     = {{cvt|299|km}}
| orbit_inclination  = 57.00°
| orbit_period       = 90.40 minutes
| instruments        = {{ubl|Active Cavity Radiometer (ACR)|Air Force Maui Optical Site (AMOS)|Atmospheric Trace Molecule Spectroscopy (ATMOS)|Commercial Materials dispersion apparatus Instrumentation technology associates Experiment (CMIX)|Cosmic Ray Effects and Activation Monitor (CREAM)|Get Away Special (GAS)|Hand-held, Earth-oriented, Real-time, Cooperative, User-friendly, Location-targeting and Environmental System (HERCULES)|Millimeter Wave Atmospheric Sounder (MAS)|Physiological and Anatomical Rodent Experiment (PARE)|Radiation Monitoring Equipment (RME III)|Shuttle Amateur Radio Experiment (SAREX II)|Solar Spectroscopy Instrument (SOLSPEC)|Solar Ultraviolet Experiment (SUVE)|Shuttle Solar Backscatter Ultraviolet (SSBUV/A)|Solar Constant (SOLCON)|Space Tissue Loss (STL-1)|Solar Ultraviolet Irradiance Monitor (SUSIM)}}
| insignia           = Sts-56-patch.png
| insignia_caption   = STS-56 mission patch
| crew_photo         = Sts-56_crew.jpg
| crew_photo_caption = Standing: [[Kenneth Cockrell|Cockrell]], [[Michael Foale|Foale]], [[Ellen Ochoa|Ochoa]]<br />Seated: [[Stephen S. Oswald|Oswald]], [[Kenneth D. Cameron|Cameron]]
| programme          = [[Space Shuttle program]]
| previous_mission   = [[STS-54]] (53)
| next_mission       = [[STS-55]] (55)
}}
'''STS-56''' was a [[NASA]] [[Space Shuttle]] [[Space Shuttle Discovery|''Discovery'']] mission to perform special experiments. It was Discovery's 16th flight. The mission was launched from [[Kennedy Space Center]], [[Florida]], on April 8, 1993.
== Crew ==
{{Spaceflight crew
| terminology  = Astronaut
| position1    = Commander
| crew1_up     = {{flagicon|USA}} [[Kenneth D. Cameron]]
| flights1_up  = Second
| position2    = Pilot
| crew2_up     = {{flagicon|USA}} [[Stephen S. Oswald]]
| flights2_up  = Second
| position3    = Mission Specialist 1
| crew3_up     = {{flagicon|USA}}/{{flagicon|United Kingdom}}<!-- Foale wore the US flag on his arm, so it should be listed first --> [[Michael Foale]]
| flights3_up  = Second
| position4    = Mission Specialist 2<br>Flight Engineer
| crew4_up     = {{flagicon|USA}} [[Kenneth Cockrell]]
| flights4_up  = First
| position5   = Mission Specialist 3
| crew5_up    = {{flagicon|USA}} [[Ellen Ochoa]]
| flights5_up = First
}}
=== Crew seat assignments ===
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
! Seat<ref>{{cite web|title=STS-56|url=http://spacefacts.de/mission/english/sts-56.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| Cameron
|-
! 2
|colspan=2| Oswald
|-
! 3
|Foale
|Ochoa
|-
! 4
|colspan=2| Cockrell
|-
! 5
|Ochoa
|Foale
|-
! 6
|colspan=2 style="background-color:lightgray"| ''Unused''
|-
! 7
|colspan=2 style="background-color:lightgray"| ''Unused''
|}
== Mission highlights ==
The primary payload of the flight was the [[Spacelab|Atmospheric Laboratory for Applications and Science-2]] (ATLAS-2), designed to collect data on the relationship between the [[Sun]]'s energy output and [[Earth]]'s middle atmosphere and how these factors affect the [[ozone layer]]. It included six instruments mounted on a Spacelab pallet in the cargo bay, with the seventh mounted on the wall of the bay in two [[Get Away Special]] (GAS) canisters. Atmospheric instruments included the Atmospheric Trace Molecule Spectroscopy (ATMOS) experiment, the Millimeter Wave Atmospheric Sounder (MAS), and the Shuttle Solar Backscatter Ultraviolet (SSBUV/A) spectrometer (on the cargo bay wall). Solar science instruments were the solar spectrometry instrument SOLSPEC,<ref name="SOLSPEC">{{cite web |title=Background |url=http://solspec.projet.latmos.ipsl.fr/SOLSPEC_GB/Background.html |website=SOLSPEC |publisher=Institut Pierre Simon Laplace |access-date=March 11, 2022 |language=English}}</ref> the Solar Ultraviolet Irradiance Monitor (SUSIM), and the Active Cavity Radiometer (ACR) and Solar Constant (SOLCON) experiments.<ref name="STS-56 Mission Summary">{{cite web|last1=Ryba|first1=Jeanne|title=STS-56|url=https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/shuttle/shuttlemissions/archives/sts-56.html|publisher=NASA|access-date=March 11, 2022}}{{PD-notice}}</ref>
ATLAS-2 is one element of NASA's Mission to Planet Earth program. All seven ATLAS-2 instruments first flew on [[Spacelab|ATLAS-1]] during [[STS-45]], and flew a third time in late 1994 on [[STS-66]].<ref name="STS-56 Mission Summary"/>
On April 11, 1993, the crew used the remote manipulator arm ([[Canadarm]]) to deploy the Shuttle Point Autonomous Research Tool for Astronomy-201 (SPARTAN-201), a free-flying science instrument platform designed to study velocity and acceleration of the [[solar wind]] and observe the [[Stellar corona|Sun's corona]]. Collected data was stored on tape for playback after return to Earth. SPARTAN-201 was retrieved on April 13, 1993.<ref name="STS-56 Mission Summary"/>
The crew also made numerous radio contacts to schools around the world using the Shuttle Amateur Radio Experiment (SAREX II), including brief radio contact with the [[Russia]]n [[Mir|Mir space station]], the first such contact between Space Shuttle and Mir using amateur radio equipment. It was arguably the first time that the astronauts received [[amateur television]] video from the ham radio club station (W5RRR) at JSC.<ref name="STS-56 Mission Summary"/>
Other cargo bay payloads were the Solar Ultraviolet Experiment (SUVE), sponsored by [[National Space Grant College and Fellowship Program|Colorado Space Grant Consortium]] and located in a GetAway Special canister on the cargo bay wall.<ref name="STS-56 Mission Summary"/>
The middeck payloads were the Commercial Materials Dispersion Apparatus Instrumentation Technology Associates Experiment (CMIX), the Physiological and Anatomical Rodent Experiment (PARE), Space Tissue Loss (STL-1) experiment, the Cosmic Ray Effects and Activation Monitor (CREAM) experiment. the Hand-held, Earth-oriented, Real-time, Cooperative, User-friendly, Location-targeting and Environmental System ([[Nikon NASA F4|HERCULES]]), Radiation Monitoring Equipment (RME III), and an [[Air Force Maui Optical and Supercomputing observatory|Air Force Maui Optical Site]] (AMOS) calibration test.<ref name="STS-56 Mission Summary"/>
== Gallery ==
<gallery>
Image:STS-56 Launch - GPN-2000-000748.jpg|Launch of STS-56
Image:STS056-90-034 - SPARTAN-201 free-flying (Retouched).jpg|SPARTAN-201
File:STS056-91-054 - Payload bay view with ATLAS pallet (Retouched).jpg|Payload bay view with ATLAS pallet
</gallery>
== See also ==
{{Portal|Spaceflight}}
* [[List of human spaceflights]]
* [[List of Space Shuttle missions]]
* [[Nikon NASA F4]]
* [[Outline of space science]]
* [[Space Shuttle]]
== References ==
{{Reflist}}
== External links ==
* [http://science.ksc.nasa.gov/shuttle/missions/sts-56/mission-sts-56.html NASA mission summary] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120925185952/http://science.ksc.nasa.gov/shuttle/missions/sts-56/mission-sts-56.html |date=September 25, 2012 }}
* [http://www.nss.org/resources/library/shuttlevideos/shuttle54.htm STS-56 Video Highlights] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120718214405/http://www.nss.org/resources/library/shuttlevideos/shuttle54.htm |date=July 18, 2012 }}
{{Space Shuttle Discovery}}
{{All U.S. Space Shuttle Missions}}
{{Orbital launches in 1993}}
[[Category:Space Shuttle missions]]
[[Category:Spacecraft launched in 1993]]