My name is Dante Winter. Some of you may have seen me posting on some of the news groups.

While I did not want to make an exact copy of the written version of the Space Shuttle Almanac,
many readers of the Space Shuttle Almanac, or SSA as I call it, will recognize many features in this
web site. First, a little information about myself, and how I came to be connected to this project.
Back in '92, I saw an ad for a Space Shuttle Almanac. It sounded interesting, so I ordered it. It was
great! As time went on, he introduced the Russian Updates. The information the initially provided
was a little scant, so I sent in a small sheaf of information. As it turned out, it wasn't needed. They -
that is, Joel W. Powell and Lee Caldwell - undoubtedly gotten many more responses
with pretty much the same information. Mister Caldwell surprised me, however, by sending an
actual letter - hand written yet!

Thus began a correspondence. One day, in 1996, I asked if he had any plans for a web site, or if one
was up yet. I wasn't even on the net yet, but soon would be. He surprised me with a phone call, on
December 12, 1996. He wondered if I would be interested in doing the web site. I explained to him
I wasn't on line yet, and my computer was quite powerfull enough to get on line - but, yes, I'd love to
do it. Well, it sure took a while, but here it is Lee!

As always, this place is under construction. Things will always change here. Any information you, the
readers, can pass on to me, please do so at [email protected] - and don't be bashfull, send me any
comments at all. What you like, any corrections, but also what's wrong with this site. I want to make
this a better place. I'll be adding things, too, as time goes on. So please come back!

The Space Shuttle Almanac is intended to be more than just a dry recitation of facts and figures - it
seeks to tell the story of each individual mission by explaining factors involved in launch delays, and
documenting the times and dates of important flight milestones. The web site, as the book, is also
intended to document the elements of reusable propulsion hardware employhed on each shuttle flight.
Serial numbers and cumulative usage are indicated for the main engines and OMS pods, while case
use histories for each individual SRB are presented in detail. In addition, a careful study of this web
site should provide the reader with fresh insight into the history of the shuttle flight, now going on
almost twenty years.

Mission Summary Layout

Heading each mission summary is the full mission designation plus the orbiter name, serial number and
cumulative number of flights. The letter 'R' following certain post-Challenger flight designations
indicates that the Space Transportation System (STS) number was reused. Mission 51-L, for
instance, was also designated STS-33, a number that was recycled for a Defense Department flight in
November, 1989 (STS-33R). The STS numbers were utilized byt NASA for the first nine missions,
but beginning with the start of Fiscal Year 1984 a new alpha-numeric primary numbering system was
introduced in addition to the STS numbers. In the example 41-D, the first digit indicates the fiscal year
in which the mission was scheduled to fly ('4' for the year 1984), while the second number indicated
the launch site to be used: '1' for Kennedy Space Center (KSC), and '2' for Vandenberg AFB
(VAFB). The final letter revealed the planned sequence of launch alphabetically in the fiscal year
(1 October - 30 September). I, personally, have wondered what would happen if this method
continued until now. Come 1994, we'd have another STS-41-D. Although NASA declared the
Space Shuttle operational after the STS-4 mission, the authors believe that the term "operational
development flights" best describes the continuing research and developement role that the Shuttle
fulfills in today's space program.

The Personnel

The basic flight crew rosters are augmented with the details of cockpit seating arrangements and for
planned or contingency EVA (ExtraVehicular Activity). 'RMS Ops' signifies the primary Remote
Manipulator System (RMS) on the on the appropriate flights. Backup personnel for Payload
Specialists (PS's) and the early Orbital Flight Test crews are also provided.

The mission Commander (CDR) traditionally sits in the forward left-hand cockpit seat, flanked on his
right by the Pilot (PLT). On most flight the pilots are accompanied by three Mission Specialist
astronauts. Mission Specialists (MS) are responsible for all of the housekeeping and research activities
as well as deployment or retrieval of orbiting payloads. Payload Specialist positions are generally
restricted to professional scientists flying Spacelab missions or to international projects such as the
Italian tether satellite or the Canadian Experiments program (CANEX). Each MS is identified by a
number that not only serves as a call sign for communications over the intercom but also as an
indications of seating positions and crew responsibilities. During Spacelab missions the experiments
run for 24 hours and the crews are split into two teams or shifts, designated by a specific color.

During launch MS-1 usually occupies the right-hand seat ("fourth seat") behind the Pilot while MS-3
sits on the mid-deck beside the hatch. The two individuals then swap positions for re-entry, a practice
that began early in 1984 on Mission 41-B. MS-2 serves as the "flight engineer" to assist the pilots
during ascent and entry, and sits directly behind the center console overlooking the Commander's right
shoulder. MS-1 and MS-3 astronauts often upgrade their training to the flight engineer position for
subsequent flights, and several MS's hav graduated to the Pilot's position and subsequent Command
(eg. Steven Nagel and John Blaha).

MS-1 and MS-3 generally draw the EVA training assignments, but occasionally flight engineers fill
the role if they received EVA training for a previous mission. The EV-1 (lead) astronaut has red
stripes adorning the legs and backpacks of their Extravehicular Mobility Unit (EMU) as a means of
identification. One of the crew (usually the Pilot) is assigned to assist the EVA astronauts in donning
their EMU's and is informally designated the Intravehicular Support astronaut (IV-1).

Since the Challenger accident each shuttle astronaut must wear the bulky orange Launch and Entry
Suits (LES) in the event that an emergency bail-out using the new escape pole system is required. The
partial-pressure LES suits, which do not offer protection in a vacuum, outwardly resemble the
modified SR-71 escape suits worn by the Orbital Flight Test crews. While reclining on their backs
awaiting liftoff, the astronauts are limited to only two-and a half hours perched in this position (beyond
the scheduled liftoff time) due to medical considerations, mandated by Federal regulations to a total
of 5 hours 15 minutes.

Launch and Landing Information

The Launch Information section presents the exact time (down to millisecond when we have it), KSC
launch pad and Mobile Launch Platform (MLP) utilized fo reach mission. The international (COSPAR)
designation is given just below the STS mission number, and indicates the numerical order of the launch
(world wide) in the current calendar year. All holds in the final stages of the countdown (after T-9
minutes) are recorded in detail in addition to launch scrubs if they occurred. A note about scheduled
launch times: liftoff is always scheduled for zero seconds on the clock (i.e. 7:35:00 am for STS-32R).
It is the hold time that causes unbalanced launch times such as the 2:50:22 am liftoff for STS-36.
NOTE: For the various Mir and ISS mission, initial launch time is to the minute, and then as the
countdown progresses they calculate at which second should launch be. Orbital parameters such as the
maximum altitude in kilometers, the number or completed orbits, the orbital inclination are given in the
intial table. Beginning with mission 41-C, a new Direct Ascent trajectory was utilized that eliminated
one of the two Orbital Maneuvering System burns usually required to achieve orbit. Most missions at
present fly Direct Ascent trajectories.

Mission duration is defined as the interval between liftoff and the moment of main landing gear contact
with the runway, not wheels-stop as often appears in press accounts. The runway number for each
landing is specified along with details of wave-offs (cancelled or delayed landings) or landing site
changes that may have occurred. The originally scheduled landing site and time is stated if a change
was made during the flight.

Operational and Statistical Data

The Mission Particulars section begins with a designation of abort sites. The Trans-Atlantic Landing
(TAL) abort site is a specially equipped arifield, locted in Africa for low inclination orbits and in Spain
for higher inclination (57 degrees) orbits to be used in the event of a main engine failure occurring after
the Return To Launch Site (RTLS) abort option is no longer available (about 4 minutes and 20 seconds
after liftoff). NASA replaced the Dakar, Senegal TAL site in September, 1986 with the Ben Guerir,
Morocco site due to geographic hazards and runway deficiencies at Dakar. An Abort Once Around
(AOA) situation involves an emergency landing at either Edwards AFB or White Sands Space Harbor
(backup site) after less than one full earth orbit, caused by a main engine failure at a less critical
juncture that would not lead to a TAL abort.

Landing speed is calculated at the moment of main landing gear contact, while landing rollout is the
distance that the orbiter travels form the first contact to wheels-stop, depending upon wind conditions
and the level of braking applied. As per NASA convention, the vehicle and orbiter weights presented
do not include the weight of the payload, which is listed separately. Both deployed and on-station
weights in geosynchronous orbit have been indicated.

Special Mission Kits and Payloads

Special Mission Kits refers to equipment and cabin fixtures installed in the orbiter that may change
from mission to mission. Individual sleeping berths (bunks) are added for Spacelab missions (which
operate around the clock, in most cases) while the Remote Manipulator System (RMS or 'Canadarm')
is installed in the cargo bay on certain flights to handle deployable payloads or to observe events such
as water dumps or upper stage rocket firings. On missions where an EVA is scheduled, a third (spare)
EMU is stored in the airlock in case of malfunctions in the primary units. A spare General Purpose
Computer (GPC) is also carried on each mission.

All primary and secondary experiments and payloads are listed by name and/or acronym and
experiment number. Production line numbers are also provide for the large IUS upper stages employed
with certain shuttle payloads (except those on DOD missions). The Quick Response Shuttle Payloads
sponsored by the US Air Force Space Test Program were made available to the authors by the Air
Force Space Division in Los Angeles. Also covered in the sedcondary experiments category is the
Orbiter Experiments Program (OEX), a series of NASA "In-house" investigations designed to amass
data on the aerodynamic and structural characteristics of the orbiter during ascent and entry (see
Mission 61-C and subsequent Columbia missions).

Special Mission Kits and Payloads

Shuttle Stack Components details the utilization of reusable hardware associated with vehicle
propulsion as well as the External Tank (ET), the only piece of shuttle hardware not intended for reuse.
The first line contains the serial numbers of the three Space Shuttle Main Engines (SSME) and the
location of each engine in the rear of the orbiter. Position 1 refers to the upper engine location,
Position 2 to the lower left-hand mount and Position 3 to the lower right-hand mounting (as viewed
from the rear of the orbiter). Engine throttle settings at tower-clear and at throttle-up are also provided,
as well as Mission Event Timelines for additional throttle adjustments during ascent. Prior to the
accident throttle settings at liftoff and throttle-up often varied from mission to mission, but with the
Return to Flight these setting have been standardized at 104%.

The interchangeable Orbiter maneuvering System (OMS) pods (LP - left pod, RP - right pod) on the
tail of the orbiter and their reusable engines built by Aerojet are each identified by serial number and
cumulative use (the Forward Reaction Control System (FRCS) modules are considered part of the
orbiter structure and are not interchangeable). Each Extenal Tank is identified by its production line
number and is also designated as either a Heavy-weight Tank (HWT) or Light-weight Tank (LWT).
The original HWT's were replaced by a 6,000 pound lighter version in 1983 to improve the payload
carrying capacity of the shuttle. An aerodynamic instrument package known as the Ascent Air Data
System (AADS) has been installed in the number of recently flown External Tanks beginning with
Mission 61-C.

The Solid Rocket Booster (SRB) section provides detailed data on the reuse of SRB case segments.
Serial numbers for each segment have been provided for the pre-Challenger missions but this data is
not available from the manufacturer for the post accident missions. Detailed case segment records were
not released by Thiokol until the 5th post-accident mission and therefore SRB charts for STS27R,
29R and 30R are incomplete. The charts for the first four flights have been extrapolated from later
records (as STS-26R's completed data reflects) and only represent the location for each component
on the previous mission (these parts are in fact interchangeable). The previous use for each cylindrical
(cyl), attachment (att) and stiffener (stf) segment is listed as well as the forward dome and aft skirt.

A number of discrepancies in SSME and SRB data arose during our research and through exhaustive
cross referencing the authors were able to determine the correct uses, except for the anomalous case
segment use for STS-41 and STS-37 (see SRB Case Usage, we now believe the data for STS-37 to
be incorrect). Responsibility for the accuracy of the statistical information lies with the Contractors
and NASA.

Each SRB is recovered off the Florida coast by one of three recovery ships in NASA's "navy",
christened the Freedom Star,Liberty Star and Independence Star. Independence Star was
originally built to handle recoveries from Vandenberg AFB.

The SRB's have been identified by several naming systems since 1981. NASA originally referred to
Solid Rocket Motor (SRM) sets before switching to an "LO" designation (for "light-weight set") when
reduced-weight hardware was in troduced on 51-I. Mission 51-F was designated as a mid-weight set
(MO) for its intermediate SRB castings. Beginning in 1985 each SRM set also was assigned a formal
Booster Integration (BI) number. BI set numbers have become the primary nomenclature since
the accident, with each redesigned SRM combination also receiving an "RSRM" numerical
designation. Each set is also referred to as 'A' or 'B' (when facing the stacked vehicle on the launch
pad, the left SRB is designated 'A' and the right-hand SRB os set 'B').

Mission Milestones

Mission Milestones features the dates of all significant events in the preparation of each shuttle mission.
The first processing milestone is usually the arrival "on dock" of the External Tank form New Orleans
at the barge turning basin near the Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB). Dates are provided for the
External Tank mating to the SRB stack, transfer of shuttle vehicle from the Orbiter Processing Facility
(OPF) hanger to the VAB, mating of the orbiter to the ET/SRB stack and rollout of the entire assembly
to the launch pad. The respective High Bays in OPF and VAB where each vehicle was processed
are also specified.

After the shuttle stack is safely installed on Launch Complex 39A or 39B by the massive Apollo-era
crawler transporter vehicle, a two-day countdown rehearsal is conducted. The Terminal Countdown
Demonstration Test (TCDT) culminates on the second day with a simulated cut-off at T-4 seconds.
The flight crew are aboard the orbiter to familiarize themselves with the procedures encountered on
launch morning.

The actual countdown, known as Test S0007 by NASA, begins about three days prior to the
scheduled launch time with the traditional "call to stations" for the firing room technicians at the Launch
Countrol Center (LCC), located adjacent to the VAB. Countdowns for the first nine missions varied
considerably in length due to operational test requirements, but since 1984 the length of the countdown
has been standardized at 43 hours (not including the built-in holds).

Installation of the primary payloads into the cargo bay are documented for all but the military missions.
Most payloads are handled by the vertical processing method which is performed at the launch pad.
The flight hardware is delivered in a 60 foot long container (matching the size of the payload bay)
which is hoisted into the Payload Changeout Room (PCR) in the Rotating Service Structure (RSS)
gantry. The RSS then rotates into position against the orbiter and eases they payload into the open
cargo bay. Horizontal processing, which is conducted in the OPF, is utilized only for Spacelab
hardware (Long modules and pallets) and one-of-a-kind payloads such as Spartan.

At T-3 days the flight crew depart Houston in T-38 jets flown by the pilot astronauts, arriving at the
KSC Shuttle Landing Facility (SLF) abouttwo hours later. Astronaut arrival is a traditional media
event and is the last time that the crew appears in public before launch. When a shuttle mission ends
with a landing at Edwards AFB, teh orbiter is ferried back to the launch site in Florida by the Shuttle
Carrier Aircraft (SCA), one of two converted Boeing 747 jetliners. NASA took possession of the
second SCA, tail number N911NA, in November 1990. Each individual departure, refuelling stop
and KSC homecoming is carefully documented.

For each mission an event timetable is provided in the Mission Events section that is reproduced from
the official Mission Reports obtained from the Johnson Space Center. The exact time and date of
every significant event is listed, and where "official" figures were not available (centain EVA's, for
instance), the times were obtained from press reports of other NASA sources. Missing from the
timetables are deployment times for the DOD missions (which are classified) and the OMS-1 and
OMS-2 orbital insertion burns for the first two DOD flightrs in 1985. Many of the restrictions on
information were relaxed for post-Challenger military missions, and insertion burns have been included
in the Mission Reports beginning with STS-27.

In many ways one of the most significant features of the web site is the complete lists of DTO and
DSO tests performed on each shuttle mission (see Payloads/Experiments section). Development Test
Objectives (DTO's) were originally the formal check out and verification tests of all major shuttle
systems performed during the Orbital Flights Tests (and later included checkout of the TDRS system).
For each OFT mission the DTO represented the overall title of the investigation, while the FTO
(Flight Test Objective) defined the actual test to be performed. The same system was used for the
DSO's, with the FSO standing for Flight Supplementary Objective. Each DSO number was
distinguished by the prefix 'S'.

As the shuttle program matured, DTO test were shifted away from systems checkout to a combination
of procedural and hardware tests. Heavy emphasis has been placed upon gathering aerodynamic and
orbiter structural performance data. Tests of new operational procedures (ie. station keeping,
navigation) and tests of new shuttle hardware such as laptop computers and carbon brakes have also
been manifested as DTO's.

Detailed Supplementary Objectives (DSO's) encompass the increasingly sophisticated medical
experiments designed to define the adaptation of the human body to microgravity. These experiments
are considered critical to the operations of the upcoming Extended Duration Orbiter (EDO) missions
which will last up to 16 days, versus the maximum duration of 10 days at present. Scientific and
technological experiments were occasionally conducted within the DSO framework during the pre-
Challenger flights. NASA began releasing DTO and DSO lists publicly in 1984, but a number of gaps
in the overall record led to a Freedom of Information request by the authors to provide complete
coverage of all 39 mission flown in the first ten years, particularly the military flights.

Also presented with the DTO/DSO listing are the experiments conducted by foreign and comporate
"gust observers" (Payload Specialists) prior to the Challenger accident, plus occaisonal informal
science demonstrations (eg. STS-29 and STS-34). The Earth Observation Project, although not
considered an official experiment, is an integral part of every shuttle flight plan. The astronauts have a
formal list of ground and ocean targets to photograph on each flight, and are also encouraged to shoot
"targets of opportunity" with the 70mm cameras or Linhol Large Format Camera carried aboard.

Final Comments

All the above is pretty much what Joel W. Powell wrote back in 1992.

I have also included in this web site a listing of pre-shuttle missions, although not as thoroughly detailed
as the Shuttle missions. At least, not yet.

I have also broken up the mission into three main groups - Pre-Shuttle, which includes from Vostok 1
up to the beginning of the Shuttle missions. On the Soviet side, I included up to Soyuz 40, which was
actually launched after the first Shuttle mission. I also thought it would be better to have all the Salyut 6
missions on one site.

Then, I has the Shuttle age, which starts with STS-1, and goes up to the beginning of ISS.

Finally, I have the ISS age. It starts with Zarya & STS-88, and goes up to currnet times. It starts on
the Russian side with the first manned mission to ISS, which may be Soyuz-TM 30.