Mission 95
STS-93
1999-040A
Crew: 5 CDR - Eilleen M. Collins
Plt - Jeffrey Ashby (IVA)
MS1 - Catherine G. Coleman (EV-2)
MS2 - Steven H. Hawley
MS3 - Michel A. C. Tognini (CNES, EV-1)
Launch 23 July 1999 @ 0431:00 UT
Orbital incl: 28.47
Max alt: 255.9 km.
Orbits: 78
Dur: 4:22:49:35
Landing: 27 July 1999 @ 0320:35 UT
Launch Info: Orbiter - Columbia 102-26 Pad 39B KSC (MLP-1) - Launch Day
Hold - The launch was held for 7 minutes due to MILA communication problems.
Indefinate Delay - In mid-January, 1999, NASA detected problems in several printed
circuit boards in the Chandra X-ray Observatory (CXO) command and data
management system. To evaluate and possibly replace these boards it was decided to
delay the mission. This resulted in a slip from the originally planned launch date April 8.
Delay: April - an indefinite delay was called for following the failure of an IUS on a
Titan-4 (B-27) flight. 1st attempt: July 20 - Manual (not auto) GLS cutoff at T-7
seconds due to an erroneous indication of H2 leak in aft compartment. 2nd attempt:
July 22 - Scrubbed at T-5 minutes (12:24 am) due to lightning in the area. Launch
incident: At T+5 seconds - a short circuit disabled a primary controler for one SSME
and a secondary controller for another SSME. The short circuit was caused by a wire,
previously stripped of its insulation by an accident or mishandling, coming into contact
with a burred screw head. The resulting investigation caused a grounding of all shuttle
orbiters.

MISSION PARTICULARS
Launch Window: 1 hour, 56 minutes
TAL Sites: Banjul, The Gambia (Alternate: Ben Guerir, Morocco)
AOA site: Edwards AFB (Alternates: KSC)
Primary landing site: KSC/SLF (Scheduled: 27 July @ 0320 UT)
Landing Speed: 361 km/hr
Landing rollout: 2,065.6 meters
Vehicle weight @ liftoff: 2,052,382 kg. (4,524,727 lbs.)
Orbiter weight @ liftoff: 122,534 kg. (270,142 lbs.)
Orbiter weight @ landing: 92,070 kg. (202,980 lbs.)
PAYLOADS
Cargo mass approx.: 22,753 kg. (50,162 lbs.)
Landing Weight: 3,016 kg. (6,650 lbs.)
Special mission kits: 2 EMU's, SORG, PSA, MUP, TIPS, 9 Laptops, 5 loaded cryo-tanks, OI-26B software (5th flight), Magnum Spotlight, 3 CTBC Cams, 1 ITVC Cam & PPOV TV, TVIS Treadmill, 5 GPCs, ESC-II, 3 SAAMDs, several Camcorders, Colour Printer (DTO) and no RMS
PRIMARY PAYLOADS
Chandra X-ray Observatory (CXO, formerly AXAF-1) On IUS-#27 - mass - 19,573 kg. (43,512 lbs.) mounted on an IUS tilt table, ASE mass - 3,016 kg. (6,650 lbs.), IUS mass - 13,872 kg. (30,582 lbs.) Deployed to an 140,000 x 10,000 kilometer elliptical orbit. Chandra mass - 5,865 kg. (12,930 lbs.) Total mass - 22,753 kg. (50,162 lbs.) COSPAR - 1999-40B
SECONDARY PAYLOADS
Mid-deck: SWUIS-2 (2nd flight, see STS-85), GOSMAR (see STS-42), STL-A & B (STS-59), CCM-C (see STS-80), SAREX-II Configuration C-Q (see STS-9), AEROGEL (2nd flight), CGBA (see STS-50, with three experiments: 1 - Tissue Exper>, 2 - Ladybug Student Experiment, called STARS-1, 3 - NIH-B). BRIC-11/12 Block II (see STS-64), Micro-Electrical Mechanical System SMC-703 (MEMS, 1st flight), Light Weight Flexible Solar Array Hinge AFRL-704 (LFSAH, 1st flight), French ENSAE student exp., French Integrated Cardiovascalar Monitor, Syst. Exp. (ICMS).
Autonomous Observation Experiments: MSX (see STS-90) & SIMPLEX (see STS-84) - NRL-402
SHUTTLE STACK COMPONENTS
SSME's: 2012 (1) - 22nd use, 2031* (2) - 16th use, 2019* (3) - 19th use. * - Final uses of the Phase II SSME developement program engines.
OMS Pods/Engines: LP-05/115 - Pod & Motor both 15th use, RP-5/116 - Pod & Motor both 14th use
ET: ET-99 (SLWT-4)
SRB's: BI-097 (RSRM-69) 3rd use of SRB/ET TPS seperation video cameras.
SHUTTLE STACK COMPONENTS
For a complete listing, see the Shuttle Rocket Booster page

First Female Mission Commander.
MISSION MILESTONES:
3 May 1998 OV-102 landed at KSC following STS-90, and was returned to OPF-3 that same day.
August 1998 ET-99 arrives on dock at KSC.
4 December 1998 ET-99/SRB mate in VAB High Bay-1
4 February 1999 CXO (AXAF) Telescope payload arrived at the SLF at 0245 EST from TRW.
10 February 1999 Columbia rolled over from OPF-3 to VAB HB-2 for temproary storage.
15 April 1999 Columbia rolled over from VAB HB-1 to be temporarily stored in the MLP Refurbishment site (outside) to make room for repairs on STS-96 ET insulation repairs.
19 May 1999 Stack rolled out to Pad 39B for temporary storage under the launch pads protective cover.
20 May 1999 Rollback to VAB HB-1 following STS-96 ET insulation repairs.
2 June 1999 OV-102 rollover from OPF-1 to the VAB High Bay for stacking overnight. Chandra mated to its IUS.
7 June 1999 Stack rollout to Pad 39B, 1st motion at 0200 EDT, hard down at 1000 EDT.
18 June 1999 Chandra/IUS combination installed into the transportation canister for transport to Pad.
24 June 1999 TCDT countdown dress rehearsal conducted with crew aboard.
27 June 1999 CXO (AXAF) payload installed into the orbiter while ont he Pad.
16 July 1999 Astronaut arrival KSC at 0700 EDT. "Call to stations" - 43 hours countdown started at 1000 EDT.
23 July 1999 Launch
27 July 1999 Landing KSC, Returning to OPF-3 the next day.
Late September 1999 Columbia goes to Palmdale for an ODMP to begin preparations for STS-107, currently targeted for mid-2001
pre-shuttle missions. shuttle era missions.
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