STS-32 was the 33rd mission of NASA's Space Shuttle program, and the ninth launch of Space Shuttle Columbia. Launched on January 9, 1990, it marked the first use of the Launch Complex 39A of Kennedy Space Center since 1986; it also marked the first use of Mobile Launcher Platform-3 (MLP-3) in the Space Shuttle program. STS-32 was, at the time, the longest shuttle mission yet conducted, with a duration of nearly 11 days. Before STS-32, the only mission of the same duration had been STS-9 in 1983. On January 20, 1990, STS-32 executed the third night landing of the shuttle program. STS-32 was also the first Shuttle mission of the 1990s.

Quick Facts Names, Mission type ...

STS-32

Columbia retrieves the Long Duration Exposure Facility.
Names	Space Transportation System-32 STS-32R
Mission type	Syncom IV-F5 (also known as Leasat 5) military communications satellite) deployment LDEF satellite retrieval
Operator	NASA
COSPAR ID	1990-002A
SATCAT no.	20409
Mission duration	10 days, 21 hours, 0 minutes, 36 seconds (achieved)
Distance travelled	7,258,096 km (4,509,972 mi)
Orbits completed	172
Spacecraft properties
Spacecraft	Space Shuttle Columbia
Launch mass	116,117 kg (255,994 lb)
Landing mass	103,571 kg (228,335 lb)
Payload mass	12,014 kg (26,486 lb)
Crew
Crew size	5
Members	Daniel Brandenstein Jim Wetherbee Bonnie J. Dunbar Marsha Ivins G. David Low
Start of mission
Launch date	January 9, 1990, 12:35:00 UTC
Rocket	Space Shuttle Columbia
Launch site	Kennedy Space Center, LC-39A
Contractor	Rockwell International
End of mission
Landing date	January 20, 1990, 09:35:36 UTC
Landing site	Edwards Air Force Base, Runway 22
Orbital parameters
Reference system	Geocentric orbit
Regime	Low Earth orbit
Perigee altitude	296 km (184 mi)
Apogee altitude	361 km (224 mi)
Inclination	28.45°
Period	91.10 minutes
Instruments
American Flight Echocardiograph (AFE) Characterization of Neurospora Circadian Rhythms (CNCR) Fluid Experiment Apparatus (FEA) Latitude / Longitude Locator (L3) Mesoscale Lightning Experiment (MLE) Protein Crystal Growth (PCG)
STS-32 mission patch Standing: Marsha Ivins, G. David Low, Bonnie J. Dunbar Seated: Daniel Brandenstein, Jim Wetherbee Space Shuttle program ← STS-33 (32) STS-36 (34) →

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The mission was technically designated STS-32R, as the original STS-32 designator had been used internally for STS-61-C, the 24th Space Shuttle mission. Official documentation and flight paperwork for that mission had contained the designator STS-32 throughout. Flights with the STS-26 through STS-33 designators used the R in their documentation to avoid conflicts in tracking data from one mission to another.^[1]

Launch Complex 39A was modified extensively in preparation for the launch, with STS-32 being the first launch from the refurbished pad since STS-61-C in 1986. NASA made improvements to the crew emergency egress system and the shuttle payload room, increased anti-freeze protection for the water systems, installed debris traps used during propellant loading, and added more weather protection features and an umbilical to provide power, instrumentation and controls to the heaters for the solid rocket booster (SRB) field joints.

MLP-3, the oldest of the three Apollo-era launch structures, also underwent extensive remodeling for use with the shuttle. These modifications included the removal of the umbilical tower, the reconfiguring of three exhaust holes, and amendments to the electrical and mechanical ground support systems.

STS-32 launched from Kennedy Space Center (KSC), Florida, on January 9, 1990, at 7:35:00 a.m. EST. The launch was initially scheduled for December 18, 1989, but was later postponed to allow the modifications to Pad A to be completed and verified. The second scheduled launch, on January 8, 1990, was aborted due to weather conditions. Columbia had a mission launch weight of 116,117 kg (255,994 lb)

The primary objectives of the mission were to deploy the Syncom IV-F5 military communications satellite (also known as Leasat 5),^[3] and to retrieve NASA's Long Duration Exposure Facility (LDEF), whose retrieval had been delayed for 41⁄2 years by scheduling changes and the Challenger disaster of 1986. Syncom IV-F5 (Leasat-5) was deployed on the second flight day, and a third-stage Minuteman solid apogee kick motor propelled it into a geosynchronous orbit. Dunbar retrieved the LDEF on the fourth day of the flight using the shuttle's Remote Manipulator System (Canadarm). The timeliness of the retrieval was of critical importance, because a high rate of solar flux had increased the density of the LDEF's orbital environment and accelerated its rate of orbital decay. Specialists who carefully monitored the stability of the craft's orbit had anticipated that if the LDEF was not retrieved in time, it would pass too low for the shuttle to safely reach, and could be destroyed during re-entry in February 1990. Thus, the mission's exact liftoff time was determined about 12 hours before launch, using the latest tracking data on LDEF. It was flown on a 352 km (219 mi) orbit inclined 28.45° to the equator.

The crew performed a 41⁄2-hour photographic survey of the free-flying structure, which held 57 science, technology and applications experiments. The 12-sided cylinder, about the size of a small satellite bus, was then berthed in the orbiter's payload bay for return to Earth.

NASA had planned to acquire data on the crew members' exposure to long periods of zero gravity, and its effects on the crew's performance while landing the orbiter after an extended mission. STS-32 set a new shuttle duration record of nearly eleven days. An orbiter kit was developed to allow the shuttle to operate for up to 16 days in Earth orbit, and would later make its debut on Columbia's STS-50 mission in 1992.

The retrieval of LDEF was filmed with an IMAX camera, and appeared in the IMAX film Destiny in Space in 1994. Earth observation footage from the camera also appeared in the 1990 film Blue Planet.

Columbia landed safely on January 20, 1990, at 1:35:37 a.m. PST on Runway 22 of Edwards Air Force Base, California. The orbiter had a landing weight of 103,571 kg (228,335 lb). The roll-out distance was 3,271 m (10,732 ft), and the roll-out time was 62 seconds. The orbiter returned to KSC on January 26, 1990.

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. 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.^[4]

The three stars on the left and two stars on the right of STS-32's insignia symbolized the flight's numerical designation in the Space Transportation System's mission sequence. The inverted orbiter on the mission patch reflects the overhead phasing required for rendezvous with LDEF. LDEF had dropped to such a low altitude that the orbiter could not do the usual lower-orbit catch-up because of the thicker atmosphere, and had to reach the LDEF from above.

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