1992-026A
Endeavour left the pad for the first time on 1992 May 7. On May 10, Endeavour completed its first rendezvous with the Intelsat satellite. Thout and Hieb left the airlock at 2039, and by 2153 Endeavour was stationkeeping with the target. Thout contacted Intelsat with the Capture Bar at 2157:04, but failed to grapple it and the satellite started coning. Brandenstein flew Endeavour toward the satellite again at 2208, and again at 2214, with Thout making a total of 4 contacts. At 2228 the rendezvous was abandoned, with a sep burn half an hour later, and the astronauts reentered the cabin at 0008, closed the hatch at 0012, and repressurized the airlock at 0016 after 3h 51m.
On May 11 at 2102, Endeavour was approaching Intelsat for the second time as Thuot and Hieb depressurized the airlock again, entering the bay at 2107. At 2318 Thout placed the capture bar against the Intelsat, but no grapple ensued. Four more contacts were unsuccessful and once again the rendezvous was abandoned. At 0228 Thout and Hieb, temporarily defeated, repressurized the airlock.
The third try on May 13 began with the airlock depressurized to 5 psi at 1912. The Transfer Initiate (TI) burn to begin the third rendezvous was at 2058 following a one orbit delay because of a software problem. The airlock was depressurized completely at 2109 and the hatch opened at 2112, with three astronauts emerging into open space for the first time. Thuot, Hieb and Akers completed assembly of the lower plane of the ASEM structure by 2219 as Brandenstein began braking the Orbiter.
Akers stood on the ASEM structure, Hieb on the starboard payload bay sill, and Thuot on the PAD foot restraint attached to the RMS arm. The Orbiter remained motionless beneath Intelsat as the astronauts watched it rotate between them. At last, a few seconds before midnight UT, the three astronauts grabbed hold of the errant satellite. They held it motionless for 45 minutes, and then Thuot was moved slightly on the RMS to allow Hieb and Thuot to begin attaching the capture bar. They finally got the bar attached at 0122:57 and hard docked at 0132:55. At 0137 Thuot stepped off hte RMS and Melnick used the arm to grapple the capture bar at 0147. The RMS then moved the Intelsat and capture bar over to the Orbus kick motor. At 0300 the satellite was firmly attached to Orbus. Akers, his consumables running low, moved back to the airlock at 0347.
At around 0415 the grapple extensions on the capture bar were removed, and by 0424 the Orbus motor was electrically connected to the satellite. The RMS was back in its cradle at 0428, and by 0432 all the astronauts were back in the vicinity of the airlock. Thornton gave the command to redeploy the satellite at 0440, but nothing happened. After two further failures, an electrical reconfiguration fixed the problem and at 0453 the Intelsat VI F-3, with its new Orbus 21S kick motor attached, glided out of the payload bay. Hieb reentered the bay for EVA cleanup while two sep burns were made.
At 0541 the three astronauts began repressurizing the airlock; the repressurization was almost complete by 0551. The EVA had lasted 8h 29m. The main goal of the mission achieved, attention now switched to the fourth and final EVA. The hatch opened at 2107 as Thornton and Akers entered the bay. The astronauts constructed the ASEM pyramid, a 4.5m high structure meant to simulate part of the Space Station Truss. Akers also evaluated the Crew Propulsive Device, a hand held gas-powered maneuvering unit. Next, a "leg" was attached to the MPESS pallet, and the RMS arm grappled and unberthed the entire MPESS, which was then attached to the ASEM pyramid. After the MPESS was undocked from the ASEM, the astronauts removed the "leg" and the MPESS was reberthed. The RMS was used to make a photo survey of the latches used to lock down the MPESS, and the ASEM was disassembled (with the base plane left in place). The astronauts returned to the airlock at 0437 and the hatch was closed at 0444. Repressurization was at 0452 after a 7h 45m EVA.
As well as the CPD, STS-49 carried a set of four further devices as part of the CSR (Crew Self Rescue) experiment: the Astrorope, the Bistem Pole, the Inflatable Pole, and the Telescope Pole. However, the extra time taken for Intelsat Rescue operations meant that none of these could be tested.
| STS-49 | |||
| Date | Time | Event | Orbit |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1991 Apr 25 | Rollout | Palmdale | |
| 1991 May 3 | SCA takeoff | Palmdale | |
| SCA landing | Biggs AAF, TX | ||
| 1991 May 5 | SCA takeoff | ||
| SCA landing | Kelly AFB TX | ||
| 1991 May 6 | SCA takeoff | ||
| SCA landing | Ellington Field, TX | ||
| SCA takeoff | |||
| SCA landing | Columbus AFB, MS | ||
| 1991 May 7 | SCA takeoff | ||
| SCA landing | KSC SLF | ||
| 1991 May 8 | Tow to VAB/2 | VAB/2 | |
| 1991 Jul 26 | Tow to OPF | OPF/1 | |
| 1992 Mar 7 | Tow to VAB | VAB | |
| 1992 Mar | ET mate | VAB | |
| 1992 Mar 13 | Rollout | LC39B | |
| 1992 Apr 6 | 1513 | FRF (0:22) | LC39B |
| 1992 May 7 | 2340:00 | Launch | LC39B |
| 2342:07 | SRB sep | ||
| 2348:29 | MECO | 88.50 63 x 337 x 28.3 (OMS dV) | |
| 2348:48 | ET-43 sep | 59 x 330 x 28.3 | |
| 1992 May 8 | 0019:58 | OMS 2 2:04 59m/s | 90.53 263 x 337 x 28.3 |
| 0022:02 | OMS 2 CO | ||
| 0053 | 90.49 258 x 339 x 28.3 | ||
| 0115 | PLBD open | ||
| 0452:44 | OMS 3 (LH 16s) 4m/s | 90.67 278 x 336 x 28.3 | |
| 0453:00 | OMS 3 CO | ||
| 2045:12 | OMS 4 (RH, 18s) 4m/s | 90.83 278 x 351 x 28.33 | |
| 2045:30 | OMS 4 CO | ||
| 1992 May 9 | 0500? | RCS burn, NC2 | |
| 0824 | 90.79 275 x 350 x 28.3 | ||
| 1800 | RMS survey, DTO 325 | ||
| 2011:01 | OMS 5 NSR (46s) 22m/s | ||
| 2011:47 | OMS 5 CO | ||
| 2039 | 91.54 347 x 353 x 28.33 | ||
| 2117:40 | OMS 6 NPC (RH, 12s) 3m/s | ||
| 2117:52 | OMS 6 CO | ||
| 2139 | 91.57 349 x 352 x 28.33 | ||
| 1992 May 10 | 0409 | 91.57 349 x 352 x 28.31 | |
| 0419 | 91.60 352 x 353 x 28.31 | ||
| 1542:50 | OMS 7 L 18s 4m/s | ||
| 1543:09 | OMS 7 CO | ||
| 1730? | Planar null NH2 burn | ||
| 1835 | NCC | ||
| 1933 | TI | ||
| 1942 | RMS power up | ||
| 2004 | In AL | ||
| 2017 | Begin AL depress | ||
| 2023 | MC2 | ||
| 2022 | EVA-1 Depress complete? | ||
| 2025 | EVA-1 depress | ||
| 2025 | HO | ||
| 2033 | MC3 | ||
| 2039 | EVA-1 egress | ||
| 2112 | On V-bar, rendezvous | ||
| 2157 | Failed capture | 91.87 364 x 367 x 28.31 | |
| 2300? | RCS sep | ||
| 2327 | PLB cleanup | ||
| 1992 May 11 | 0008 | Ingress | |
| 0012? | HC | ||
| 0016 | EVA-1 repress | ||
| 0016 | 91.90 365 x 369 x 28.31 | ||
| Phasing burn | |||
| 0450 | 91.86 361 x 370 x 28.31 | ||
| 1658:07 | NCC OMS 8 L 9s 2m/s | ||
| 1658:16 | OMS 8 CO | ||
| 2002 | TI 2m/s | ||
| 2006 | AL inner hatch closed | ||
| 2030 | Begin depress | ||
| 2053 | At zero pressure EVA-2 | ||
| 2100 | NC3 | ||
| 2102 | EVA-2 depress | ||
| 2110 | NC4 burn | 91.83 358 x 370 x 28.31 | |
| 2115 | EVA crew gathering tethers | ||
| 2127 | Preparing capture bar | ||
| 2145 | Range 50m | ||
| 2200 | Flyaround Intelsat | ||
| 2217 | (Re?-)Egress airlock | ||
| 2220 | Stationkeeping | ||
| 2253 | Final approach | ||
| 2305 | Failed to contact Intelsat | ||
| 2312 | Back off | ||
| 2315 | Reapproach | ||
| 2318:24 | Contact Intelsat | ||
| 1992 May 12 | 0016 | Reapproach | |
| 0028 | Contact Intelsat | ||
| 0032 | Contact Intelsat | ||
| 0042 | Contact Intelsat | ||
| 0100 | Contact Intelsat | ||
| 0136 | PLB cleanup, working on cap. bar | ||
| 0139 | Ingress? | ||
| 0145 | RCS sep | ||
| 0149 | RCS sep | 91.85 359 x 370 x 28.31 | |
| 0225 | Ingress? | ||
| 0228 | Ingress, EVA-2 repress | ||
| 0231 | Repress (STSMR) | ||
| 0301 | Repress cabin | ||
| 1717? | NC7 RCS | ||
| 1719 | 91.79 355 x 369 x 28.3 | ||
| 2100 | Test of 3 crew in airlock | ||
| 2202 | 91.78 353 x 370 x 28.3 | ||
| 1992 May 13 | |||
| 1225 | NC8 RCS | ||
| 1536? | RCS adjust | ||
| 1621 | NC9 RCS phasing | 91.79 354 x 369 x 28.3 | |
| 1829? | RCS NCC | ||
| 1830 | TI convergence failed | ||
| 1929 | TI delay | ||
| 1930 | Airlock at 5 psi? | ||
| 2057:55 | TI | ||
| 2109 | EVA-3 depress | ||
| 2110 | EVA-3 HO (STSMR) | ||
| 2109 | Depress complete | ||
| 2112 | Battery power | ||
| 2119:37 | MC1 | ||
| 2147 | In bay attaching tether reel to arm | ||
| 2153:49 | MC2 | ||
| 2203:49 | MC3 | ||
| 2213:49 | MC4 | ||
| 2219 | Braking | ||
| 2300 | Working with capture bar | ||
| 2315 | Stationkeeping | ||
| 2359:31 | Manual 3-astro capture of Intelsat VI F-3 | ||
| 1992 May 14 | 0100? | Capture bar attached to Intelsat by Hieb | |
| 0124 | Soft dock (of CB to Intelsat?) | ||
| 0133 | Hard dock at both ends | ||
| 1992 May 14 | 0147:41 | RMS grapple CB/Intelsat | 91.79 355 x 369 x 28.31 |
| 0207 | At PFR for shower cap removal? | ||
| 0224 | Removed shower cap from Orbus | ||
| 0258 | Berthing on Orbus | ||
| 0300 | RMS berth Intelsat on Orbus | ||
| 0300 | RMS ungrapple Intelsat | ||
| 0351 | Stowing extension beams | ||
| 0354 | PAD stowed | ||
| 0424? | Head for airlock | ||
| 0440 | First deploy command, failed | ||
| 0453:22 | Intelsat deploy | ||
| 0516 | RCS Sep-1 | ||
| 0539:22 | OMS-9R Sep-2 19s 5m/s | ||
| 0539:42 | OMS-9 CO | ||
| 0536 | HC | ||
| 0541 | EVA-3 repress | 91.60 344 x 361 x 28.31 | |
| EVA-4 for ASEM | |||
| 2054 | Begin depress | ||
| 2104? | Depress | ||
| 2104 | HO | ||
| 2107 | EVA-4 begin; assemble ASEM | ||
| 2107? | EV3 suit problem | ||
| 2130? | Egress | ||
| 2203? | Begin ASEM assembly | ||
| 2306 | ASEM assembly complete | ||
| 2310? | CPD flight by Akers | ||
| 2312? | RMS grapple MPESS | ||
| 2318? | RMS unberth MPESS | ||
| 2339 | CPD experiment completed | ||
| 1992 May 15 | 0027? | Beginning attachment of MPESS to ASEM | |
| 0033 | Soft dock MPESS/ASEM | ||
| 0040 | Attach ASEM 'legs' to MPESS | ||
| 1992 May 15 | 0110? | RMS docked MPESS to ASEM | |
| 0210 | Removing legs | ||
| 0241 | RMS reberthed MPESS | ||
| 0245 | RMS ungrapple MPESS | ||
| 0310 | Disassemble ASEM pyramid | ||
| 0340 | PLB cleanup | ||
| 0434 | Ingress | ||
| 0440 | RMS stowed | ||
| 0440 | TC closed | ||
| 0445? | HC | ||
| 0450 | Power to SCU | ||
| 0452 | EVA-4 repress 7:45 | ||
| 1992 May 16 | 1400 | 91.58 343 x 361 x 28.32 | |
| 1734 | PLBD close | ||
| 1955:15 | OMS DO 2:48 96m/s | ||
| 1958:02 | OMS DO CO | ||
| 2027:03 | Entry | ||
| 2057:21 | Gear down | ||
| 2057:38 | Landing | RW22 EAFB | |
| 2057:50 | NGTD | ||
| 2057:51 | Drag chute out | ||
| 2058:36 | Wheels stop | ||
| 1992 May 27 | 1945 | SCA 911 takeoff | EAFB |
| 1992 May 28 | 0230 | SCA 911 landing | Biggs AAF TX |
| 1992 May 29 | 1730 | SCA 911 takeoff | |
| 1850 | SCA 911 landing | Kelly AFB TX | |
| 1992 May 30 | 1030 | SCA 911 takeoff | |
| 1450 | SCA 911 landing | KSC SLF | |
| 1615 | Tow to OPF | ||
