1990-097A
The STS-38 mission was a classified military satellite deployment mission. Of all the STS military flights, this one is possibly the most mysterious.
The OMS-1 burn occurred at an altitude of around 120 km. It probably had a magnitude of 30-35 m/s based on the duration. The angle is unknown, but plausible solutions are to keep the angle or the perigee constant. If the angle is constant (dVx = 30-35, dVz = 0) the orbit is 16-27 x 164-169 km. If the perigee is constant (dVx=17-20, dVx=25-29) the orbit is 73 x 162-170 km. If the apogee is constant the perigee is implausibly high. The ET reentered in the Indian Ocean at 28.5S 84.9E, similar to other non-direct-ascent flights, and most likely the perigee was on the low side: I adopt 20 x 165 km as a plausible post-MECO orbit.
The Shuttle made an RCS and an OMS burn to raise the orbit to 263 x 272 km, and presumably this was the orbit from which payload deployment occurred (unless the OMS was a post-deploy separation burn, but it seems a bit large for this).
The AFP-658 payload was deployed on Nov 16. On Nov 17, the perigee was lowered to 222 km, either for Earth observations or to optimize landing opportunities. Landing was on Nov 20.
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| STS-38 |
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| Date | Time | Event | Orbit |
|---|
|
| 1990 Jun 8 | | Tow to VAB |
| 1990 Jun 9 | | ET mate | VAB |
| 1990 Jun 18 | | Rollout | LC39A |
| 1990 Aug 8 | | Rollback to outside VAB |
| 1990 Aug 9 | | Rollback to VAB | VAB/3 |
| 1990 Aug 15 | | Demate | VAB/3 |
| 1990 Aug 16 | | Tow to OPF | OPF/2 |
| 1990 Oct 2 | | Tow to VAB | VAB/3 |
| 1990 Oct 4 | | ET mate | VAB/3 |
| 1990 Oct 12 | | Rollout | LC39A |
| 1990 Nov 15 | 2348:15 | Launch from LC39A |
| | 2350:18 | SRB sep |
| | 2356:44 | MECO |
| | 2357:02 | ET sep | 86.29 20 x 165 x 28.45 |
| | 2358:45 | OMS-1 (75s) 30-35m/s?? |
| 1990 Nov 16 | 0000:07 | OMS-1 CO | 87.44 73 x 221 x 28.45 |
| 1990 Nov 16 | 0025:48 | OMS-2 (103s) 40m/s? |
| | 0027:21 | OMS-2 CO |
| | 0122:23 | PLBD open |
| | 0041 | | 88.89 215 x 223 x 28.47 |
| | 0100 | | 88.87 214 x 223 x 28.47 |
| | 0335 | At perigee 28S 47E |
| | 0425 | At apogee 26N 125W |
| | 0430? | RCS burn |
| | 0500 | | 89.36 217 x 267 x 28.47 |
| | 0528:23 | OMS-3 30s burn |
| | 0528:53 | OMS-3 CO |
| | 0656? | AFP-658 deployed |
| | 0716 | RCS sep? |
| | 0948 | | 89.87 263 x 272 x 28.46 |
| | 2322 | | 89.88 264 x 272 x 28.46 |
| 1990 Nov 17 | 0437? | PROWLER deploy |
| | 0456? | RCS sep? |
|
| | 1249 | | 89.80 260 x 269 x 28.47 |
| | 2119:45 | OMS-4 20s |
| | 2120:05 | OMS-4 CO |
| | 2120 | | 89.39 222 x 266 x 28.47 |
| 1998 Nov 18 | 0718 | | 89.38 221 x 265 x 28.47 |
| | 2134 | | 89.35 220 x 264 x 28.47 |
| 1990 Nov 19 | 1448 | | 89.34 220 x 263 x 28.48 |
| 1990 Nov 19 | 2035 | Landing waved off |
| 1990 Nov 20 | 0147 | | 89.32 219 x 262 x 28.48 |
| 1990 Nov 20 | 1811 | | 89.31 219 x 261 x 28.47 |
| | 1916:46 | PLBD closed |
| | 2046:15 | OMS DO 1:55 70m/s |
| | 2048:09 | OMS DO CO |
| | 2111:52 | Entry |
| | 2142:42 | Landed KSC RW33 |
| | 2142:52 | NGTD |
| | 2143:41 | Wheels stop |
| 1990 Nov 21 | 0130 | Tow to OPF/2 |
