STS-42 Fact Sheet
Written and Edited by Cliff Lethbridge
STS-42 -- Discovery

45th Space Shuttle Mission 14th Flight of Discovery Crew: Ronald J. Grabe, Commander Stephen S. Oswald, Pilot William F. Readdy, Mission Specialist Norman E. Thagard, Mission Specialist David C. Hilmers, Mission Specialist Roberta L. Bondar, Payload Specialist Ulf D. Merbold, Payload Specialist

Orbiter Preparations:

Tow to Orbiter Processing Facility - September 27, 1991
Rollover to Vehicle Assembly Building - December 12, 1991
Rollout to Launch Pad 39A - December 19, 1991

Launch:

January 22, 1992 - 9:52:33 a.m. EST. Launch was delayed one hour to allow evaluation of KSC field mill (static electricity) indicators and to assess a transient power surge from an orbiter fuel cell.

Landing:

January 30, 1992 - 8:07:17 a.m. PST at Runway 22, Edwards Air Force Base, California. Rollout distance was 9,841 feet. Rollout time was 58 seconds. Mission duration was 8 days, 1 hour, 14 minutes, 44 seconds. Landing occurred during the 129th orbit.

Mission Summary:

The primary payload was the International Microgravity Laboratory-1 (IML-1) utilizing the pressurized Spacelab module. A host of experiments in life sciences and materials processing sciences were performed.

Secondary payloads included 12 GAS experiments, Gelation of Sols Applied Microgravity Research-1 (GOSAMR-1), IMAX Camera, Investigations Into Polymer Membrane Processing (IPMP), Radiation Monitoring Experiment III (RME III) and two SSIP experiments.

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© Copyright 1998 by Clifford J. Lethbridge