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1990-10-08
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Mission Control Status 1
MISSION CONTROL STATUS REPORT
REPORT 1
MET 00/07:35
CDT 2:20 p.m.
The STS-41 flight crew successfully deployed the Ulysses
probe, a joint American-European project that will orbit the
sun's poles, at 00/06:01 MET or about 12:47 p.m. CDT. At the
time of deploy Discovery was over the Pacific Ocean between Guam
and the Hawaiian Islands.
"Good deploy Houston," said Commander Richard Richards,
seconds after the probe left Discovery's payload bay. "Ulysses
is on its way."
Mission Specialist Thomas Akers triggered the mechanism that
pushed Ulysses free of the Discovery's payload bay. After the
spacecraft's deploy, the Ulysses' two-stage Inertial Upper Stage
(IUS) and a single-stage Payload Assist Module (PAM) fired to
boost Ulysses on a trajectory that will take it to Jupiter in 16
months. The first burn fired about 65 minutes after the
spacecraft was deployed and will increase the Ulysses stack's
velocity from 17,300 miles per hour to 22,550 miles per hour
relative to Earth. The remaining two burns occurred within seven
minutes of the first burn. After the second burn the
spacecraft's velocity increased to about 25,580 miles per hour
and after the final burn, 34,130 miles per hour. This is the
first time a three-stage booster system has been used.
Ulysses will receive a gravity assist from Jupiter and move
into a solar orbit. Ulysses is scheduled to make its first
observations of the sun's southern pole between June and October
1994 and its northern pole between June and September 1995.
Ulysses' deployment highlighted the mission's first day in
orbit that began with a 6:47 a.m. CDT launch. Commander Richard
Richards and Pilot Robert Cabana then maneuvered Discovery into a
stable orbit of about 160 nautical miles altitude. Shortly after
launch, flight controllers noted the Flash Evaporator System's
(FES) controller A was not working properly. Flight controllers
switched to controller B and recovered A which is operating
properly. About two minutes after lift-off, the FES is activated
and provides orbiter heat rejection of the Freon-21 collant loops
via water boiling. Flash evaporator operation continues until the
payload bay doors are opened in orbit and is not reactivated
until the conclusion of orbital operations and when the payload
bay doors are closed. The FES has three controllers with A as the
primary one.
Pre-deployment activites went smoothly with most of the
crew's attention directed toward Ulysses. However, the crew also
activated the Chromosome and Plant Cell Division (CHROMEX-2)
experiment which is designed to determine how the genetic
material in cells responsible for root growth in flowering plants
reponds to microgravity. An improved understanding of plant
responses to spaceflight is required for the long-term goal of a
controlled ecological life support system for space use.