Conference 7.286::space

850.0. "STS-55 Landing marks milestone in the U.S. Space Shuttle Program" by PRAGMA::GRIFFIN (Dave Griffin) Thu May 06 1993 15:35

Ed Campion
Headquarters, Washington, D.C.

Jeffrey Carr
Johnson Space Center, Houston

RELEASE:  93-79

        With the return this morning of the Space Shuttle Columbia from its
14th successful mission, just over 1 full year of flight time in space has been
accumulated by the Space Shuttle fleet.  In that time, a number of significant
statistics have emerged.

        The 1-year mark was surpassed at 10:01:42 a.m.  EDT on May 5.  With the
landing at the Dryden Flight Research Facility, Edwards, Calif., at 10:30 a.m.
EDT today, the total accumulated Shuttle flight time stands at 365 days, 23
hours and 28 minutes.

        The Space Shuttle flight era began with STS-1 and the launch of
Columbia on April 12, 1981 with mission Commander John Young and Pilot Robert
Crippen. Since then, Space Shuttles have carried to orbit 670 major, fixed and
deployable payloads and experiments totalling 822 tons and returned 636
weighing 425 tons.

        Representing only 5 percent of all U.S. space launches, Space Shuttles
have carried 56 percent of all U.S. payloads to orbit and 44 percent of all
U.S. cargo weight to orbit.

        Fifty-one satellites have been deployed, 5 of which were recovered and
returned on the same flight.  Three of the 51 satellites were interplanetary
probes to Venus (Magellan), Jupiter (Galileo) and the Sun (Ulysses).  Three
were orbiting observatories - the Hubble Space Telescope, the Gamma Ray
Observatory and the Upper Atmosphere Research Satellite.


        Others were communications satellites and experiment platforms such as
the Long Duration Exposure Facility which orbited Earth for nearly 6 years
before being retrieved and returned to Earth. Two communications satellites,
the PALAPA-B2 and WESTAR-VI, were later retrieved, returned to Earth for
refurbishment and relaunched.

        Scientific studies aboard the Space Shuttle and in Spacelab modules
carried aboard Shuttles have investigated life sciences, materials sciences,
combustion science, solar science and physics, space plasma physics,
atmospheric studies, biotechnology, Earth observations, astronomy and the study
of the behavior of metals, semiconductors, bio-processing and fluids in the
microgravity enviroment of space flight.  Time accumulated in Spacelab science
operations, alone, stands at 96 days and 13 hours.

        Including 16 non-U.S. flyers representing 10 different countries, 161
individuals have flown in space at least once on the Shuttle. Astronauts have
conducted 16 rendezvous operations, the retrieval and repair of 3 satellites
and 20 spacewalks totalling over 223 hours.  Six of them were untethered free-
flights using the manned maneuvering unit.



"365 DAYS IN SPACE"
A STATISTICAL STUDY OF SPACE SHUTTLE PRODUCTIVITY
As of STS-55 landing on May 6, 1993


SIGNIFICANT MILESTONES

Missions Launched:  55 (approx. 5 percent of total U.S. launches)
Miles Traveled:  Over 130 million statute miles
Orbits Flown:  Over 6,200
Mission Success Rate:  98.181 percent (54 of 55 flights successful)


HUMAN ACTIVITY ON SHUTTLE

Shuttle Man-Years in Orbit:  5.7 (65 percent of total U.S. man-years)
                                 (25 percent of total man-years)

Individuals Flown in Space on Shuttle:  161 (55 percent of total humans in
space)

        * 145 U.S. flyers (80 percent of total Americans in space)
        * 16 non-U.S. flyers representing 10 countries
        * 89 flyers have made multiple flights

SHUTTLE PAYLOADS LAUNCHED & RETURNED

Payloads to Orbit:  670 (approx. 56 percent of total U.S. payloads to orbit)
                     (approx. 16 percent of total announced payloads to orbit)
(Note:  Includes major attached payloads and experiments, deployables)

Payloads Returned to Earth:  636

Satellites Deployed:  51
Satellites Retrieved and Repaired:  3 (Solar Max, LEASAT-3, INTELSAT-V)
Satellites Retrieved and Returned to Earth:  9 (2 refurbished and relaunched)

SHUTTLE WEIGHT-LIFTING RECORD

Cargo Weight to Orbit:  1.64 million lbs (822 tons) (44 percent total U.S.)
Cargo Weight Deployed:  756,000 lbs (378 tons)
Total Weight (including Orbiters) to Orbit:  approx. 13.5 million lbs


MISCELLANEOUS

Shuttle Rendezvous Operations:  16
Shuttle Spacewalks (EVAs):  20 (16 planned and 4 unplanned; 6 free-flyers)
Total Shuttle EVA Time:  223 hours
Space-walking Shuttle Astronauts:  22 (46 percent of total U.S. spacewalkers)
Women Flown in Space on Shuttle:  19
American Minority Astronauts Flown:  11
Members of Congress Flown:  2

Shuttle Orbiter Flights
   Discovery    16
   Columbia     14
   Atlantis     12
   Challenger   10
   Endeavour     3

Spacelab Missions: 12 (including 96 days, 13 hrs. of science operations)

Note:  These statistics are based on announced information and as such, are
somewhat conservative.  Some information regarding Department of Defense
missions was unavailable for these calculations.