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STS-43 Mission: TDRS-E; SSBUV-03; SHARE-II
Space Shuttle: Atlantis
Launch Pad: 39A 
Launch Weight: 259,374 pounds
Launched: August 2, 1991, 11:01:59 a.m. EDT
Landing Site: Kennedy Space Center, Florida
Landing: August 11, 1991, 8:23:25 a.m. EDT
Landing Weight: 196,088 pounds
Runway: 15 
Rollout Distance: 9,890 feet
Rollout Time: 59 seconds
Revolution: 142
Mission Duration: 8 days, 21 hours, 21 minutes, 25 seconds
Orbit Altitude: 174 nautical miles
Orbit Inclination: 28.45 degrees
Miles Traveled: 3.7 million 

Crew Members

                    

Image above: STS-43 Crew photo with Commander John E. Blaha, Pilot Michael E. 
Baker, Mission Specialists Shannon W. Lucid, James C. Adamson and G. David Low. 
Image Credit: NASA 

Launch Highlights

 The launch was originally set for July 23, but was moved to July 24 to allow 
time to replace a faulty integrated electronics assembly that controls 
orbiter/external tank separation. The mission was postponed again about five 
hours before liftoff on July 24 due to a faulty main engine controller on the 
number three main engine. The controller was replaced and retested; launch was 
reset for August 1. Liftoff set for 11:01 a.m. delayed due to cabin pressure 
vent valve reading and postponed at 12:28 p.m. due to unacceptable 
return-to-launch site weather conditions. Launch reset for August 2.

Mission Highlights

The primary payload, Tracking and Data Relay Satellite-5 (TDRS-5) was attached 
to an inertial Upper Stage (IUS), and deployed about six hours into flight, the 
IUS propelled the satellite into geosynchronous orbit; TDRS-5 becomes the fourth 
member of the orbiting TDRS cluster. Secondary payloads were Space Station Heat 
Pipe Advanced Radiator Element II (SHARE II); Shuttle Solar Backscatter 
Ultra-Violet (SSBUV) instrument; Tank Pressure Control Equipment (TPCE) and 
Optical Communications Through Windows (OCTW). Other experiments included 
Auroral Photography Experiment (APE-B) Protein Crystal Growth Ill (PCG Ill); 
Bioserve / Instrumentation Technology Associates Materials Dispersion Apparatus 
(BIMDA); Investigations Into Polymer Membrane Processing (IPMP); Space 
Acceleration Measurement System (SAMS); Solid Surface Combustion Experiment 
(SSCE); Ultraviolet Plume imager (UVPI); and the Air Force Maui Optical Site 
(AMOS) experiment.

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