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STS-44 Mission: DOD; DSP
Space Shuttle: Atlantis
Launch Pad: 39A 
Launch Weight: 259,629 pounds
Launched: November 24, 1991, 6:44:00 p.m. EST
Landing Site: Edwards Air Force Base, Calif.
Landing: December 1, 1991, 2:34:44 p.m. PST
Landing Weight: 193,825 pounds
Runway: 5 
Rollout Distance: 11,191 feet
Rollout Time: 107 seconds
Revolution: 110
Mission Duration: 6 days, 22 hours, 50 minutes, 44 seconds
Returned to KSC: December 8, 1991
Orbit Altitude: 197 nautical miles
Orbit Inclination: 28.5 degrees
Miles Traveled: 2.9 million 

Crew Members

                    

Image above: STS-44 Crew photo with Commander Frederick D. Gregory, Pilot 
Terence T. Henricks, Mission Specialists Mario Runco, Jr., James S. Voss, F. 
Story Musgrave and Thomas J. Hennen. Image Credit: NASA 

Launch Highlights

 The launch set for November 19 was delayed due to a malfunctioning redundant 
inertial measurement unit on the Inertial Upper Stage booster attached to the 
Defense Support Program satellite. The unit was replaced and tested. The launch 
was reset for November 24, delayed 13 minutes to allow an orbiting spacecraft to 
pass and allow external tank liquid oxygen replenishment after minor repairs to 
the valve in the liquid oxygen replenishment system in the mobile launcher 
platform.

Mission Highlights

A dedicated Department of Defense mission. The unclassified payload included a 
Defense Support Program (DSP) satellite and attached Inertial Upper Stage (IUS), 
which were deployed on flight day one. Cargo bay and middeck payloads: Interim 
Operational Contamination Monitor (IOCM); Terra Scout; Military Man in Space 
(M88-1); Air Force Maui Optical System (AMOS); Cosmic Radiation Effects and 
Activation Monitor (CREAM); Shuttle Activation Monitor (SAM); Radiation 
Monitoring Equipment III (RME III); Visual Function Tester-1 (VFT-1); 
Ultraviolet Plume Instrument (UVPI). Bioreactor Flow and Particle Trajectory 
experiment; and Extended Duration Orbiter Medical Project, a series of 
investigations in support of Extended Duration Orbiter.

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