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ArchivesText SizeSTS-66 Mission: ATLAS-3; CRISTA-SPAS
Space Shuttle: Atlantis
Launch Pad: 39B 
Launched: November 3, 1994, 11:59:43 a.m. EST
Landing Site: Edwards Air Force Base, Calif.
Landing: November 14, 1994, 7:33:45 a.m. PST 
Runway: 22 
Rollout Distance: 7,657 feet
Rollout Time: 49 seconds
Revolution: 174
Mission Duration: 10 days, 22 hours, 34 minutes, 2 seconds
Orbit Altitude: 164 nautical miles
Orbit Inclination: 57 degrees
Miles Traveled: 4.5 million 

Crew Members

                    

Image above: STS-66 Crew photo with Commander Donald R. McMonagle, Pilot Curtis 
L. Brown Jr., Payload Commander Ellen Ochoa, Mission Specialists Scott E. 
Parazynski, Joseph R. Tanner and Jean-Francois Clervoy. Image Credit: NASA 

Launch Highlights

 Launch set for 11:56 a.m. was delayed slightly while shuttle managers assessed 
weather at the transoceanic abort landing sites. Liftoff was Atlantis' first 
since an extended checkout and modification period at Rockwell plant in Palmdale 
(departed KSC October 1992 and returned May 1994). Orbiter returned to KSC 
outfitted with improved nosewheel steering, internal plumbing and electrical 
connections to accommodate an Extended Duration Orbiter pallet, and electrical 
wiring to enable OV-104 to be fitted with Orbiter Docking System for docking 
with Russian Space Station Mir.

Mission Highlights

STS-66 further advanced comprehensive effort to collect data about sun's energy 
output, chemical makeup of the Earth's middle atmosphere, and how these factors 
affect global ozone levels. Seven instruments on the Atmospheric Laboratory for 
Applications and Science-3 (ATLAS-3) also flew on first two ATLAS flights. No 
other collection of space-based instruments provides same extensive range of 
atmospheric measurements. Also considered a primary payload was the Cryogenic 
Infrared Spectrometers and Telescopes for the Atmosphere-Shuttle Pallet 
Satellite (CRISTA-SPAS), continuing joint NASA-German Space Agency (DARA) series 
of scientific missions. ATLAS-3 and CRISTA-SPAS considered as joint mission with 
single set of science objectives. During mission, crew divided into two teams 
for around-the-clock research. 

ATLAS-3 instruments, mounted on a Spacelab pallet in cargo bay, included 
Atmospheric Trace Molecule Spectroscopy (ATMOS), which collected more data on 
trace gases in the atmosphere than on all three of its previous flights 
combined; Shuttle Solar Backscatter Ultraviolet Spectrometer (SSBUV), which took 
ozone measurements to calibrate ozone monitor on aging NOAA-9 satellite as well 
as cooperative measurements with other ATLAS-3 instruments; Active Cavity 
Radiometer Irradiance Monitor (ACRIM), which took extremely precise measurements 
of the sun's total radiation for 30 orbits as calibration reference for sister 
instrument on Upper Atmosphere Research Satellite (UARS) launched in 1991; 
Measurement of the Solar Constant (SOLCON), provided by Belgium, which also 
measured solar radiation but as reference point to track changes over years; 
Solar Spectrum Measurement (SOLSPEC), French instrument, measured sun's 
radiation as function of wavelength; and Solar Ultraviolet Spectral Irradiance 
Monitor (SUSIM), which collected its highest precision solar ultraviolet 
radiation measurements in its 15-year lifetime. Millimeter Wave Atmospheric 
Sounder (MAS), collected nine hours of observations, measuring distribution of 
water vapor, chlorine monoxide and ozone at altitudes between 12 and 60 miles 
(20-100 kilometers), before computer malfunction halted instrument operations. 

CRISTA-SPAS released from orbiter's Remote Manipulator System arm on second day 
of mission. Flying at distance of about 25-44 miles (40-70 kilometers) behind 
the shuttle, payload collected data for more than eight days before being 
retrieved and returned to cargo bay. CRISTA instrument gathered first global 
information about medium- and small- scale disturbances in trace gases in middle 
atmosphere, which could lead to better models of the atmosphere and Earth's 
energy balance. Second CRISTA-SPAS instrument, the Middle Atmosphere High 
Resolution Spectrograph Investigation (MAHRSI) measured amounts of 
ozone-destroying hydroxyl and nitric oxide in the middle atmosphere and lower 
thermosphere from 24-72 miles (40-120 kilometers). MAHRSI yielded first complete 
global maps of hydroxyl in atmosphere. 

For retrieval of CRISTA-SPAS, different approach method to spacecraft was 
successfully tested as prelude to upcoming U.S. Shuttle/Russian Space Station 
Mir docking flights. Called R-Bar approach, it is expected to save propellant 
while reducing risk of contamination to Mir systems from orbiter thruster jet 
firings. 

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