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ArchivesText SizeSTS-68 Mission: Space Radar Laboratory (SRL-2)
Space Shuttle: Endeavour
Launch Pad: 39A 
Launched: September 30, 1994, 7:16:00 a.m. EDT
Landing Site: Edwards Air Force Base, Calif.
Landing: October 11, 1994, 10:02:08 a.m. PDT 
Runway: 22 
Rollout Distance: 8,495 feet
Rollout Time: 60 seconds
Revolution: 182
Mission Duration: 11 days, 5 hours, 46 minutes, 8 seconds
Orbit Altitude: 120 nautical miles
Orbit Inclination: 57 degrees
Miles Traveled: 4.7 million 

Crew Members

                    

Image above: STS-68 Crew photo with Commander Michael A. Baker, Pilot Terrence 
W. Wilcutt, Payload Commander Thomas D. Jones, Mission Specialists Steven L. 
Smith, Daniel W. Bursch and Peter J. K. Wisoff. Image Credit: NASA 

Mission Highlights

 STS-68 marked second flight in 1994 of Space Radar Laboratory (first flight was 
STS-59 in April), part of NASA's Mission to Planet Earth. Flying SRL during 
different seasons allowed comparison of changes between first and second 
flights. SRL-2 was activated on flight day one, and around-the-clock 
observations conducted by astronauts split into two teams. Besides repeating 
data takes over same locations as on first flight, unusual events also imaged, 
including erupting volcano in Russia and islands of Japan after earthquake 
there. Also tested was ability of SRL-2 imaging radars, Spaceborne Imaging 
Radar-C (SIR-C) and X- band Synthetic Aperture Radar (X-SAR), to discern 
difference between such human-induced phenomena as an oil spill in the ocean and 
naturally occurring film. 

Mission also took advantage of opportunity to study fires set in British 
Columbia, Canada, for forest management purposes. Special readings were taken 
with another SRL element, Measurement of Air Pollution from satellites (MAPS), 
to gain better understanding of carbon monoxide emissions from burning forest. 
Flying for fourth time on the shuttle, MAPS is designed to measure global 
distribution of carbon monoxide. 

On flight day six, mission extended one day by Mission Management Team. The 
maneuvering capability of the orbiter was demonstrated anew in the latter half 
of mission, when different data-gathering method was tried. Called 
interferometry, it required repeated, nearly coincidental imaging passes with 
SIR-C/X-SAR over target sites. In one instance, Endeavour piloted to within 30 
feet (nine meters) of where it was flown on first flight in April. Collected 
data can be transcribed into detailed topographic images showing elevation and 
other features. Interferometric passes completed over central North America, 
Amazon forests of central Brazil, and volcanoes of Kamchatka Peninsula in 
Russia. Such images, if produced regularly over long term, could provide 
information on the movements of Earth's surface as small as fraction of an inch, 
which could be invaluable in detecting pre-eruptive changes in volcanoes and 
movements in fault lines before earthquakes. 

Other cargo bay payloads included five Get Away Specials (GAS): two sponsored by 
university student groups, one by Swedish Space Corp., and two by U.S. Postal 
Service holding 500,000 commemorative stamps honoring 25th anniversary of Apollo 
11. 

Middeck payloads: Commercial Protein Crystal Growth (CPCG) to study dynamics of 
protein crystallization and also to obtain protein crystals large enough to 
allow structural analysis; Biological Research in Canisters (BRIC-01), flying 
for first time and holding gypsy moth eggs to determine how microgravity affects 
moth development; CHROMEX-05, fifth in series designed to examine effects of 
microgravity on physiological processes in plants. Previous CHROMEX flights have 
shown that plants grown in space may not produce seed embryos; CHROMEX-05 
designed to show whether infertility is due to microgravity or another 
environmental factor. Also in middeck: Cosmic Radiation Effects and Activation 
Monitor (CREAM), to collect data on cosmic rays; and Military Applications of 
Ship Tracks (MAST), part of five-year Navy effort to study effects of ships on 
marine environment. 

Problems included a missing tile around overhead window; suspect temperature 
sensor on the orbiter Reaction Control System (RCS) vernier thruster, which led 
to temporary cessation of SRL-2 radar observations; and failed primary RCS 
thruster. 

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