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ArchivesText SizeSTS-72 Mission: SFU; OAST-Flyer
Space Shuttle: Endeavour
Launch Pad: 39B 
Launched: January 11, 1996, 4:41:00 a.m. EST
Landing Site: Kennedy Space Center, Florida
Landing: January 20, 1996, 2:41:41 a.m. EST
Runway: 15
Rollout Distance: 8,770 feet
Rollout Time: 66 seconds
Revolution: 142
Mission Duration: 8 days, 22 hours, 1 minute, 47 seconds
Orbit Altitude: 250 nautical miles
Orbit Inclination: 28.45 degrees
Miles Traveled: 3.7 million 

Crew Members

                    

Image above: STS-72 Crew photo with Commander Brian Duffy, Pilot Brent W. Jett, 
Mission Specialists Leroy Chiao, Daniel T. Barry, Winston E. Scott and Koichi 
Wakata. Image Credit: NASA 

Launch Highlights

 Countdown to first shuttle launch of year proceeded smoothly except for 
23-minute delay due to communication glitches between various sites on ground, 
and to avoid potential collision with space debris.



Mission Highlights

First shuttle flight of 1996 highlighted by retrieval of a Japanese satellite, 
deployment and retrieval of a NASA science payload, and two spacewalks.

Mission Specialist Wakata operated remote manipulator system arm on flight day 
three to pluck Japanese Space Flyer Unit (SFU) from orbit, completing 10-month 
scientific mission involving almost a dozen experiments ranging from materials 
science to biological studies. SFU was launched aboard a Japanese H-2 rocket 
March 18, 1995 from Tanegashima Space Center. Both solar arrays on SFU had to be 
jettisoned prior to retrieval when sensors indicated improper latching following 
retraction.

On flight day four, Wakata again operated Endeavour's robot arm, this time to 
deploy Office of Aeronautics and Space Technology-Flyer (OAST-Flyer), sending 
experiment-laden platform on its way to a two-day free-flight at a distance of 
approximately 45 miles (72 kilometers) from the orbiter. OAST-Flyer comprised of 
Spartan platform holding four experiments: Return Flux Experiment (REFLEX) to 
test accuracy of computer models predicting spacecraft exposure to 
contamination; Global Positioning System (GPS) Attitude Determination and 
Control Experiment (GADACS), to demonstrate GPS technology in space; Solar 
Exposure to Laser Ordnance Device (SELODE) to test laser ordnance devices; and 
Spartan Packet Radio Experiment (SPRE), an amateur radio communications 
experiment. OAST-Flyer retrieved on flight day six, with Wakata again operating 
the remote manipulator system arm to retrieve the platform.

Two extravehicular activities (EVAs) conducted as part of continuing series to 
prepare for on-orbit construction of International Space Station. During first 
EVA on flight day five lasting 6 hours, nine minutes, Mission Specialists Chiao 
and Barry evaluated new portable work platform and a structure known as the 
rigid umbilical, which may be used on station to hold various fluid and 
electrical lines.

During second spacewalk on flight day seven, conducted by Chiao and Scott and 
lasting six hours, 53 minutes, portable work platform again evaluated. Also 
tested were a space station utility box designed to hold avionics and fluid line 
connects. Scott also tested spacesuit's warmth in severe cold up to minus 104 
degrees F. (-75 degrees C.).

Additional cargo bay payloads: Shuttle Solar Backscatter Ultraviolet (SSBUV) 
instrument flying for eighth time and designed to measure ozone concentrations 
in atmosphere. Also a Hitchhiker carrier holding Shuttle Laser Altimeter-01 
(SLA-01)/Get Away Special (GAS) payload. SLA-01 first of four planned remote 
sensing flights to accurately measure distance between Earth's surface and 
orbiter; five other GAS canisters held variety of experiments.

In-cabin payloads: Physiological and Anatomical Rodent Experiment/National 
Institutes of Health-Rodents (PARE/NIH-R3), one in series of experiments 
designed to study effect of microgravity on rodent anatomy and physiology; Space 
Tissue Loss/National Institutes of Health- C (STL/NIH-C5) to validate models of 
microgravity's effects on bone, muscle and cells; Protein Crystal Growth-Single 
Locker Thermal Enclosure (PCG-STES) for growing high-quality protein crystals; 
and Commercial Protein Crystal Growth-8 (CPCG-8) payload, which featured crystal 
growth of new form of recombinant human insulin. 

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