STS-29 Fact Sheet
Written and Edited by Cliff Lethbridge
STS-29 -- Discovery

28th Space Shuttle Mission 8th Flight of Discovery Crew: Michael L. Coats, Commander John E. Blaha, Pilot James F. Buchli, Mission Specialist Robert C. Springer, Mission Specialist James P. Bagian, Mission Specialist

Orbiter Preparations:

Tow to Orbiter Processing Facility - October 9, 1988
Rollover to Vehicle Assembly Building - January 23, 1989
Rollout to Launch Pad 39B - February 3, 1989

Launch:

March 13, 1989 - 9:57:00 a.m. EST. Launch had been scheduled for February 18, 1989 but was delayed due to the replacement of suspect main engine oxidizer turbopumps in Discovery's three main engines and a faulty master events controller.

March 13 launch was delayed 1 hour, 50 minutes due to morning ground fog and upper atmosphere wind conditions.

Landing:

March 18, 1989 - 6:35:50 a.m. PST at Runway 22, Edwards Air Force Base, California. Rollout distance was 9,339 feet. Rollout time was 53 seconds. Mission duration was 4 days, 23 hours, 38 minutes, 50 seconds. Landing occurred during the 80th orbit.

Mission Summary:

NASA's Tracking and Data Relay Satellite-4 (TDRS-4) was deployed to geosynchronous orbit using an Inertial Upper Stage (IUS) booster.

Secondary payloads included Orbiter Experiments Autonomous Supporting Instrumentation System-1 (OASIS-1), Space Station Heat Pipe Advanced Radiator Experiment (SHARE), Protein Crystal Growth (PCG), Chromosomes and Plant Cell Division (CHROMEX) and two SIP experiments.

An Air Force experiment used the Shuttle as a target to calibrate ground-based optical equipment at the Air Force Maui Optical Site (AMOS) in Hawaii. The crew also photographed Earth with a hand-held IMAX camera.

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© Copyright 1998 by Clifford J. Lethbridge