STS-47 Fact Sheet

By Cliff Lethbridge

STS-47 — Endeavour

50th Space Shuttle Mission

2nd Flight of Endeavour

Crew:

Robert L. Gibson, Commander

Curtis L. Brown, Jr., Pilot

Mark C. Lee, Payload Commander

N. Jan Davis, Mission Specialist

Mae C. Jemison, Science Mission Specialist

Mamoru C. Mohri, Payload Specialist

Orbiter Preparations:

Tow to Orbiter Processing Facility – May 31, 1992

Rollover to Vehicle Assembly Building – August 17, 1992

Rollout to Launch Pad 39B – August 25, 1992

Launch:

September 12, 1992 – 10:23:00 a.m. EDT. This was the first on-time Shuttle launch since mission STS-61B in November, 1985.

Landing:

September 20, 1992 – 8:53:23 a.m. EDT at Runway 33, Kennedy Space Center. Rollout distance was 8,567 feet. Rollout time was 51 seconds. Mission duration was 7 days, 22 hours, 30 minutes, 23 seconds. Landing occurred during the 126th orbit.

This was the first use of a drag chute in operational mode, prior to nosegear touchdown. Endeavour veered slightly off the runway center line, possibly reacting to the drag chute deployment.

Mission Summary:

Astronaut Jemison became the first African-American woman to fly in space. Astronauts Lee and Davis became the first married couple to fly in space. Astronaut Mohri became the first Japanese citizen to fly aboard a Shuttle.

The primary payload was the Spacelab-J (SL-J), utilizing the Shuttle’s pressurized Spacelab module. Jointly sponsored by NASA and the National Space Development Agency (NASDA) of Japan, SL-J included 24 materials science and 19 life science experiments.

Also flown were 12 GAS canisters, Israeli Space Agency Investigation About Hornets (ISAIAH), Solid Surface Combustion Experiment (SSCE), Shuttle Amateur Radio Experiment (SAREX II), Air Force Maui Optical Site (AMOS) experiment and Ultraviolet Plume Instrument (UVPI).