STS-37

STS-37
The Compton Gamma Ray Observatory after deployment, photographed from Atlantis's flight deck.
NamesSpace Transportation System-37
Mission typeCompton Gamma Ray Observatory deployment
OperatorNASA
COSPAR ID1991-027A Edit this at Wikidata
SATCAT no.21224Edit this on Wikidata
Mission duration5 days, 23 hours, 32 minutes, 44 seconds
Distance travelled2,487,075 mi (4,002,559 km)
Orbits completed93
Spacecraft properties
SpacecraftSpace Shuttle Atlantis
Launch mass116,040 kg (255,820 lb)
Landing mass86,227 kg (190,098 lb)
Payload mass17,204 kg (37,928 lb)
Crew
Crew size5
Members
EVAs2
EVA duration
  • 10 hours, 29 minutes
  • 1st EVA: 4 hours, 32 minutes
  • 2nd EVA: 5 hours, 57 minutes
Start of mission
Launch dateApril 5, 1991, 14:22:45 (April 5, 1991, 14:22:45) UTC (9:22:45 am EST)
Launch siteKennedy, LC-39B
ContractorRockwell International
End of mission
Landing dateApril 11, 1991, 13:55:29 (April 11, 1991, 13:55:29) UTC (5:55:29 am PST)
Landing siteEdwards, Runway 33
Orbital parameters
Reference systemGeocentric orbit
RegimeLow Earth orbit
Perigee altitude450 km (280 mi)
Apogee altitude462 km (287 mi)
Inclination28.45°
Period93.70 minutes
Instruments

STS-37 mission patch

Standing in EVA suits: Apt and Ross
Seated: Cameron, Nagel and Godwin
← STS-35 (38)
STS-39 (40) →

STS-37, the thirty-ninth NASA Space Shuttle mission and the eighth flight of the Space Shuttle Atlantis, was a six-day mission with the primary objective of launching the Compton Gamma Ray Observatory (CGRO), the second of the Great Observatories program which included the visible-spectrum Hubble Space Telescope (HST), the Chandra X-ray Observatory (CXO) and the infrared Spitzer Space Telescope.[1] The mission also featured two spacewalks, the first since 1985.

  1. ^ "SPACE SHUTTLE MISSION STS-37 PRESS KIT" (PDF). NASA. April 1991. Retrieved July 1, 2011. Public Domain This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.