STS-37
The Compton Gamma Ray Observatory after deployment, photographed from Atlantis's flight deck. | |
| Names | Space Transportation System-37 |
|---|---|
| Mission type | Compton Gamma Ray Observatory deployment |
| Operator | NASA |
| COSPAR ID | 1991-027A |
| SATCAT no. | 21224 |
| Mission duration | 5 days, 23 hours, 32 minutes, 44 seconds |
| Distance travelled | 2,487,075 mi (4,002,559 km) |
| Orbits completed | 93 |
| Spacecraft properties | |
| Spacecraft | Space Shuttle Atlantis |
| Launch mass | 116,040 kg (255,820 lb) |
| Landing mass | 86,227 kg (190,098 lb) |
| Payload mass | 17,204 kg (37,928 lb) |
| Crew | |
| Crew size | 5 |
| Members | |
| EVAs | 2 |
| EVA duration |
|
| Start of mission | |
| Launch date | April 5, 1991, 14:22:45 UTC (9:22:45 am EST) |
| Launch site | Kennedy, LC-39B |
| Contractor | Rockwell International |
| End of mission | |
| Landing date | April 11, 1991, 13:55:29 UTC (6:55:29 am PDT) |
| Landing site | Edwards, Runway 33 |
| Orbital parameters | |
| Reference system | Geocentric orbit |
| Regime | Low Earth orbit |
| Perigee altitude | 450 km (280 mi) |
| Apogee altitude | 462 km (287 mi) |
| Inclination | 28.45° |
| Period | 93.70 minutes |
| Instruments | |
| |
STS-37 mission patch Standing in EVA suits: Apt and Ross Seated: Cameron, Nagel and Godwin | |
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. The mission also featured two spacewalks, the first since 1985.