STS-26

Key takeaways

STS-26 belongs to physics; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect STS-26 to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of STS-26 from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

STS-26 was the 26th NASA Space Shuttle mission and the seventh flight of the orbiter Discovery. The mission launched from Kennedy Space Center, Florida, on September 29, 1988, and landed four days later on October 3, 1988. STS-26 was declared the "Return to Flight" mission, being the first mission after the Space Shuttle Challenger disaster of January 28, 1986. It was the first mission since STS-9 to use the original Space Transportation System (STS) numbering system, the first to have all its crew members wear pressure suits for launch and landing since STS-4, and the first mission with bailout capacity since STS-4. STS-26 was also the first U.S. space mission with an all-veteran crew since Apollo 11, with all of its crew members having flown at least one prior mission. The mission is technically designated STS-26R, as the original STS-26 designation previously belonged to STS-51-F (also known as Spacelab-2). Likewise all flights with the STS-26 through STS-33 designations would require the R in their documentation to avoid conflicts in tracking data between the old and new flight designations.

Crew

The crew roster for STS-26 was based on the original crew assignment for STS-61-F, which would have launched the Ulysses probe from Challenger in 1986. Ulysses was eventually launched on STS-41. Hauck, Lounge and Hilmers were all assigned to that flight, with Roy D. Bridges Jr. as pilot. Bridges never flew again after the Challenger disaster, but would eventually become the director of Langley Research Center (LRC). Covey was the CAPCOM operator during the STS-51-L launch who uttered the words, "Challenger, go at throttle up" to commander Francis R. Scobee, shortly after which the orbiter disintegrated. He also would have been the CAPCOM operator for the canceled STS-61-F mission during launch and landing.

Crew seat assignments

Mission summary

Space Shuttle Discovery lifted off from Launch Complex 39B, Kennedy Space Center, at 11:37:00 a.m. EDT on September 29, 1988, 975 days after the Challenger disaster. The launch was delayed by one hour and thirty-eight minutes due to unseasonable and unusual light winds, and the need to replace fuses in the cooling systems of two crew members' flight suits. The suits were repaired, and a waiver was issued for the wind conditions after officials determined there was a sufficient safety margin for wind loads on the orbiter's wing leading edges. At T−1:30, it was proposed that the launch be delayed at T−0:31 due to a cabin air pressure issue. It was quickly determined that the cabin pressure had been increased slightly by the activation of the oxygen systems in the crew's flight suits, and the launch was conducted without further delay. The shuttle crew—all veteran astronauts—included Commander Frederick H. "Rick" Hauck, Pilot Richard O. Covey, and Mission Specialists John M. "Mike" Lounge, George D. "Pinky" Nelson and David C. Hilmers. The primary payload for the STS-26 mission, TDRS-C, was successfully deployed, and 11 scheduled mid-deck scientific and technological experiments were carried out. The post-Challenger redesigned solid rocket booster segment joints showed no signs of leakage or overheating. Two minor problems occurred during the flight. After ascent, the Flash Evaporator System for cooling the orbiter iced up and shut down, increasing the crew cabin temperature to approximately 31 °C (88 °F). The problem was resolved on Flight Day 4 and cooler temperatures resulted. A Ku-band antenna for communications was deployed on Flight Day 2, but it failed to respond properly and had to be stowed for the remainder of the mission. During STS-26, Discovery became the first spacecraft to fly in space equipped with a VCU (Voice Control Unit), a computer capable of recognising and responding to human speech. The VCU was created by SCI Systems in Huntsville, Alabama, and was based on technology licensed from the Votan company. This speech recognition system controlled the cameras and monitors that were used by the crew to monitor the Canadarm mechanical arm mounted in the cargo bay. Because of the experimental nature of speech recognition at the time, this system was not used for any critical operations. Initial problems almost sidelined the tests when the voice templates that were created prior to liftoff were found to have less than 60% recognition for one crew member and less than 40% recognition for another. This problem was corrected by retraining the templates. It was retested and found to be operational with a recognition success rate of over 96%. It was concluded that weightless conditions caused a fundamental change in human speech, making the templates created prior to liftoff virtually useless when in orbit. Besides conducting the mission's various experiments, crew members practiced suiting up in new partial-pressure "launch-and-entry" flight suits, and also practiced the unstowing and attaching of the new crew escape system. On October 2, 1988, the day before the mission ended, the five-man crew paid tribute to the seven crew members lost in the Challenger disaster. Discovery landed on Runway 17, Edwards Air Force Base, California, at 12:37:11 p.m. EDT on October 3, 1988, after a mission duration of approximately 4 days, 1 hour, 0 minute, and 11 seconds. Capsule Communicator Blaine Hammond Jr. welcomed the crew, saying it was "a great ending to a new beginning".

Payloads and experiments

… excerpt ends here. Continue reading the full article.

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with STS-26

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what STS-26 claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In physics, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to STS-26 before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about STS-26 ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of STS-26

In research: STS-26 appears in physics research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses STS-26 in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: STS-26 is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 1988 in the United States, Edwards Air Force Base, September 1988, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for STS-26 outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

How to study STS-26 in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what STS-26 means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain STS-26 out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is STS-26 in simple terms?

STS-26 was the 26th NASA Space Shuttle mission and the seventh flight of the orbiter Discovery. The mission launched from Kennedy Space Center, Florida, on September 29, 1988, and landed four days later on October 3, 1988.

Why does STS-26 matter?

Because it connects several physics ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study STS-26?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on STS-26.