NEXT SPACEFLIGHT

Status

Success

STS-66

Launch Time
Thu Nov 03, 1994 16:59 UTC

Rocket

Space Shuttle Atlantis
NASA
Status: Retired
Price: $450.0 million
Liftoff Thrust: 30,250 kN
Payload to LEO: 27,500 kg
Payload to GTO: 3,810 kg
Stages: 2
Strap-ons: 2
Rocket Height: 56.1 m

Vehicles

Edwards Runway 22

OV-104

Flight #13
825 day turnaround

Mission Details

STS-66

The Atmospheric Laboratory for Applications and Sciences – 3 (ATLAS-03) was the primary payload aboard STS-66. It continued the series of Spacelab flights to study the energy of the sun and how it affects the Earth's climate and environment. The ATLAS-03 mission made the first detailed measurements from the Shuttle of the Northern Hemisphere's middle atmosphere in late fall. The timing of the flight, when the Antarctic ozone hole is diminishing, allowed scientists to study possible effects of the ozone hole on mid-latitudes, the way Antarctic air recovers, and how the northern atmosphere changes as the winter season approaches.

Total Mass: 10,544.0 kg
Low Earth Orbit

Location

LC-39B, Kennedy Space Center, Florida, USA

Stats

1994

76th orbital launch attempt

Space Shuttle

66th mission
7th mission of 1994
65th successful mission
41st consecutive successful mission