#sts-35

"Onboard the Space Shuttle Orbiter Columbia (STS-35), the various components of the Astro-1 payload are seen backdropped against dark space. Parts of the Hopkins Ultraviolet Telescope (HUT), Ultraviolet Imaging Telescope (UIT), and the Wisconsin Ultraviolet Photo-Polarimetry Experiment (WUPPE) are visible on the Spacelab pallet. The Broad-Band X-Ray Telescope (BBXRT) is behind the pallet and is not visible in this scene. The smaller cylinder in the foreground is the igloo. The igloo was a pressurized container housing the Command Data Management System, that interfaced with the in-cabin controllers to control the Instrument Pointing System (IPS) and the telescopes. The Astro Observatory was designed to explore the universe by observing and measuring the ultraviolet radiation from celestial objects. Astronomical targets of observation selected for Astro missions included planets, stars, star clusters, galaxies, clusters of galaxies, quasars, remnants of exploded stars (supernovae), clouds of gas and dust (nebulae), and the interstellar medium. Managed by the Marshall Space Flight Center, the Astro-1 was launched aboard the Space Shuttle Orbiter Columbia (STS-35) on December 2, 1990."

Date: December 2, 1990

"Johnson Space Center employees and neighbors on the ground didn't get quite this closeup of a view of the Dec. 19 1990 flyover of the Space Shuttle Columbia mounted piggyback atop NASA's Shuttle Carrier Aircraft (SCA--NASA 905). However, hundreds were able to spot it as it passed nearby en route to Florida from California following the successful STS-35 mission. Almost the entire 1625-acre site of the Johnson Space Center is visible in the background, along with a number of businesses and residences in the nearby municipality of Nassau Bay. The air-to-air photograph was taken by Pete Stanley of JSC's Image Services Division who was a passenger in a T-38 jet aircraft."

Date: December 19, 1990

Picture perfect night landing of the Space Shuttle Columbia (STS-35).

Date: December 12, 1990

"CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. – The orbiter Columbia heads for the Vehicle Assembly Building following its arrival at the Shuttle Landing Facility. OV-102's return brings full circle mission STS-35, a nine-day flight to study astrophysics."

Date: December 12, 1990

"During the STS-35 mission, the Astronomy Laboratory 1 (ASTRO-1) payload, in its on-orbit operating configuration in the payload bay (PLB), is silhouetted against the firing of a reaction control system (RCS) jet. In the center of the frame, three ultraviolet telescopes are mounted and precisely co-aligned on a common structure, called the cruciform, that is attached to the instrument pointing system (IPS). Visible on the cruciform are Integrated Radiator System (IRS) (silver box on left), the Optical Sensor Package (OSP) (above IRS), the Ultraviolet Imaging Telescope (UIT), and the star tracker (S TRK) (far right). A right RCS jet is fired during this maneuver of Columbia (OV-102)."

Date: December 10, 1990

"STS-35 lifted off December 2, 1990, at 1:19 am EST, aboard the Space Shuttle Orbiter Columbia. Her crew of eight included: Vance D. Brand, commander; Colonel Guy S. Gardner, pilot; mission specialists Dr. Robert A. R. Parker, John M. (Mike) Lounge, and Dr. Jeffery A. Hoffman; and payload specialists Dr. Kenneth H. Nordsieck, Dr. Samual T. Durrance, and Dr. Ronald A. Parise. The primary objective of the mission was round the clock observation of the celestial sphere in ultraviolet and X-Ray astronomy with the Astro-1 Observatory which consisted of four telescopes: the Hopkins Ultraviolet Telescope (HUT); the Wisconsin Ultraviolet Photo-Polarimeter Experiment (WUPPE); the Ultraviolet Imaging Telescope (UIT); and the Broad Band X-Ray Telescope (BBXRT). Due to loss of data used for pointing and operating the ultraviolet telescopes, Marshall Space Flight Center ground teams were forced to aim the telescopes with fine tuning by the flight crew."

Mission patch: "Designed by the crewmembers assigned to the mission, the STS-35 crew patch symbolizes the Space Shuttle flying above Earth's atmosphere to better study the many celestial objects of the universe, represented by the constellation Orion." source

Date: December 2, 1990

"In 1986, NASA introduced a Shuttle-borne ultraviolet observatory called Astro. The Astro Observatory was designed to explore the universe by observing and measuring the ultraviolet radiation from celestial objects. Astronomical targets of observation selected for Astro missions included planets, stars, star clusters, galaxies, clusters of galaxies, quasars, remnants of exploded stars (supernovae), clouds of gas and dust (nebulae), and the interstellar medium. Astro-1 used a Spacelab pallet system with an instrument pointing system and a cruciform structure for bearing the three ultraviolet instruments mounted in a parallel configuration. The three instruments were: The Hopkins Ultraviolet Telescope (HUT), which was designed to obtain far-ultraviolet spectroscopic data from white dwarfs, emission nebulae, active galaxies, and quasars; the Wisconsin Ultraviolet Photo-Polarimeter Experiment (WUPPE) which was to study polarized ultraviolet light from magnetic white dwarfs, binary stars, reflection nebulae, and active galaxies; and the Ultraviolet Imaging Telescope (UIT) which was to record photographic images in ultraviolet light of galaxies, star clusters, and nebulae. The star trackers that supported the instrument pointing system were also mounted on the cruciform. Also in the payload bay was the Broad Band X-Ray Telescope (BBXRT), which was designed to obtain high-resolution x-ray spectra from stellar corona, x-ray binary stars, active galactic nuclei, and galaxy clusters. Managed by the Marshall Space Flight Center, the Astro-1 observatory was launched aboard the Space Shuttle Orbiter Columbia (STS-35) on December 2, 1990."

Date: 1989

"The various components of the Astro-1 payload are seen backdropped against the blue and white Earth in this 35mm scene photographed through Columbia's aft flight deck windows. Parts of the Hopkins Ultraviolet Telescope (HUT), Ultraviolet Imaging Telescope (UIT) and the Wisconsin Ultraviolet Photo-Polarimeter Experiment (WUPPE) are visible on the Spacelab Pallet in the foreground. The Broad Band X-Ray Telescope (BBXRT) is behind this pallet and is not visible in this scene. The smaller cylinder in the foreground is the "Igloo," which is a pressurized container housing the Command and Data Management System, which interfaces with the in-cabin controllers to control the Instrument Pointing System (IPS) and the telescopes."

NASA ID: STS035-13-008