STS-44

STS-44 was a Space Shuttle mission using Atlantis that launched on 24 November 1991. It was a U.S. Department of Defense space mission.

Mission highlights
The launch was on 24 November 1991 at 6:44:00 pm EST. A launch set for 19 November was delayed due to replacement and testing of a malfunctioning redundant inertial measurement unit on the Inertial Upper Stage booster attached to the Defense Support Program satellite. The launch was reset for 24 November and was delayed by 13 minutes to allow an orbiting spacecraft to pass and to allow external tank liquid oxygen replenishment after minor repairs to a valve in the liquid oxygen replenishment system in the mobile launcher platform. Launch weight was 117766 kg.

The mission was dedicated to the Department of Defense. The unclassified payload included a Defense Support Program (DSP) satellite and attached Inertial Upper Stage (IUS), deployed on flight day one. Cargo bay and middeck payloads included the Interim Operational Contamination Monitor (IOCM), Terra Scout, Military Man in Space (M88-1), Air Force Maui Optical System (AMOS), Cosmic Radiation Effects and Activation Monitor (CREAM), Shuttle Activation Monitor (SAM), Radiation Monitoring Equipment III (RME III), Visual Function Tester-1 (VFT-1), Ultraviolet Plume Instrument (UVPI), Bioreactor Flow, Particle Trajectory experiment, and Extended Duration Orbiter Medical Project, a series of investigations in support of Extended Duration Orbiter.

The landing was on 1 December 1991 at 2:34:44 pm PST, Runway 5, Edwards Air Force Base, California. The rollout distance was 11191 ft, and the rollout time was 107 seconds. The landing weight was 193825 lb. The landing was originally scheduled for Kennedy Space Center on 4 December, but the ten-day mission was shortened and the landing rescheduled following the 30 November on-orbit failure of one of three orbiter inertial measurement units. The lengthy rollout was due to minimal braking for test. Atlantis returned to Kennedy on 8 December.