STS 54

Description

The STS 54 mission was the third flight of the orbiter Endeavour and was used to launch the sixth satellite in the Tracking and Data Relay Satellite (TDRS) series, TDRS-F. In addition, STS 54 carried a shuttle bay instrument called the Diffuse X-ray Spectrometer, or DXS, to make observations of the diffuse x-ray background in the Milky Way galaxy. Finally, several mid-deck experiments were performed, including: (1) the fourth flight of the CHROMEX series, this time studying the developmental and physiological processes influencing seed production in microgravity; (2) the second flight of the Commercial Generic Bioprocessing Apparatus (CGBA), a collection of 28 separate commercial investigations in biomedical testing and drug development, controlled ecological life support systems, and agricultural development and manufacture of biological-based materials; (3) the second flight of the Physiological and Anatomical Rodent Experiment (PARE), investigating the short-term effects of microgravity on the size, strength, and stamina of skeletal muscles; and, (4) the first flight of the Solid Surface Combustion Experiment (SSCE), to study the physical and chemical mechanisms of flame propagation over solid fueternally-imposed airflows.