STS-53

Launch of Discovery for a Department of Defense (DoD) mission
Names	Space Transportation System-53
Mission type	DoD satellite deployment
Operator	NASA
COSPAR ID	1992-086A
SATCAT no.	22259
Mission duration	7 days, 7 hours, 19 minutes, 17 seconds
Distance travelled	4,883,840 km (3,034,680 mi)
Orbits completed	116
Spacecraft properties
Spacecraft	Space Shuttle Discovery
Launch mass	110,655 kg (243,953 lb)
Landing mass	87,565 kg (193,048 lb)
Payload mass	11,860 kg (26,150 lb)
Crew
Crew size	5
Members	David M. Walker Robert D. Cabana Guion Bluford Michael R. Clifford James S. Voss
Start of mission
Launch date	December 2, 1992, 13:24:00 (December 2, 1992, 13:24:00) UTC (8:24 am EST)
Launch site	Kennedy, LC-39A
Contractor	Rockwell International
End of mission
Landing date	December 9, 1992, 20:43:17 (December 9, 1992, 20:43:17) UTC (12:43:47 am PST)
Landing site	Edwards, Runway 22
Orbital parameters
Reference system	Geocentric orbit
Regime	Low Earth orbit
Perigee altitude	365 km (227 mi)
Apogee altitude	376 km (234 mi)
Inclination	57.00°
Period	92.00 minutes
Instruments
Battlefield Laser Acquisition Sensor Test (BLAST) Cloud Logic to Optimize Use of Defense Systems (CLOUDS) Cosmic Radiation Effects and Activation Monitor (CREAM) Fluid Acquisition and Resupply Experiment (FARE) Get Away Special (GAS) Shuttle Glow Experiment/Cryogenic Heat Pipe Experiment (GCP) Hand-held, Earth-oriented, Real-time, Cooperative, User-friendly, Location-targeting and Environmental System (HERCULES) Microcapsules in Space (MIS-l) Radiation Monitoring Equipment (RME-III) Space Tissue Loss (STL) Visual Function Tester (VFT-2)
STS-53 mission patch Back: Walker, Cabana and Clifford Front: Bluford and Voss Space Shuttle program ← STS-52 STS-54 →

STS-53 was a NASA Space Shuttle Discovery mission in support of the United States Department of Defense (DoD). It was Discovery's 15th flight. The mission was launched on December 2, 1992, from Kennedy Space Center, Florida. This was also the last mission to have been operated via MCR-2 in JSC. Afterwards the room was restored entirely to its Apollo era appearance.

Seat[1]	Launch	Landing	Seats 1–4 are on the flight deck. Seats 5–7 are on the mid-deck.
1	Walker
2	Cabana
3	Bluford	Clifford
4	Voss
5	Clifford	Bluford
6	Unused
7	Unused

Discovery carried a classified primary payload (DOD-1) for the United States Department of Defense (DoD), two unclassified secondary payloads and nine unclassified middeck experiments.^[2]

Discovery's primary payload, USA-89 (1992-086B) is also known as "DoD-1", and was the shuttle's last major payload for the Department of Defense. The satellite was the third launch of a Satellite Data System-2 (SDS 2-3) military communications satellite, after USA-40 on STS-28 and STS-38's deployment of USA-67.^[2]

Secondary payloads contained in or attached to Get Away Special (GAS) hardware in the cargo bay included the Orbital Debris Radar Calibration Spheres (ODERACS) satellites and the combined Shuttle Glow Experiment/Cryogenic Heat Pipe Experiment (GCP).^[2]

Middeck experiments included Microcapsules in Space (MIS-l); Space Tissue Loss (STL); Visual Function Tester (VFT-2); Cosmic Radiation Effects and Activation Monitor (CREAM); Radiation Monitoring Equipment (RME-III); Fluid Acquisition and Resupply Experiment (FARE); Hand-held, Earth-oriented, Real-time, Cooperative, User-friendly, Location-targeting and Environmental System (HERCULES); Battlefield Laser Acquisition Sensor Test (BLAST); and the Cloud Logic to Optimize Use of Defense Systems (CLOUDS).^[2]

The five sides represent the Pentagon, the Department of Defense headquarters. The five stars and three stripes of the insignia symbolize the flight's numerical designation in the Space Transportation System's mission sequence.

• List of human spaceflights
• List of Space Shuttle missions
• Nikon NASA F4
• Outline of space science
• Space Shuttle

• NASA mission summary Archived April 21, 2012, at the Wayback Machine
• STS-53 Video Highlights Archived October 29, 2013, at the Wayback Machine