STS-53

STS-53

Discovery is launched on STS-53
Mission type	Satellite deployment
Operator	NASA
COSPAR ID	1992-086A
SATCAT №	22259
Mission duration	7 days, 07 hours, 19 minutes, 17 seconds
Distance travelled	4,800,000 kilometres (3,000,000 mi) approx.
Orbits completed	116
Spacecraft properties
Spacecraft	Space Shuttle Discovery
Landing mass	87,565 kilograms (193,048 lb)
Payload mass	11,860 kilograms (26,150 lb)
Crew
Crew size	5
Members	David M. Walker Robert D. Cabana Guion S. Bluford Michael R. Clifford James S. Voss
Start of mission
Launch date	2 December 1992, 13:24:00 (1992-12-02UTC13:24Z) UTC
Launch site	Kennedy LC-39A
End of mission
Landing date	9 December 1992, 20:43:17 (1992-12-09UTC20:43:18Z) UTC
Landing site	Edwards Runway 22
Orbital parameters
Reference system	Geocentric
Regime	Low Earth
Perigee	365 kilometres (227 mi)
Apogee	376 kilometres (234 mi)
Inclination	57.0 degrees
Period	92.0 min
Left to right - Front: Bluford, Voss; Back: Walker, Cabana, Clifford Space Shuttle program ← STS-52 STS-54 →

Left to right - Front: Bluford, Voss; Back: Walker, Cabana, Clifford

STS-53 was a Space Shuttle Discovery mission in support of the United States Department of Defense. The mission was launched on 2 December 1992 from Kennedy Space Center, Florida.

Discovery carried a classified primary payload for the United States Department of Defense, two unclassified secondary payloads and nine unclassified middeck experiments.

Discovery's primary payload, USA-89 NSSDC ID 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 military communications satellite, after USA-40 on STS-28 and STS-38's deployment of USA-67.

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