STS-70

STS-70

Discovery prepares to deploy the TDRS-G satellite
Names	Space Transportation System-70
Mission type	Satellite deployment
Operator	NASA
COSPAR ID	1995-035A
SATCAT no.	23612
Mission duration	8 days, 22 hours, 20 minutes, 05 seconds
Distance travelled	6,000,000 kilometres (3,700,000 mi)
Orbits completed	143
Spacecraft properties
Spacecraft	Space Shuttle Discovery
Payload mass	20,159 kilograms (44,443 lb)
Crew
Crew size	5
Members	Terence T. Henricks Kevin R. Kregel Nancy J. Currie Donald A. Thomas Mary Ellen Weber
Start of mission
Launch date	July 13, 1995, 13:41:55.078 (1995-07-13UTC13:41:55Z) UTC
Launch site	Kennedy, LC-39B
End of mission
Landing date	July 22, 1995, 12:02 (1995-07-22UTC12:03Z) UTC
Landing site	Kennedy, SLF Runway 33
Orbital parameters
Reference system	Geocentric
Regime	Low Earth
Perigee altitude	257 kilometres (160 mi)
Apogee altitude	257 kilometres (160 mi)
Inclination	28.45 degrees
Period	90.5 min
Left to right: Kregel, Currie, Henricks; Weber, Thomas Space Shuttle program ← STS-71 (69) STS-69 (71) →

STS-70 was the 21st flight of the Space Shuttle Discovery, and the last of 7 shuttle missions to carry a Tracking and Data Relay Satellite (TDRS). This was the first shuttle mission controlled from the new mission control center room at the Johnson Space Center in Houston.^[1]

STS-70 was also the first flight of the new Block 1 orbiter main engine, designed to improve both engine performance and safety. The mission was launched from Kennedy Space Center in Florida on July 13, 1995, only six days after the landing of sister ship Atlantis, marking the fastest turnaround between flights in the history of the program.