STS Science and Applications Payloads: An Evolving Perspective

NASA is now in the early operational phase of the Shuttle Program. The STS-5 mission has, for the first time, conducted reimbursable commercial satellite deployments, while STS-6, -7, -8, and -9 continue the process of settling into an operational mode. With the onset of this phase of Shuttle operations, it is appropriate to reexamine the structure of the NASA R&D STS payload program. Throughout the years from 1975 to 1981, program office attention has been focused on the first few R&D payloads, notably the OSTA-1 payload which contained a collection of Earth resources-oriented experiments, flying on the second Shuttle flight; the OSS-1 payload which examined the immediate Shuttle electromagnetic, gas, and particulate environment; and the Spacelab 1 and 2 missions whose primary purpose is the engineering verification of the Spacelab system, while, at the same time, obtaining significant scientific data