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.

Dec 2, 1992 · Get an overview of the STS mission, its crew and activities during this mission.

Launch: December 2, 1992 – 8:24:00 a.m. EST. Launch was delayed nearly 90 minutes to allow the rising sun to warm the orbiter’s external fuel tank following ice buildup during overnight temperatures in the upper 40’s. This was the first launch of Discovery following extensive modifications completed following STS-42 in February, 1992.

Oct 26, 2023 · Five astronauts were assigned to fly aboard the Space Shuttle Discovery for the STS-53 mission that flew at the end of 1992.

STS -53 was the final dedicated Department of Defense mission. Discovery carried a classified primary payload for the United States Department of Defense, two unclassified secondary …

May 1, 2015 · The STS-53 Space Shuttle "Discovery" mission is a dedicated Department of Defense (DoD) mission and carried the DoD-1 classified payload. In addition, several non-classified DoD experiments were carried out.

Template:Infobox spaceflight 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.

The STS-53 primary payload, designated DOD-1, is classified and represents the last major military payload currently planned for the Shuttle fleet. "Nine DOD primary payloads have been carried into space by the Shuttle since 1985," said NASA Administrator Daniel S. Goldin.

Feb 1, 1993 · The STS-53 Space Shuttle Program Mission Report provides a summary of the Orbiter, External Tank (ET), Solid Rocket Booster/Redesigned Solid Rocket Motor (SRB/RSRM), and the Space Shuttle Main Engine (SSME) subsystems performance during the fifty-second flight of the Space Shuttle Program, and the fifteenth flight of the Orbiter vehicle ...

Dec 14, 2010 · Digitized, cataloged and archived by the Houston Audio Control Room, at the NASA Johnson Space Center.