STS-43, the ninth mission for Space Shuttle Atlantis, was a nine-day mission whose primary goal was launching the fourth Tracking and Data Relay Satellite, TDRS-E. The flight also tested an advanced heatpipe radiator for potential use on the then-future space station and conducted a variety of medical and materials science investigations.
The primary payload, Tracking and Data Relay Satellite-5 (TDRS-5 or TDRS-E), attached to an Inertial Upper Stage (IUS), was deployed about six hours into flight, and the IUS propelled the satellite into geosynchronous orbit. TDRS-5 became the fourth member of the orbiting TDRS cluster. Secondary payloads were Space Station Heat Pipe Advanced Radiator Element II (SHARE II); Shuttle Solar Backscatter Ultra-Violet (SSBUV) instrument; Tank Pressure Control Equipment (TPCE) and Optical Communications Through Windows (OCTW). Other experiments included Auroral Photography Experiment (APE-B) Protein Crystal Growth Ill (PCG Ill); Bioserve / Instrumentation Technology Associates Materials Dispersion Apparatus (BIMDA); Investigations Into Polymer Membrane Processing (IPMP); Space Acceleration Measurement System (SAMS); Solid Surface Combustion Experiment (SSCE); Ultraviolet Plume imager (UVPI); and the Air Force Maui Optical Site (AMOS) experiment.
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