sts-54

TDRS-6, known before launch as TDRS-F, is an American communications satellite which is operated by NASA as part of the Tracking and Data Relay Satellite System. It was constructed by TRW, and is based on a custom satellite bus which was used for all seven first generation TDRS satellites.

STS-54 was a Space Transportation System (NASA Space Shuttle) mission using orbiter Endeavour. This was the third flight for Endeavour, and launched 13 January 1993.

The primary payload was the fifth Tracking and Data Relay Satellite (TDRS-F) which was deployed on day one of the mission. It was later successfully transferred to its proper orbit by the Inertial Upper Stage booster.
Also carried into orbit in the payload bay was a Hitchhiker experiment called the Diffuse X-ray Spectrometer (DXS). This instrument collected data on X-ray radiation from diffuse sources in deep space.

The Eagle Crest emblem version of the STS-54 patch can be identified by the white patch under the tip of the eagle's wing on the border. Also some versions have a red tinted plastic coated backing.

STS-54 was a Space Transportation System (NASA Space Shuttle) mission using orbiter Endeavour. This was the third flight for Endeavour, and launched 13 January 1993.

The primary payload was the fifth Tracking and Data Relay Satellite (TDRS-F) which was deployed on day one of the mission. It was later successfully transferred to its proper orbit by the Inertial Upper Stage booster.
Also carried into orbit in the payload bay was a Hitchhiker experiment called the Diffuse X-ray Spectrometer (DXS). This instrument collected data on X-ray radiation from diffuse sources in deep space.

In January of 1993 the Diffuse X-ray Spectrometer (DXS) instruments flew on the STS-54 mission of the Space Shuttle
Endeavour. They collected x-ray spectra of the diffuse soft x-ray background. This dataset will allow us to learn about the region
of space for several hundred light years around the solar system.

The DXS project built the instruments at the University of Wisconsin--Madison Space Science and Engineering Center (SSEC)
in collaboration with Space Physics, and SSEC people were instrumental in every phase of the design, development, testing, flight
operations, and data analysis. Wilt Sanders is the PI, and Bob Paulos is the PM.