Launch from Cape Canaveral (
KSC);
landing on Edwards
AFB.
Deploying of the
ESA
built Ulysses spacecraft to explore polar regions of the sun was the main goal
of the mission. It was the heaviest payload to date. Launch Weight: 259,593 lb
(117.749 Mg).
Several secondary payloads and experiments as a bone loss
experiment with rats were onboard. Other payloads and experiments were: Shuttle
Solar Backscatter Ultraviolet (SSBUV) experiment; INTELSAT Solar Array Coupon
(ISAC); Chromosome and Plant Cell Division Experiment (CHROMEX), in which
flowering plant samples were grown; Voice Command System (VCS); Solid Surface
Combustion Experiment (SSCE), Investigations into Polymer Membrane Processing
(IPMP); Physiological Systems Experiment (PSE); Radiation Monitoring Experiment
III (RME III); Shuttle Student involvement Program (SSIP) and Air Force Maui
Optical Site (
AMOS) experiment.
During open periods in the
STS-41 crew schedule, the astronauts video taped a number of demonstrations as
part of an effort to create an educational video tape for the middle school
level students. The tape was later distributed nationwide through
NASA's Teacher Resource Center
network.
Additional crew activities included experimenting with a voice
command system to control onboard television cameras and monitoring ionizing
radiation exposure to the crew within the orbiter cabin.