Wake Shield Facility
Videos
Wake Shield Facility was a NASA experimental science platform that was placed in low Earth orbit by the Space Shuttle. It was a 3.7 m diameter, free-flying stainless steel disk.
Deployment of the WSF using the Space Shuttle robotic arm, Canadarm
STS-69
Videos
STS-69 was a Space Shuttle Endeavour mission, and the second flight of the Wake Shield Facility. The mission launched from Kennedy Space Center, Florida on 7 September 1995.
Wake Shield Facility
…WSF and to store it in the Shuttle's payload bay for return to Earth. The WSF was flown into space three times, aboard Shuttle flights STS-60 (WSF-1), STS-69 (WSF-2) and STS-80 (WSF-3). During STS-60, some hardware issues were experienced, and, as a result, the WSF-1 was only deployed at the end of the…
Endeavour's Canadarm grapples the Wake Shield Facility, prior to its deployment
Left to right – Seated: Cockrell, Walker; Standing: Gernhardt, Newman, VossSpace Shuttle program← STS-70 (70)STS-73 (72) →
The pale blue Earth serves as a backdrop for astronaut Michael Gernhardt, who is attached to the Shuttle Endeavour's robot arm during a spacewalk on the STS-69 mission in 1995. Unlike earlier spacewalking astronauts, Gernhardt was able to use an electronic cuff checklist, a prototype developed for the assembly of the International Space Station.
STS 123 Dextre&Kibo ELM PS in orbit