NASA's Long Duration Exposure Facility, or LDEF (pronounced "eldef"), was a cylindrical facility designed to provide long-term experimental data on the outer space environment and its effects on space systems, materials, operations and selected spores' survival.[2][3] It was placed in low Earth orbit by Space ShuttleChallenger in April 1984. The original plan called for the LDEF to be retrieved in March 1985, but after a series of delays it was eventually returned to Earth by Columbia in January 1990.[3]
It successfully carried science and technology experiments for about 5.7 years that have revealed a broad and detailed collection of space environmental data. LDEF's 69 months in space provided scientific data on the long-term effects of space exposure on materials, components and systems that has benefited NASA spacecraft designers to this day.[4]
NASA's LongDurationExposureFacility, or LDEF (pronounced "eldef"), was a cylindrical facility designed to provide long-term experimental data on the...
research missions. Columbia was also used to retrieve the LongDurationExposureFacility and deploy the Chandra observatory, and also carried into space...
1981 to launch a communications satellite and retrieve the LongDurationExposureFacility, then planned for a 1980 release on the first operational orbiter...
relay satellite, the Palapa B communications satellites, the LongDurationExposureFacility, and the Earth Radiation Budget Satellite. It was also used...
research follows on from previous experiments such as the LongDurationExposureFacility, a free flying experimental platform which flew from April 1984...
reached. A 1973 study by DuPont's Haskell Laboratory found that a 4-hour exposure to the fumes emitted by PTFE cookware heated to 280 °C (536 °F) was lethal...
Navy (6 flights) STS-32 Columbia — January 1990 — Pilot — LongDurationExposureFacility retrieval, deployment of SYNCOM IV-F5 STS-52 Columbia — October...
shuttle mission STS-41-C filmed the deployment of the LDEF (Longdurationexposurefacility) and the repair of the Solar Max satellite. This footage was...
free flight tests. The following list includes the free-flight tests, durations listed count only the orbiter free-flight time. The list does not include...
reentering space debris List of space debris producing events LongDurationExposureFacility Near-Earth object Orbital Debris Co-ordination Working Group...
in Spacehab modules or Multi-Purpose Logistics Modules The LongDurationExposureFacility The Upper Atmosphere Research Satellite The Compton Gamma Ray...
Syncom satellite, and retrieved the 21,400-pound LongDurationExposureFacility (LDEF). Mission duration was 261 hours, 1 minute, and 38 seconds. Following...
STS-41-C, a seven-day mission during which the crew deployed the LongDurationExposureFacility (LDEF). The crew also retrieved, repaired and redeployed Solar...
Thagard (March 14, 1995, Soyuz TM-21) First American woman to make a long-duration spaceflight: Shannon Lucid (March to September 1996, Mir NASA-1) First...
from the Interplanetary Dust Experiment using data from the LongDurationExposureFacility satellite. When he retired from Virginia in 1994, he became...
Syncom IV-F5 satellite, and retrieved the 9,724 kg (21,393 lb) LongDurationExposureFacility (LDEF) using the RMS. They also conducted a variety of mid-deck...
During the 7-day mission the crew successfully deployed the LongDurationExposureFacility (LDEF); retrieved the ailing Solar Maximum Mission satellite...
featured most heavily, beginning with the deployment of the LongDurationExposureFacility (LDEF) satellite. The capture and repair of the Solar Max satellite...
First operational flight. The crew of three were to place the LongDurationExposureFacility (LDEF) satellite into orbit and the mission was to last five...
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