STS-85 Day 2 Highlights
Back to STS-85 Flight Day 01 Highlights:
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- On Friday, August 8, 1997, 6:00 a.m. CDT, STS-85 MCC Status Report # 3
reports:
- Scientists on the ground continued the activation procedures for
their experiments aboard Discovery overnight as the six crew members
slept.
- Commander Curt Brown, Pilot Kent Rominger, Mission Specialists Jan
Davis, Bob Curbeam and Steve Robinson and Payload Specialist Bjarni
Tryggvason were awakened at 5:11 a.m. CDT to the sounds of "To the
Moon and Back" by Savage Garden.
- The Cryogenic Infrared Spectrometers and Telescopes for the
Atmosphere-Shuttle Pallet Satellite-2 (CRISTA-SPAS-2) payload,
deployed some 8 hours after launch, continues to trail Discovery by
about 40 miles with the distance widening by 4 miles each orbit, using
its three telescopes and four spectrometers to gather data about the
composition of the stratosphere and the movement of ozone and chemical
compounds that affect its distribution. Initial check-out of
CRISTA-SPAS-2 has determined that all satellite systems are nominal,
the satellite is at the proper altitude, and all small payloads have
collected first data. The German-built satellite is to be retrieved
Aug. 16.
- Astronauts activated instruments of the Technology Applications and
Science (TAS), including the Shuttle Laser Altimeter, the Infrared
Spectral Imaging Radiometer (ISIR), the Cryogenic On-Orbit Long Life
Active Refrigerator (COOLAR), Two Phase Flow (TPF), Critical Viscosity
of Xeonon (CVX) and were initializing the Solar Constant Experiment
(SOLCON) and preparing for its first observation about 10 a.m. CDT.
- The International Extreme Ultraviolet Hitchhiker (IEH) payloads were
all successfully activated, including GLO-5 and GLO-6, which will
measure Earth's atmospheric emissions. Canister doors were opened for
observations by the Solar Extreme Ultraviolet Hitc hhiker (SEH), which
will accurately measure the solar flux in the extreme ultraviolet
wavelengths; and the Disribution and Automation Technology
Advancement-Colorado Hitchhiker and Student Experiment of Solar
Radiation (DATA-CHASER), which will measure the full-disk solar
ultraviolet and soft X-ray irradiance. The Ultraviolet Spectrograph
Telescope for Astronomical Research (UVSTAR), which will study the
planets in the extreme ultraviolet bands, is in the midst of its
checkouts.
- Work with the Japanese-built Manipulator Flight Demonstration (MFD)
experiment will begin about 8:30 a.m., when Davis begins checkout of
its Small Fine Arm, destined for use outside the International Space
Station's Japanese Experiment Module.
- Scientists reported a "fantastic" first day for the Microgravity
Vibration Isolation Mount (MIM), designed to isolate small experiments
from disturbances on the International Space Station.
- Brown is scheduled to talk with interviewers from WBTV-TV,
Charlotte, N.C., and WTVD-TV, Raleigh-Durham, N.C., at 12:36 p.m.
- On Friday, August 8, 1997, 5:00 p.m. CDT, STS-85 MCC Status Report # 4
reports:
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- STS-85 science and payload activities are now in full swing as
Mission Commander Curt Brown and his crew, Pilot Kent Rominger,
Mission Specialists Jan Davis, Bob Curbeam and Steve Robinson and
Payload Specialist Bjarni Tryggvason near completion of their first
full day in space.
- The prime focus of today's activities was associated with the
Manipulator Flight Demonstration (MFD) experiment in Discovery's
payload bay. Activation of the MFD payload was completed just after
9:30 a.m. today and throughout the day Davis and Robinson performed a
series of evaluation tests with the prototype of the Small Fine Arm
(SFA), destined for use outside the International Space Station's
Japanese Experiment Module.
- While Davis and Robinson were not able to complete all of today's
planned objectives, good data were collected on the overall MFD system
and different modes in which it can operate. Due to data conflicts
between some of the MFD components, the orbital replacement unit
detachment and attachment test, along with the door open & close task,
were not performed. These kinds of operational problems are not
unexpected, especially for a demonstration test payload flying for the
first time.
- There are several more days of MFD operations planned during the
STS-85 flight and the expectation is that most or all of the major
objectives of the MFD payload will be accomplished. Currently, the
only anticipated to MFD operations is the possibility of reduced test
runs on some specific tasks.
- Curbeam spent part of his day working with the Bioreactor
Demonstration System (BDS) payload. Just as gravity affects the
manner in which crystals grow and materials are processed, Earth's
pull also can alter the development of cells and tissues. The BDS is
designed to perform cell biology experiments under controlled
conditions on small samples of material.
- Tryggvason continued his work with the Microgravity Vibration
Isolation Mount (MIM) experiment, designed to isolate small
experiments from vibration disturbances on the International Space
Station.
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- Early this afternoon, Brown took a few minutes away from his work
schedule to talk with WBTV-TV, Charlotte, NC, and WTVD-TV,
Raleigh-Durham, NC. Brown, a native of North Carolina, answered
questions about his responsibilities as mission commander, the science
being conducted on the flight as well as daily life aboard the
Shuttle.
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- The STS-85 crew is scheduled to begin an eight hour sleep period at
6:41 p.m. CDT. They will be awakened at 2:41 a.m. Saturday to begin
their third day of on-orbit operations.
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