STS-77 Day 2 Highlights

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On Monday, May 20, 1996, 7 a.m. CDT, STS-77 MCC Status Report # 3 reports:

The Spartan satellite was released at 6:29 Central time this morning for its 24 hour free flight away from Endeavour to test new inflatable antenna technology.

The Inflatable Antenna Experiment, or IAE, was scheduled to be inflated shortly after 8:30 this morning. The inflation procedure lasts about 5 minutes, bringing the antenna to its full size of 90 feet by 50 feet, or the equivalent size of a tennis court. After an hour and a half, the antenna was to be jettisoned from the Spartan. The satellite will be retrieved tomorrow morning and placed back in the payload bay for the remainder of the flight.

Experiment activity continues around the clock aboard the orbiter and in the SPACEHAB science module -- even while the crew sleeps. An investigation using Global Positioning System satellites to determine a spacecraft's orientation rather than just location is in progress. GPS is becoming a more and more useful tool in position location and attitude which will be beneficial with the International Space Station in precisely determining its proper position in space.

Another experiment called BETSCE (pronounced betsy) is testing a new, supercold refrigeration system that needs no moving parts and could be used on orbiting astronomical instruments. The Commercial Float Zone Furnace operates continuously to produce large crystals for use in semiconductors and infrared sensors.

Endeavour is currently in a 176-mile high circular orbit, completing one revolution of Earth every 90 minutes. The crew was awakened at 12:30 this morning to the "Air Force Song" in honor of Casper, an Air Force Colonel and Brown, an Air Force Lieutenant Colonel. The crew will go to sleep at 4:30 this afternoon.

On Monday, May 20, 1996, 5 p.m. CDT, STS-77 MCC Status Report # 4 reports:

With the free-flying Spartan spacecraft trailing Endeavour by about 21 nautical miles, and the jettisoned Inflatable Antenna Experiment leading by a distance of more than 100 nautical miles, the six astronauts on board Endeavour have begun a planned eight-hour sleep shift.

Early this morning, Mission Specialists Mario Runco used the Shuttle's robot arm to deploy the Spartan and its Inflatable Antenna Experiment from Endeavour's payload bay. At 8:38 a.m. Central time, the antenna structure inflated to its full 92 foot length supporting a 50 foot diameter dish. Cameras and sensors on the Spartan spacecraft took precise measurements of the smoothness of the antenna dish surface. IAE was jettisoned about 90 minutes later according to plan.

The antenna continues to move ahead of Endeavour at the rate of 50 to 60 nautical miles with every revolution of the Earth, and at 3:30 p.m. was approximately 85 nautical miles in front of, and below Endeavour. Due to IAE's dynamic characteristics -- its large size but relatively light weight -- an exact orbital lifetime is difficult to predict, but flight controllers estimate that it should reenter the Earth's atmosphere within the next 17 to 24 hours.

The IAE may be visible in the early morning skies over the United States early Tuesday morning, in those areas where the Shuttle is predicted to be visible. Viewing opportunities for the antenna will precede the Shuttle by about one to two minutes.

Tuesday morning, about 9 a.m. Central time, Endeavour will rendezvous with the Spartan spacecraft, retrieving it about one hour later before Marc Garneau uses the robot arm to place it back in the payload bay for its return to earth.

Studies with a variety of experiments housed in the SPACEHAB science module -- including the Commercial Float Zone Furnace -- will continue as the crew sleeps. The CFZF operates independently producing large crystals for use in semiconductors and infrared sensors.

Endeavour is currently in a 176-mile high circular orbit, completing one revolution of Earth every 90 minutes. The crew will receive a wake-up call from Mission Control at 12:30 a.m. Tuesday.

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