STS-84 Day 4 Highlights
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- On Sunday, May 18, 1997, 6:30 a.m. CDT, STS-84 MCC Status Report # 7
reports:
- The ten astronauts and cosmonauts aboard the Atlantis-Mir complex
spent their first full day of work together conducting science
investigations and transferring equipment from one spacecraft to the
other.
- The SPACEHAB double module at the rear of Atlantis' payload bay was
the focus of activity today as crew members conducted science
experiments in the Biorack facility and transferred items to and from
the Mir Space Station.
- Shuttle Commander Charlie Precourt and Pilot Eileen Collins
conducted several photo surveys of the Mir station and Mission
Specialists Jean-Francois Clervoy and Elena Kondakova worked with
Biorack - the primary science payload on board. Kondakova also
performed some environmental air sampling before helping with Mir
transfer activities. Carlos Noriega checked the progress of some
experiments being carried in the middeck and Ed Lu activated a
radiation monitor experiment. The newest Mir 23 crew member, Mike
Foale, joined his new crewmates, Commander Vasily Tsibliev and Flight
Engineer Alexander Lazutkin in familiarizing himself with his orbital
home for the next four months. Foale also joined his predecessor on
Mir, Jerry Linenger, to discuss life and work aboard Mir and the
current status of Mir systems. Linenger spent his day transferring
many of the experiments he conducted during his tour of duty on Mir
back to Atlantis for their return to Earth.
- In an interview with CBS News, Precourt and Tsibliev praised the
sixth joint docking mission between the U.S. and Russia, indicating it
is serving as a worthwhile exercise to prepare for the assembly of the
International Space Station. Precourt also said the Mir appears to be
in good condition despite recent systems problems, and said Mir will
be a perfectly safe home for Foale for his stay on orbit.
- The new Elektron oxygen-generating unit, which was transferred to
the Mir from Atlantis early Saturday, will not be tested during the
docked phase of the flight. The 300-pound system will be installed in
the Kvant-1 module after the mission and will be tested after a
leaking cooling loop in Kvant-1 is fixed. The new unit will serve as a
backup to another unit currently operating in Kvant-2 as the primary
source of oxygen production for the Mir.
- The ten astronauts and cosmonauts will begin their sleep periods at
12:08 p.m. Central time today. Atlantis' seven crew members will be
awakened at 8:08 p.m., while the Mir 23 crew members will receive
their wakeup call from Russian flight controllers an hour later.
- The Atlantis/Mir complex continues to circle the Earth at an
altitude of 210 nautical miles with all systems in both spacecraft
operating normally.
- On Sunday, May 18, 1997, 7:30 p.m. CDT, STS-84 MCC Status Report # 8
reports:
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- As they get ready to begin their third day of docked operations, the
crews aboard the Atlantis-Mir complex are well into the transfer
activities planned for the STS-84 mission.
- The crew will receive its wake up call to begin Flight Day 5 at 8:08
p.m. CDT this evening and the Mir-23 crew will be awakened about an
hour later to start its day. The main focus this evening and early
tomorrow morning will be the continuing effort to transport science
equipment, logistics and water between the two spacecraft. As of the
start of tonight's activities, approximately 58 % of the planned
transfer work has already been accomplished.
- Work planned for this evening includes Commander Charlie Precourt
and Pilot Eileen Collins setting up equipment to take environmental
air samples. They'll also work with the Cosmic Radiation Effects and
Activation Monitor (CREAM) which has made multiple Shuttle
flights. Crew members will install a CREAM detector package at each of
four stations as early in the flight as possible and then stow them as
late as possible before the end of the flight. Mission Specialist
Jean-Francois Clervoy will continue his work with the Biorack system
and a plant experiment before helping with transfer activities.
Carlos Noriega's transfer efforts will include moving a Protein
Crystal Growth dewar system from Mir to Atlantis for return to Earth.
Ed Lu will conduct a photo survey of the Mir station while Elena
Kondakova moves hot and cold water samples from Mir to Atlantis and
continues her work with Biorack experiments.
- Mike Foale and Jerry Linenger will continue their handover
discussions as Foale prepares for his upcoming 4 month stay on
Mir. Foale will serve aboard the Russian facility until he is replaced
by astronaut Wendy Lawrence when Atlantis again docks to Mir in
September on Mission STS-86.
- At 2:07 a.m. CDT Monday morning, Precourt will downlink a
congratulatory message to the 4th Air Expeditionary Wing in
celebration of the 50th anniversary of the U.S. Air Force. Later at
6:26 a.m. CDT, Precourt, along with Collins, Lu, Foale, Linenger and
Mir 23 Commander Vasily Tsibliev will conduct an interview with C-SPAN
anchor Brian Lamb and answer viewer call-in questions.
- Everything continues to go well as the Atlantis-Mir complex circles
the Earth every 92 minutes at an altitude of 248 x 234 statute miles.
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