Mission Control Center 
STS-66 Status Report #10 
 
Tuesday, November 8, 5 p.m.  CST
 
Science data continues to accumulate for the STS-66 atmospheric
investigations as Atlantis performs well in support of this Mission to
Planet Earth. 
 
Throughout the day, the Red Team of Don McMonagle, Ellen Ochoa and Joe
Tanner worked with the Atmospheric Laboratory for Applications and
Science-3, maneuvering the orbiter to provide the scientific instruments
with the best view of the Earth and the Sun. Crew members also spent time
with a variety of middeck payloads, including the protein crystal growth
experiment and a space tissue loss study designed to validate Earth- based
models on how microgravity affects the human body. 
 
This afternoon, McMonagle commanded a small maneuvering engine firing to
increase the closing rate between CRISTA- SPAS and Atlantis. The maneuver
will keep the relative distance between the two spacecraft at 40 to 60
nautical miles prior to its capture and return to the payload bay
scheduled for Saturday morning. 
 
The Blue Team, now in its seventh flight day, is awake and preparing for
another busy shift. Pilot Curt Brown, and Mission Specialists Jean-
Francois Clervoy and Scott Parazynski will perform routine communications
health checks with CRISTA-SPAS and Brown will maneuver Atlantis in support
of ATLAS-3 observations of cloud tops and atmospheric gasses. 
 
All orbiter systems are operating as expected as Atlantis circles the
Earth every 90 minutes at an altitude of approximately 164 x 159 nautical
miles. 
 
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