Mission Control Center
STS-64 Status Report #10
 
Wednesday, Sept. 14, 7 a.m. CDT
 
Astronauts will continue science operations and check out their suits for 
Friday's space walk today as STS-64, Discovery's 19th flight, approaches 
the half-way point.
 
Crew members began their sixth day in space with the song "On Orbit," 
sung by Mach 25 to the Green Acres theme. Following the completion of 
post-sleep activities, Mission Specialists Carl Meade and Mark Lee will 
begin checking out the space suits they will use during Friday's 
extravehicular activity.
 
The six-hour space walk, currently scheduled to begin at about 9:45 a.m. 
Central Friday, is designed to test several tools and techniques that may be 
used at the International Space Station. Among the tools is the Simplified 
Aid for EVA Rescue, or SAFER, a small, self-contained, propulsive 
backpack that can provide a free-flying astronaut control and mobility. 
SAFER is designed for self-rescue use by a space walker in the event the 
shuttle is unable or unavailable to retrieve a detached, drifting crew 
member.
 
Today, science activities with the Lidar In-Space Technology Experiment, 
or LITE, will continue with three data takes. The science activities in space 
are being coordinated with concurrent activities on the ground. Tuesday, 
10 different groups from Japan, China, Puerto Rico and the United States 
took measurements of the Earth's atmosphere from the ground at the same 
time LITE was recording data in space.
 
SPARTAN-201 is moving out ahead of Discovery, opening at a rate of 3.6 
n.m. per hour. Later today, the crew will start maneuvering the orbiter 
back toward the science satellite, setting up for its retrieval on Thursday. 
Overnight, flight controllers looked at the data from Discovery's 
rendezvous radar which was recording questionable readings during the 
deploy operations. Controllers have concluded that the signatures were the 
result of the radar's late acquisition of the satellite, the cause of which is 
still being investigated.
 
The Robot Operated Materials Processing System, or ROMPS, also 
continues to process semiconductor samples in canisters mounted on the 
side of the payload bay. The operation, conducted remotely while the crew 
sleeps, is being characterized by its controllers as "very successful." So far, 
74 of the 100 samples have been processed..
 
Discovery's systems continue to function as expected. The flight control 
team is not tracking any systems problems at this time. The orbiter is 
circling the Earth in a 140 nautical mile orbit.
 
-end-