STS-78 Day 15 Highlights

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On Thursday, July 4, 1996, 6:00 a.m. CDT, STS-78 MCC Status Report # 29 reports:

Bruce Springsteen's "Born in the USA," and Lee Greenwood's "I'm Proud to be an American" greeted Columbia's seven astronauts today as they awoke to begin their fifteenth flight day on orbit.

Mission Commander Tom Henricks responded to Mission Control's wake up call by saying that the five US-born crew members were very proud to be Americans, particularly on the day America celebrates its 220th anniversary. On Monday, the crew celebrated Canada Day in honor of Payload Specialist Bob Thirsk and his country's 129th birthday.

Today, work in the Spacelab module will continue with investigations into the effects of microgravity on muscle strength and endurance, astronaut lung function, and adaptation of the neurovestibular system to a microgravity environment. Henricks and Pilot Kevin Kregel will complete work with a laptop computer designed to test the crew's critical thinking skills and reaction time. They also will test a voice control system that allows them to reposition Columbia's closed-circuit television cameras with verbal cues, keeping their hands free to perform other tasks.

On Thursday, July 4, 1996, 5:00 p.m. CDT, STS-78 MCC Status Report # 30 reports:

With their sleep shifts now set on a schedule to prepare for Sunday's planned return to Earth, the astronauts aboard Space Shuttle Columbia will receive a wakeup call at 11:39 tonight to begin the sixteenth flight day of the mission.

Earlier today, Commander Tom Henricks recognized America's Independence Day by showing a television view of the U.S. from space with patriotic music playing in the background. He also paid tribute to the service personnel killed and injured in the recent bombing in Saudi Arabia.

Work in the Spacelab module continued today with investigations into the effects of microgravity on muscle strength and endurance, astronaut lung function, and adaptation of the neurovestibular system to a microgravity environment. Laboratory work will continue tomorrow with several of the experiments being wrapped up in preparation for the return trip home planned for Sunday morning at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

Henricks and Pilot Kevin Kregel completed work with a laptop computer designed to test the crew's critical thinking skills and reaction time. They also tested a voice control system that repositions Columbia's closed-circuit television cameras with verbal cues. The test showed the feasibility of the experiment to free crew members' hands for other tasks.

Columbia's twentieth spaceflight enters the last three days with no orbiter problems being tracked by Mission Control. The spacecraft is circling the Earth every 90 minutes at an altitude of 168 statute miles.

On Thursday, July 4, 1996, 12:00 p.m. CDT, STS-78 Payload Status Report # 15 reports: (MET 014/02:11)

There were no fireworks, just a normal busy day of experiments for the crew of the Space Shuttle Columbia as it crossed the two-week point this Independence Day on the way to completing its record-setting 17-day mission. However, right after lunch crew members did take an opportunity to play a few patriotic songs and wish Americans on Earth a happy Fourth of July.

It was evident to all that the closing days of the mission were at hand as the crew members prepared to run a final planned experiment through the Bubble, Drop and Particle Unit, and investigators on the ground monitored the processing of a final planned experiment in the Advanced Gradient Heating Facility.

Pilot Kevin Kregel and Payload Commander Susan Helms successfully performed an in-flight maintenance procedure on the Bubbles and Drops Interaction with Solidification Fronts experiment cartridge and inserted it into the Bubble, Drop and Particle Unit.

Designed by Dr. Rodolfo Monti of the University of Naples, Italy, the experiment first examines the interaction of gas bubbles, and then liquid drops, against the leading edge of a solidifying waxy substance. The first half of the study focusing on bubbles was successfully completed Tuesday. The second half focusing on drops was to have run immediately after the first; however, during the water drop phase, investigators discovered a water injector would not retract from its deployed position, prompting the cartridge's removal. Engineers on the ground quickly developed a solution to what was determined to be a minor electrical problem, and the crew members completed the procedure without a hitch this morning. Results of the Monti experiment -- the final of 14 carried out as planned throughout the flight -- may help researchers learn how to prevent flaws created by gasses released as glass and crystal solidify.

Before performing the scheduled in-flight maintenance procedure on the Bubble, Drop and Particle Unit, Helms and Kregel removed an experiment led by Dr. Johannes Straub of the Technical University in Munich, Germany, from the unit. This investigation -- which began its second run of the mission Tuesday following the first half of the Monti experiment -- examined heat transfer as a liquid refrigerant was brought to the boiling point. The research could lead to the creation of cooling systems for small high-powered electronic devices, such as computer chips.

An aluminum-indium sample continued to be processed today in the Advanced Gradient Heating Facility. The experiment, led by Principle Investigator Dr. Barry Andrews of the University of Alabama at Birmingham, studies the segregation of alloys as they solidify. Its aim is to help researchers develop ways to control the internal structure of alloys during processing.

Today was a busy day for crew members using the Torque Velocity Dynamometer, a multi-use exercise machine designed to test muscle strength in various parts of the body. This morning, Payload Specialist Dr. Jean-Jacques Favier and Mission Specialist Dr. Richard Linnehan resumed arm, hand-grip and leg strength tests on the dynamometer, while Mission Specialist Dr. Charles Brady performed arm strength tests, and Payload Specialist Dr. Robert Thirsk performed hand-grip tests. Before the leg strength tests, both Favier and Linnehan attached electrodes to their left legs which applied precise electrical stimuli to cause involuntary muscle contractions.

Thirsk and Favier also exercised on a stationary bicycle-like device called the ergometer. Exercising on the ergometer during the mission not only helps the crew members maintain cardiovascular conditioning in the microgravity environment, but it also helps researchers gather data on in- flight muscle atrophy. Information from the various dynamometer and ergometer operations today may help investigators determine why muscles lose strength in a microgravity environment.

Thirsk, Henricks, Favier and Kregel today also continued their tests on the human behavior workstation, which they've conducted on alternate days throughout the mission. A laptop computer displays a series of problem-solving exercises which help track each crew members' level of mental fatigue.

Researchers hope to use the results of the continuing study to plan future crew schedules that take advantage of periods of peak mental performance.

Brady, Favier, Thirsk and Linnehan also brought to a close the final 72-hour period in the Sleep and Circadian Studies. The study looks at how life in space affects sleep patterns, circadian rhythms and mental alertness. The crew members completed questionnaires at the beginning and end of their day, as well as alertness and mood tests before each meal and throughout the morning. A similar 72-hour period was completed earlier in the flight.

Helms, Kregel, Thirsk and Favier continued the Astronaut Lung Function Experiment to measure the effects of microgravity on the pulmonary system during rest, heavy exercise and deep breathing. All four crew members wore electrodes to monitor their heart activity, and all but Helms wore the vest-like Respitrace Suit to monitor chest and abdomen motions during breathing as they conducted the studies.

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