STS-89 Day 6 Highlights
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- On Tuesday, January 27, 1998, 6:00 a.m. CST, STS-89 MCC Status Report # 10
reports:
- The seven astronauts aboard Space Shuttle Endeavour were awakened at
4:48 a.m. today to begin their third full day of joint docked
operations with the Russian Mir space station. The song."Clap for the
Wolfman" by Burton Cummings brought an end to a relatively
uninterrupted sleep period for the crew.
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- More resupply and experiment equipment transfers lay ahead for the
astronauts and cosmonauts who have now passed the halfway point in
their resupply work. By the end of flight day 5, 60 percent of all
planned transfers had been completed including just over 1,000 pounds
of water manufactured by Endeavour's fuel cells.
- Coming up late Tuesday morning is an interview with Cable News
Network and Russian news media. That event is scheduled to start at
11:48 a.m. CST Tuesday.
- Yesterday marked the successful resolution of a couple of problems
which had come up unexpectedly on Sunday. A software change was sent
to Endeavour's computers Monday to overcome a faulty sensor which
monitors the condition of one of the orbiter's attitude control
thrusters. That thruster sensor late Sunday had caused Shuttle flight
controllers to temporarily pass attitude control of the Shuttle-Mir
stack to the Russian station. When Mir thruster propellant ran low,
control was passed back to Endeavour. All of this activity consumed
some of the crew's sleep time, which was extended by Mission Control.
- Also Monday, Mir 24 crewmember Andy Thomas, with the aid of his Mir
commander Anatoly Solovyev, successfully modified the Soyuz Sokol
spacesuit he carried to orbit, improving the fit. Initially, Thomas
had been unable to seal the suit which appeared too small for
him. Thomas detached straps which lengthened the suit sufficiently to
allow a comfortable fit under both pressurized and non-pressurized
conditions. He would wear the suit only in the event he were to
return to Earth on board a Soyuz spacecraft.
- Endeavour and Mir will remain docked until just before 11
a.m. Thursday.
- On Tuesday, January 27, 1998, 7:00 p.m. CST, STS-89 MCC Status Report # 11
reports:
- With their transfer activities nearing completion, the astronauts
and cosmonauts on board the Endeavour/Mir complex are preparing for
their final full day of docked operations.
- Resupply and experiment equipment transfers continued for the
astronauts and cosmonauts today, with more hardware, logistical
supplies and experiments transferred between the two vehicles.
Currently the crew is slightly ahead of its planned transfer work
schedule.
- Shortly before noon today, crew members talked with the Cable News
Network and Russian media to discuss the progress of the mission and
activities that lie ahead for Mir crew member Andy Thomas.
- The STS-89 crew will begin an 8-hour sleep period this evening at
8:48 p.m. CST and will receive a wake-up call from Mission Control at
4:48 a.m. on Thursday to begin their seventh day in space.
- The 10 astronauts and cosmonauts will conduct a joint crew news
conference on Wednesday beginning just after 1:30 p.m. CST, during
which they will answer questions from reporters at NASA centers in the
U.S. as well as from news media in Moscow.
- Following the press conference, the two crews will conduct a
farewell ceremony, after which the Mir's crew will close the hatch on
the Mir side of the docking module at 4:18 p.m. Central time. The
orbiter hatch will remain open to allow Endeavour's crew to leave any
final transfer items in the vestibule to be retrieved by the
cosmonauts following the Shuttle's departure. Endeavour is scheduled
to undock from Mir at 10:56 a.m. Central time on Thursday.
- The next STS-89 status report will be issued at approximately 6
a.m. Wednesday.
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