The SPACEHAB Space Research Laboratory is a pressurized module which will be installed in the forward quarter of the orbiter’s payload bay. The module serves as an extension of the middeck area of the orbiter, and doubles the living and working space for the crew. On this mission, SPACEHAB-4 will contain materials processing and biotechnology experiments. A SPACEHAB single module used as an orbiting microgravity laboratory packed with commercial science experiments has flown three times before in a Shuttle orbiter.

Another primary objective of STS-77 will be operation of the Spartan 207/Inflatable Antenna Experiment (IAE) payload to test inflatable antenna technology. The Spartan 207/IAE will be released from the cargo bay by the orbiter’s robotic arm. The Spartan satellite will jettison the antenna after about 4.5 hours of operation; the next day, Spartan 207 will be retrieved and reberthed in the payload bay by the robotic arm.

A small satellite will be deployed from a canister as part of the Technology Experiments Advancing Missions in Space (TEAMS) payload which includes four experiments on fluids and space systems technology.

In-cabin payloads include the Aquatic Research Facility to perform biological investigations in space and the Biological Research in Canisters experiment to test the effects of space flight on small arthropod animals and plant specimens.

*Note: Shuttle mission dates and other specifics are subject to change. Updates may be obtained by calling the following telephone numbers: Kennedy Space Center, Florida -- 407 867-2314 or 867-4636; and NASA Headquarters, Washington, D.C. -- 202 358-4184.

Curtis L. Brown Jr. (Lt. Col., USAF) received a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering from the Air Force Academy and was an instructor pilot and a test pilot in the Air Force. Brown was selected as an astronaut candidate by NASA in 1987. He was pilot on STS-47 in 1992 and STS-66 in 1994.

As payload commander, Daniel W. Bursch (Cmdr., USN) will have overall responsibility for operation of all the experiments during the mission. He earned a master’s degree in engineering science from the Naval Postgraduate School and held various positions with the Navy. Bursch became an astronaut in 1991 and previously flew as a mission specialist on STS-51 in 1993 and on STS-68 in 1994.

Mission Specialist Mario Runco Jr. also will make his third trip into space on STS-77. He earned a master’s degree in meteorology from Rutgers University and was a research hydrologist and then a New Jersey state trooper before entering the Navy. He was a Navy fleet environmental services officer before joining NASA in 1987. Runco flew as a mission specialist on STS-44 in 1991 and on STS-54 in 1993.

Canadian Space Agency astronaut Marc Garneau will make his second space flight. The STS-77 mission specialist received a doctorate in electrical engineering from the Imperial College of Science and Technology in London, England, and held various positions with the Canadian Navy. He flew as a payload specialist on Shuttle Mission STS 41-G in 1984 and later served as deputy director of the Canadian Astronaut Program. He was selected by NASA as an astronaut candidate in 1992.

Mission Specialist Andrew S.W. Thomas is the only space flight rookie on the crew. A native of South Australia, he earned a doctorate in mechanical engineering from the University of Adelaide, South Australia. He formerly worked as leader of the microgravity materials processing in space program at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory. He was appointed a member of the astronaut corps in 1993.