STS-69 Day 6 Highlights

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On Tuesday, September 12, 1995, 8:30 a.m. CDT, STS-69 MCC Status Report # 10 reports:

The manufacture of thin film compounds for improved semiconductor and electrical component use proceeded on schedule overnight aboard the free-flying Wake Shield Facility as Endeavour's astronauts monitored the process from their orbiting spaceship.

However, about 7 a.m. CDT the 4300-pound, saucer-shaped satellite put itself in a safe mode after three successful growths of thin films. Scientists plan to complete seven growths before the satellite's scheduled retrieval Wednesday morning. Just before the fourth growth began, the Wake Shield pitched forward slightly after sensing a temperature increase. Wake Shield's systems were shut down and science activities temporarily halted to allow temperatures on the satellite to cool. Payload controllers are assessing the situation and its impact on the satellite's continued operations.

The Wake Shield is trailing Endeavour by about 40 miles, just where officials hoped it would be to avoid any possible contamination from the Shuttle's jet thrusters. Wake Shield must maintain as clean an environment as possible as it orbits the Earth to enhance the quality of the thin film compounds.

Commander Dave Walker and Pilot Ken Cockrell fired Endeavour's reaction control system jets to stop the opening rate between the Shuttle and the Wake Shield in preparation for tomorrow's rendezvous and retrieval of the satellite. The Wake Shield is scheduled to be grappled by robot arm operator Jim Newman 9/13/95 at about 10:15 AM Central time.

Walker took a few minutes out of his schedule to discuss the progress of the STS-69 mission with reporters from television stations in Atlanta and Boston. Later this morning, Walker planned to conduct a ship-to-ship conversation with STS-73 Commander Ken Bowersox, who along with his six crewmates, climbed aboard Columbia on Launch Pad 39-B at the Kennedy Space Center.for the final hours of a dress rehearsal of the countdown which will lead to their launch in just over two weeks on a 16-day Spacelab microgravity research mission.

On Tuesday, September 12, 1995, 6 p.m. CDT, STS-69 MCC Status Report # 11 reports:

The manufacture of semiconductor thin film compounds aboard the Wake Shield Facility satellite, released from Endeavour on Monday, is planned to resume later tonight following about a 12-hour rest to allow the satellite's attitude control system to cool from previous operations.

Due to the delay and subsequent plans to allow future such cooling periods, shuttle managers this afternoon decided to extend the time Wake Shield will spend flying free of Endeavour by about 24 hours. The extra time will mean the satellite will not be retrieved until Thursday. Previously, it would have been recaptured on Wednesday. The additional 24 hours of free-flying time will be gained by scheduling the crew activities that had been planned to occur the day after Wake Shield was retrieved to now take place during the extra day the satellite spends away from the shuttle. The overall duration for Endeavour's mission has not been changed and landing remains scheduled for September 18.

Controllers for the Wake Shield Facility believe the extra operations time will allow them to complete almost all of the thin film growths that had been originally planned. The satellite may be taken out of the "safe" mode that it has been in for cooling purposes and resume operations as early as 10 p.m. CDT today. Prior to the heating problems experienced with the attitude control system, three of the planned total of seven film manufacturing runs had already been completed. For the remainder of operations, cooling periods that could last as long as eight to ten hours will take place in between film manufacturing runs. Due to the slower-than-anticipated thin film operations, some secondary experimental objectives of the satellite, such as operations with the Charging Hazards and Wake Studies and the Shuttle Plume Impingement Experiment, may be reduced from what was originally planned. Operations with all of the secondary experiments are still expected, however, although in a limited fashion.

With the change in plans for Endeavour's retrieval of the satellite, activities for the crew when they awaken will include some off-duty time, operations with the secondary payloads aboard Endeavour, and checkouts of the spacesuits that will be used by astronauts Mike Gernhardt and Jim Voss during a spacewalk on Saturday.

The crew is currently in the midst of an eight-hour sleep period and will awaken for day seven of the mission at 10:39 p.m. CDT today. The Wake Shield Facility is trailing about 39 miles behind Endeavour and closing in on the shuttle at less than one mile with each hour and a half long orbit of Earth.

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