STS-72 Status Report # 3
 Mission Control Center

Friday, January 12, 5am CST

Endeavour's six astronauts spent their first full day in orbit
activating secondary experiments and checking out the spacesuits they
will wear next week during a pair of 6 1/2 hour spacewalks.

Commander Brian Duffy, Pilot Brent Jett and Mission Specialists Leroy
Chiao, Winston Scott, Koichi Wakata and Dan Barry were awakened at
7:11 Central time Thursday night to the music from the motion picture
"Star Wars." At the time the astronauts were awakened, Endeavour
trailed the Japanese Space Flyer Unit satellite by about 6600 nautical
miles and was closing the distance between itself and the 4-ton
science satellite by about 762 nautical miles per orbit.

Wakata is scheduled to use Endeavour's 50-foot long robot arm early
Saturday to retrieve the SFU, which was launched on March 18, 1995
atop a Japanese H-2 rocket from the Tanageshima Space Center in Japan
for 10 months of materials science studies and biological
experiments. Flight controllers reported that the SFU, which is
orbiting at an altitude of about 257 nautical miles, is in good shape
despite the loss of two jet thrusters which are part of the reaction
control system for the satellite. The thruster problem will not affect
the SFU's retrieval.

Japanese engineers at the Sagamihara Control Center south of Tokyo
turned off the satellite's major thruster system overnight as
planned, one of the final major events prior to the SFU retrieval
Saturday.

At 1:38 AM this morning, Duffy and Jett conducted a brief firing of
the orbiter's reaction control system jets to alter Endeavour's
orbit slightly and to avoid a close encounter with an orbiting Air
Force satellite nicknamed MISTY (MSTI). The satellite was launched in
May 1994 from California's Vandenberg Air Force Base on a Scout
rocket, but is no longer active. Without the maneuver, Endeavour would
have passed within 8/10 of a mile of the satellite. With the maneuver,
Endeavour remained more than 5 miles away from MSTI.

Near the end of their workday, Chiao, Barry and Scott tested the the
three spacesuits they will wear during their two spacewalks, making
sure that the various systems in the suits were working
properly. Chiao and Barry will conduct the first spacewalk starting
Sunday night. Chiao will be joined by Scott Tuesday for the second
excursion into Endeavour's cargo bay. Both spacewalks are designed
to test tools and techniques for the assembly of the international
Space Station.

The crew will begin an eight-hour sleep period at 10:41 AM Central
time and will be awakened early this evening for the start of the
final phase of the rendezvous to capture the Space Flyer Unit.

Endeavour is orbiting the Earth every 90 minutes at an altitude of 287
statute miles with all of its systems in excellent shape. The JSC
newsroom will close for the day at 5 PM Central time and will reopen
at 11 PM. The next status report will be issued at 5 PM Central time.