Mission Control Status Report # 8
Monday, October 23, 1995

All systems aboard Space Shuttle Columbia continue to function well as
the orbiter and seven-member astronaut crew are in the fourth flight
day of science operations on STS-73.

Circling the Earth at over 17,000 miles an hour and at an altitude of
approximately 170 statute miles, Columbia is flying in the gravity
gradient attitude, tail to Earth in its most stable and vibration-free
condition to facilitate the delicate microgravity experiments being
conducted.

The astronaut crew, divided into Red and Blue teams, works shifts for
around-the-clock science in 14 major areas of experimentation.

The 16-day mission, known as U.S. Microgravity Laboratory-2, continues
until November 5 when it is scheduled to end in a landing at the
Kennedy Space Center, Florida.