Mission Control Center Status Report # 1
STS-77

May 19, 1996
8:30 AM CDT

The Shuttle Endeavour blasted off right on time this morning from the
Kennedy Space Center at 5:30 AM Central time following a flawless
countdown and its six astronauts went right to work activating the
Spacehab module systems in the cargo bay laboratory and the ship's
robot arm.

Commander John Casper, Pilot Curt Brown and crewmates Andy Thomas, Dan
Bursch, Mario Runco and Marc Garneau wasted no time moving into their
activities once they reached orbit, deploying the Shuttle's KU-band
radio antenna and beginning the process of turning on a host of
materials and life science experiments in the Spacehab, which is
designed to increase the volume of workspace available to orbiting
Shuttle crews.

The only glitch during the launch phase this morning occured when a
cooling device for one of Endeavour's three hydraulic power units
froze up, but the water spray boiler is expected to thaw once the
orbiter is maneuvered into its on-orbit experiment orientation and is
not expected to have any impact on the mission.

The first major activity of the flight will occur Monday morning, when
Runco uses Endeavour's robot arm to grapple and deploy the Spartan
satellite which is housed in the Shuttle's cargo bay. Once it is
deployed, a timing device on Spartan will command a large inflatable
antenna to deploy at the top of a three-legged tripod. The 90 by
50-foot antenna will then be inflated by nitrogen gas in a technology
demonstration of how large inflatable structures can operate in
weightlessness.

Endeavour's astronauts will begin their first eight-hour sleep
period at 4:30 Central time this afternoon and will be awakened at
12:30 AM Monday.

The JSC newscenter is open around the clock during the STS-77 mission.