STS-77 Mission Control Center 
Status Report #16

Sunday, May 26, 1996 -- 4 p.m. CDT

Endeavour's crew spent its eighth day in orbit working with a host
of on-board experiments and performing a quick repair on a Spacehab
module cooling system.

Mission Specialists Andy Thomas and Dan Bursch fixed a faulty cooling
system in the Spacehab module today by switching a valve in the
cooling water loop to a backup motor. For the past day, the valve had
not been opening and closing in response to the settings of a
thermostat in the module, set to regulate the temperature at about 76
degrees Fahrenheit. Temperatures in the module had cooled off to about
70 degrees Fahrenheit during the day the valve was stuck open.  It is
now operating normally.

Crew members also spent a half-hour answering questions from U.S. and
Canadian media during their in-flight news conference.

In preparation for Monday morning's planned rendezvous with the
PAMS-STU satellite, Commander John Casper fired Endeavour's
steering jets to put the shuttle on a course closing in toward
PAMS-STU. Endeavour had been moving away from the satellite for about
24 hours, reaching a maximum distance of about 115 miles before that
engine firing. The two spacecraft currently are about 60 nautical
miles apart, with Endeavour closing in on PAMS-STU at the rate of 2
nautical miles per orbit.

Endeavour continues to fly virtually trouble-free as it circles the
Earth every 90 minutes.

The JSC Newsroom will be open 24 hours to support the STS-77 mission.