STS-80
Report # 11 
 Sunday, November 24, 1996 6 a.m. CST 
 
  Columbia's two free-flying satellites continued their scientific
studies in orbit Sunday as they trail the shuttle 34 miles apart.

  Wake Shield Facility scientists report that the saucer-shaped
satellite, which is trailing Columbia by 26 miles, has completed its
first two growths of thin film semiconductor material and is into the
third of seven planned runs. The materials are being grown in an
ultravacuum 100 to 1,000 times better than any seen on Earth using a
technique that lays down atom by atom the elements aluminum, arsenic,
gallium, indium and berylium, in well-ordered wafers of high
purity. The Wake Shield is scheduled to be retrieved by Columbia's
astronauts using the shuttle's robot arm and will be placed back in
the payload bay late Monday night.

  The Orbiting and Retrievable Far and Extreme Ultraviolet
Spectrometer, or ORFEUS-SPAS satellite, has conducted 77 different
astronomical observations since being deployed on launch day. Among
the observations are several double stars that are of particular
interest to the astronomers using ORFEUS-SPAS' three telescopic
instruments. ORFEUS-SPAS, which is trailing Columbia by 60 miles, is
to be retrieved by Columbia's astronauts Dec. 3rd.

  Astronaut Tammy Jernigan reported that the VIEW-CAPL experiment,
designed by students at the University of Maryland, is working
well. The experiment tests capillary pumped loop technology that one
day may be used for more reliable spacecraft cooling systems.

  The crew also sent down television pictures of the flight deck,
using the downlink time to answer half a dozen questions posed via the
NASA Shuttle Web on the Internet.

  The crew went to bed at 4:56 a.m. Central time Sunday and will be
awakened for their sixth day of orbital activities at 12:56 p.m.
Columbia is in excellent condition in a 220 by 215 statute mile orbit.


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