STS-80
Report # 13 
Sunday, November 24, 1996  8:30 p.m. CST 
 
 Following extensive tracking analysis and predictions of the
ORFEUS-SPAS satellite's position in relation to the Wake Shield
Facility, STS-80 mission managers determined that the distances will
be well within the rendezvous margins at the time of Wake Shield
retrieval tomorrow night by Columbia.  The predicted distance of
ORFEUS-SPAS to the Wake Shield is now expected to be about 12 nautical
miles when the orbiter retrieves Wake Shield.

  The Wake Shield will be retrieved about 3 hours earlier than
originally planned Monday night and will have completed its planned
mission.  Because of the earlier retreival time, the crew was told to
plan for an earlier sleep period beginning at about 5 a.m. Monday and
a one hour earlier than planned wake up call at 12:56 p.m. central.

  The decision to have the Wake Shield remain a free flying satellite
came at 7:50 p.m. Sunday as the crew was winding up a half day of off
duty time.  The rest of the crew's day will focus on scientific
investigations of experiments inside the shuttle's cabin.

  The five astronauts aboard Columbia were told of the possibility of
the early rendezvous when they woke up early Sunday afternoon.  Flight
controllers had noticed that the ORFEUS-SPAS astronomy satellite might
have been closing in on the Wake Shield Facility slightly faster than
originally predicted.  ORFEUS-SPAS science work was interrupted early
this afternoon while it was put in an orientation that encountered
less resistance from the sparse atmosphere in low orbit, thus slowing
the rate it is closing on the WSF.  This orientation, or attitude,
assisted ground controllers with accurately tracking the spacecraft's
trajectory.  The astronomy satellite already has made more than 100
observations since its release from Columbia almost five days ago, and
it is scheduled to continue flying free from the shuttle, performing
its astronomy work, for another nine days.  Mission managers have not
yet determined when the ORFEUS instruments will continue observations.

  Meanwhile, the WSF already has completed five growths of thin film
semiconductor material, surpassing its major objectives for the
mission.  The satellite has a maximum capacity to grow a total of
seven films, which should be completed in the early morning hours
Monday.  Scientists with the satellite say it has functioned extremely
well and are delighted with the results obtained thus far.

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