STS-80
Mission Control Center Status Report #31
6:30 p.m. CST December 2, 1996

   Scientists on the ground are delighted to have an extra day of work
with the ORFEUS-SPAS astronomy satellite while Colombia's crew enjoys
an extra day in space after shuttle managers today decided to extend
the shuttle flight to allow additional observations by the German
satellite.

  Mission Specialists Tammy Jernigan and Tom Jones will use the
shuttle's robot arm to grab the satellite from orbit at about 2:26
a.m. Central time Wednesday, a day later than originally
scheduled. They will berth it in the payload bay at about 7
a.m. Wednesday.

  The astronauts were awakened for the 14th day of the flight at 5:56
p.m. to the song "Stay" by Jackson Browne, reflecting the bonus day in
orbit granted to the crew. The astronauts will answer questions on the
status of their mission from reporters at the Johnson Space Center in
Houston and the Kennedy Space Center in Florida during a crew news
conference at 9:21 p.m.

  With the mission extension, Columbia is now scheduled to land at the
Kennedy Space Center just after 7 a.m. Central Friday to wrap up a
17-day flight. Columbia's systems continue to perform in excellent
fashion as it circles Earth every 90 minutes at an altitude of 224
statute miles.


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