STS-80 Day 2 Highlights
Back to STS-80 Flight Day 01 Highlights:
-
- On Wednesday, November 20, 1996, 6:00 a.m. CDT, STS-80 MCC Status Report # 2
reports:
- The first major objective of STS-80 was completed near the end of
flight day one Tuesday with the deployment of the Orbiting Retrievable
Far and Extreme Ultraviolet Spectrometer (ORFEUS) on the reusable
Shuttle Pallet Satellite. Release from Columbia's robot arm came at 8
hours 15 minutes mission elapsed time, about 10:11 p.m. CST. Three
hours later, ground controllers observed the telescope door opening
and noted that the instrument appeared to be working properly,
beginning two weeks of gathering data on the origin and makeup of
stars. The release was delayed for just over an hour from its
originally scheduled time due to longer than expected pre-deployment
checkout.
- Columbia's five-astronaut crew, Commander Ken Cockrell, Pilot
Kent Rominger and Mission Specialists Tammy Jernigan, Tom Jones and
Story Musgrave, were given a one-hour extension of their scheduled sleep
period today, following the longer flight day one. Crew wakeup is
planned for MET 20 hours, or 9:56 a.m. CST.
- Wednesday's activities include work with a variety of experiments
and adjustments to Columbia's orbit to set up for retrieval of the
ORFEUS SPAS in two weeks. Crew members will operate equipment
supporting the Orbiter Space Vision System for monitoring the position
and alignment of structures in space. Rominger will activate the
CMIX-5 experiment hardware conducting research in several areas
including diabetes treatment, tissue replacement and the growth of
crystals for research into breast cancer inhibitors. Rominger and
Jernigan are scheduled to activate the Visualization in an
Experimental Water Capillary Pumped Loop (VIEW-CPL) experiment
studying alternate methods for spacecraft thermal management.
- Tuesday's launch was the 21st for Columbia, oldest orbiter in the
fleet. The 16-day flight includes deployment and retrieval of two
satellites and two space walks to study tools and techniques for
building the International Space Station.
- Columbia is orbiting the Earth every 90 minutes at an altitude of
218 statute miles with all systems operating normally. Orbiter and
crew are scheduled to return to Earth Dec. 5.
- On Wednesday, November 20, 1996, 6:00 p.m. CDT, STS-80 MCC Status Report # 3
reports:
-
- While Columbia leads the ORFEUS-SPAS spacecraft by about 25 nautical
miles, the five astronauts concentrated their attention on other
activities aboard the orbiter including testing the Space Vision
System, conducting a visual checkout of the Wake Shield Facility and
working with middeck experiments that will be conducted throughout the
16-day mission.
- The Orbiting Retrievable Far and Extreme Ultraviolet Spectrometer
(ORFEUS), mounted on the reusable Shuttle Pallet Satellite (SPAS) was
deployed on launch day and will remain a free flyer away from Columbia
for 14 days. Throughout its two-week mission, the science satellite
will gather data on the origin and makeup of stars. Columbia's
Commander Ken Cockrell and Pilot Kent Rominger will periodically fire
thruster jets on the orbiter to refine the distance between the two
spacecraft to maintain safe distances while other mission objectives
are performed, including deployment and retrieval of the Wake Shield
Facility.
- The Wake Shield is scheduled to be deployed Friday evening and
retrieved late Monday night. The saucer-shaped spacecraft is flying
for the third time aboard the Shuttle and is designed to also fly free
of the orbiter's environment to conduct its primary mission to
create an ultravacuum in its wake to grow more perfect thin film
semiconductor materials that could be used in electronic circuits and
digital, analog, microwave and optical devices.
- The test of the Orbiter Space Vision System by Mission Specialists
Tammy Jernigan and Tom Jones is designed to use the closed-circuit
television sysem on Columbia to monitor the position and alignment of
structures in space. The OSVS also could be used to more precisely
move equipment around the payload bay and eventually on the
International Space Station when a direct view by crew members is not
possible.
- Other activities today include activation of the CMIX-5 experiment
hardware to conduct research in areas including diabetes treatment,
tissue replacement and the growth of crystals for research into breast
cancer inhibitors. Mission Specialist Story Musgrave concentrated
early afternoon efforts on some of the samples in this experiment.
Rominger and Jernigan activated another experiment designed to study
alternate methods for spacecraft thermal management.
- The crew began its work day at 10 this morning to the Who's
"I can see for miles". The five astronauts are scheduled to
go to sleep just before 3 a.m. Thursday.
- Columbia is orbiting the Earth every 90 minutes at an altitude of
218 statute miles with all systems operating normally. Orbiter and
crew are scheduled to return to Earth Dec. 5.
-
Go to STS-80 Flight Day 3 Highlights: