STS-81
Report # 08 
Wednesday, January 15, 1997  6 p.m. CST 
 
Astronauts and cosmonauts aboard the Space Shuttle Atlantis and Space
Station Mir enjoyed an extended sleep period today as the spacecraft
continued to orbit the Earth in tandem at an altitude of 240 miles.

The Atlantis crew, which now consists of Commander Mike Baker, Pilot
Brent Jett and Mission Specialists Jeff Wisoff, John Grunsfeld, Marsha
Ivins and new addition John Blaha was allowed 9 hours to rest up after
Tuesday's busy rendezvous and docking activities.  The Mir crew, which
now consists of Commander Valery Korzun, Alexander Kaleri and
astronaut Jerry Linenger, got 9 ½ hours of sleep.

Linenger is beginning a four-month stay on Mir, and Blaha is ending
his 118 day tour of duty, returning to Earth aboard Atlantis.

The astronauts will be awakened at 7:27 p.m. tonight to begin their
first full day of joint docked operations and transfer work. More than
6,000 pounds of supplies, experiment equipment and samples will be
exchanged during five days of docked operations. The crews already
have made progress in the transfers, moving critical items immediately
after Tuesday's 9:55 p.m. CST docking.

The next STS-81 status report will be issued tomorrow morning.




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