STS-81
Report # 13 
Saturday,  January 18, 1997 - 6:30 a.m. CST 
 
 Atlantis' astronauts and the cosmonauts of the Russian Space Station
Mir continued to transfer hundreds of pounds of water, supplies, and
logistical items to each other's spacecraft this morning as
consideration was given to extending the flight by one day to try to
reclaim lost data from an experiment for the International Space
Station program.

  More than 1,300 pounds of water have now been transferred from
Atlantis to the Mir to resupply the Russian outpost, along with
equipment which will be used by astronaut Jerry Linenger during his
four-month research mission.

  A bioprocessing device and an experiment used to grow cartilage
cells during astronaut John Blaha's four month stay on the Mir were
transferred to Atlantis early today for the trip back to Earth.

  Linenger spent most of the day collecting water samples from the Mir
for analysis back on Earth and Blaha continued to exercise on a
treadmill on the Mir to stay in shape for his return to Earth next
week and a readaptation to gravity after four months of
weightlessness.

  NASA managers will meet this morning to consider options to recoup
lost data from the Treadmill Vibration Isolation System (TVIS)
experiment.  The treadmill device was used by three astronauts early
Tuesday to collect data on how vibrations imparted by crew exercise
may be reduced or eliminated on the International Space Station.
Those vibrations could disturb delicate microgravity experiments on
the new space complex, whose assembly is scheduled to begin late this
year.  The loss of data was traced to a faulty laptop computer
attached to the treadmill device.

  Atlantis is scheduled to undock from the Mir Space Station at 8:15
p.m. Sunday, leaving Linenger behind on the Mir to begin his four
months of scientific studies.  In preparation for his mission aboard
Mir, which includes the first spacewalk by an astronaut as part of a
Mir crew, Linenger videotaped the path he and Mir-23 Commander Vasily
Tsibliev will follow throughout that spacewalk scheduled for March.
The two will review the tape before the spacewalk once Tsibliev and
Mir-23 Flight Engineer Alexander Lazutkin arrive on Feb. 12.  The
taping is being conducted now to take advantage of the unique
perspective the shuttle's windows provide of the station.

Crew sleep is scheduled for 11:30 this morning with wakeup planned at
7:27 tonight.

###

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