STS-84
Report # 07 
Sunday, May 18, 1997 - 6:30 a.m. CDT 
 
 The ten astronauts and cosmonauts aboard the Atlantis-Mir complex
spent their first full day of work together conducting science
investigations and transferring equipment from one spacecraft to the
other..

  The Spacehab double module at the rear of Atlantis' payload bay was
the focus of activity today as crew members conducted science
experiments in the Biorack facility and transferred items to and from
the Mir Space Station.

  Shuttle Commander Charlie Precourt and Pilot Eileen Collins
conducted several photo surveys of the Mir station and Mission
Specialists Jean-Francois Clervoy and Elena Kondakova worked with
Biorack - the primary science payload on board.  Kondakova also
performed some environmental air sampling before helping with Mir
transfer activities.  Carlos Noriega checked the progress of some
experiments being carried in the middeck and Ed Lu activated a
radiation monitor experiment.  The newest Mir 23 crew member, Mike
Foale, joined his new crewmates, Commander Vasily Tsibliev and Flight
Engineer Alexander Lazutkin in familiarizing himself with his orbital
home for the next four months. Foale also joined his predecessor on
Mir, Jerry Linenger, to discuss life and work aboard Mir and the
current status of Mir systems. Linenger spent his day transferring
many of the experiments he conducted during his tour of duty on Mir
back to Atlantis for their return to Earth.

  In an interview with CBS News, Precourt and Tsibliev praised the
sixth joint docking mission between the U.S. and Russia, indicating it
is serving as a worthwhile exercise to prepare for the assembly of the
International Space Station. Precourt also said the Mir appears to be
in good condition despite recent systems problems, and said Mir will
be a perfectly safe home for Foale for his stay on orbit.

  The new Elektron oxygen-generating unit, which was transferred to
the Mir from Atlantis early Saturday, will not be tested during the
docked phase of the flight. The 300-pound system will be installed in
the Kvant-1 module after the mission and will be tested after a
leaking cooling loop in Kvant-1 is fixed. The new unit will serve as a
backup to another unit currently operating in Kvant-2 as the primary
source of oxygen production for the Mir.

  The ten astronauts and cosmonauts will begin their sleep periods at
12:08 p.m. Central time today. Atlantis' seven crew members will be
awakened at 8:08 p.m., while the Mir 23 crew members will receive
their wakeup call from Russian flight controllers an hour later.

  The Atlantis/Mir complex continues to circle the Earth at an
altitude of 210 nautical miles with all systems in both spacecraft
operating normally.

  The next STS-84 status report will be issued at 5:00 p.m. Sunday.


  NASA Johnson Space Center Mission Status Reports and other information
are available automatically by sending an Internet electronic mail
message to jscnews-request@listserver.jsc.nasa.gov. In the body of the
message (not the subject line) users should type "subscribe" or
"unsubscribe"(no quotes). This will add or remove the email address
that sent the subscibe message to the news release distribution
list. The system will reply with a confirmation via E-mail of each
subscription. Once you have subscribed you will receive future news
releases via e-mail.