KSC-97EC-1458 - USMP-4 experiments are prepared for flight in the SSPF 


United States Microgravity Payload-4 (USMP-4) experiments are prepared
to be flown on Space Shuttle mission STS-87 in the Space Station
Processing Facility at Kennedy Space Center (KSC).  The large white
vertical cylinder in the center of the photo is the Advanced Automated
Directional Solidification Furnace (AADSF) and the horizontal tube to
the left of it is MEPHISTO, a French acronym for a cooperative
American-French investigation of the fundamentals of crystal
growth. Seen at right behind the AADSF in the circular white cover is
the Isothermal Dendritic Growth Experiment (IDGE), which will be used
to study the dendritic solidification of molten materials in the
microgravity environment. All of these experiments are scheduled for
launch aboard STS-87 on Nov. 19 from KSC.

 
                                               09/24/97