STS-90 Day 3 Highlights

Back to STS-90 Flight Day 02 Highlights:

On Sunday, April 19, 1998, 6:30 a.m. CDT, STS-90 MCC Status Report # 4 reports:

The science research efforts aboard Columbia will continue today when Commander Rick Searfoss, Pilot Scott Altman, Mission Specialists Rick Linnehan, Kay Hire and Dave Williams along with Payload Specialists Jay Buckey and Jim Pawelczyk receive a wake-up call from Mission Control at 7:39 a.m. Central.

Activities onboard Columbia today for the most part will be as originally planned with the crew continuing to conduct both human and animal research experiments in the Spacelab module. During the morning, the payload crew members Linnehan, Williams, Buckey and Pawelczyk -- will be performing transfer activities with the Animal Enclosure Module, setting up the General Purpose Work Station (GPWS) and operations with the ball catch experiment. In the afternoon, their attention will be on injections and dissections with some of the research animals along with an objects recognition test.

Since Neurolab focuses on basic research questions in neuroscience, the mission will provide a unique contribution to the study and treatment of neurological diseases and disorders. While the foremost goal of Neurolab is to expand our understanding of how the nervous system develops and functions in space, the research will also increase our knowledge of how this system develops and functions on Earth.

One additional item added to the crew's Flight Day 3 activities will be some troubleshooting of a minor problem seen with the aquarium being carried in the Spacelab known as the Vestibular Function Experiment Unit (VFEU). The air pump for fish pack #3 has failed so Altman and Hire will set up a bypass to allow the air pump from the #4 unit to support both. The VFEU has four separate aquariums to house the fish and snails being carried as research subjects for the Neurolab aquatic experiments.

Hire will spend the first part of her day monitoring the Bioreactor Demonstration System (BDS) cell tissue growth unit that is growing renal tissue and bone marrow samples. Later in the day, Hire will be testing a new Water Dump Monitoring System (WDMS) using a laptop computer. The remainder of Altmans day will involve some of the Get Away Special (GAS) experiments as well as running a fuel cell monitoring system test.

Early this afternoon, Searfoss and Altman will talk with WBBM, an all-news radio station in Chicago. The interview, being done on behalf of itself, WBBM-TV and the CBS Newspath syndicated news service will focus on Illinois-native Scott Altman and will happen just before 1 p.m.

Columbia continues to operate in excellent condition in a 154 x 137 n.m. orbit allowing the crew to devote all of their attention to STS-90 science objectives. The crew will go to sleep at 11:19 p.m. Central tonight and receive a wake up call from Mission Control on Monday morning at 7:19 a.m.

On Sunday, April 19, 1998, 6:00 p.m. CDT, STS-90 MCC Status Report # 5 reports:

Astronauts aboard the Space Shuttle Columbia today bypassed a faulty air pump in one of four saltwater aquarium chambers, continued tests on the adaptability of the human nervous system and collected tissue samples for studies of how space flight affects developing nervous systems.

Pilot Scott Altman and Mission Specialist Kay Hire worked on the Vestibular Function Experiment Unit (VFEU) that is home to four oyster toadfish early in their day. They used backup air hoses to bypass a faulty air pump on one fish chamber, routing air from the pump supporting another chamber. Scientists in the Payload Operations Control Center reported that all fish chambers were receiving adequate air after the maintenance procedure.

Mission Specialists Rick Linnehan, Dave Williams and Jim Pawelczyk worked as experiment operators and served as test subjects on two Sensory Motor and Performance Team experiments. One uses equipment developed by the French Space Agency (CNES) to test the astronauts ability to catch a ball propelled toward them from above. The second investigation uses virtual reality headgear called the Virtual Environment Generator (VEG) to evaluate how the use of visual and inner ear cues help the astronauts determine body orientation changes in the absence of gravity. Both experiments could have important applications for people on Earth suffering from balance and orientation difficulties.

Commander Rick Searfoss tended to rodents in the Animal Enclosure Module, and Payload Specialist Jay Buckey and Mission Specialist Dave Williams performed injections and dissections of pregnant mice in the General Purpose Work Station (GPWS) for a study of how reduced gravity affects the cells of developing nervous systems.

The shuttle crew also checked on the Bioreactor Demonstration System's (BDS) renal tissue and bone marrow samples, tested a new Water Dump Monitoring System (WDMS) using a laptop computer and worked on Get Away Special (GAS) experiments.

Columbia continues to circle the Earth in a 154 x 137 n.m. orbit. The crew will go to sleep at 11:19 p.m. CDT and receive a wake up call from Mission Control on Monday morning at 7:19 a.m.

Go to STS-90 Flight Day 4 Highlights: