MISSION CONTROL CENTER STATUS REPORT #7
STS-91
FRIDAY, JUNE 5, 1998  - 6 p.m. CDT

The nine astronauts and cosmonauts aboard the Discovery-Mir complex are
well into their transfer operations as they wind up their first full day
of joint docked operations.  During the four days the two spacecraft are
joined together, about four tons of logistical supplies and equipment
will be moved between the two vehicles.

Earlier today, an in-flight maintenance procedure was performed to try
and resolve the problem being experienced with Discovery's Ku-band
communication system.  Shuttle Commander Charlie Precourt and his crew
performed a test to verify the Ku system's signal processor was
receiving electrical current to allow it to send a transmit enable
signal.  Flight controllers were hoping to find no current flowing
through the system which would have allowed the crew to set up a bypass
to restore high data rate transmission and video capability.  However,
Precourt reported that the voltage meter was showing good current flow
to the signal processor system, which means that in all likelihood, the
problem causing the Ku problem is located in a component system that is
not accessible to the crew.

With the portion of the Ku-band communication system that supports
science activities for the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer (AMS) payload
likely unavailable for the remainder of the flight, remote tracking
station ground sites around the world are being called up to support AMS
science operations.  Data that can not be received through ground
stations is being recorded onboard and will be retrieved after the
flight.

Late today, Precourt along with the rest of his crew, Pilot Dom Gorie
and the four STS-91 mission specialists - Franklin Chang-Diaz, Wendy
Lawrence, Janet Kavandi and Valery Ryumin along with the two cosmonauts,
Mir 25 Commander Talgat Musabayev and Flight Engineer Nikolai Budarin --
took some time from their activities to discuss their joint mission in
interviews with CNN and the Voice of America.   Due to a problem between
a Russian ground station and the mission control center outside of
Moscow, the Altair satellite television feed was not available so both
interviews were done audio-only.

Shortly after he begins his official sleep period this evening, Ryumin
will reach a significant milestone when he achieves 365 days of space
flight time.  Ryumin, a veteran cosmonaut, will mark one year of space
flight time at 7:32 p.m. CDT (3/02:26 MET) this evening.

The STS-91 crew's sleep period will begin at 7:06 p.m. and the wake up
call from Mission Control will come at 3:06 a.m. on Saturday morning.

The Discovery-Mir space complex is orbiting the Earth at an altitude of
about 208 nautical miles with both spacecrafts' systems operating in
excellent shape.

The next STS-91 status report will be issued at about 6 a.m. Central
time Saturday.