MISSION CONTROL CENTER STATUS REPORT #8
STS-91
SATURDAY, JUNE 6, 1998  - 6 a.m. CDT

To the sounds of "You Really Got Me" by The Kinks, Discovery's
astronauts were awakened at 3:06 a.m. Central time to begin another day
of transfer activities as they move into their second full day of docked
operations.

Working side-by-side, the astronauts and cosmonauts will continue to
move experiment hardware, logistical supplies and water between the two
vehicles.  Yesterday, they transferred additional bags of water from
Discovery to Mir, bringing the total amount of water transferred so far
to 683 pounds.  Just over half of the 317 items scheduled to be
transferred have now been moved between the two craft.

Mission Specialists Wendy Lawrence and Janet Kavandi will spend some
time today checking out the shuttle's 50-foot long robot arm.  This
checkout will evaluate new electronics and software for use on upcoming
assembly missions for the new International Space Station. Today's
checkout also will test the arm's dexterity in maneuvering around
components of an orbiting space station.  

Mission Specialist Andy Thomas, now less than a week away from ending
his four-month trip into space, will collect air and surface samples
from the shuttle and the Mir as part of a study of the environment of
the Russian complex.

Early this afternoon, the astronauts and cosmonauts will conduct a test
to introduce a gas into the depressurized Spektr module on the Mir in an
effort to detect where the breach in the module's hull is located as a
result of last year's collision of a Progress resupply vehicle with the
Russian station.  Mir 25 Commander Talgat Musabayev and Flight Engineer
Nikolai Budarin will release a tracer gas comprised of acetone and
biacetyl into Spektr through a special device called an air
pressurization unit which is attached to the Spektr's modified hatch.
This will test the gas release system and enable crew members to
document any areas of special interest before another leak detection
test takes place on Monday during Discovery's flyaround of the Mir
following undocking.

The Discovery-Mir complex is orbiting the Earth at an altitude of 207
nautical miles in support of the final Shuttle mission to the Russian
outpost.

The next STS-91 status report will be issued around 6 p.m. Central time
today.