STS-94 Day 2 Highlights

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On Wednesday, July 2, 1997, 6:30 a.m. CDT, STS-94 MCC Status Report # 2 reports:

The red team of STS-94, Commander Jim Halsell and Pilot Susan Still along with Mission Specialist Don Thomas and Payload Specialist Greg Linteris have been busy continuing the payload activation process begun by their blue team counterparts as the research efforts of the Microgravity Science Laboratory (MSL) mission get into full swing.

The STS-94 crew will spend more than two weeks studying the properties of combustion and the behavior of metals, materials and fluids in the absence of gravity. The astronauts are split into two teams working 12-hour shifts to provide around-the-clock operations in the pressurized Spacelab science module.

Shortly after waking up just before midnight, Halsell and Still set up the bicycle ergometer in the Shuttles middeck area. Each of the STS-94 crewmembers will use the bicycle for exercise during the flight. Thomas activated the Large Isothermal Furnace (LIF) experiment and the Expedite the Processing of Experiments to the International Space Station (EXPRESS) rack while Linteris continued the activation of Protein Crystal Growth experiments.

Remaining activities in the red teams day will include the setup and checkout of the Wireless Data Acquisition System (WDAS) experiment. This is a proof of concept payload that uses wireless RF signals to relay data from temperature sensors in the payload bay and Spacelab module. Analysis of future Space Station operation requirements indicate that there may be a need for real time monitoring of temperature readings in various parts of the station and a system such as the WDAS could meet that need.

Columbias blue team of astronauts, Janice Voss the payload commander, Mission Specialist Mike Gernhardt and Payload Specialist Roger Crouch will wake up shortly after 9 this morning to begin its second day of work in space.

The blue team will conduct an interview beginning at 5:17 this afternoon with the Fox News Channel to discuss the reflight of Columbia and a second chance at accomplishing the MSL science goals.

On Wednesday, July 2, 1997, 6:00 a.m. CST, STS-94 Payload Status Report # 02 reports:

Overnight, Columbia's crew continued to transform the Spacelab into an operational, sophisticated multi-use research laboratory by activating Microgravity Science Laboratory Mission - 1's experiment facilities . The space-borne laboratory, with a work area approximately 18 feet by 7 feet, houses most of the 25 primary experiments, four glovebox investigations and four accelerometer studies aboard Columbia.

On the ground, mission scientists are using lessons learned from STS-83 to get the most out of the reflight opportunity. "Experience gained from our first flight has allowed us to make changes in our plans and procedures in order to perform this scientific research more effectively," said Dr. Patton Downey, assistant mission scientist.

In the Spacelab, the blue shift science crew members -- Payload Commander Dr. Janice Voss and Payload Specialist Dr. Roger Crouch -- spent much of their shift readying experiment facilities and activating protein crystal growth and accelerometer experiments.

In the middeck, Crouch activated the Protein Crystallization Apparatus for Microgravity -- one of three protein crystal growth experiments slated for MSL-1. The microgravity environment of space allows researchers to grow larger and more perfect specimens. Once back on Earth, scientists perform X-ray diffraction studies on the specimens to determine their structures. Better understanding of a proteins structure could allow scientists to design more effective drugs to treat diseases such as cancer, diabetes, alcoholism, AIDS and Alzheimers. The Protein Crystallization Apparatus for Microgravity experiment is led by Dr. Daniel Carter of New Century Pharmaceuticals in Huntsville, Ala.

The four microgravity measurement systems have been activated to begin monitoring any slight disturbances in the weightlessness environment aboard Columbia. The Orbital Acceleration Research Experiment, which began its operations at launch, will measure very low frequency accelerations in the Shuttle's payload bay. On orbit, Microgravity Measurement Assembly sensor heads -- which will be used to monitor the microgravity environment inside Spacelab -- have been installed into areas of the Spacelab where gravity-sensitive investigations are located.

Voss installed and activated the Space Acceleration Measurement System sensors which will be used to monitor accelerations near the Large Isothermal Furnace and the Glovebox. She also installed the Quasi-Steady Acceleration Measurement System's optical disk that will be used to record very low frequency and residual accelerations in one of Spacelab's racks. NASA's Lewis Research Center in Cleveland, Ohio manages all of the acceleration measurement experiments.

Voss completed her first shift by mounting and activating the Protein Crystal Growth experiment using Hand-Held Diffusion Test Cells in the Spacelab. She also set up video equipment to monitor the experiment. The experiments principal investigator, Dr. Alex McPherson of the University of California in Riverside, Calif., hopes to use data from this experiment to refine cell design and optimize growth procedures and conditions for future Protein Crystal Growth experiments.

Dr. Roger Crouch prepared the electromagnetic containerless processing facility or TEMPUS, for operations. Developed by the German Space Agency, TEMPUS allows scientists on the ground to process metallic samples in a containerless microgravity environment. A metal alloy sample -- about a third of an inch in diameter -- will be suspended in a free space within a set of coils, melted and then resolidified. Video cameras and heat sensors will analyze how the specimens change shape -- yielding basic information about the materials' properties that are masked by gravity on Earth. Information gained from the samples to be processed in the TEMPUS facility could lead to improved welding, casting and soldering techniques on Earth.

After crew handover near midnight, the red shift consisting of Mission Specialists Dr. Michael Gernhardt and Dr. Donald Thomas and Payload Specialist Dr. Gregory Linteris continued to activate experiment facilities aboard Spacelab.

First, Thomas activated the Large Isothermal Furnace. The vacuum-heating furnace is designed to heat large samples uniformly. It has a maximum temperature of 2,912 F and can cool a sample rapidly through the use of a helium purge. The research team will command the heating and cooling processes from the ground so they can make real-time changes to enhance science operations.

Scientists are using this facility to study a familiar process -- diffusion. This is the process that for instance, helps carry the smell of baked bread from the oven throughout the house, or allows food coloring to disperse through a glass of water without stirring. This process is also very important in the study of metals and alloys, and on the ground. However, the diffusion process can be masked by fluid motions arising from the effects of gravity. Knowledge gained from unmasking the process in the microgravity environment could improve materials processing on Earth.

In the early morning hours, Linteris activated MSL's third and final protein crystal growth experiment -- the Second Generation Vapor Diffusion Apparatus. The experiment is led by Dr. Larry Delucas of the Center for Macromolecular Crystallography at the University of Alabama in Birmingham.

Later, Thomas readied the EXPRESS Rack for science operations by connecting the power cable, configuring the water loop, opening the water control valve and turning on the facility. He then activated the Physics of Hard Spheres experiment that will take place in the EXPRESS Rack. Headed up by Dr. Paul Chaikin of Princeton University in New Jersey; the experiment will examine the changes which occur during the transition of a substance from liquid to solid and solid to liquid. Results of the experiment could improve the design of metallic alloys and processing techniques.

Ahead, Linteris will begin a study of the properties of soot in the Combustion Module-1, and Thomas will begin a study in the Large Isothermal Furnace to measure the fundamental variables which regulate the diffusion of impurities in molten salts.

On Wednesday, July 2, 1997, 5:30 p.m. CDT, STS-94 MCC Status Report # 3 reports:

The three blue team astronauts, Payload Commander Janice Voss, Mission Specialist Mike Gernhardt and Payload Specialist Roger Crouch, are studying the behavior of flame balls and soot as the Microgravity Science Laboratory mission is in its first full day on orbit.

These experiments will provide researchers with an improved understanding of the combustion process and may lead to improvements in combustion engines, increasing fuel efficiency and reducing emissions.

The seven-member crew will spend more than two weeks studying the properties of combustion and the behavior of metals, materials and fluids in the absence of gravity. The astronauts are working 12-hour shifts in two teams, providing around-the-clock support for science operations.

This morning, just before 7 a.m. central time, Mission Specialist Don Thomas told the flight control team in Houston that he and his Red Team crew mates, Commander Jim Halsell, Pilot Susan Still and Payload Specialist Greg Linteris, could see the Mir spacecraft some 60 miles distant from Columbia.

Also this morning, Still performed some troubleshooting activities with the Wireless Data Acquisition System (WDAS) experiment when it experienced difficulty in communicating with its payload support computer. This is a proof of concept payload that uses wireless RF signals to relay data from temperature sensors in the payload bay and Spacelab module.

The Red Team began a planned eight-hour sleep period shortly after 3:30 p.m. today.

Voss, Gernhardt and Crouch also discussed the reflight of Columbia and their science-gathering activities in an interview with the Fox News Channel shortly after 5 p.m. today.

The next STS-94 status report will be issued about 6 a.m. central time Thursday.

On Wednesday, July 2, 1997, 6:00 p.m. CST, STS-94 Payload Status Report # 03 reports:

After just 36 hours in orbit, the crew of the Microgravity Science Laboratory mission, along with science teams on the ground, have successfully activated Spacelabs experiment facilities and are getting down to the primary business of the mission -- to conduct fundamental scientific research in space.

"Everything is where it should be and we're excited about bringing experiments to a definitive conclusion on this mission," said Mission Scientist Dr. Mike Robinson with Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala.

This morning, Mission Specialist Dr. Donald Thomas initiated the first of two runs of a diffusion of liquid metals study being conducted in the Large Isothermal Furnace. Diffusion is the process by which liquid metals mix without stirring -- similar to how the smell of baking bread, for instance, spreads from the oven throughout the house. This process cannot be adequately studied on Earth because of fluid movement caused by gravity.

The investigation is a study of the diffusion of impurities in molten salts. The experiment is aimed at determining the diffusion coefficient -- a fundamental quantity which describes the diffusion process -- of the sample. As the first sample began processing, researchers on the ground detected unexpected readings from the sample's temperature sensor and decided to replace it with a backup sample of the same make-up. Processing of the backup sample has been under way since late this afternoon.

This study, headed by Dr. Tsutomu Yamamura of Tohoku University in Sendai, Japan, is designed to reveal ideal conditions for electrolysis of molten salts. Electrolysis is the use of an electrical current to break down a dissolved substance into its constituent components. Findings may also benefit basic science and engineering processes on Earth.

The blue shift -- Payload Commander Dr. Janice Voss and Payload Specialist Dr. Roger Crouch -- began their 12-hour shift at noon today.

Voss ignited the first flame of the mission's combustion science experiments this afternoon to begin a study of the properties of soot. This investigation is collecting information on flame shape, the type and amount of soot produced under various conditions and the temperature of soot components.

Researchers say the first flight of the Microgravity Science Laboratory in April gave them a first look at how these soot particles form and allowed them to enhance the experiment for this flight. They are excited about the scientific possibilities this mission will bring.

"Soot is responsible for 4,000 deaths in unwanted fires and 15,000 to 60,000 deaths each year as a pollutant," said principal investigator Dr. Gerard Faeth, of the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor.

Information gathered from this study may lead to a better understanding of how to contain unwanted fires and limit the number of fatalities from carbon monoxide emissions.

Crouch readied the TEMPUS facility this afternoon for operations. This electromagnetic containerless processing facility will be used to conduct studies of the undercooling and rapid solidification of metals and alloys. Undercooling occurs when a solid is melted into a liquid then cooled below its normal freezing point without solidifying. Gravitys requirement for a container and its influence on fluid flows make it nearly impossible to conduct these studies on Earth. Findings from this research may improve ground-based techniques processing materials and in turn improve materials and produce.

Crouch then checked out the Middeck Glovebox facility in preparation for a fluid physics study set to begin later this evening. The experiment will examine non-contact and remote manipulation techniques for controlling the position and motion of liquids in low-gravity. Results of the study may find application in improving many important processes used by chemical manufacturing industries on Earth, including the petroleum technology, cosmetics and food sciences industries.

Also ahead, Voss will set up the Droplet Combustion Apparatus for a study of burning fuel droplets. The study is gathering information on burning rates of flames, flame structures and conditions under which flames are extinguished. Results of the investigation will provide researchers with a better understanding of the combustion process and may lead to cleaner, safer ways to burn fossil fuels as well as more efficient methods of generating heat and power on Earth.

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