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STS-62

STS-62 was a Space Shuttle program mission flown aboard. The primary payloads were the USMP-02 microgravity experiments package and the OAST-2 engineering and technology payload, both in the orbiter's cargo bay. The two-week mission also featured a number of biomedical experiments focusing on the effects of long duration spaceflight. The landing was chronicled by the 1994 Discovery Channel special about the Space Shuttle program and served as the show's opening. A C.F. Martin backpacker guitar was also flown aboard Columbia during the mission.

Day 1
Flight Day One (Friday, March 4) consisted of ascent operations and reconfiguration of the orbiter in order to support orbital operations, an OMS-2 burn to circularize Columbia's orbit to a 160 by orbit, USMP-2 activation, PSE operations, APCG activation, CPCG operations, RMS checkout, DEE operations, CGBA activation. The payload bay doors were opened at 10:26 am EDT.

Day 2
On Flight Day Two (Saturday, March 5), the astronauts took turns on the crew cabin exercise facility in an effort to slow down the effects of muscle atrophy. Pilot Andrew M. Allen and mission specialist Charles D. Gemar also spent time in the Lower Body Negative Pressure Container. Mission specialists Pierre J. Thuot and Marsha S. Ivins started the Protein Crystal Growth Experiment (PCGE) and the Physiological Systems Experiment (PSE), while scientists on the ground in the Payload Operations Control Center controlled eleven other experiments mounted in the orbiter's payload bay. Mission controllers in Houston also investigated a problem in a fuel line pressure sensor on one of Columbia's three Auxiliary Power Units (APUs). Higher than normal pressures were detected and then returned to normal after engineers powered up heaters on the unit. The APUs provided hydraulic power to operate key landing systems and only one of the three was needed for a successful landing. However, flight rules called for a shortened mission in the event a single unit was lost.

Day 3
On Flight Day Three (Sunday, March 6), following a morning of medical studies, the crew spent the last half of the day exercising and continuing to study the behavior of a space station truss model in weightlessness. Pilot Allen and mission specialists Ivins and Gemar each took a turn on a stationary bicycle mounted in Columbia ' s middeck. The stationary bike had long been a staple of shuttle flights to allow exercise that countered the effect of weightlessness on the muscles. The bike aboard Columbia, however, featured a new mounting system of shock-absorbing springs that was evaluated as a method of keeping vibrations from exercise, which could disturb sensitive experiments, to a minimum.

Also, Gemar set up a model of a scaffold-like truss structure that could be applied to a future space station design in the lower deck. The model, linked to sensitive recorders in a shuttle locker, was used to determine the characteristics of such structures in orbit. The model and its reactions were studied in several different configurations during the day.

Other activities for the crew included photography of the glow created as the orbiter's outer skin interacted with atomic oxygen in orbit, and continued monitoring of protein crystal growth experiments in the cabin.

Although not highly visible except to the Earth-bound scientists watching over them, Columbia's wide assortment of external payloads continued their investigations throughout the day. The second United States Microgravity Payload (USMP-2) experiments continued to produce a wealth of data for scientists on the ground.

The Critical Fluid Light Scattering Experiment, or ZENO, science team reported that they expected to locate the critical temperature of xenon at "any time." Team members closely watched computer data traces which indicate their experiment was very near the critical temperature—the goal of a lengthy, methodical "sensitive" search process. This was a more precise search for the critical temperature after its location had been determined within a narrow band. Once the temperature was located, the team spent nearly 24 hours taking a good look at the phenomenon they waited years to see. They studied the properties of xenon at its critical point, taking subtle optical measurements in the region surrounding it. A fluid's "critical point" occurs at a condition of temperature and pressure where the fluid is simultaneously a gas and a liquid. By understanding how matter behaves at the critical point, scientists hope to gain a better insight into a variety of physics problems ranging from phase changes in fluids to changes in the composition and magnetic properties of solids.

The Space Acceleration Measurement System (SAMS) continued to measure the microgravity environment on the USMP-2 carrier in support of the four other experiments on board. The SAMS team began sending results of their data collection during various orbiter activities to the crew, as they were interested in how they could minimize their influence on the microgravity environment. Measurements were made with the system at specific times when microgravity disturbances were caused by events such as crew exercise and movement of the orbiter's Ku-band antenna. Such observations also collected "signatures" which the team were able to easily identify in future data.

A related system, the Orbital Acceleration Research Experiment (OARE), was managed by NASA's Johnson Space Center. It was useful on missions such as USMP-2 where it was important to accurately characterize a wide variety of disturbances in the microgravity environment. Working closely with SAMS, the OARE recorded any low-frequency activity such as the orbiter's friction with the rarefied upper atmosphere. SAMS was most suitable for recording higher-frequency activity such as crew exercise.

The Isothermal Dendritic Growth Experiment (IDGE) continued to assemble data to test theories concerning the effect of gravity-driven fluid flows on dendritic solidification of molten materials. Upon completion of its first phase of pre-programmed operations the previous night, the dendritic experiment entered its second phase of crystal growth when team members began sending commands to their experiment from the ground using a unique set of capabilities known as "telescience." This allowed them to get the best possible data from their investigation.

The Advanced Automated Directional Solidification Furnace (AADSF) studied the directional solidification of semiconductor materials in microgravity. Downlinked experiment data from the third day of the mission indicated that solidification of a crystal of mercury cadmium telluride took place, and the AADSF science team constantly monitored this slow but steady progress. Testing the AADSF in microgravity was beneficial because on Earth, gravity causes fluids to rise or fall within the melted portion; a warm liquid is less dense than a cool one and will rise to the top of the melt. These convective movements of molten material contribute to physical flaws in the internal structure of the growing crystal. Such flaws affect a crystal's overall electrical characteristics, and consequently, its usefulness in electronic devices.

The MEPHISTO team reported that they had gathered good data with their directional solidification furnace. During the day, the team troubleshooted a problem discovered on the previous night with a troublesome "Seebeck measurement." This electronic signal measured changes in the microstructure of a solidifying metal, and was conducted on one of three experiment samples of bismuth-tin. Other measurement techniques were used on the two remaining samples later in the mission; both these samples operated nominally.

Flight controllers had a quiet Sunday in Mission Control with no significant troubles seen aboard the spacecraft. A reading of high pressure that was seen in a fuel line to one of the shuttle's three auxiliary power units earlier in the flight had dissipated, and controllers became confident the APU would operate well if needed. However, they continued to closely watch the readings from that area. The crew began eight hours of sleep at 4:53 pm.

Day 4
Flight Day 4 began on Monday, March 7 at 12:53 am. The crew started its day with a medley of armed forces anthems sung by the U.S. Military Academy Glee Club. The medley honored all four branches of the service which were represented by the STS-62 crew. During the time of the mission, Commander Casper was a colonel in the U.S. Air Force, Pilot Allen a major in the U.S. Marine Corps, mission specialist Gemar a lieutenant colonel in the U.S. Army, and mission specialist Thuot was a commander in the U.S. Navy.

After completing their post-sleep activities, the crew started the payload work for the day. The crew performed checks of the Protein Crystal Growth Experiment and the rodents that were housed in the middeck as part of the Physiological Systems Experiment. Gemar also continued his work with the Middeck 0-Gravity Dynamics Experiment, designed to study the fundamental, non-linear, gravity-dependent behavior of hybrid scaled structures. Understanding these structures became important for designers of large space structures such as the International Space Station.

Casper conducted a special presentation about the Space Acceleration Measurement System. A frequent flyer on the shuttle, SAMS used accelerometers to take measurements of on-board vibrations and accelerations. Such disturbances, though slight, could have affected the sensitive microgravity experiments. SAMS measurements allowed scientists to adjust their experiments to improve their scientific results.

Allen and Gemar got a half-day off from their busy schedule operating the many microgravity experiments on the mission. Due to the long duration of the mission, each crew member received two half-days off during the 14-day mission.

The other astronauts spent the first half of the day working with the Middeck 0-Gravity Dynamics Experiment, or MODE, and a model of a truss structure which was under consideration for use on a future space station. The truss model, set up to float free in the middeck, was analyzed to determine its behavior in weightlessness.

Around the clock, experiments with the U.S. Microgravity Payload-2, the Office of Aeronautics and Space Technology-2, the Space Shuttle Backscatter Ultraviolet instrument and the Limited Candidate Duration Materials Exposure experiments continued to operate, many of them being controlled by scientists on the ground. The SSBUV instrument operated since the first day of the flight, and plans were made by its ground controllers on Flight Day 4 to attempt to detect sulfur dioxide emissions from volcanoes in Central America. The objective of the observations by SSBUV were to investigate whether such emissions low in the atmosphere were detectable from orbit. SSBUV's measurements in general were used to fine-tune satellites that monitored the ozone and other gases in the Earth's atmosphere. The crew began its eight-hour sleep period at 4:53 pm EST.

During USMP-2 operations on Flight Day 4, the Critical Fluid Light Scattering Experiment, or ZENO, team reported overnight that they started seeing behavior in the fluid xenon unlike any they had seen on Earth. They believed this meant the experiment had passed through the xenon sample's critical point. Meanwhile, the team continued their delicate temperature manipulations in order to verify what they had seen. Once the team was certain they had located the critical point, they planned to conduct a series of precise measurements in the area surrounding it using laser light scattering. When xenon is at or extremely near its critical point—the point where it is simultaneously a liquid and a gas—patches of the otherwise clear substance briefly take on a "milky" iridescence. Closer to the critical point, the milky-white areas are larger and exist for longer periods. When a laser light is passed through the sample in these areas, fluctuations in the sample's density cause the light to be scattered.

Team members for the MEPHISTO furnace began running a series of metal solidification studies and received analyzable data. On Monday, the team made much progress in overcoming some difficulty they had been experiencing with one of the experiment's electronic measurements and successfully completed a Seebeck run. The Seebeck measurement is an electrical signal which measures temperature variations during crystal growth at the boundary where liquid becomes solid—the solidification front. MEPHISTO was used to conduct a series of melting and solidification cycles on three identical rod-shaped samples of a bismuth-tin alloy. During these runs, temperature, velocity and shape of the solidification front were measured in order to study the behavior of metals and semiconductors as they solidified.

Team members of the Isothermal Dendritic Growth Experiment (IDGE), said they were pleased with the performance of their apparatus and the data they acquired during USMP-2. While dendrite growth was taking place, two 35 mm cameras took photographs for post-mission analysis. When a dendrite growth cycle was completed, the small crystalline structure was re-melted and another grown at a different "supercooling" temperature. Dendrites were grown at 20 different levels of supercooling ranging up to approximately 1.3 degrees Celsius. Supercooling is the slow cooling of a liquid to below its normal freezing point, but due to its purity, does not solidify. The level of supercooling is determined by the difference between the temperature of the liquid and its normal freezing point. IDGE was a fundamental materials science experiment performed in the microgravity environment of space in order to increase understanding of the solidification processes.

The Advanced Automated Directional Solidification Furnace (AADSF) continued to operate smoothly, growing a single cylinder-shaped crystal of mercury cadmium telluride, an exotic material used as an infrared radiation detector. The AADSF provided scientists with a unique apparatus in which to test theories of semiconductor crystal growth without the effects and limitations caused by Earth's gravity. The information gained by growing crystals of a semiconductor material in microgravity can be used to study the physical and chemical processes of many materials and systems. A greater understanding in these areas could aid researchers in the discovery of processes and materials that perform better and cost less to produce.

The crew was awakened at 11:53 pm for the start of Flight Day Five activities. The middeck payloads took center stage as the STS-62 crew worked through the second half of its fifth day on orbit. Allen and Gemar took turns in the Lower Body Negative Pressure Unit, each turn lasting an hour and 45 minutes. The sack-like device sealed at the waist so that pressure around the lower body could be gradually decreased. The lowered pressure drew body fluids down to the legs and lower torso, similar to the body's normal state on Earth. The LBNP protocol underwent testing as a countermeasure to a condition known as "orthostatic intolerance", in which a person feels lightheaded after standing. Some astronauts experienced such sensations upon standing after shuttle landings. Allen and Gemar also performed a 45-minute ramp test, but at the direction of ground controllers, terminated the test 40 seconds early. Casper, Thuot and Ivins relaxed on board Columbia for the first half of the day.

Day 5
On Flight Day 5 (Tuesday, March 8) Columbia's crew continued a daily regimen of daily exercise, photography and monitoring the progress of crystal growth and bioprocessing experiments aboard Columbia.

Meanwhile, ground-based researchers remotely operating experiments in Columbia's payload bay continued their observations. Scientists working with the Space Shuttle Backscatter Ultraviolet instrument continued probing the layers of Earth's atmosphere and recorded data on tropospheric emissions from Mexican and Central American volcanoes; sulfur dioxide from industrial by-products in the troposphere above China and Japan; and observations in the mesosphere above the Mexican volcano Colima.

Among the experiments of the Office of Aeronautics and Space Technology-2 package, materials being designed for future spacecraft in the SAMPIE experiment were exposed to the orbital environment for the first time. Results included the operation of an advanced solar energy cell and plasma interactions with various materials while the orbiter's payload bay was pointed toward Earth.

Other OAST-2 accomplishments included ten freeze and thaw cycles of a new cooling technology for future spacecraft; spectrometer readings of airglow phenomena in the upper atmosphere with the EISG instrument; and studies of the orbiter's interaction with atomic oxygen using the SKIRT instrument.

Three members of the crew had a half-day off (Casper, Thuot, Ivins), and all of the crew would receive one more half-day off before the mission concluded on March 18. Columbia operated well with few problems encountered by the crew or Mission Control. The spacecraft remained in an orbit with a high point of 163 nmi and a low point of 161 nmi. The crew began eight hours of sleep at 2:53 pm CST and awakened at 10:53 pm CST to start a sixth day in space.

Day 6
On Flight Day 6, (Wednesday, March 9) the crew members devoted their time to the secondary experiment housed in Columbia's middeck. Gemar returned to his work with the Middeck 0-Gravity Dynamics Experiment. Allen took time from his day to talk with reporters in Cleveland, Ohio; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; and Knoxville, Tennessee. Prior to his interview, Allen discussed the medical tests that the crew performed before, during, and after the flight. The astronauts collected blood and urine samples to help researchers determine the chemical regulatory changes the human body undergoes while in space. Pre- and post-flight tests studied the crew members' gait, steadiness while standing and exercise capacities.

Other crew members checked on the protein crystal growth experiments, performed some Auroral Photography experiments and checked the orbiter windows for any debris impacts. Later on Flight Day 6, the crew exercised using the Shuttle's ergometer.

Spacelab Mission Operations Control at the Marshall Space Flight Center reported the second United States Microgravity Payload (USMP-2) completed yet another day of successful operations in orbit aboard the Space Shuttle Columbia.

On the previous day, scientists with the Critical Fluid Light Scattering Experiment, or ZENO, concluded that they had indeed pinpointed the location of the long-sought-after critical point of xenon. For the next 24 hours, a series of subtle optical measurements were planned to be made in the area surrounding this phenomenon where the xenon behaved as both a liquid and a gas.

In the materials science field, the Advanced Automated Directional Solidification Furnace (AADSF) continued to grow a single crystal of mercury cadmium telluride in the microgravity environment of the orbiter's payload bay. The AADSF scientists said that telemetry from their experiment indicated crystal growth proceeded "exceptionally well."

After several days of successfully growing crystalline dendrites in microgravity, team members for the Isothermal Dendritic Growth Experiment (IDGE) reported that they were very pleased with the performance of the IDGE as well as the number and quality of the dendrites grown so far during the mission. The IDGE experimenters continued to monitor slow-scan video images of dendrites growing in their apparatus in order to maximize the efficiency of the instrument and the science results.

The Space Acceleration Measurement System (SAMS) continued to provide a running account of vibrations aboard the Shuttle to the other USMP-2 experiment teams. It recorded detailed measurements to characterize how smooth and stable a platform Columbia is providing for the experiments.

Day 7–8
On Flight Day 7 (Thursday, March 10), Casper informed Allen that he was selected for promotion from Major in the US Marine Corps to Lt. Colonel.

On Flight Day 8 (Friday, March 11), marking the midpoint of the mission, Casper switched several of the environmental control systems to their backups for on-orbit check out. The procedures required crew members to switch to the alternate humidity separator, cabin pressure and temperature control systems, orbiter heaters, and carbon dioxide removal system.

Columbia also changed attitudes for the first time since launch day. Columbia orbited with its tail pointing toward the Earth and the payload bay pointing in the direction of travel or the "ram" position. With the maneuver, Casper closed and opened sample trays for the Long Duration Space Environment Candidate Material Exposure (LDCE) experiment. The LDCE consisted of three identical sample plates with 264 samples of various materials used in space vehicles. One of the sample plates was exposed to the space environment for most of the mission. Another was exposed only when the payload bay was pointing in the ram position – or pointing into the direction of travel – and a third only when the orbiter was not in the ram position.

Mission specialist Ivins was interviewed by students at the Bronx High School of Science. The students asked a variety of questions about the microgravity experiments being conducted during the mission on living and working in space.

Also, Gemar and Allen each completed 45-minute ramp tests in the lower body negative pressure unit, and performed more tests with the Middeck 0-Gravity Dynamics Experiment. Astronauts also performed the standard checks of the protein crystal growth and rodent experiments housed in Columbia's middeck.

Flight controllers in Houston put the finishing touches on a plan to uplink more digital video to the crew on Flight Day 9. The plan required procedural changes on the ground, but no action by the crew. The STS-62 crew began its sleep shift on time at 1:53 pm CST, and was scheduled to be awoken at 9:53 pm CST to begin its ninth day of orbit operations.

Day 9
On Flight Day 9 (Saturday, March 12) plan called for operations of the Auroral Photography Experiment, the Commercial Protein Crystal Growth experiment and the Limited Duration Space Environment Candidate Exposure (LDCE) experiment. During the latter part of the day on Saturday, the crew unlatched the Remote Manipulator System and used it to help troubleshoot some off-nominal reception from the Experimental Investigation of Spacecraft Glow instrument in the payload bay. The arm's end effector camera was used to get a birds-eye view of EISG in operation.

Day 10
On Flight Day 10 (Sunday, March 13), the crew enjoyed a relatively light day of work, taking the first half of the day off, and spending the second half working with middeck experiments.

During an in-flight news conference, the crew responded to questions ranging from budget cutbacks and safety, to experimentation and life on the then-future International Space Station. Activities in the Mission Control Center focused on preparing, reviewing and uplinking messages outlining changes to the crew's scheduled activities for Flight Day 11. The crew began its standard eight hour sleep shift a little before 2 pm and was scheduled to wake up at 9:53 pm CST.

Day 11
The Flight Day 11 (Monday, March 14) plan called for two OMS burns, OMS-3 of 37.9 ft/s (11.6 m/s) at MET 9/17:44 to lower the spacecraft's orbit to 140 by, and an OMS-4 of 31.8 ft/s (9.7 m/s) at MET 9/18:34 to lower the orbit even further to a 139 by orbit.

Awakened for their tenth day in space to the song "Starship Trooper" performed by the group Yes, Columbia's crew started the day by lowering the Shuttle's orbit by about 20 nmi and shifting the focus of science on board to the second major goal of the flight.

Experiments and observations in the cargo bay focused on the interaction of the orbiter with atomic oxygen, nitrogen and other gases in orbit, an interaction that caused a well-known glowing effect around the surfaces of the spacecraft. The lower orbit increased the effect, and instruments with the Office of Aeronautics and Space Technology-2 (OAST-2) package took center stage for the rest of the mission.

Early in the morning, Casper and Allen fired Columbia's Orbital Maneuvering System engines twice to descend from a 157 by high orbit to a 140 nmi circular orbit. Shortly thereafter, observations by OAST-2 began with a three-minute release of nitrogen gas from a canister in the cargo bay and a study of its effect on the glow of a special plate, constructed of materials to be used on future satellites. Later, Columbia, with tail pointed toward Earth, performed a 25-minute-long series of 360-degree spins to allow observations by OAST-2's Spacecraft Kinetic Infrared Test instrument. Such observations by both instruments set the pace for the ensuing days of the flight.

Ivins and Gemar each took a turn evaluating a tracking system for Columbia's RMS. Part of the Dexterous End Effector (DEE) experiment, the system used a mirror near the end of the arm, flashing light-emitting diodes, a cargo bay camera and a portable computer to assist an astronaut in finely aligning the arm. The Dexterous End Effector (DEE) experiment also looked at the forces generated by arm movements when its magnetic end effector was engaged. The forces were recorded by a force torque sensor that was also part of the DEE equipment. Each crew member also took a turn at exercise as had been the daily routine during the long-duration flight.

The astronauts continued to work with these experiments for the remaining part of their day, and began an eight-hour sleep period at 1:53 pm CST and awakened at 9:53 pm. On its 159th orbit, Columbia was in excellent condition and flight controllers noted no new problems with the spacecraft's systems.

As payload cameras showed the Earth vista from 140 nmi up, the crew sent a special goodnight message—the Bette Midler song "From a Distance" – for the people watching over them from below in Houston.

The message came at the end of a busy 11th day of on-orbit operations that featured a shift in focus from United States Microgravity Payload-2 to work with the Office of Aeronautics and Space Technology-2 (OAST-2) package.

Day 12
The Flight Day 12 (Tuesday, March 15) plan called for Gemar and Allen to spend another hour and 45 minutes in the LBNP, the operation of the Dexterous End Effector (DEE) experiment, and the Experimental Investigation of Spacecraft Glow (EISG) experiment. The crew was awakened to the song "View From Above", written and performed by Allison Brown, who was inspired to write the song by Ivins. Columbia's crew spent the first half of their 12th day in space evaluating new technologies for the Shuttle's RMS.

Ivins, Thuot and Gemar took turns operating the arm as part of the DEE experiment. The crew gave good reviews to the technology during the morning, testing it by using the 50 foot (15 m) long arm to insert pins into sockets that had progressively smaller clearances, ranging from 3 mm of clearance for the loosest to 0.76 mm for the tightest. Later, a foot (300 mm) wide flat beam was inserted into a slot and then moved back and forth to correlate readings by the force sensor, technology that also was highly complimented by the crew.

While DEE operations progressed on the flight deck, Gemar and Allen each had one ramp session in the Lower Body Negative Pressure (LBNP) device.

The Office of Aeronautics and Space Technology-2 payload took center stage among the scientific investigations in the payload bay. The crew cooperated with investigators of the Experimental Investigation of Spacecraft Glow instruments, positioning the robot arm's camera above its sample plate in between DEE runs. A low-light camera in the payload bay that was supposed to have recorded the effects of gaseous nitrogen releases and their effect on shuttle glow failed earlier in the mission.

The Space Shuttle Backscatter Ultraviolet instruments in the payload bay also continued to take readings that were used to help calibrate free-flying satellites that continually monitored the ozone content of Earth's atmosphere.

The crew began an eight-hour sleep shift at 1:53 pm CST, and were awakened at 9:53 pm CST. About 2:08 am CST, a fifth Orbital Maneuvering System burn was planned in order to lower the perigee of Columbia's orbit to 105 nmi for additional spacecraft glow measurements.

Day 13
The Flight Day 13 (Wednesday, March 16) plan called for another orbit change, an OMS-5 burn of 56.6 ft/s (17.3 m/s) at MET 11/18:08 which was planned to lower the orbit to 105 by. Also included was more work with the DEE experiment, a waste water dump and operation of both the Commercial Generic Bioprocessing Apparatus (CGBA) and the Commercial Protein Crystal Growth (CPCG) experiment.

Casper and Allen started out their 13th day in orbit with an eye toward the trip home, performing a standard check of the orbiter systems used for entry and landing.

For the first part of the morning's flight control systems checkout, the crew used APU 3, one of three units that supplied power for the spacecraft's hydraulic systems during launch and landing. APU 3, which had been the subject of scrutiny early in the mission due to high pressure readings in a fuel line, operated normally during the checkout.

Following the checkout, the crew fired Columbia's Orbital Maneuvering System engines for 38 seconds, dropping one side of their orbit by about 35 nmi to the lowest orbital altitude of any Shuttle flight to that date. Columbia was then placed in an elliptical orbit with a high point of 140 nmi and a low point of 105 nmi. The lower orbit was required for continuing observations of the glowing effect created as the Shuttle interacted with atomic oxygen and other gases in low orbit.

During the first shuttle glow observations in the new orbit, Thuot reported the glowing effect was much more pronounced at the lower altitude. The crew also activated the Limited Duration Candidate Materials Exposure, or LDCE, experiment, exposing materials to the low-orbit environment that were under study for use on future spacecraft. The crew also began another series of evaluations of the Dexterous End Effector equipment using the RMS, testing the technology's magnetic grapple system, alignment system and force sensor.

The crew was awakened by the song "Traveling Prayer" performed by Billy Joel.

Day 14
The Flight Day 14 (Thursday, March 17) plan called for a hot firing of the Reaction Control System (RCS) in preparation for the return flight, flight control system checkout, cabin stowage, SSBUV deactivation, and a final run in the Lower Body Negative Pressure device for Gemar. The crew was awakened for the 14th day of the flight to the song "Living in Paradise" by the Brothers Cazimero.

The crew performed final checks of their spacecraft, wrapped up their experiments and began packing their bags in preparation for the return to Earth. Columbia was scheduled to fire its OMS engines at 6:18 am CST to begin a descent that would culminate with a touchdown on the Kennedy Space Center Shuttle Landing Facility runway at 8:09 am EST. Casper and Allen test-fired Columbia's 38 primary steering jets early that morning as planned, finding them all in good shape for the trip home. Later, Casper and Allen each spent time practicing landings using a portable computer simulation designed for the Shuttle. During this time, Gemar spent four hours in the Lower Body Negative Pressure Device (LBNP).

Ivins powered down Columbia's mechanical arm and latched it in its cradle for the trip home, and Thuot completed operation of the two protein crystal growth experiments on board, preparing them for entry and landing.

Several final observations of the Shuttle glow effect, a phenomenon created as atomic oxygen and other gases impact the spacecraft, were conducted. Columbia performed another series of spins for the investigations that included more releases of nitrogen gas from payload bay canisters.

The final few hours of the crew's day were devoted to stowing gear and preparing Columbia for the mission's end. Before reentry, Columbia was in an orbit with a high point of 139 nmi and a low point of 105 nmi.

The Flight Day 15 (Friday, March 18) plan called for deorbit preps and a deorbit burn of 209 ft/s (63.7 m/s) at MET 13/22:04 with a planned landing at KSC. Landing occurred on Runway 33 of the Shuttle Landing Facility on March 18, 1994 at approximately 8:10 am EST.

title: STS-62


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STS-59

STS-59 was a Space Shuttle program mission that took place in 1994. The launch was chronicled by the 1994 Discovery Channel special about the Space Shuttle program.

9 April

Endeavour began its sixth mission on the morning of 9 April 1994 with an on-time launch at 7:05 am Eastern time. Soon after, the six astronauts began activating the sensitive radar equipment in the payload bay that would be operated around the clock during the next ten days.

By 8 pm, the Space Radar Laboratory-1 experiments of NASA's Mission to Planet Earth were all activated and began their study of the earth's ecosystem.

STS-59 ground controllers finished activating the Spaceborne Imaging Radar-C (SIR-C) and began processing its first images of the Earth, while engineers working with the X-Band Synthetic Aperture Radar (X-SAR) worked their way through some initial activation problems.

Meanwhile, the Measurement of Air Pollution from Satellite (MAPS) instrument took data on the carbon monoxide content and distribution in the atmosphere since shortly after launch.

During the initial activation of the X-SAR, controllers reported they were unable to fully power up the amplifier that provides power to the radar. The problem was in the low voltage circuit internal to the power amplifier. Engineers were not immediately able to explain the problem, so they turned off the power amplifier for about three hours. The problem was traced to an oversensitive protection circuit, a type of circuit breaker. The radar lab engineers bypassed the protection circuit and turned on the instrument at about 4:20 pm Saturday. It worked without incident, completing 100 percent of its scheduled observations overnight.

Thereafter, X-SAR controllers continued a deliberate, step-by-step check of the instrument, and successfully bounced X-band radar pulses off the Earth and recorded data. All of the instrument's circuits recorded normal readings. The crew also activated Space Tissue Loss investigations on the middeck, and the Getaway Special experiments in the cargo bay.

10 April
As of Sunday morning, 10 April 1994, the radar laboratory had taken data readings on more than 40 targets including Howland, Maine; Macquarie Island; the Black Sea; Matera, Italy; and the Strait of Gibraltar. Scientists also gathered information on three of 19 "supersites," the highest priority targets for that day. Sunday's supersite observations were global carbon and hydrologic cycles in Duke Forest, North Carolina; hydrologic cycles around Ötztal, Austria; and geological data on Lake Chad in the Sahara. Observation sites for Sunday afternoon included Gippsland, Australia; Sable Island; Toronto, Ontario, Canada; Bermuda; Bighorn Basin, Wyoming; Chung Li, China; and Mammoth Mountain, California. The supersite opportunities were Raco, Michigan and the Gulf Stream.

Sunday evening's supersite observations by SIR-C and X-SAR focused on the interaction of plants and animals in the ecology of the forests of Raco, Michigan; hydrologic cycles around Bebedouro, Brazil; tectonic plate activity around the Galapagos Islands in the South Pacific; and the transfer of heat through wave energy in the Southern Ocean.

The Measurement of Atmospheric Pollution from Satellite instrument also continued to take readings of the concentration and distribution of carbon monoxide throughout the troposphere. Crew members reported good earth observation photography opportunities over the Northeast Pacific Ocean and the frozen lakes of the Raco supersite area, as well as fires in the Sierra Madre mountains of Mexico.

On flight day two, the Red Team crew of Commander Gutierrez, Pilot Chilton and Linda M. Godwin began its sleep shift about 5 pm Central time, to awaken at 2 am The Blue Team crew members, Jay Apt, Michael R. Clifford and Thomas D. Jones, awakened about 4 pm to begin their third flight day on orbit, and would go to bed about 5 am

11 April
As of Monday, 11 April 1994, 6:30 am Central time, three real-time radar images were downlinked from Endeavour overnight. A view of the Sahara Desert in Algeria, one of the geology sites, was taken to help scientists map surface and subsurface structures, including drainage patterns.

Also, the two radar imaging systems were calibrated over Matera, Italy, and Oberpfaffenhofen, Germany, near Munich, in collaboration with students from the University of Munich. The students measured soil moisture, forestry parameters, and the biomass of agricultural crops in the area at the same time the radar data was gathered.

Thomas D. Jones gave scientists real-time observations of thunderstorms over Taiwan, the Philippines and New Guinea to augment data being gathered by the (MAPS) experiment. Jay Apt described a "good-sized" dust storm on the northwest coast of Australia.

The MAPS project's Vickie Connors reported to Endeavour's Red Team that there was good correlation between what the instruments on board were reading compared to data gathered on the ground.

Concluding Flight Day 3, the Blue Team started their sleep period beginning about 8 am The Red Team went to work a few minutes after five that morning.

By Monday, 11 April 1994, 6 p.m. CDT, several more real-time images were processed by X-SAR – Sahara Desert, a geology site and the area around the Japanese Archipelago. Endeavour flew over the southern portion of Japan, and the quick-look processor showed oil slicks.

Monday's radar work included calibration passes over Palm Valley, Northern Territory in Australia, and the Amazon forests of Brazil; oceanography observations over the Northeast Pacific Ocean, the Gulf Stream, the Southern Ocean and the Gulf of Mexico; ecology observations over Altona, Manitoba, Canada; geology observations over the Bighorn Basin, Wyoming; hydrology studies of Mammoth Mountain, California, and geology studies of the tectonic activity around the Galapagos Islands of the southeastern Pacific.

Linda M. Godwin reported good photography of "tremendous" thunderstorms over South America and ocean wind patterns around the Galapagos. She also reported three Shuttle Amateur Radio Experiment contacts with students at Ealy Elementary School in West Bloomfield, Michigan, Country Club School in San Ramon, California, and Boy Scouts in Richardson, Texas.

The crew reported air bubbles in the water supply for Endeavour's galley.

12 April
On Tuesday, 12 April 1994, 3 a.m. Eastern time a real-time image was downlinked from the X-SAR showing a region of the Andes Mountains in Bolivia.

During the Blue Team's shift, the X-SAR and SIR-C collected images of oceanography sites including the South Pacific Ocean, the East Australian Ocean currents, and the North Atlantic Ocean; geology sites at Cerro Laukaru, Chile, snow cover at Otztal, in the Austrian Alps, and Ha Meshar, Israel; and ecology sites at Howland, Maine, and Duke Forest, North Carolina.

The Red Team began their work about 7 am EDT on Tuesday 12 April 1994. Gutierrez and Chilton slept in an extra hour because they were about an hour and a half late going to sleep the night before after working on an in-flight maintenance procedure to eliminate air bubbles that were collecting in the drinking and food preparation water. The astronauts connected the water dispensing hose directly to the supply tank, bypassing the galley water outlet. A later test during the Blue Team's shift indicated that bubbles still may get into the drink bags through the opening where water goes into the drink container.

During this shift, live X-SAR moving images were downlinked of the area surrounding Sarobetsu, Japan, one of the high-priority calibration sites for the X-band antenna. Scientists on the ground measured the strength of the radar signal and the size of the swath being imaged.

Ground investigators also were developing topographic maps of Japan and searching for the optimum way in which to use the three radar antennas for mapping rice fields.

X-SAR's quick-look processor also showed images of the Bay of Campeche in the Gulf of Mexico as well as the land around Veracruz, Mexico. Ground investigators were taking simultaneous measurements of the ecological test site, looking for soil and vegetation information during the dry season of the tropical forest there.

Godwin reported that the crew had a cloud-free opportunity to photography Chickasha, Oklahoma, one of the 19 "supersites," and that they had seen sea ice along the coast of the Kamchatka Peninsula of Russia.

13 April
On Wednesday, 13 April 1994, 7 a.m. Eastern time, the Blue Team completed its fifth working day in space with a handover to the Red Team.

During the Blue shift, researchers watched televised downlinks of live X-SAR moving images of surface and subsurface structures in the Namib Desert in South Africa to improve researchers' understanding of radar backscatter. Scientists also viewed radar images of sea ice and seasonal melt in the Sea of Okhotsk off the coast of Siberia and a critical region of expanding drought in the Sahel area of the Sudan.

At about 2:45 am Central time while Endeavour passed over Australia, Jay Apt exchanged greetings with the Russian cosmonauts aboard the Mir space station aboard Endeavour as the two spacecraft passed within 1,200 nautical miles (2200 km) of each other above Australia. Both crews used amateur radio equipment for the contact which was monitored real-time by many amateur radio stations via telebridge systems and rebroadcasts.

All three Blue Team astronauts exercised on the bicycle ergometer during their work shift for an ongoing biomedical study of exercise as a possible countermeasure for the deconditioning which astronauts experience in their cardiovascular systems during space missions.

Rich Clifford had off-duty time for the second half of his work day. Also, an in-flight maintenance procedure to install a makeshift seal for drink bags and food containers at the galley water dispenser helped reduce bubbles in the drinking and food preparation water.

At 10:30 am, Red Team crew members were on duty for their fifth shift of the mission. The crew reported good photography opportunities over Manitoba, Canada, saying the lakes appeared more "bluish" than anticipated.

Gutierrez was interviewed by CNBC's Tom Snyder and Clifford will answer questions from Mutual Radio Network listeners during an interview for the Jim Bohannon Show at 11:15 pm central.

14 April
On Thursday, 14 April 1994, 3:30 am Central Time, Rich Clifford answered listeners' questions about space flight, mission objectives, and the quality of life aboard the Space Shuttle Endeavour during a 20-minute interview on Mutual Radio Wednesday night.

The Blue Team reported good photography of a gigantic fire-scarred area in China that burned in 1987. This region was of special interest to the Measurement of Atmospheric Pollution experiment for studies of forest regrowth after a fire event.

Jay Apt had off-duty time for the first half of the Blue Team's sixth work day in space. During his off-duty time, Apt exercised on the bicycle ergometer and recorded his heart rate and perceived exertion for biomedical investigators. Apt was back on duty at 1 am central time.

The X-SAR science team's quick-look data processor produced moving video images of the Chickasha site, starting just north of the Oklahoma border in Kansas and ending just south of the Oklahoma River in Texas. Hydrologists studied the data to learn how well the radar is able to determine the soil moisture content as it fluctuates from day to day and week to week.

15 April
On Friday, 15 April 1994. Tom Jones commented that the pollution cloud noted over Manila Bay in the Philippines on flight day six was almost invisible today. At about 1:50 am central time, Jones reported that the astronauts had seen fires along the west coast of Burma and smoke over Tasmania.

One of the instruments aboard, MAPS, exhausted its supply of infrared film.

At 6 pm CDT, Chilton explained to the public how a vast network of ground scientists and students camped in the field at many of the worldwide sites assist with the radar observations, and Godwin answered questions supplied by CNN viewers around the world.

The crew was continuing to work on a nuisance with it galley, the presence of bubbles in the water used for drinking and rehydrating food.

16 April
On Saturday, 16 April 1994, at about 11:30 pm and again at 1:15 am central time, Jay Apt used Endeavour's Shuttle Amateur Radio to talk with fellow astronauts Norm Thagard and Bonnie Dunbar and two Russian cosmonauts at the Star City training center outside Moscow.

The Blue Team—Jay Apt, Rich Clifford and Tom Jones—reported several visual observations including fires burning in Africa and a line of thunderstorms over northeastern Brazil. Payloads scientists asked the crew to add the Rügen Island, off Germany's northern coastline in the Baltic Sea, to their list of Earth observations photography.

On Saturday, 16 April 1994, 12:30 p.m.CDT, the Space Radar Lab-1 instruments also were continuing to operate well, and all observations were being made on schedule.

The sites being observed this day include areas of Japan and Italy. All of the observation sites have been recorded at least once at this point in the flight, and remaining observations are to supplement the data already obtained.

The annoyance that was present since the first day of the flight has been laid to rest with the successful in-flight maintenance procedure to get rid of air bubbles in the crew's water supply.

Godwin spent 15 minutes being interviewed by television reporters in Atlanta and Nashville.

17 April
On Sunday, 17, 3 April a.m. Central time, the Blue Team was recording radar images for scientists studying how elements of Earth's land surfaces, water resources, and plant and animal life work together to create Earth's life-sustaining environment.

On Sunday, 17, 12 April:30 pm Central time, Endeavour's flight control surfaces and thruster jets were checked out to ensure they were in good working order for planned landing at the Kennedy Space Center.

On this day, two weeks after Easter Sunday (in the Gregorian Calendar) three of the astronauts - Gutierrez, Chilton and Jones - took part in a Roman Catholic service of Holy Communion. They paused for a moment of reflection and then received consecrated communion wafers brought aboard in a golden pyx.

The mission's six astronauts held their traditional in-flight news conference answering questions about the significance of the mission. Following the news conference, Commander Sid Gutierrez, Pilot Kevin Chilton and Flight Engineer Rich Clifford checked the orbiter systems while the payload crew of Mission Specialists Linda Godwin, Jay Apt and Tom Jones documented activity with the payload.

18 April
On Monday, 18 April 1994, 2 p.m. Central time, Endeavour's crew were starting to pack up while final radar observations of earth were made and STS-59 wound down, aiming toward a 10:52 am central landing Tuesday.

The weather forecast was favorable for a landing in Florida, although flight controllers were watching a possibility of low clouds and a slight chance of showers in the area.

19 April
On Tuesday, 19 April 1994, 11:30 am Clouds and high winds in the vicinity of the Kennedy Space Center require Endeavour and its six astronauts to remain in space an additional day.

Following the wave off, the crew reconfigured the orbiter systems for the added day on orbit and reactivated a portion of the Space Radar Laboratory payload in the cargo bay. The Space Imaging Radar system (SIR-C) was the only part of the payload to be reactivated.

The data recorded during the STS-59 mission would fill the equivalent of 20,000 encyclopedia volumes. Payload managers reported that more than 70 million square kilometers of the Earth's surface, including land and sea, have been mapped on this flight. This figure represents about 12 percent of Earth's total surface. The Space Radar Laboratory obtained radar images of approximately 25 percent of the planet's land surfaces.

20 April
On Wednesday, 20 April 1994, Endeavour landed at Edwards Air Force Base in California, completing its successful 11-day mission at 9:54 am.

Mission insignia
The five stars on the left and nine stars on the right of the insignia symbolize the flight's numerical designation in the Space Transportation System's mission sequence.

license: Creative Commons - Attribution Share-Alike - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

title: STS-59


text:
256 (number)

256 (two hundred [and] fifty-six) is the natural number following 255 and preceding 257.

In mathematics
256 is a composite number, with the factorization 256 = 28, which makes it a power of two.
 * 256 is 4 raised to the 4th power, so in tetration notation, 256 is 24.
 * 256 is the value of the expression $$n^n$$, where $$n=4$$.
 * 256 is a perfect square (162).
 * 256 is the only 3-digit number that is zenzizenzizenzic. It is 2 to the 8th power or $$((2^2)^2)^2$$.
 * 256 is the lowest number that is a product of eight prime factors.
 * 256 is the number of parts in all compositions of 7.

In computing
One octet (in most cases one byte) is equal to eight bits and has 28 or 256 possible values, counting from 0 to 255. The number 256 often appears in computer applications (especially on 8-bit systems) such as:
 * The typical number of different values in each color channel of a digital color image (256 values for red, 256 values for green, and 256 values for blue used for 24-bit color) (see color space or Web colors).
 * The number of colors available in a GIF or a 256-color (8-bit) bitmap.
 * The number of characters in extended ASCII and Latin-1.
 * The number of columns available in a Microsoft Excel worksheet until Excel 2007.
 * The split-screen level in Pac-Man, which results from the use of a single byte to store the internal level counter.
 * A 256-bit unsigned integer can represent up to 115,792,089,237,316,195,423,570,985,008,687,907,853,269,984,665,640,564,039,457,584,007,913,129,639,936 values.
 * The number of bits in the SHA-256 cryptographic hash.
 * The branding number of Nvidia's GeForce 256.

title: 256 (number)


text:
STS-65

STS-65 was a Space Shuttle program mission of Columbia launched from Kennedy Space Center, Florida, 8 July 1994. The flight carried a crew of 7 and was commanded by Robert D. Cabana who would go on later to lead the Kennedy Space Center. STS-65 was an international science mission that carried the International Microgravity Laboratory (IML-2) on an 15-day mission. Columbia returned to the Kennedy Space Center on 23 July 1994.

Mission highlights
The International Microgravity Laboratory (IML-2) was the second in a series of Spacelab (SL) flights designed to conduct research in a microgravity environment. The IML concept enabled a scientist to apply results from one mission to the next and to broaden the scope and variety of investigations between missions. Data from the IML missions contributed to the research base for the space station.

As the name implies, IML-2 was an international mission. Scientists from the European Space Agency (ESA), Canada, France, Germany and Japan collaborated with NASA on the IML-2 mission to provide the worldwide science community with a variety of complementary facilities and experiments. These facilities and experiments were mounted in twenty 19" racks in the IML 2 Module.

Research on IML-2 was dedicated to microgravity and life sciences. Microgravity science covers a broad range of activities from understanding the fundamental physics involved in material behavior to using those effects to generate materials that cannot otherwise be made in the gravitational environment of the Earth. In life sciences research, a reduction of gravitation's effect allows certain characteristics of cells and organisms to be studied in isolation. These reduced gravitational effects also pose poorly understood occupational health problems for space crews ranging from space adaptation syndrome to long-term hormonal changes. On IML-2, the microgravity science and life sciences experiments were complementary in their use of SL resources. Microgravity science tends to draw heavily on spacecraft power while life sciences places the greatest demand on crew time.

Life Sciences Experiments and facilities on IML-2 included: Aquatic Animal Experiment Unit (AAEU) in Rack 3, Biorack (BR) in Rack 5, Biostack (BSK) in Rack 9, Extended Duration Orbiter Medical Program (EDOMP) and Spinal Changes in Microgravity (SCM) in the Center Isle, Lower Body Negative Pressure Device (LBNPD), Microbial Air Sampler (MAS), Performance Assessment Workstation (PAWS) in the middeck, Slow Rotating Centrifuge Microscope (NIZEMI) in Rack 7, Real Time Radiation Monitoring Device (RRMD) and the Thermoelectric Incubator (TEI) both in Rack 3.

Microgravity experiments and facilities on IML-2 included: Applied Research on Separation Methods (RAMSES) in Rack 6, Bubble, Drop and Particle Unit (BDPU) in Rack 8, Critical Point Facility (CPF) in Rack 9, Electromagnetic Containerless Processing Facility (TEMPUS) in Rack 10, Free Flow Electrophoresis Unit (FFEU) in Rack 3, Large Isothermal Furnace (LIF) in Rack 7, Quasi Steady Acceleration Measurement (QSAM) in Rack 3, Space Acceleration Measurement System (SAMS) in the Center Isle, and Vibration Isolation Box Experiment System (VIBES) in Rack 3.

Other payloads on this mission were: Advanced Protein Crystallization Facility (APCF), Commercial Protein Crystal Growth (CPCG), Air Force Maui Optical Site (AMOS) Calibration Test, Orbital Acceleration Research Experiment (OARE), Military Application of Ship Tracks (MAST), Shuttle Amateur Radio Experiment-II (SAREX-II). Columbia flew with an Extended Duration Orbiter (ED0) pallet and no RMS Arm was installed. This was also the 1st flight of the payload bay door torque box modification on Columbia and the 1st flight of new OI-6 main engine software.

Mission overview
The second in the series of International Microgravity Laboratory payloads (IML-2) was launched on the Space Shuttle Columbia's STS-65 mission on 8 July 1994. After remaining in orbit around the Earth for 15 days, the Shuttle landed on 23 July. The seven-member crew included a Japanese astronaut, Chiaki Mukai, who was the first Japanese woman in space.

Besides NASA, the European Space Agency (ESA) and the space agencies of Japan (NASDA), Canada (CSA), Germany (DLR), and France (CNES) sponsored experiments on the mission. Investigators from a total of 13 countries participated in research into the behavior of materials and life in microgravity.

The IML-2 payload consisted of more than 80 experiments in microgravity and life sciences, including five life science experiments developed by American researchers. Of these, Ames Research Center sponsored two experiments using newts and jellyfish. Kennedy Space Center (KSC) sponsored the PEMBSIS experiment, designed to study plant embryogenesis in microgravity.

Life Sciences Research Objectives
The objective of the newt experiment was to study the early development of gravity-sensing organs (see figure). The utricle and saccule are specialized organs present in the inner ears of all vertebrate animals. They contain otoliths (or otoconia), calcium carbonate stones, which are deposited on a gelatinous membrane that lies over the sensory hair cells. The pull that gravity exerts on the otoliths is sensed by the hair cells, and information about the gravitational stimulus is transmitted to the brain via connecting nerve fibers. The experiment was designed to determine whether otolith production and development of otolith-associated receptor cells and nerve fibers may be altered in the microgravity environment of space.

The jellyfish experiment was designed to study behavior and development in space. Behavioral parameters studied included swimming, pulsing, and orientation. Study of developmental processes focused on gravity-sensing organs. The experiment also sought to determine the level of artificial gravity stimulus needed to counteract any negative effects of space flight.

The objective of the plant embryogenesis (PEMBSIS) experiment was to evaluate whether space flight affected the pattern and developmental progression of embryonic daylilies from one well-defined stage to another. It also examined whether cell division (mitosis) and chromosome behavior were modified by the space environment.

Organisms
Adults and larvae of the Japanese Red-Bellied Newt species (Cynopus pyrrhogaster) were used in the newt experiment. This species was selected for study partly because the vestibular system of very young newts undergoes most of its development in a period of time equivalent to the planned mission duration. Furthermore, adult females can be induced to lay eggs by injecting them with a hormone. Their eggs develop in orbit and mature in the microgravity environment to provide scientists with a sample of embryos that have undergone early development in microgravity.

Moon Jellyfish (Aurelia aurita) served as experiment subjects for the jellyfish experiment. Both the sedentary polyp stage and the free-swimming ephyra stage of the jellyfish were studied.

The PEMBSIS experiment studied embryogenically competent daylily (Hemerocallis cv. Autumn Blaze) cells.

Hardware
Newt adults and larvae were housed in cassette-type water tanks in the Aquarium Package within the Aquatic Animal Experiment Unit (AAEU), developed by NASDA, the Japanese space agency. The AAEU is a life support unit that can keep fish or other aquatic animals alive for at least 19 days in the Spacelab. It consists of a Main Unit, an Aquarium Package, and a Fish Package, each of which has an independent life support system. In IML-2, each cassette held an egg container with individual egg holes (6-mm diameter, approximately 12 mm deep).

A slow rotating centrifuge microscope and camera system, Nizemi, developed by DLR (formerly DARA), the German space agency, was used to examine and videotape the behavior of the jellyfish ephyrae and polyps at up to 15 varying levels of G and at a temperature of 28 °C (to facilitate swimming activity). The Nizemi provides observation of samples under variable acceleration levels between 10–3 and 1.5 G and a controllable temperature between 18 and 37 °C.

Jellyfish were housed in the European Space Agency's Biorack facility within Biorack Type I containers. For descriptions of the facility and containers, see IML-1.

A Refrigerator/Incubator Module (R/IM) held fixed jellyfish specimens. The R/IM is a temperature-controlled holding unit flown in the Shuttle middeck that maintains a cooled or heated environment. It is divided into two holding cavities and can contain up to six shelves accommodating experiment hardware. An Ambient Temperature Recorder (ATR-4) was placed inside the R/IM. For a general description of the ATR-4, see IML-1.

The PEMBSIS experiment used hardware provided by the National Space Development Agency (NASDA) of Japan. As part of the NASDA Life Science Cell Culture Kit, this experiment used six petri-dish-like Plant Fixation Chambers (PFCs). The PFCs were used to hold the cultured plant cells for the PEMBSIS experiment. These containers are completely sealed. The PFCs allow plant cells exposed to space flight to be fixed in orbit by insertion of a chemical fixative via syringe through a septum port.

Preflight
PEMBSIS cell cultures were prepared about a week before launch. Twelve chambers were filled with a semi-solid medium. Six were transported to KSC and kept in an unlit incubator at 22±2 °C until they were loaded into the Shuttle. The other six were used as ground controls.

Approximately 36 hours before launch, 148 prefertilized newt eggs were loaded into the three cassettes of the AAEU. Four adult newts were also loaded into the cassettes; two cassettes each contained one newt apiece, while a third contained two. Fresh, aerated water at 24 °C circulated continuously through the unit. A similar unit was maintained at KSC as a ground-control.

Twenty-four hours before launch, four groups of six jellyfish polyps each were given iodine in artificial sea water (ASW) to induce strobilization of polyps into the ephyrae form.

Shortly before flight, the jellyfish samples were loaded into a total of 10 Nizemi cuvettes containing ASW and placed in Type I containers. For the behavior study, a group of normal ephyrae and a group of ephyrae without statoliths were placed in the Biorack 22 °C incubator. The third group of ephyrae was placed in the Biorack 1-G centrifuge. Two groups of polyps were used for the development study. One group was placed in the incubator and the other was placed in the 1-G centrifuge. A similar set of equipment was maintained at the KSC ground-control facility.

Inflight
The Ambient Temperature Recorder (ATR-4) is a self-contained, battery-powered instrument, approximately the size of a deck of cards. It may be placed in almost any environment (not submersible in liquid) to provide recording of up to four channels of temperature data. On flight days 6, 8, and 11, the crew carried out video observations of newt eggs to document the rate of development. The crew also made observations of the adult newts at specified times. On both the fifth and ninth days of flight, an adult newt was found dead, causing the loss of some eggs because of contamination. The remaining two adult newts survived the flight and were recovered live upon landing.

One cuvette from each group of jellyfish ephyrae and polyps were videotaped on the rotating microscope/centrifuge at intervals throughout the mission to determine the G-threshold for the swimming behavior of the ephyrae. On flight day five, both the flight and ground-control groups of ephyrae with statoliths that had been hatched on Earth were fixed. On flight day 13, two of the four groups of polyps that had been strobilation-induced were fixed. The remaining ephyrae and polyps were returned to Earth for postflight analysis.

To provide a comparison between flight-fixed and ground-fixed groups in the PEMBSIS experiment, the crew fixed some cultures shortly before landing. The fixative was a three-percent glutaraldehyde (balance water) solution. Each chamber was fixed with a 20-ml injection of fixative.

Postflight
The flight cassettes containing the newts were retrieved approximately six hours after landing. Some of the larvae were fixed and preserved for later analysis, while some were tested to estimate how space flight affected the gain of the otolith-ocular reflex and measure the otolith volumes and areas of associated sensory epithelia.

Living jellyfish were counted, coded, and photographed beginning at five hours postflight. The pulse rate, numbers of arms, rhopalia, and statoliths were counted in each of the ephyrae. Those with abnormal pulsing were videotaped after landing and again approximately 24 hours later. Some of both the flight and control jellyfish were allowed to form clones, which were then examined for arm number and other structural differences.

After the PEMBSIS cell culture chambers were recovered from the Shuttle, specimens of living cells and somatic embryos were photographed, counted, and chemically fixed within nine hours of landing, before their first division cycle on Earth was complete. Chromosomes were measured and compared within and among cultures.

Newt Study
According to morphogical analysis, both flight and ground controls developed at the same rates. Analysis of three-dimensional reconstructions showed that flight-reared larvae had a larger mean endolymphatic sac (ES) and duct volume and a larger average volume of otoconia within the sac when compared to similarly staged ground controls. Furthermore, the appearance of otoconia in the ES was greatly accelerated in the larvae reared in microgravity.

Jellyfish Study
Ephyrae that developed in microgravity had significantly more abnormal arm numbers as compared with 1-G flight and ground controls. As compared to controls, significantly fewer ephyrae that developed in space swam when tested postflight. Polyps budding in space produced more buds and were developmentally ahead of ground controls. Although development through budding and through metamorphosis proceeded well in space, some jellyfish are apparently more sensitive to microgravity than others, as evidenced by their abnormal arm development.

Daylily Cell Study
Cytological changes and chromosomal aberrations were seen in both flight-fixed and ground-fixed flight cells. A substantial number of binucleate cells, cells possessing two nuclei, were also found in the flight samples. The ground-control samples were all uninucleate.

Newts
At least two of the four adult newts died on the voyage. The first newt death was attributed simply to stress. The second dead newt was found by Donald A. Thomas late on Sunday 17 July 1994 while checking the tanks, however the second death was called "peculiar" in a comment by Dr. Michael Wiederhold, a scientist on the ground. At the time it was said it would be difficult to remove the newt from the tank because of weightlessness, but the dead animal could contaminate the tank if left inside. The newts were Japanese Red-bellied Newts (Cynops pyrrhogaster).

title: STS-65


text: User talk:66.234.211.137

title: User talk:66.234.211.137


text:
STS-64

STS-64 was a Space Shuttle Discovery mission that was set to perform multiple experiment packages. STS-64 was launched from Kennedy Space Center, Florida, on 9 September 1994, and landed back on 20 September 1994 at Edwards Air Force Base.

Spacewalks

 *  Lee and Meade  – EVA 1
 * EVA 1 Start: 16 September 1994 – 14:42 UTC
 * EVA 1 End: 16 September 1994 – 21:33 UTC
 * Duration: 6 hours, 51 minutes

Mission highlights
STS-64 marked the first flight of Lidar In-space Technology Experiment (LITE) and the first untethered U.S. extravehicular activity (EVA) in 10 years. LITE payload employs lidar, which stands for light detection and ranging, a type of optical radar using laser pulses instead of radio waves to study Earth's atmosphere. The first spaceflight of lidar was a highly successful technology test. The LITE instrument operated for 53 hours, yielding more than 43 hours of high-rate data. Unprecedented views were obtained of cloud structures, storm systems, dust clouds, pollutants, forest burning and surface reflectance. Sites studied included atmosphere above northern Europe, Indonesia and the south Pacific, Russia and Africa. Sixty-five groups from 20 countries made validation measurements with ground-based and aircraft instruments to verify LITE data. The LITE science program was part of NASA's Mission to Planet Earth. Mission Specialists Lee and Meade completed the 28th EVA of the Space Shuttle program on 16 Sept. During the six-hour, 15- minute EVA, they tested a new backpack called Simplified Aid for EVA Rescue (SAFER), designed for use in event crew member becomes untethered while conducting an EVA. Operations with SAFER marked the first untethered EVA since STS 51-A in 1984, and also the last such EVA of the program. SAFER went on to become a mainstay of US and joint spacewalks during the assembly of the International Space Station and beyond. On the fifth day of the mission, the Shuttle Pointed Autonomous Research Tool for Astronomy-201 (SPARTAN-201) free flyer was released using the Remote Manipulator System arm. Making its second flight on the Shuttle, SPARTAN-201 was designed to collect data about the acceleration and velocity of the solar wind and to measure aspects of the Sun's corona. Data was recorded for playback after return to Earth. SPARTAN-201 was retrieved after two days of data collection.

Other cargo bay payloads: Shuttle Plume Impingement Flight Experiment (SPIFEX), a 33-foot (10-meter) long instrumented extension for Shuttle robot arm. SPIFEX designed to collect data about orbiter Reaction Control System (RCS) thrusters to aid understanding about potential effects of thruster plumes on large space structures, such as Mir space station or the planned international space station. The Robot Operated Processing System (ROMPS) was the first U.S. robotics system operated in space, mounted in two Get Away Special (GAS) canisters attached to the cargo bay wall. A GAS bridge assembly in the cargo bay carried 12 cans, 10 holding self-contained experiments.

Middeck experiments included: Biological Research in Canister (BRIC) experiment to investigate effects of spaceflight on plant specimens; Military Application of Ship Tracks (MAST) to take high-resolution imagery of ship tracks and to analyze wake formation and dissipations; Solid Surface Combustion Experiment (SSCE) to supply information on flame propagation over fuels in space; Radiation Monitoring Equipment III (RME III) to measure ionizing radiation; Shuttle Amateur Radio Experiment II (SAREX II) to demonstrate feasibility of short-wave radio contacts between orbiter and ground-based amateur radio operators; and Air Force Maui Optical Station (AMOS) test, which required no onboard hardware.

STS-64 was the first mission to see the use of the new full-pressure Advanced Crew Escape Suit, which eventually replaced the partial-pressure Launch Entry Suit.

title: STS-64