Daily  News
Wednesday, July 1, 1992  24-hour audio service at 202/755-1788

 % Microgravity experiments going extremely well with fluid physics a "star;"
 % Science crew performs first-ever candle flame start-to-finish experiment;
 % Richards and Bowersox open and fix regenerative air scrubber system;
 % Onboard crew exercise protocols testing new "non-disturbance" methods;
 % KSC preparing Atlantis for Tether mission, Delta for Geotail mission;
 % Administrator Goldin signs agreement to explore "space salvage"
         opportunities;
 % Steve Hawley to return to Houston as deputy director of crew operations;
 % Dan Brandenstein to retire from NASA, U.S. Navy on October 1.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

The orbiting science laboratory aboard Columbia continues to occupy
both the flight crew and their ground-team counterparts in Houston and
Huntsville.  And, the Drop Physics Module remains the star of mission
interactive science with nearly continuous experiments running for the
past three days.  The experiment principal investigator, Dr. Taylor
Wang, Jet Propulsion Laboratory (he flew on the Spacelab 3 mission in
April of 1985) reported yesterday that his fluid physics experiments
aboard Columbia were "just fantastic."  Wang has been working directly
with STS-50 payload specialist Eugene Trinh, with the pair comparing
ideas and making adjustments in real time based on both the downlink
television image from the orbiting experiment and on Trinh's comments
to Wang as the experiments progressed.  Trinh was able to sustain an
acoustically- suspended drop during a single three-hour run yesterday,
the longest ever for this containerless vessel.  In another experiment,
Trinh increased the acoustic suspension energy on a drop until it burst
into scores of tiny bubbles.

In another "first-ever" experiment, mission specialist Carl Meade was
able to conduct a candle-flame experiment using the Glovebox which
followed a flame from initiation through burning to extinction.  This
is the first time this sequence has been performed and recorded in a
weightless environment.  The ground-based candle flames investigators,
Howard Ross and Daniel Deitrich from the Lewis Research Center,
remarked that their experiments would not have been possible without
the interactive manipulations made by their orbiting counterparts and
further that their experiment runs could not have been programmed.

Both Meade and Trinh were outfitted yesterday with portable medical
diagnostic sensors which continuously record their heart activity and
blood pressure.  This data will be analyzed post- flight to determine
if there are any correlations with the reduced sensitivity in the
crewmembers' body gravity sensors used to regulate heart rate and blood
pressure.  These and other medical experiments are being performed
throughout this flight.

And, the orbiter crew performed a bit of maintenance magic yesterday
and, following a 32- step process to bypass the faulty sensor on the
Regenerative Carbon Dioxide Removal System, was able to rewire the
control logic of the prototype air scrubbing system and bring it back
on line.  The regenerative system is now performing nominally and is
cleansing Columbia's cabin air.  This system is being tested as a
possible replacement for the standard air scrubbing lithium hydroxide
canisters since the use of a regenerative system would save weight and
stowage space -- important elements in any long-duration mission.

In another test of potential future equipment, mission commander Dick
Richards and pilot Ken Bowersox each exercised for an hour on a
modified stationary bicycle on the orbiter's flight deck.  The
exercycle was tethered using bungee cords to test their
shock-absorption capabilities as a possible way to reduce crew-induced
disturbances to the microgravity environment.  A different test using
an electromagnetic shock-absorbing system has been successfully tested
on the lower deck.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Work at the Kennedy Space Center on two upcoming missions continues to
progress well.  The KSC orbiter team working on Atlantis to prepare it
for the upcoming STS-46 Tethered Satellite System mission is ready to
install the payloads into the orbiter's bay.  Atlantis is on Launch Pad
39-B and the payloads will arrive there later today.

Adjacent to the KSC launch area, Geotail technicians are preparing for
spacecraft weight and balance checks prior to mating their payload to
its PAM-D upper stage.  The Geotail/PAM-D pair will move to Cape
Canaveral Air Force Station Launch Pad 17-A on July 14.  The launch is
targeted for July 24 at 10:29 am EDT aboard a Delta 2 launcher.  The
launch window is only 81 seconds long for Geotail's planned, extremely
elliptical, orbit.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

NASA Administrator Daniel Goldin yesterday signed an agreement between
NASA and the International Technology Underwriters to explore ways the
insurance industry can assist in financing human and robotic satellite
rescue and repair missions.  INTEC will look at options for providing
incentives for the construction of commercial satellites which make
them easier to rescue and repair if problems arise.  Administrator
Goldin said "we need to consider new approaches to salvaging satellites
that will encourage the further commercialization of space."  INTEC
chairman James Barrett said "the insurance industry has had a great
tradition of salvage in the maritime field and similar concepts must be
explored for the benefit of the continued expansion of commercial and
civil space enterprise."

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Dr. Steven Hawley, associate director of the Ames Research Center, will
return to Johnson Space Center on August 1 to become deputy director of
flight crew operations.  Hawley said "this is a unique opportunity to
return home and play a part in running my old organization."  Hawley
flew on three shuttle missions logging 412 hours of spaceflight.

Astronaut office chief Daniel Brandenstein announced he will be
retiring from the U.S. Navy and leaving NASA on October 1 to pursue
other interests.  Brandenstein flew the Endeavour on its maiden flight
and had previously flown on three other shuttle missions, logging 789
hours of spaceflight -- the shuttle record.  JSC center director Aaron
Cohen said that Brandenstein "is one of the finest human beings I have
ever had the privilege to know.  He has been an outstanding astronaut.
His leadership skills are unparalleled here or elsewhere."

  
Here's the broadcast schedule for Public Affairs events on NASA Select
TV.  Note that all events and times may change without notice, and that
all times listed are Eastern.  Live indicates a program is transmitted
live.

Wednesday, July 1, 1992
Live   Throughout the day, live experiment video and crew activity from crew
                 cabin and Spacelab module aboard Columbia.
Live   12:12 pm  STS-50 Blue Team talks with CBS radio.
Live    2:00 pm  Today in Space report on the progress of the  USML-1 mission.
Live    3:00 pm  Mission status briefing on crew, orbiter and Spacelab systems.
Live   Throughout the day, live experiment video and crew activity from crew
                 cabin and Spacelab module aboard Columbia.
        9:00 pm  Replay of Today in Space program from earlier.

Thursday, July 2, 1992
Live   Throughout the day, live experiment video and crew activity from crew
                 cabin and Spacelab module aboard Columbia.
Live    2:00 pm  Today in Space report on the progress of the  USML-1 mission.
Live    3:00 pm  Mission status briefing on crew, orbiter and Spacelab systems.
Live   Throughout the day, live experiment video and crew activity from crew
                cabin and Spacelab module aboard Columbia.
        9:00 pm  Replay of Today in Space program from earlier.

Friday, July 3, 1992
Live   Throughout the day, live experiment video and crew activity from crew
                 cabin and Spacelab module aboard Columbia.
Live   10:00 am  Live coverage of the SAMPEX launch aboard a multi-stage Scout
                 vehicle from Vandenberg Air Force Base, Calif., begins.
Live   10:19 am  Scheduled launch of the Solar Anomalous and Magnetospheric
                 Particle Explorer on a Scout rocket from LSC-5 at VAFB.
Live    2:00 pm  Today in Space report on the progress of the  USML-1 mission.
Live    3:00 pm  Mission status briefing on crew, orbiter and Spacelab systems.
Live   Throughout the day, live experiment video and crew activity from crew
                 cabin and Spacelab module aboard Columbia.
        9:00 pm  Replay of Today in Space program from earlier.
  
This report is filed daily at noon, Monday through Friday.  It is a
service of NASA's Office of Public Affairs.  The editor is Charles
Redmond, 202/453-8425 or CREDMOND on NASAmail.  NASA Select TV is
carried on GE Satcom F2R, transponder 13, C-Band, 72 degrees West
Longitude, transponder frequency is 3960 MegaHertz, audio subcarrier is
6.8 MHz, polarization is vertical.