Mission Name: STS-52 (51)
  COLUMBIA (13)
  Pad 39-B (22)   
  51th Shuttle Mission
  13th Launch of OV-102
  KSC Landing (13)

Crew:
  James B. Wetherbee (2), Commander
  Michael A. Baker (2), Pilot
  Charles L. Veach (2), Mission Specialist 1
  William M. Shepherd (3), Mission Specialist 2
  Tamara E. Jernigan (2), Mission Specialist 3
  Steven G. MacLean (1), Payload Specialist 1

Milestones:
  OPF-1 - 7/9/92
  VAB   - 9/20/92
  PAD-B - 9/26/92

Payload:
  LAGEOS-II, USMP-1, CANEX-2, CMIX, CPCG, CVTEHPPE, PSE, SPIE, TPCE/TP

Mission Objectives:

Launch:
  Oct. 22, 1992, 1:09:39:6433 p.m. EDT. Launch delayed l hour and
53 minutes due to RTLS crosswind constraints at KSC's Shuttle
Landing Facility and cloud conditions at the Banjul TAL site.
Payload weight up: 20,077 lbs.  Total Vehicle weight 4,514,325 lbs.
Vehicle empty weight: 181,169 lbs.  Orbiter weight at liftoff
250,130 lbs.

Orbit:
  Altitude: 163 nm
  Inclination: 28.45 degrees
  Orbits: 159
  Duration:  9 days, 20 hours, 56 minutes and 13 seconds.
  Distance:  4,129,028 miles

Hardware:
  SRB: BI-054
  SRM: 360L/Q027
  ET :  55
  MLP: 1
  SSME-1: SN-2030
  SSME-2: SN-2015
  SSME-3: SN-2034

Landing:
  Nov. 1, 1992, 9:05:53 a.m. EST, Runway 33, Kennedy Space Center,
Fla. Rollout distance: l0,708 ft.  Landing Weight: 215,114 lbs.
Payload down weight 14,419 lbs.

Mission Highlights:
  Primary mission objectives were deployment of the Laser
Geodynamic Satellite II (LAGEOS-II) and operation of the U.S.
Microgravity Payload-1 (USMP-1). LAGEOS-II, a joint effort
between NASA and the Italian Space Agency (ASI), was deployed on
day 2 and boosted into an initial elliptical orbit by ASI's
Italian Research Interim Stage (IRIS). The spacecraft's apogee
kick motor later circularized LAGEOS orbit at its operational
altitude of 3,666 miles. The USMP-1, activated on day one,
included three experiments mounted on two connected Mission
Peculiar Equipment Support Structures (MPESS) mounted in the
orbiter's cargo bay. USMP-1 experiments were: Lambda Point
Experiment; Materiel Pour L'Etude Des Phenomenes Interessant La
Solidification Sur Et En Orbite (MEPHISTO), sponsored by the
French agency Centre National d'Etudes Spatiales; and Space
Acceleration Measurement System (SAMS).

  Secondary payloads: (1) Canadian experiment, CANEX-2, located in
both the orbiter's cargo bay and middeck and which consisted of
Space Vision System (SVS); Materials Exposure in Low-Earth Orbit
(MELEO); Queen's University Experiment in Liquid-Metal Diffusion
(QUELD); Phase Partitioning in Liquids (PARLIQ); Sun
Photospectrometre Earth Atmosphere Measurement-2 (SPEAM-2);
Orbiter Glow-2 (OGLOW-2); and Space Adaptation Tests and
Observations (SATO). A small, specially marked satellite, the
Canadian Target Assembly, was deployed on day nine, to support
SVS experiments. (2) ASP, featuring three independent sensors
mounted on a Hitchhiker plate in the cargo bay -, Modular Star
Sensor, Yaw Earth Sensor and Low Altitude Conical Earth Sensor,
all provided by the European Space Agency.

  Other middeck payloads: Commercial Materials Dispersion Apparatus
Instrument Technology Associates Experiments; Commercial Protein
Crystal Growth experiment; Chemical Vapor Transport Experiment;
Heat Pipe Performance Experiment; Physiological Systems
Experiment (involving 12 rodents); and Shuttle Plume Impingement
Experiment. The orbiter also was used as a reference point for
calibrating an Ultraviolet Plume Instrument on an orbiting
Strategic Defense Initiative Organization satellite.

  The Tank Pressure Control Experiment/Thermal Phenomena (TPCE/TP)
was contained in a Getaway Special (GAS) canister in the
orbiter's cargo bay.

<end of mission>

Mission Name: STS-53 (52)
  DISCOVERY (15)
  Pad 39-A (47)
  52nd Shuttle Mission
  15th Launch of OV-103   
  EAFB Landing (37)

Crew:
  David M. Walker (3), Commander
  Robert D. Cabana (2), Pilot
  Guion S. Bluford (4), Mission Specialist 1
  James S. Voss (2), Mission Specialist 2
  Michael R. Clifford (1), Mission Specialist 3

Milestones:
  OPF-3    - 8/17/92
  VAB:     - 11/3/92
  PAD 39A: - 11/8/92

Payload:
  DoD(9), ODERACS, GCP, MIS-1, STL, VFT-2, CREAM, RME-III, FARE, HERCULES,
  BLAST, CLOUDS

Mission Objectives:

Launch:
  Dec. 2, 1992, 8:24 a.m. EST. Launch delayed l hour and 25 minutes
because of ice buildup on the external tank.  Discovery Empty weight:
173,597 lbs.  Orbiter weight at liftoff: 243,952.  Payload up weight: 
26,166 lbs.

Orbit:
  Altitude: 174nm
  Inclination: 57 degrees
  Orbits: 116
  Duration: 7 days, 7 hours, 19 minutes, 47 seconds.
  Distance:  miles

Hardware:
  SRB: BI-055
  SRM: 360L028
  ET :  49
  MLP: 3
  SSME-1: SN-2024
  SSME-2: SN-2012
  SSME-3: SN-2017

Landing:
  Dec. 9, 1992, 3:43.17 p.m. EST, Runway 22, Edwards AFB, Calif.,
orbit 115. Mission Elapsed Time: 7 days, 7 hours, 19 minutes, 17
seconds. Rollout distance: 10,165 feet. Landing diverted from KSC
because of cloud cover. Orbiter returned to KSC on Dec. l8.
Orbiter Landing Weight: 193,215.  Payload down weight: 5,151 lbs.

Mission Highlights:
  Classified Department of Defense primary payload, plus two
unclassified secondary payloads and nine unclassified middeck
experiments.

  Secondary payloads contained in or attached to Get Away Special
(GAS)hardware in the cargo bay included the Orbital Debris Radar
Calibration Spheres (ODERACS) the combined Shuttle Glow
Experiment/Cryogenic Heat Pipe Experiment (GCP).

  Middeck experiments included Microcapsules in Space (MIS-l);
Space Tissue Loss (STL); Visual Function Tester (VFT-2); Cosmic
Radiation Effects and Activation Monitor (CREAM); Radiation
Monitoring Equipment (RME-III); Fluid Acquisition and Resupply
Experiment (FARE); Hand-held, Earth-oriented, Real-time,
Cooperative, User-friendly, Location-targeting and Environmental
System (HERCULES); Battlefield Laser Acquisition Sensor Test
(BLAST); and the Cloud Logic to Optimize Use of Defense Systems
(CLOUDS).

<end of mission>

Mission Name: STS-54 (53)
  Endeavour (3)
  Pad 39-B (23)
  53rd Shuttle Mission
  3rd Flight of OV-105
  KSC Landing (14)

Crew:
  John H. Casper (2), Commander
  Donald R. McMonagle (2), Pilot
  Mario Runco, Jr.(2), Mission Specialist 1
  Gregory J. Harbaugh (2), Mission Specialist 2
  Susan J. Helms (1), Mission Specialist 3

Milestones:
  OPF-1 - 9/20/92
  VAB   - 11/23/92
  PAD-B - 12/3/92

Payload:
  TDRS-F, DXS, CGBA, CHROMEX, PARE, SAMSSSCE

Mission Objectives:

Launch:
  Jan. 13, 1993, 8:59.30 a.m. EST. Launch was delayed about 7
minutes due to concerns associated with upper atmospheric winds.

Orbit:
  Altitude: 165 nm
  Inclination: 28.45 degrees
  Orbits: 96
  Duration: 5 days 23 hours 38 minutes 19 seconds
  Distance:  miles

Hardware:
  SRB: BI-056
  SRM: 360L029
  ET : 51
  MLP : 2
  SSME-1: SN-2019
  SSME-2: SN-2033
  SSME-3: SN-2018

Landing:
  Jan. 19, 1993, 8:37.47 a.m. EST, KSC Runway 33, Orbit 96. Mission
Elapsed time: 5 days, 23 hours, 38 minutes. Rollout distance:
8,723 feet. Landing delayed one orbit due to ground fog at KSC.

Mission Highlights:
     The primary payload was the fifth Tracking and Data Relay
Satellite (TDRS-F) which was deployed on day one of the mission.
It was later successfully transferred to its proper orbit by the
Inertial Upper Stage booster.

     Also carried into orbit in the payload bay was a Hitchhiker
experiment called the Diffuse X-ray Spectrometer (DXS). This
instrument collected data on X-ray radiation from diffuse sources
in deep space.

     Other middeck payloads to test the effects of microgravity
included the Commercial General Bioprocessing Apparatus (CGPA)
for-life sciences research; the Chromosome and Plant Cell
Division in Space Experiment (CHROMEX) to-study plant growth; the
Physiological and Anatomical Rodent Experiment (PARE) to examine
the skeletal system and the adaptation of bone to space flight;
the Space Acceleration Measurement Equipment (SANS) to measure
and record the microgravity acceleration environment of middeck
experiments; and the Solid Surface Combustion Experiment (SSCE)
to measure the rate of flame spread and temperature of burning
filter paper.

     Also, on day five, mission specialists Mario Runco and Greg
Harbaugh spent nearly 5 hours in the open cargo bay performing a
series of space-walking tasks designed to increase NASAs
knowledge of working in space. They tested their abilities to
move about freely in the cargo bay, climb into foot restraints
without using their hands and simulated carrying large objects in
the microgravity environment.

<end of mission>

Mission Name: STS-56 (54)
  DISCOVERY (16)         
  Pad 39-B (24)
  54th Shuttle Mission
  16th Flight OV-103  
  RSLS Abort (4)
  Night launch (7)        
  KSC landing (15)   
  Extended mission

Crew:
  Kenneth D. Cameron (2), Commander
  Stephen S. Oswald (2), Pilot
  C. Michael Foale Ph.D. (2), Mission Specialist 1
  Kenneth D. Cockrell (1), Mission Specialist 2
  Ellen Ochoa (1), Mission Specialist 3

Milestones:
     OPF -- Dec. 19, 1992
     VAB -- March 2, 1993
     PAD -- March 15, 1993

Payload:
  ATLAS-2, SPARTAN-201, SAREX-II, SUVE, CMIX, PARE, STL-1, CREAM, HERCULES,
  RME-III, AMOS, SSBUV-5

Mission Objectives:

Launch:
     April 8, 1993, 1:29:00 a.m. EDT. First launch attempt on April 6
halted at T-11 seconds by orbiter computers when instrumentation on
liquid hydrogen high point bleed valve in main propulsion system
indicated off instead of on. Later analysis indicated valve was properly 
configured; 48-hour scrub turnaround procedures implemented.  Final 
countdown on April 8 proceeded smoothly.  Payload up weight: 16,046 lbs.
Orbiter Weight Empty: 173,227 lbs.  Orbiter weight at liftoff: 236,659 lbs.

Orbit:
  Altitude: 160nm
  Inclination: 57 degrees
  Orbits:  148
  Duration:  9 days, 6 hours, 8 minutes, 24 seconds.
  Distance:  3,853,997 miles

Hardware:
  SRB: BI-058
  SRM: 360L031 
  ET :  SN-054
  MLP: 3
  SSME-1: SN-2024
  SSME-2: SN-2033
  SSME-3: SN-2018

Landing:
     April 17, 1993, 7:37:19 a.m. EDT. Runway 33, Kennedy Space Center, Fla. 
Rollout distance: 9,529 feet (2,904 meters). Rollout time: 62 seconds.  
Landing originally set for April 16 at KSC waved off due to weather.  Second 
reefing line added to drag chute for greater-stability.  Landing Weight: 
206,855 lbs.  Payload down weight 16,046 lbs.

Mission Highlights:
  Primary payload of flight was Atmospheric Laboratory for Applications
and Science-2 (ATLAS-2), designed to collect data on relationship
between sun's energy output and Earth's middle atmosphere and how
these factors affect ozone layer. Included six instruments mounted on
Spacelab pallet in cargo bay, with seventh mounted on wall of bay in
two Get Away Special canisters. Atmospheric instruments were
Atmospheric Trace Molecule Spectroscopy (ATMOS) experiment;
Millimeter Wave Atmospheric Sounder (MAS); and Shuttle Solar
Backscatter Ultraviolet/A (SSBUV/A) spectrometer (on cargo bay wall).
Solar science instruments were Solar Spectrum Measurement (SOLSPEC)
instrument; Solar Ultraviolet Irradiance Monitor (SUSIM); and Active
Cavity Radiometer (ACR) and Solar Constant (SOLCON) experiments.

  ATLAS-2 is one element of NASA's Mission to Planet Earth program. All
seven ATLAS-2 instruments first flew on ATLAS-I during STS-45, and
will fly a third time in late 1994.

  On April 11, crew used remote manipulator arm to deploy Shuttle Point
Autonomous Research Tool for Astronomy-201 (SPARTAN-201), a
free-flying science instrument platform designed to study velocity
and acceleration of solar wind and observe sun's corona. Collected
data was stored on tape for playback after return to Earth.
SPARTAN-201 retrieved on April 13.

  Crew also made numerous radio contacts to schools around world using
Shuttle Amateur Radio Experiment II (SAREX II), including a brief
radio contact with Russian Mir space station, first such contact
between Shuttle and Mir using amateur radio equipment.

  Other cargo bay payloads: Solar Ultraviolet Experiment (SUVE),
sponsored by Colorado Space Grant Consortium, and located in Get Away
Special canister on cargo bay wall.

  Middeck payloads: Commercial Materials Dispersion Apparatus
Instrumentation Technology Associates Experiment (CMIX);
Physiological and Anatomical Rodent Experiment (PARE); Space Tissue
Loss (STL-1); Cosmic Ray Effects and Activation Monitor (CREAM)
experiment; Hand-held, Earth-oriented, Real-time, Cooperative,
User-friendly, Location-targeting and Environmental System
(HERCULES); Radiation Monitoring Equipment III (RME III); and Air
Force Maui Optical Site (AMOS) calibration test.

<end of mission>

Mission Name: STS-55 (55)
  COLUMBIA (14)         
  PAD 39-A (48)
  55th Shuttle Mission
  14th Flight OV-102  
  Extended Mission
  RSLS Abort after SSME Ignition (3)
  EAFB Landing (38)

Crew:
  Steven R. Nagel (4), Commander
  Terence T. Henricks (2), Pilot
  Jerry L. Ross (4), Mission Specialist 1
  Charles J. Precourt (1), Mission Specialist 2
  Dr. Bernard A. Harris Jr. (1), Mission Specialist 3
  Dr. Ulrich Walter (1), Payload Specialist 1
  Hans Schlegel (1), Payload Specialist 2

Milestones:
     OPF-2 -- 11/02/92
     VAB   -- 02/03/93
     PAD   -- 02/08/93

Payload:
  Spacelab-D2, SAREX-II

Mission Objectives:

Launch:
  April 26, 1993, 10:50 a.m. EDT.  Launch was scheduled for 9:51am EST on 
3/22/93 but was scrubbed at T-3 seconds after main engine ignition.   D-2
suffered months of delays.  The most severe was the discovery that the
three main engines mounted on Columbia might contain obsolete tip-seal 
retaininers in their high-pressure turbopumps.  All engines were removed
and inspected and contained the proper retainers.  

Orbit:
  Altitude: 163nm
  Inclination: 28.45 degrees
  Orbits:  160
  Duration:  9 days, 23 hours, 39 minutes,  59 seconds.
  Distance:  4,164,183 miles

Hardware:
(Flow-A)
  SRB: 
  SRM:
  ET : 
  MLP : 
  SSME-1: SN-2030
  SSME-2: SN-2034
  SSME-3: SN-2011

(Flow-B)
  SRB: BI-057
  SRM: 360L/W030
  ET : 56
  MLP : 1
  SSME-1: SN-2031
  SSME-2: SN-2109
  SSME-3: SN-2029

Landing:
   May 6, 1993, 10:30 a.m. EDT. Edwards AFB Runway 22.  Orbiter Landing
weight: 244,400 lbs.

Mission Highlights:
  Columbia carried to orbit the second reusable German Spacelab on the
STS-55 mission and demonstrated the shuttle's ability for international
cooperation, exploration, and scientific research in space.  The Spacelab
Module and an exterior experiment support structure contained in Columbia's
payload bay comprised the Spacelab D-2 payload. (The first German Spacelab
flight, D-1, flew Shuttle mission 61-A in October 1985.) The U.S. and 
Germany gained valuable experience for future space station operations.

        The D-2 mission, as it was commonly called, augmented the German
microgravity research program started by the D-1 mission.  The German Aerospace
Research Establishment (DLR) had been tasked by the German Space Agency (DARA)
to conduct the second mission.  DLR, NASA, the European Space Agency (ESA), and
agencies in France and Japan contributed to D-2's scientific program.  Eleven
nations participated in the experiments.  Of the 88 experiments conducted on
the D-2 mission, four were sponsored by NASA.
 
         The crew worked in two shifts around-the-clock to complete
investigations into the areas of fluid physics, materials sciences, life
sciences, biological sciences, technology, Earth observations, atmospheric
physics, and astronomy.  Many of the experiments advanced the research of the
D-1 mission by conducting similar tests, using upgraded processing hardware, or
implementing methods that take full advantage of the technical advancements
since 1985.  The D-2 mission also contained several new experiments which were
not previously flown on the D-1 mission.

The D-2 Mission conducted 88 experiments to study life sciences, material 
sciences, technology applications, Earth observations, astronomy, and 
atmospheric physics.  It surpassed the 365th day in space for the Space 
Shuttle fleet.  Also surpassed the 100th day of flight time in space for 
Columbia, the fleet's oldest Orbiter on its fourteenth flight.

  D-2 also Conducted the first tele-robotic capture of a free floating object 
by flight controllers in Germany.  The crew also conducted the first 
intervenus saline solution injection in space as part of an experiment to 
study the human body's response to direct fluid replacement as a 
countermeasure for amounts lost during space flight.  They also  
successfully completed an in-flight maintenance procedure for collection of
orbiter waste water allowing the mission to continue .

  STS-55 crewmembers also participated in two amateur radio experiments,
SAREX II from the United States and the German SAFEX. The experiments allowed
students and amateur radio operators from around the world to talk directly
with the Space Shuttle in orbit and participated in a Space Medicine conference
with the Mayo Clinic.

<end of mission>

Mission Name: STS-57 (56)
  Endeavour (4)         
  Pad 39-B (25)
  56th Shuttle Mission
  4th Flight OV-105
  KSC landing (16)

Crew:
  Ronald J. Grabe (4), Commander
  Brian Duffy (2), Pilot
  G. David Low (3), Payload Commander
  Nancy J. Sherlock (1), Mission Specialist 2
  Peter J. Wisoff (1), Mission Specialist 3
  Janice E. Voss (1), Mission Specialist 4

Milestones:
     OPF 1   -- 1/19/93
     VAB     -- 3/24/93
     PAD 39B -- 4/28/93
     CDT     -- 5/07/93

Payload:
  SPACEHAB-01, EURECA, SHOOT, CONCAP-IV, GAS-BRIDGE, FARE, BLAST, SAREX-II, AMOS

Mission Objectives:

Launch:
     June 21, 1993, 9:07 a.m. EDT. Payload Weight Up 19,691 lbs.

Orbit:
  Altitude: 252nm 
  Inclination: 28.45 degrees
  Orbits:  155
  Duration:  9 days, 23 hours, 44 minutes, 54 seconds.
  Distance:  4,106,411 miles

Hardware:
  SRB: BI-059 
  SRM: 360L/W032
  ET : 58
  MLP : 2
  SSME-1: SN-2019
  SSME-2: SN-2034
  SSME-3: SN-2017

Landing:
   Unfavorable weather conditions at KSC delayed the landing on Tuesday
June 29 and Wednesday June 30, 1993.  Low clouds and the possibility of rain
showers in the vicinity of the Shuttle landing facility prevented 
Endeavour's landing.  Endeavour burned 330 lbs more hypergolic propellant 
during reentry prompting an increase in orbiter redline fuel reserves for all 
future missions. Landing occured July 1, 1993, 8:52 a.m. EDT. on KSC 
Runway 33.   Payload Weight down: 28,925lbs.  Orbiter Landing Weight: 244,400 lbs.

Mission Highlights:
  During the course of the eight-day  flight,  the  astronauts  successfully
conducted  scores of biomedical and materials sciences experiments inside 
the  pressurized  Spacehab  module.    Two  astronauts  particpated  in a
spacewalk and  the  European  Retrievable  Carrier  (EURECA)  was
retrieved  by the crew and stowed inside Endeavour's payload bay.
EURECA was deployed from the Shuttle Atlantis in  the  summer  of
1992  and  contains several experiments to study the long term effects 
of exposure to microgravity, solar observations, and material
technology investigations.  Also on board was the WATCH or 
Wide Angle Telescope for Cosmic Hard X-rays instrument.

  An improperly installed electrical connector on Endeavour's Remote
Manipulator System (RMS) arm (installed 180 degrees off its correct 
position) prevented Eureca from recharging its batteries with orbiter
power.  A flight rule was requiring antenna stowage was waived and
EURECA was lowered into the payload bay without latching its antenna.
Mission Specialists David Low and Jeff Wisoff safely secured EURECA's
dual antennas against the science satellite during the spacewalk
performed on Friday.  David Low was mounted an foot restraint on the end 
of Endeavour's robotic arm while Mission Specialist Nancy Sherlock  
positioned the arm so Low could gently push the arms against EURECA's latch 
mechanisms. Payload controllers then drove the latches to secure each 
antenna.  The five-hour , 50 minute spacewalk completed STS-57 mission's 
primary goal of retrieving the EURECA science satellite.  Afterwards, Low 
and Wisoff completed maneuvers for an abbreviated extravehicular activity 
(EVA) Detailed Test Objective using the robot arm. Activities associated
with each of the areas of investigation -- mass handling, mass fine
alignment and high torque -- were completed with both EVA crewmen
taking turns on the robot arm. Low and Wisoff wrapped up their
spacewalk and returned to Endeavour's airlock shortly before 3 p.m.
Central.

  During the rest of the mission, the crew worked on experiments in the 
Spacehab module in the Shuttle's lower deck.  These experiments included 
studying body posture, the spacecraft environment, crystal growth, metal 
alloys, wastewater recycling and the behavior of fluids. Among the 
experiments was an evaluation of maintenance equipment that may be used 
on Space Station Freedom. The diagnostic equipment portion of the Tools 
and Diagnostics System experiment was performed by Nancy Sherlock. Using 
electronics test instruments including an oscilloscope and electrical 
test meter, Sherlock conducted tests on a mock printed circuit board and
communicated with ground controllers via computer messages on suggested
repair procedures and their results.

  In addition, Brian Duffy and Jeff Wisoff ran experiments in transferring 
fluids in weightlessness without creating bubbles in the fluid. The 
experiment, called the Fluid Aquisition and Resupply Experiment, or FARE, 
studied filters and processes that may lead to methods of refueling 
spacecraft in orbit and transfers water between two foot-diameter 
transparent tanks on Endeavour's middeck, engineers can evaluate how the fluids
behave while the shuttle's steering jets are fired for small
maneuvers. Janice Voss worked on the Liquid Encapsulated Melt Zone, or LEMZ,
experiment which uses a process called floating zone crystal growth.
The low-gravity conditions of space flight permit large crystals to be
grown in space.

  Ron Grabe, Brian Duffy and Janice Voss participated in the Neutral Body
Position study.  Flight surgeons have noted on previous flights that
the body's basic posture changes while in microgravity.  This postural
change, sometimes called the "zero-g crouch," is in addition to the
one- to two-inch lengthening of the spine during space missions.  To
better document this phenomenon over the duration of a space mission,
still and video photography of crew members in a relaxed position are
taken early and late in the mission.  Researchers will include these
findings in the specifications for design of future spacecraft to make
work stations and living areas efficient and more comfortable for
astronauts.

  Nancy Sherlock stepped through the electronics procedures portion of
the Human Factors Assessment this morning.  She set up a work platform
then hooked up a notebook computer and went through a simulated
computer procedure for a space station propulsion system. 

  On 6/28/93,  Nancy Sherlock performed an impromptu plumbing job
on the Environmental Control Systems Flight Experiment, a study of
wastewater purification equipment that may be used aboard future
spacecraft. EFE uses a mixture of water and potassium idodide to
simulate wastewater. The solution is pumped through a series of filters
to purify it. During the flight, experimenters have seen a reduced flow
of water through the device and opted to perform the maintenance
procedure. Sherlock loosened a fitting on one water line inside the experiment,
wrapped the loose fitting with an absorbent diaper, and, using a laptop
computer onboard, turned a pump on the experiment into reverse for
about 20 minutes in an attempt to flush out the clog. Sherlock then
retightened the fitting and put the experiment back into normal
operation for ground experimenters, who will now spend about an hour
and a half watching it run to see if the clog has been cleared.
 
<end of mission>

Mission Name: STS-51 (57)
  DISCOVERY (17)         
  Pad 39-B (26)
  57th Shuttle Mission
  14th Flight OV-103
  KSC landing (17)   
  6th Night Landing
  1st KSC Night Landing
  RSLS Abort after SSME Ignition (4)

Crew:
  Frank L. Culbertson Jr.(2), Commander
  William F. Readdy (2), Pilot
  James H. Newman Ph.D.(1), Mission Specialist 1
  Daniel W. Bursch (1), Mission Specialist 2
  Carl E. Walz (1), Mission Specialist 3

Milestones:
     OPF --   4/18/93
     VAB --   6/18/93 
     PAD --   6/26/93

Payload:
  ACTS-TOS, ORFEUS-SPAS, IMAX, CPCG-II, CHROMEX-04, HRSGS-A, APE-B, IPMP, RME-III, AMOS

Mission Objectives:

Launch:
  September 12, 1993, 7:45 a.m. EDT.   Officials decided to scrub 
Discovery's mission Saturday, July 17, at about 8:52 a.m. EDT because 
all eight of the solid rocket booster hold down bolts and the T-0 liquid 
hydrogen vent arm, located on the side of the external tank, were 
prematurely charged with current.  This charge is normally initiated at the 
T-18 second mark in the countdown.  The problem circuit card in the 
pyrotechnic initiator controller (PIC) which caused the launch scrub on 
Saturday has been replaced on the mobile launcher platform. Efforts to 
duplicate the problem on the suspect card were successful at KSC's 
malfunction laboratory. A thermally unstable circuit was the culprit.  The 
problem was narrowed down to a prematurely charged capacitor in the firing 
circuit of all eight Solid Rocket Booster hold down posts and the T-0 liquid 
hydrogen vent arm, located on the side of the external tank. 

  Launch was delayed on Saturday, 7/24/93 due to a problem with the right
hand Solid Rocket Booster (SRB).  The Ground Launch Sequencer detected 
an unacceptably slow speed rate of a hydraulic power unit located inside 
the Shuttle's righthand solid rocket booster.  The Hydraulic Power Unit
(HPU) was replaced and retested.
  
  Launch was again delayed until 9:10 am EDT on August 12 due to concerns
about the Perseid meteor shower which is expected to peak on the evening of 
August 11.  The Perseid event, which happens each August, is one of about 
a dozen such occasions each year that are the result of a comet's nucleus 
shedding debris along its orbital path as it approaches the Sun.  When 
Earth's orbit passes through the debris field it causes meteor showers 
activity or "shooting stars."  The concern with the Perseid event was
that the activity is expected to be extremely heavy this year and thus 
there was an increased chance that a spacecraft in Earth orbit could be 
damaged by a piece of the debris.

  Launch on 8/12/93 was scrubbed at the T-3 second mark following a
Redundant Set Launch Sequencer (RSLS) abort.  The cause for the RSLS
abort was a faulty sensor that monitors fuel flow through main engine #2. 
Engine cutoff occurred at 9:12:32 a.m. EDT.  There are two sensors which 
are part of the flow meter that monitor the flow of hydrogen through the  
main engine.  Each sensor has a Channel A and Channel B for a total of four 
readings.  These sensors are monitoring the fuel flow from main engine 
ignition through main engine cutoff.

  The sensors are redundant so that all four channels must report an acceptable
fuel flow rate prior to liftoff.  Data indicates that Channel A on the number 
two sensor failed.  There was no electrical output at all from this sensor 
while the others were found to have operated normally.  A completely redundant
set of measurements is required to commit to flight. All three of Discovery's 
main engines were removed and replaced with a set from Endeavour at the Pad. 
Tests conducted under cryogenic conditions were successful in duplicating the 
sensor failure that caused the launch scrub.  

  On Sept 9, the pickup of the launch count was delayed pending the outcome of 
the ACTS Independent Review Team.  This team met to review the design of the
ACTS spacecraft in light of the recent loss of of contact with the Mars 
Observer spacecraft and the failure of the NOAA-13 weather satellite.  All
three spacecraft are manufactured by Martin Marietta.  TOS contains two 
transistors manufactured in the same manner as those made by Unitrode that
are suspected in the failure of Mars Observer.Launch occured September 12, 
1993, 7:45 a.m. EDT.   Payload Weight up: 42,682 lbs.

Orbit:
  Altitude: 160nm
  Inclination: 28.45 degrees
  Orbits:  157
  Duration:  9 days, 20 hours, 11 minutes,  11 seconds.
  Distance:  4,106,411 miles

Hardware:
(Flow-A)
  SRB: 
  ET : 
  MLP : 
  SSME-1: SN-2030
  SSME-2: SN-2033
  SSME-3: SN-2032
(Flow-B)
  SRB:  BI-060
  SRM: 360W/L033
  ET : 59
  MLP : 3
  SSME-1: SN-2031
  SSME-2: SN-2034
  SSME-3: SN-2029

Landing:
  Both landing opportunities to the Kennedy Space Center in Florida on
September 21, 1993 were passed up due to clouds and rain in the vicinity so
Discovery and its five-member crew were told to stay in space an additional 
day.  The shuttle landed on September 22, 1993, 3:56 am EDT on KSC SLF 
runway 15.  This was the first nighttime Shuttle Landing at KSC. Preliminary 
measurements show the orbiter touched down about 2,150 feet from the runway 
15 threshold.  After landing, plumes were visible from teh venting of APU's
1 and 2. Rollout distance was about 8,350 feet. The vehicle was towed 
from the SLF beginning at about 7:30 a.m. and was in OPF bay 3 at about 
8:40 a.m. Payload Weight down: 8,567lbs.  Orbiter Landing Weight: 206,438 lbs.

Mission Highlights:
  The Advanced Communications Technology Satellite (ACTS) was deployed.  This
satellite will serve as a test bed for advanced experimental communications
satellite concepts and technology.  Its Transfer Orbit Stage (TOS) upper 
stage fired on time 45 minutes later and boosted the satellite to 
geosynchronous altitude on the first day of the mission.

  The first attempt to deploy ACTS was delayed by the crew when two-way
communications were lost with Mission Control about 30 minutes before
the deploy time. Flight controllers could receive telemetry and voice
communications from Discovery, however the crew could not receive
communications from the ground. The crew waived off the 2:43 p.m. CDT
deploy when they did not receive a "go" from Mission Control as called
for in preflight plans made for just such an occurrence.

  After the waive off of deploy, the crew changed the shuttle's S-Band
communications system to a lower frequency and restored two-way
communications with the ground. The two-way communications had been
lost for a total of about 45 minutes. After consulting the crew, flight
controllers began immediately planning for the second, and ultimately
successfull deploy.

  Another payload on this mission was the Orbiting Retrievable Far and Extreme
Ultraviolet Spectrometer (ORFEUS) telescope mounted on the Shuttle Pallet 
Satellite (SPAS) payload carrier.  ORFEUS was designed to provide 
information on how stars are born and how they die, while studying gaseous 
interstellar clouds.   Also in the cargo bay was the Limited Duration Space 
Environment Candidate Materials Exposure (LDCE) experiment.

  During the deployment on September 12 of the Advanced Communications 
Technology Satellite (ACTS) and its Transfer Orbit Stage (TOS) booster, two 
Super*Zip explosive cords, one primary and the other a backup simulataneously 
detonated.  This caused minor tears in two dozen insulation blankets mounted 
on the bulkhead between the payload bay and the AFT near the #3 APU.

  On Thursday, September 16, 1993, spacewalkers Jim Newman and Carl Walz 
performed a spacewalk designed to evaluate tools, tethers and a foot restraint 
platform.  Their findings reassured the designers and planners of the Hubble 
Space Telescope servicing flight that their preparations are sound.
 
  The new equipment designed for the extensive spacewalk work that will
be required on the December telescope servicing mission was only part
of the goal of today's spacewalk, and Newman and Walz fulfilled the
other goals as they explained at length to Mission Control the
differences they perceived between work in orbit and ground training.
The two EVA crewmen were ahead of schedule much of the day, and
completed more tasks than originally planned for the spacewalk.

  However, as they were cleaning up, a balky tool box lid slowed them
down when they had to pry it free and close it for Discovery's trip
home. The toolbox lid stretched the spacewalk by about 45 minutes over
what had been planned, with Newman and Walz logging a total seven
hours, five minutes and 28 seconds of spacewalk time.
 
  Other in-cabin payloads included the Air Force Maui Optical Site (AMOS)
Auroral Photography Experiment-B (APE-B), Commercial Protein Crystal 
Growth (CPCG), Chromosome and Plant Cell Division in Space (CHROMEX),
High Resolution Shuttle Glow Spectroscopy-A (HRSGS-A), IMAX, Investigations 
into Polymer Membrane Processing (IPMP) and the Radiation Monitoring 
Equipment-III (RME-III) experiment.  The Investigation into Polymer
Membrane Processing, or IPMP, is designed to research the mixing of
various solvent systems in the absence of convection found on Earth in
hopes of controlling the porosity of various polymer membranes.  RME
measures gamma ray, electron, neutron and proton radiation levels in
the crew cabin throughout the flight.

  Onboard,  Mission Specialist Jim Newman donned a special visor to
perform a medical experiment testing vision in weightlessness as part
of investigations into how vision compensates for the inner ear's lack
of balance in space. Newman also successfully tested a Global
Positioning System receiver flying aboard Discovery as an evaluation of
using such equipment to supplement the shuttle's navigation.  Also,
in a precursor of space station operations, one of Discovery's fuel
cells was turned off and restarted.
 
  In another medical evaluation, Commander Frank Culbertson and Mission
Specilaist Dan Bursch rode a stationary bike on Discovery's lower deck
as part of a continuing study of using exercse to counteract the
effects of weightlessness on the body. The crew also powered up an
experiment that looks at improving membrane filters in weightlessness
and checked on another experiment that has been running well studying
the effects of microgravity on plant cells.

  Astronauts Carl Walz and Jim Newman operate the experiments designed to
study the glowing effect, one a spectrometer that records the effect on
film in fine detail and another that records the effect on still
photographs. The experiments are hoped to provide information about
just what types of gasses -- in addition to atomic oxygen -- create the
glow. The information on kinds of gasses in the extreme reaches of the
atmosphere may be coupled with the materials exposure experiment in the
cargo bay to assist with the design and construction of future
spacecraft.

<end of mission>

Mission Name: STS-58 (58)
  COLUMBIA (15)         
  Pad 39-B (27)
  58th Shuttle Mission
  15th Flight OV-102   
  EAFB Landing (39)

Crew:
  John E. Blaha (4), Commander
  Richard A. Searfoss (1), Pilot
  M. Rhea Seddon (3), Mission Specialist 1
  William S. McArthur Jr. (1), Mission Specialist 2
  David A. Wolf (1), Mission Specialist 3
  Shannon W. Lucid (4), Mission Specialist 4
  Martin Fettman (1), Payload Specialist 1

Milestones:
     OPF -- 5/17/93
     7/24/93 Spacelab Tunnel installed
     VAB -- 8/12/93 
     PAD -- 9/17/93

Payload:
 Spacelab-SLS-2, DEEFD, OARE, SAREX-2, PILOT

Mission Objectives:

Launch:  
    October 18, 1993 10:53 a.m. EDT.  Launch attempt on October 14, 1993 
was delayed 2 hours by bad weather.  When it cleared and the count resumed,
a failure in an Air Force Range Safety command message encoder verifier at
the Range Control Center canceled the launch at the T-31 seconds mark. This
system is used to transmit a vehicle destruct signal if it should become
necessary.  The Space Shuttle Columbia's STS-58 mission was postponed
the following day because one of the two TRW S-Band communication 
transponders failed onboard the shuttle. Flight rules require that both 
communication transponders be functional for launch.  Technicians at the 
Kennedy Space Center performed an extended scrub turn-around activities with 
Monday, Oct. 18, 1993, being the next launch attempt.
 
  October 18, 1993 10:53 a.m. EDT.   Launch occurred at just ten seconds
inside the scheduled liftoff window. The minimal delay was due to a stray U.S. 
Navy aircraft in the range safety restricted zone. No serious technical issues 
were worked during the countdown. This was the 75th space launch from 
complex 39 pads A and B.       

  All Solid Rocket Booster (SRB) systems performed as expected. Preliminary 
data indicate that the flight performance of both RSRMs was well within the 
allowable performance envelopes, and was typical of the performance observed 
on previous flights.  Both RSRMs experienced normal pressure perturbations 
with temporary pressure spikes of 8-12 psi for 1-2 seconds between 65-70 
seconds into the flight.  Nominal pressure is 650 psi for that time frame.  
These short duration pressure perturbations are the result of molten 
propellant solids that are generated during the flight and expelled through 
the nozzle.  This is an expected characteristic of the motor.
 
   Both SRBs were successfully separated from the External Tank (ET) at T +
123.8 seconds, and reports from the recovery area, based on visual sightings,
indicate that the parachute deceleration subsystems performed as designed.

  During recovery of the boosters, engineers observed one of the four forward 
booster separation motor covers was missing from the right-hand booster.  
These covers protect the motors that are used to separate the boosters from 
the external tank after the boosters have been expended.  An investigation 
team has been formed to determine the cause and when during the flight of 
STS-58 the booster separation motor cover came off.  Past occurrences of 
missing forward separation motor covers (STS-28, STS-48) have been found to 
occur during SRB descent, frustum water impact, or frustum retrieval from the 
ocean when parachute lines often become entangled with the doors and cause 
damage to doors.  Therefore these were not safety of flight issues.
 
      The External Tank (ET-57) performed as expected.  ET separation was
confirmed, and since Main Engine Cutoff (MECO) occurred within expected
tolerances, ET reentry and breakup is expected to be within the predicted
footprint.
 
      Preliminary flight data indicate that the Space Shuttle Main Engine 
(SSMEs 2024, 2109, 2018)  performance during mainstage, throttling, shutdown 
and propellant dump operations was normal.  High Pressure Oxidizer Turpopump 
(HPOTP) and High Pressure Fuel Turbopump (HPFTP) temperatures appeared to be 
well within specification throughout engine operation.  Space Shuttle Main 
Engine Cutoff (MECO) occurred at T + 515.56 seconds.  
Payload Weight up: 23,188 lbs.

Orbit:
  Altitude: 155 nm
  Inclination: 39 degrees
  Orbits:  225
  Duration:  14 days, 0 hours, 12 minutes,  32 seconds.
  Distance:  5,840,450 miles

Hardware:
  SRB: BI-061
  SRM: 360L/W034
  ET : 57
  MLP : 1
  SSME-1: SN-2024
  SSME-2: SN-2109
  SSME-3: SN-2018

Landing:  
  November 1, 1993. 10:05.42 am EST Runway 22  Edwards AFB, Calif. Main
gear touchdown: 14:00:12:32 MET, Nose gear touchdown: 14:00:12:44 MET,
Wheel stop 14:00:13.34 MET (10:06.44 EST).  Rollout Distance was 9,640 ft.
Landing Weight was 227,400 lbs.  The two day ferry back to KSC began on 
November 7th and the shuttle returned to KSC on November 9th.
Payload Weight down: 23,188lbs.  Orbiter Landing Weight: 229,753 lbs.

Mission Highlights:
  STS-58 was the 4th longest mission in US manned space history and was
dedicated to life sciences research.  Columbia's crew performed a series 
of experiments to gain knowledge on how the human body adapts to the 
weightless environment of space.  Experiments focused on cardiovascular, 
regulatory, neurovestibular and musculoskeletal systems of the body.  The 
experiments performed on Columbia's crew and on laboratory animals
(48 rats held in 24 cages), along with data collected on the SLS-1 mission 
in June 1991, will provide the most detailed and interrelated physiological 
measurements acquired in the space environment since the Skylab program in 
1973 and 1974.

  Crew members conducted experiments aimed at understanding bone tissue
loss and the effects of microgravity on sensory perception.  Two
neurovestibular experiments investigating space motion sickness and
perception changes were performed on the 2nd day as well.  Astronauts Lucid
and Fettman wore a headset, called an Accelerometer recording
Unit, designed to continually record head movements throughout the
day.

  Only one minor issue came up on Tuesday, October 19, 1993 associated with 
a circuit breaker that tripped, cutting off power temporarily to one of the 
rodent cages in the module.  Flight controllers in Houston reported it was 
not caused by a short in the electrical system and the breaker was reset, 
restoring power to the cage.

  McArthur and Blaha began using the Lower Body Negative Pressure device
on flight day 3, which is being tested as a countermeasure for the detrimental
effects of microgravity.  All three flight crew members will collect urine 
and saliva samples and keep logs of their exercise and food and fluid intake 
as part of the Energy Utilization detailed supplementary objective. DSO 612 
looks at the nutritial and energy requirements of crew members on long-duration
space flights and the relationship between fluid and food consumption

  On Wednesday, October 20, though the space toilet is working fine, the crew 
detected a slight leak around the filter door before going to bed. They
removed the filter and cleaned up about a teaspoon of water -- much less
than had been expected.  As a precaution, a secondary fan separator unit was
used to separate fluid from the air before cycling the air back into the cabin
through the filter.

  On Thursday, October 21, Payload Commander Rhea Seddon, Mission
Specialists Shannon Lucid and David Wolf and Payload Specialist
Martin Fettman collected additional blood and urine samples for the
series of metabolic experiments.  Some of the samples will
follow-up on the calcium absorption experiment performed
yesterday.  The experiment, sponsored by Dr. C.D. Arnaud of the
University of California at San Francisco, studies the mechanisms
of how calcium is maintained and used in bone metabolism in space.
Based on preliminary results from the 1991 SLS-1 mission, Dr.
Arnaud believes the decrease in bone density is due to increased
bone breakdown that is not compensated for by a subsequent increase
in bone formation.

  On Friday, October 22, 1993, using the on-board ham radio called SAREX 
for Shuttle Amateur Radio Experiment, Blaha and Searfoss contacted school 
children at the Sycamore Middle School in Pleasant View, TN, and Gardendale 
Elementary in Pasadena, TX.
 
  The Standard Interface Rack, or SIR, was tested today by Searfoss to
demonstrate that equipment can be removed from one rack location and
reintegrated into another by a single crew member during orbital operations
while maintaining reliable mechanical, data and power interfaces.
 
  Another new test flying aboard Columbia is a laptop computer simulator 
that is being flown to see if it will qualify as a tool for helping the mission
commander and pilot maintain their proficiency for approach and landing during
longer duration Space Shuttle flights.  The laptop is controlled using a joy
stick hand controller similar to the one used to fly the orbiter in the final
minutes before landing.

  On Saturday, the payload crew members will devote much of their time to
metabolic studies of the 48 rodents on board the Spacelab science workshop.
Payload commander Rhea Seddon, and crewmates David Wolf, Shannon Lucid and
veterinarian Marty Fettman are scheduled to draw blood from the tails of some
of the rodents, then inject a special isotope into the rodents to measure the
volume of their plasma.  Another blood draw will follow, to measure how
weightlessness may be affecting the red blood cell count of the animals.

  After several ham radio contacts around the country and work in a vacuum bag
designed to ease the body's readaptation to Earth's environment, the orbiter
crew made up of Commander John Blaha, Pilot Rick Searfoss and Mission
Specialist Bill McArthur oversaw a short firing of one of the orbital
maneuvering system engines to drop the low end of Columbia's orbit from 150 to
142 nautical miles to increase the landing opportunities should the mission be
extended for weather or a system problem that would keep the crew in orbit two
extra days.
 
  On Wednesday, October 27, 1993, Pilot Rick Searfoss put Columbia through 
some maneuvers as part of the Orbital Acceleration Research Experiment. The 
main goal of the experiment is to accurately measure the aerodynamic forces 
that act on the shuttle in orbit and during the early stages of entry.  The
information will be useful to scientists and engineers planning future Spacelab
microgravity research flights in which experiments will need a quiet, motion-
free environment to produce the best possible data.

  On Thursday, October 28, 1993, After enjoying a half a day off, the 
astronauts aboard Columbia continued to collect scientific data on how humans 
and animals adapt to the absence of Earth's gravity.
 
  Payload Commander Rhea Seddon sent down a special message to her husband,
Astronaut Office Chief Hoot Gibson at 4:1 p.m.  CDT when she surpassed his
total of 632 hours, 56 minutes in space. "He's still a really good guy, I still
love him a lot, but I've got more hours in space than he does, so there!" she
teased.  Seddon acknowledged, however, that he has more launches and landings,
having flown four times to her three.
 
  Pilot Rick Searfoss took time out from snapping some infrared photography of
the wildfires burning in southern California to say that the crew's thoughts
are with the firefighters working to quell the flames and the residents whose
homes are being threatened.  He said he hoped the fires would be brought under
control soon, and added that the photographs he was taking will be among some
4,000 frames that will be returned to Earth for meteorologists, geologists,
ecologists and archeologists to study after the flight.

<end of mission>

Mission Name: STS-61 (59)
  ENDEAVOUR (5)         
  Pad 39-B (28)
  Pad Switch (2)
  59th Shuttle Mission
  5th Flight OV-105
  Night Launch (8)
  Night Landing (8)
  KSC Landing (18)

Crew:
  Richard O. Covey (4), Commander
  Kenneth D. Bowersox (2), Pilot
  F. Story Musgrave (5), Payload Commander
  Kathryn C. Thornton (3), Mission Specialist 1
  Claude Nicollier (2), Mission Specialist 2
  Jeffrey A. Hoffman (4), Mission Specialist 3
  Thomas D. Akers (3), Mission Specialist 5

Milestones:
  Flow A:
     OPF --  7/02/93
     VAB -- 10/21/93
     PAD A -- 10/28/93
  Flow B: (switchover)
     PAD B -- 11/15/93

Payload:
 HST Repair, IMAX

Mission Objectives:
  The first HST servicing mission had three primary objectives: restoring the 
planned scientific capabilities; restoring reliability of HST's systems; and 
validating the HST on-orbit servicing concept

  The most distinctive feature of the mission was the large number of critical 
operations to be carried out in space.  Considerable allowance therefore 
has to be made for the unforeseen.  The mission schedule was planned 
with this in mind, seeking to maximise the chances of success while 
retaining the flexibility needed in order to react to circumstances as they 
arise.  The astronauts themselves underwent intensive underwater training, 
at the space centres in Houston, Texas, and Huntsville, Alabama. 

  The mission's major challenge was the amount of work that must be completed
during the Space Shuttle flight.  To minimally satisfy the mission's overall
objectives, astronauts needed to replace one gyroscope pair (either pair #2 
or pair #3) and install either an operational Wide Field/Planetary Camera II 
or the Corrective Optics Space Telescope Axial Replacement (COSTAR), the other
corrective optics package on the STS-61 manifest.  Before launch, a 
completely successful mission was defined as replacement of gyro pairs #2 
and #3, both optics packages, the solar arrays, the magnetometer, and the 
solar array drive electronics.  In fact, the STS-61 crew accomplished all of
these tasks plus all all lesser priority items such as the Goddard High 
Resolution Spectrometer Redundancy Kit, the DF-224 coprocessor, a second 
magnetometer, fuse plugs for the gyros, and an electronic control unit for 
gyro pair #1 and an HST reboost.

Launch:    
  December 2, 1993 4:26am.   Endeavour was switched from Pad 39A to 
Pad 39B on 11/15/93 due to contamination of the Payload Changeout Room
after a windstorm on 10/30/93.  The internal HST payload package was not
affected because it was tightly sealed.  The contamination appears to have 
been caused by sandblasting grit from recent Pad A modifications.  On 11/18/93
Endeavour experienced a failure of a delta-p transducer on the elevon 
hydraulic actuator.  To change out the actuator, would require a rollback to 
the OPF because access to the actuator is only thru the Main Landing Gear (MLG)
wheel well.  Since there are 4 delta-P transducers and the LCC (Launch Commit 
Criteria) requires only 3 of 4, the transducer was depinned and will not be
consulted during flight.  The flight crew arrived at the KSC 
Shuttle Landing Facility (SLF) on Saturday 11/27/93 at 11am and the payload 
bay doors were closed at 3:20pm on Sunday, 11/28/93.  Launch attempt on 
December 1, 1993 was scrubbed due to weather constraint violations at the 
Shuttle Landing Facility.  Just before the scrub the range was also in a 
no-go situation due to an 800ft long ship in restricted sea zone. A 24 hour 
scrub turn-a-round was put into effect with a launch window extending between 
4:26am to 5:38am on December 2, 1993.  Launch occured .019 seconds from its 
scheduled time of 4:26am December 2, 1993.  Launch weight: 250,314 lbs.
Payload Weight up: 17,662 lbs.

Orbit:
  Altitude: 321nm
  Inclination: 28.45 degrees
  Orbits:  163
  Duration:  10 days, 19 hours, 58 minutes,  37 seconds. 
  Distance:  4,433,772 miles

Hardware:
  SRB: BI-063
  SRM: 360L023
  ET : 60
  MLP : 2
  SSME-1: SN-2019
  SSME-2: SN-2033
  SSME-3: SN-2017

Landing:
  KSC 12/13/93 at 12:26.25 am EST Runway 33.  At 25 min before the 
landing, Endeavour was at 247,000ft altitude and 2700 miles from KSC (over 
the coast of Mexico). At 22 min it was at 237,000ft and 2100 miles away.
By 11 min from landing it had dropped to 152,000ft and was 312 miles from 
KSC.  At 8 min from landing, Endeavour was at 100,000 ft altitude, traveling 
at Mach 4 and just crossing over the western coast of Florida.  At 6 min it 
was over Orlando Florida and had slowed to Mach 2.8 and was dropping at the 
rate of 200ft/sec.  The shuttle's distinctive dual sonic boom shook KSC's 
Shuttle Landing Facility 3:37 min before landing (at 12:23am) and the crew 
was off loaded directly to the crew transfer vehicle for transport to the 
2nd floor of the O&C building Baseline Data Collection Facility (BCDF) for 
biomedical tests and visits with their families.  Both Endeavour and it's 
crew are in excellent shape.  The NH4 boilers were activated at 12:35am and
the APU's were shutdown by 12:44am.  Endeavour will be towed to OPF Bay 1 
at around 3:30am on 12/13/93.  Landing Weight: 211,210 lbs. Payload Weight
down: 17,662 lbs.

Mission Highlights:
  With its very heavy workload, the STS-61 mission was one of the most 
sophisticated in the Shuttle's history.  It lasted almost 11 days, and crew 
members made five EVA sorties, an all-time record.  Even the spectacular 
Intelsat IV retrieval of STS-49 in May 1992 required only four.  Tto be on 
the safe side, the flight plan allowed for two additional sorties which could 
have raised the total number to seven EVA's but the final two contingency 
EVA's turned out not be be necessary.
 
  In order to bring off this exploit without too much fatigue, the five 
extravehicular working sessions were shared between two alternating 
shifts of two astronauts.

  After launch on 12/2/93, the astronauts carried out a series of checks 
on the vehicle and went to sleep seven and a half hours after liftoff.

  On Flight day Two (12/2/93) Endeavour performed a series of burns that 
allowed the shuttle to close in on HST at a rate of 60 nm per every 95 
minute orbit. The crew made a detailed inspection of the payload and 
checked out both the robot arm and the spacesuits.  Cabin pressure was 
also dropped 45% in preparation for the spacewalks on Flight Day Three.
All of Endeavour's systems functioned well as the crew got a full day's 
sleep in preparation for the evening's rendezvous.  At the end of Flight 
Day 2, Endeavour was 190 nm behind HST and closing.

On Flight Day Three, HST was sighted by astronaut Jeffrey A. Hoffman using 
a pair of binoculars and he noted that the right-hand solar array was bent 
in a 90-degree angle.  These 40 foot solar arrays, built by the European 
Space Agency (ESA), are planned to be replaced during the second spacewalk 
because they wobble 16 times a day each time the telescope heats up and 
cools off as it passes from the dark side of the Earth to its light side 
and vice versa.

The closing speed remained the same until the next reaction control system 
firing, at 8:34 p.m. CST (MET 1/17:07). The NH burn changed the shuttle's
velocity by 4.6 feet per second, adjusting the high point of Endeavour's 
orbit and fine-tuning its course toward a point 40 miles behind HST.
The next burn, an orbital maneuvering system firing designated NC3, was
scheduled for 9:22 p.m. (MET 1/17:55) and changed Endeavour's velocity 
by 12.4 feet per second. Endeavour's catch-up rate was adjusted to about 
16 nautical miles per orbit and put it 8 n.m. behind HST two orbits later. 
A third burn of just 1.8 feet per second, called NPC and designed to fine 
tune two spacecrafts' ground tracks, at for 9:58 p.m. CST (MET 1/18:31). 
The multiaxis RCS terminal initiation or "TI" burn, which places 
Endeavour on an intercept course with HST and set up Commander Dick 
Covey's manual control of the final stages of the rendezvous, occured at 
12:35a.m. (MET 1/21:08).Commander Richard O. Covey maneuvered Endeavour within 
30 feet of the free-flying HST before Mission Specialist Claude Nicollier 
used Endeavour's robot arm to grapple the telescope at 3:48 a.m. EST when 
the orbiter was several hundred miles east of Australia over the South 
Pacific. Nicollier berthed the telescope in the shuttle's cargo bay at 
4:26 a.m. EST. 

Earlier in the day, controllers at the Space Telescope Operations Control 
Center at the Goddard Space Flight Center uplinked commands to stow HST's 
two high-gain antennae. Controllers received indications that both antennae 
had nested properly against the body of the telescope, but microswitches on 
two latches of one antenna and one latch on the other did not send the "ready 
to latch" signal to the ground. Controllers decided not to attempt to close 
the latches, as the antennae are in a stable configuration.  The situtation 
is not expected to affect plans for rendezvous, grapple and servicing of 
the telescope.

HST was captured by Swiss astronaut Claude Nicollier shortly before 5am EST on 
12/4/93 and everything has gone on schedule for the first planned spacewalk 
scheduled for 11:52 p.m EST on 12/4/93.  After capture additional visual 
inspections were performed using the camera mounted on the 50ft long shuttle
remote manipulator arm.

    F. Story Musgrave and Jeffrey A. Hoffman started the first EVA about
an hour earlier than scheduled by stepping into the cargo bay at 
10:46pm EST.  They began by unpacking tools, safety tethers and work 
platforms. Hoffman then installed a foot restraint platform onto the end of 
the shuttle's remote manipulator arm which he then snapped into his feet.  
Nicollier drove the arm from within the shuttle and moved Hoffman around 
the telescope. Meanwhile, Musgrave installed protective covers on Hubbles 
aft low gain antenna and on exposed voltage bearing connector covers. The 
astronauts then opened the HST equipment bay doors and installed another 
foot restraint inside the telescope.  Musgrave assisted Hoffman into the 
restraint and Hoffman proceeded to replace two sets of Remote Sensing Units. 
These units contain gyroscopes that help keep Hubble pointed in the right 
direction.  By 12:24 EST Hoffman had finished swapping out RSU-2 
(containing Gryo's 2-3 & 2-4) and then swapped out RSU-3  
(containing Gryo's 3-5 & 3-6). The astronauts then spent about 50 minutes 
preparing equipment for use during the second space walk and then replaced 
a pair of electrical control units (ECU3 and ECU1) that control RSU's
3 and 1.  The astronauts also changed out eight fuse plugs that protect 
the telescope's electrical circuits.  Hubble now has a full set of six 
healthy gyroscopes.  

The astronauts struggled with the latches on the gyro door when two of 
four gyro door bolts did not reset after the astronauts installed two new 
gyro packages.  Engineers who evaluated the situation speculated that 
when the doors were unlatched and opened, a temperature change might have 
caused them to expand or contract enough to keep the bolts from being 
reset. 

With the efforts of determined astronauts in Endeavour's payload bay and 
persistent engineers on the ground, all four bolts finally latched and 
locked after the two spacewalkers worked simultaneously at the top and 
bottom of the doors.  Musgrave anchored himself at the bottom of the 
doors with a payload retention device which enabled him to use some body 
force against the doors.  Hoffman, who was attached to the robot arm, 
worked at the top of the doors.  The duo successfully latched the doors 
when they simultaneously latched the top and bottom latches. 

The spacewalkers also set up the payload bay for mission specialists Tom 
Akers and Kathy Thornton who replaced the telescope's two solar 
arrays during the second spacewalk which began at 10:35 p.m. EST
today.  The solar arrays provide power to the telescope.  In anticipation 
of that spacewalk, Musgrave and Hoffman prepared the solar array carrier 
which is located in the forward portion of the cargo bay, and attached a 
foot restraint on the telescope to assist in the solar array replacement. 

  Musgrave and Hoffman's spacewalk became the second longest spacewalk in 
NASA history lasting 7 hours and 50 min. The longest spacewalk occurred 
on STS-49 in May 1992 during Endeavour's maiden flight.  Spacewalking crew 
members during that flight were Thomas D. Akers, Richard J. Hieb and 
Pierre J. Thuot.

Inspite of the kink in array (about a panel and a half from the end), 
after a review by HST program managers, flight controllers decided to
continue with the pre-flight plan and attemp to roll up and retract the
solar arrays at the end of the first EVA.  The stowage of the solar 
arrays is a two step process with the initial step involving the rolling 
up of the solar arrays and the second step involving the actual folding 
up of the arrays against the telescope. Each array stands on a four 
foot mast that supports a retractable wing of solar panels 40 feet long 
and 8.2 feet wide. They supply the telescope with 4.5kW of power.

  Flight Day 5 began on Sunday night (12/5/93) at 10:35 EST.  Astronauts  
Thomas D. Akers and Kathryn C. Thornton replaced HST's solar arrays during 
the second planned EVA (Thornton has red dashed stripes on her spacesuit 
while Tom Akers has diagonal red dashed stripes which helps flight 
controllers tell the two spacewalkers apart.)  At the start of the EVA, 
the pressure in Thornton's vent garment was .2 psi instead of the the 
normal pressure of 4-6 psi.  This was due to a possible ice plug in the 
suits plumming which shortly melted.  Thornton then topped off her suit. 
There were also other problems with Thornton's EVA suit.  Her communications 
receiver malfunctioned in a way that allowed her to communicate to Akers but 
not to Mission Control.  The crew decided to use a technique of relaying all 
commands for Thornton via Akers instead of switching to the backup comm 
channel.  The backup channel is used for suit biomedical telemetry and would 
have limited Mission Control's ability to monitor that telemetry.

 Akers started the EVA by installing a foot restraint on the RMA for 
Thornton and proceeded to begin disconnecting 3 electrical connectors and a 
clamp assembly on the solar array.  He had a slight problem with the clamp 
assembly but had the connectors demated by 11:17pm EST. Thornton held the 
array in place so that it would not drift freely after being detached.  The 
solar arrays weigh 160 kg (352 lbs) and are 5 meters long when folded.  The 
astronauts  dismounted the damaged array at 11:40pm EST above the Saraha 
Desert (during a nighttime pass to minimize electrical activity) and Thornton 
held the array until the next daylight pass (approximately 12 min) before 
throwing it overboard at 11:52pm EST over Somalia.  The jetison during 
daylight allowed the astronauts and flight controllers to accurately track 
it's position and relative velocity.  The release by Thornton imparted a 
1ft per second velocity to the arrays and then the orbiter did a small burn 
with the RCS that imparted an additional 4 ft/sec.  The array, moving away 
from Endeavour at 5 ft/sec (3 miles/hr), will seperate about 11-12 miles 
each orbit. The crew then installed a new array, (finishing around 1:40 EST) 
and rotated the telescope 180 degrees.  They then replaced the second solar 
array which was stowed away for return to ESA.  After the 6.5 hour EVA, 
successful functional tests were performed by the Space Telescope Operations 
Control Center (STOCC) on four of HST's 6 Gryos.  Gryos 1&2 were not able to 
be tested due to the orientation of the telescope and were tested during 
the crew sleep period Monday afternoon (12/6/93).

  Flight Day 6 EVA # 3 began Monday night (12/6/93) AT 10:34PM EST while 
Endeavour was over Australia.  Hoffman installed guide studs on the Wide 
Field Planetary Camera (WFPC) and prepared the WFPC for removal while 
Musgrave setup a work platform and worked on opening an access door to 
allow observation of WFPC status lights.  Hoffman attached the support 
handle to the WFPC and, with assistance by Claude Nicollier on the arm 
and a free floating F. Story Musgrave, removed the WFPC during the night 
pass starting at 11:41pm EST.  The WFPC was clear of the telescope by 
11:48pm EST and moved back into its storage container.  A protective 
hood was then removed on the new WFPC (protecting its fragile external 
mirror) and the new 620 lb WFPC was then installed at 1:05am EST.  Ground
controllers then ran an Aliveness Test and 35 minutes later reported
that the new camera successfully performed its series of initial tests.
The new Wide Field and Planetary Camera has a higher rating than the 
previous model, especially in the ultraviolet range, and includes its own 
spherical aberration correction system.  

  Following the WFPC installation, Hoffman changed out two magnetometers 
on board HST.  The magnetometers, which are located at the top of the 
telescope, are the satellite's "compass".  They enableing HST to find its 
orientation with respect to the Earth's magnetic field.  Both original 
units were suffering from problems of background noise. During 
installation, 2 pieces pealed off the magnetometers and flight 
controllers are accessing any possible impacts.  The EVA lasted 6 hours 
and 47 min.

  Flight Day 7 EVA # 4 began Tuesday night (12/7/93) while Endeavour was 
flying over Egypt at 10:13pm EST with Thornton and Akers.  The  primary task 
of the EVA was to replace HST's High Speed Photometer (HSP) with a device 
called COSTAR.  This acronym stands for the Corrective Optics Space 
Telescope Axial Replacement system and the unit corrects HST's sperical 
aberration of the main mirror for all instruments except the WFPC-II camera, 
which has it's own built in corrective optics.  Akers received a go for the 
opening of HST's -V2 aft shroud doors at 10:45pm EST. The doors were 
scheduled to be opened during a night pass to minimize thermal changes and 
reduce the possibility of out-gassing of components that could contaminate 
the optics.  The High Speed Photometer (HSP) was powered down at 10:54pm EST 
and the door opening started at 10:57 EST.  Shortly after partially opening 
the door, the astronauts practiced reclosing the door.  The door exhibited 
the same reluctance upon closing that was experience on different doors 
during previous EVA's.  The doors were fully opened by 11:00pm EST and 4 
power and data connectors plus 1 ground strap were disconnected from the 
HSP.  The HSP was removed at 11:27pm EST and then reinserted to practice for 
the COSTAR installation.  HSP was then parked on the side of the payload bay 
while COSTAR was removed from stowage and successfully installed in the HST
by about 12:35am EST.  The astronauts closed out the HST equipment bay doors 
and stowed the HSP.  At 2:25am EST they started upgrading HST's onboard 
computer by bolting on an electronics package containing additional computer 
memory and a co-processor.  The computer system was then reactivated and 
passed it's aliveness and functional tests at 4:41am EST.  The EVA was 100% 
successful and lasted for 6hr and 50 min. It will be 6-9 weeks before optical 
alignments can confirm that HST is completely repaired.

  Pilot Kenneth D. Bowersox, using Endeavours RCS system, performed two 
orbital manueuvers and boosted HST from a 321x317nm orbit to a 
321.7nm x 320.9nm circular orbit at 9:14pm EST.  COSTAR functional tests 
were also completed.  There was some concern about the health of the onboard 
HST DF-224 computer and recently installed memory and co-processor when 
a memory dump failed.  After much analysis by a team at the GSFC, it was 
determined that the dump failure was due to noise on the communications link 
between the spacecraft and the ground.

  Flight Day 8 EVA #5 began on Wednesday night (12/8/93) at 10:14pm with a 
go for airlock depress over the Indian Ocean with Musgrave and Hoffman 
performing the EVA.  Story Musgrave's EVA suit failed it's inital leak 
check and Story performed steps on the 5psi contigency checklist.  He 
rotated the EVA suits lower arm joints and the suit passed 2 subsequent 
leak checks.  The EVA started at 10:30 EST and lasted 7hr and 21 min.

  Musgrave's and Hoffman's first task was to replace the solar array drive 
electronics and they began the SADE operation while ground controllers 
initiated the first step in solar array deployment by commanding the Primary 
Drive Mechanism (PDM). Endeavour was placed in free drift to disable any 
RCS firings that could disrupt the solar arrays and the PDM motors were 
engaged at 10:48pm.  The latches were unlocked but the arrays failed to 
rotate to the deploy position.  No motion was detected and the STOCC sent 
commands to drive a single array with two motors with no success.  Finally, 
the astronauts cranked the deployment mechanism by hand and deploy was 
successful.  After the SADE was swapped out, the crew fitted an electrical 
connection box on the Goddard High Resolution Spectrograph at 3:30am EST and 
it passed its aliveness test.   The crew then installed some covers on the 
magnetometers, fabricated onboard by Claude Nicollier and Kenneth D. Bowersox.
 These covers will contain any debris caused by the older magnetometers which 
show some signs of UV decay.  The EVA ended at 5:51am EST bringing the total 
EVA time for this mission to 35hr and 28 min. The HST High Gain Antenna (HGA) 
was deployed at 6:49am EST and completed by 6:56am EST.  Release time for 
HST was set for 2:08am EST.

  Flight Day 9 began on Thursday night (12/9/93) but concerns about one 
of HST's four onboard Data Interface Units (DIU's) delayed release. The 
DIU's are 35 lb electronic units that transfer data between HST's main
computer, solar arrays and other critical systems. A failure on Side A of 
DIU # 2 experienced erratic current fluxuations and some data dropouts. 
Controllers at the STOCC and mission control came up with a troubleshooting 
procedure to determine the extent of the problem.  HST was transfered to 
internal power and disconnected from its power umbilical at 11:43pm EST.
Controllers then switched channels on the DIU from the A side to the B side 
and then back to the A side.  They determined HST should be deployed.  The 
drum brakes on the new Solar Array were applied to prevent them from 
vibrating during future observations.  Claude Nicollier then took hold of 
the satellite with the robot arm.  Hubble was switched back to internal 
power mode and the umbilical cord linking it to the Shuttle was disconnected. 
The satellite was then lifted and moved away from Endeavour. The telescope's 
apature door was then reopened (a 33 min procedure) and then released at 
5:26am EST. Commander Dick Covey and pilot Kenneth D. Bowersox fired 
Endeavour's small maneuvering jets and moved the shuttle slowly away from 
HST. The next servicing vist to HST is scheduled for 1997.  Landing occured
on Runway 33 at 12:26am on 12/13/93.

<end of mission>

Mission Name: STS-60 (60)
  Discovery (18)         
  Pad 39-A (49)
  60th Shuttle Mission
  18th Flight OV-105
  1st Russian on Shuttle
  KSC Landing (19)

Crew:
   Charles F. Bolden (4), Commander
   Kenneth S. Reightler Jr.(2), Pilot
   N. Jan Davis (2), Mission Specialist 1
   Ronald M. Sega (1), Mission Specialist 2
   Franklin R. Chang-Diaz (4), Mission Specialist 3
   Sergei K. Krikalev (3), Mission Specialist 4 (Russia)

Milestones:
     OPF -- 9/23/93
     VAB -- 1/4/94
     PAD -- 1/10/94

Payload:
 Wake Shield, SPACEHAB-2, COB/GBA, SAREX-II, APE-B, ODERACS, BREMSAT, CPL

Mission Objectives:
  The Wake Shield Facility (WSF), a primary payload for mission STS-60, 
arrived at Cape Canaveral on 6/30/93 to begin final prelaunch assembly 
and checkout.  

  The parabolic-shaped WSF is 12 feet in diameter and includes
a communications and avionics system, solar cells and batteries,
and a propulsion thruster.  The experiment will take advantage of
the near vacuum of space to attempt to grow innovative thin film
materials for use in electronics.  It will be deployed by the
remote manipulator arm, and fly in formation with Discovery at a
distance of up to 46 statute miles from the orbiter for 56 hours.
It will then be retrieved from space, again using the remote
manipulator arm.  WSF costs approximately $13 million to develop 
and was designed and built by the Space Vacuum Epitaxy Center 
(SVEC) based at the University of Houston.

  WSF underwent initial processing in NASA's Hangar S on
Cape Canaveral Air Force Station.  In mid-September it was moved 
to the Vertical Processing Facility in the KSC Industrial Area where 
tests were performed to verify its compatibility with the Space
Shuttle.  The payload was then transferred to the pad approximately 
one month later.

SPACEHAB is a small pressurized module designed to augment the 
shirt-sleeve working volume of the Space Shuttle.  It provides 
approximately 1100 cubic feet of internal volume, as well as external 
surface area.  Both internal and external areas can be used for 
mounting, stowing and conducting experiments.  The Spacehab module 
was developed by SPACEHAB, Inc.  The experiments abord SPACEHAB-02 
include the Three-Dimensional Microgravity Accelerometer (3-DMA) 
experiment, Astroculture Experiment (ASC-3), Bioserve Pilot Lab (BPL), 
Commercial Generic Bioprocessing Apparatus Experiment (CGBA), Commercial 
Protein Crystal Growth Experiment (CPCG), Controlled Liquid Phase Sintering 
(ECLiPSE-Hab), Immune Response Studies Experiment (IMMUNE-01), Organic 
Separation Experiment (ORSEP), Space Experiment Facility (SEF), 
Penn State Biomodule (PSB) and the Space Acceleration Measurement System 
(SAMS) Experiment.

The final collection of experiments are the COB/GBA payloads.   They are 
mounted in the rear of the payload bay on a GAS bridge assembly.  Four 
additional Get-Away Special (GAS) canisters are also mounted on the 
GBA.  Experiments on the COB/GBA include the Capillary Pumped Loop 
Experiment (CAPL), Orbital Debris Radar Calibration Spheres Project 
(ODERACS) and the University of Bremen Satellite (BREMSAT).

Launch:  
  Launch February 3, 1994 7:10:05am EST.  Discovery launched exactly on 
time at the beginning of it's  2 hour, 30 minute window.  Discovery's 
initial trip to the launch pad was delayed a few days due to additional 
inspections and tests on all of Discovery's 44 nose and tail steering 
jets.  A microscopic puncture was found by its manufacturer, Marquardt 
Co (a division of CCI Corp of Van Nuys Calif), during post-flight 
inpection.  This thruster experienced experienced unexpected drops in 
chamber pressure during Discovery's STS-51 mission in September.  

A hairline scratch was discovered on Discovery's number 6 pilot side cabin 
window on the outermost pane.  This cabin window was removed and replace on 
the launch pad.  The Terminal Countdown Demonstration Test (TCDT) for STS-60 
was conducted from 1/13/94 and completed with a simulated ignition of 
Discovery's main engines at 11 am Friday 1/14/94.  The three day launch 
countdown for Thursday's launch was started at 4am on 1/31/94.  
Loading of the half-million gallons of liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen 
into the 15 story external tank began at 10:50pm EST on Wednesday 2/2/94.  
Astronauts were awakened at 2:15am and left for the launch pad at 3:55am 
Thursday morning.  Temperature at liftoff was 46 degrees which was within 
the launch commit criteria constraint of greater than 36 degrees. This 
constraint protects the orbiter from the possibility of ice formation on 
various locations of the External Tank that could possibly break off and 
cause damage during ignition.  Lower temperature also affects SRB O-ring 
seals but are not as critical as before the post 51-L Solid Rocket Motor Redesign effort.  Heaters are now placed  around 
the SRB O-ring seals to insure the seals do not stiffen and fail in cold 
weather.

The launch countdown proceeded smoothly.  The only concerns were some 
GSE transduser failures (that have multiple redundancy) and a minor leak 
(within specifications) on the Hydrogen umbilical.  The ice inspection 
team did not find any evidence of ice buildup in any critical areas.  High 
winds and low humidity in the launch area were contributing factors to the 
lack of ice buildup.  

Orbit:
  Altitude: 191 nm
  Inclination: 57 degrees
  Orbits:  130
  Duration:  8 days, 7 hours, 9 minutes,  22 seconds. 
  Distance:  3,439,704 miles

Hardware:
  SRB: BI-062
  SRM: 360L/Q035
  ET :  61
  MLP: 3
  SSME-1: SN-2012
  SSME-2: SN-2034
  SSME-3: SN-2032

Landing:  
  KSC on Flight day 9 (2/11/94) at 2:18:41 EST on KSC Runway 15.
There were 2 landing options for KSC and one for Edwards.  The 1st 
landing option on 2/11/94 was on orbit 129 with a deorbit burn at 
MET 8 days 4 hours 28 min or 11:38 EST.  This would have resulted in 
a landing at KSC's runway 33 at 12:34 EST and a mission elapsed time 
of 8 days, 5 hours and 34 min.  The first KSC landing option was waived 
off due to high winds near the Shuttle Landing Facility.  The 2nd 
opportunity was on orbit 130 and KSC weather conditions proved favorable.
Discovery performed a deorbit burn at MET 8 days 5 hours and 59 min or 
1:11pm EST.  Discovery crossed USA airspace over Alaska and proceeded
to travel in a South Easterly direction over Canada, thru the midwest, 
and on over Georgia.  The orbiter then performed a left-overhead turn of 
349 degrees and landed from the North traveling south on KSC runway 15 
at MET 8 days 7 hours 8 min at 2:18pm EST.   

Mission Highlights:

  After External Tank seperation and main engine cutoff, a 2.5 min 
OMS burn was initiated at 7:52am EST that circularized Discovery's orbit 
from a 40nm by 190nm orbit to 190nm by 190nm.  Shortly after liftoff, 
pilot Kenneth S. Reightler Jr. experienced problems with his portable 
headset.  The problem was traced to the Headset Interface Unit (HIU) and 
that unit was swapped out with a flight spare.  The payload bay doors were 
opened and around 8:45am EST the crew was given a go for on-orbit operations.

  Shortly after reaching orbit, the STS-60 crew began checking Discovery's   
systems and activating the commercially developed Spacehab laboratory  
module and several of its experiments. The crew also activated one group   
of the payload bay Getaway Special experiments. 

  Spacehab module experiments that were activated included the Organic
Separations payload, which is designed to investigate cell separation
techniques for possible pharmaceutical and biotechnology processing, and
the Equipment for Controlled Liquid Phase Sintering Experiment package, a
furnace designed to explore the possibilities of creating stronger,
lighter and more durable metals for use in bearings, cutting tools 
and electronics.      
 
  Spacehab middeck experiments that were activated included Immune-1, which
will look at the immune systems of rats in orbit, and the Commercial  
Protein Crystal Growth package, which is attempting to grow large, well-
ordered protein crystals so that their structures can be more easily
studied.  The crew sleep period then began at 6:10pm EST.

  At 6:30am EST on 2/5/94 Discovery inadvertently flew thru a cloud of 
wastewater ice crystals.  Flight controllers determined the approximately 
one tablespoon of wastewater leaked out of a wast dump nozzle. 

  The Wake Shield deployment operation was canceled on Saturday.  This delay 
was the result of several factors, including radio interference
and an inability to read the Wake Shield's status lights when the
orbiter's payload bay is in full sunlight. Deployment originally was
scheduled for 10 a.m. CST, but after grappling the free-flyer and lifting
it out of the cargo bay and into the pre-deploy position, crew members
and investigators on the ground were unable to tell whether power and  
transmitter status lights were giving the proper indications. After        
determining that the problem was not a systems failure, but difficulty in
reading the status lights, the crew and flight controllers perpared for
another release attempt. Interference between the radio transmitter on     
the Wake Shield Facility and the receiver on its payload bay carrier       
resulted in the one-day wave-off.    

  Wake Shield deployment was also canceled on Sunday, 2/6/94 during it's
orbit 53 opportunity at 12:25pm.  WSF and flight controllers worked 
problems with the Pitch and Roll sensors on WSF's Attitude, Direction 
and Control system.  Astronaut N. Jan Davis moved the wrist joint on the 
Remote Manipulator System (RMS) arm to try to point WSF's Horizon Sensor 
into the sun in an attempt to warm up the sensors electronics package.  
The last deploy opportunity for Sunday was a 50 minute window beginning at 
2:23 EST on orbit 54 and WSF was not ready for deployment. It was left 
mounted on the RMS during the crew sleep period while ground controllers 
consider their options.  On it's pearch at the end of the RMS over night, 
WSF was able to grow 2 Gallium Arsenide (GaAs) thin films.  The next deploy 
opportunity on 2/7/94 would have been orbit 67 but payload controllers 
and flight controllers determined that there would be insufficient time to
safely develop contigency procedures in the event that WSF was unable to 
maintain stable attitude control without the use of its Horizon Sensor.  It 
was decided that for the remainder of the mission, all WSF operations would 
take place at the end of the RMS and there will be no WSF free-flying 
operations on this mission.

  On 2/7/94, work has been progressing in the Spacehab module on a number 
of experiments.   These include the Three-Dimensional Microgravity 
Accelerometer (3-DMA) experiment, Astroculture Experiment (ASC-3), Bioserve 
Pilot Lab (BPL), Commercial Generic Bioprocessing Apparatus Experiment 
(CGBA), Commercial Protein Crystal Growth Experiment (CPCG), Controlled 
Liquid Phase Sintering (ECLiPSE-Hab), Immune Response Studies Experiment 
(IMMUNE-01), Organic Separation Experiment (ORSEP), Space Experiment 
Facility (SEF), Penn State Biomodule (PSB) and the Space Acceleration 
Measurement System (SAMS) Experiment.  Sergei K. Krikalev has been 
operating the SAMS experiment.

  At 7:38am EST on 2/8/94, Good Morning America performed a live 
bi-directional audio and downlink video hookup between astronauts onboard 
Discovery and 3 Cosmonauts onboard the Soviet Mir Space Station.  Discovery 
was over the Pacific ocean and Mir was over the southern United States. 
Afterwords, work progressed with Spacehab module and middeck experiments 
while Wake Shield continued operations at the end of the Remote Manipulator 
System.  A slight problem developed with the status indicators on the 3-DMA 
experiment and the crew downlinked video to aid in troubleshooting.  The 
astronauts ended Flight Day 6 at 7:10pm EST.

  Flight Day 7 (2/9/94) began at 3:20am EST.  ODERACS operations are 
scheduled for 9:55am EST during Orbit 97 and BREMSAT deploy is scheduled 
for 2:50pm EST but the deploy may be moved earlier in the orbit to provide 
better lighting conditions.  WSF closeout was begun and a telemetry problem 
with the facility prevented the growth of the 6th and final thin film 
onboard WSF.   Five other thin films were grown through out the mission 
before Wake Shield was berthed.  WSF closeout was completed by 8:10am EST.

  At 7:58am EST,  Commander Charles F. Bolden reported to the ground that one 
of the Thermal Protection System (TPS) blankets around Discovery's forward 
RCS thruster below Commander Bolden's cabin window was slightly pealed back.  
N. Jan Davis was directed to halt her power down and stowage of the 
Remote Manipulator System (RMS) arm and use the arm to perform a camera 
survey of the front left side of the orbiter.  At 2:20pm EST, the BREMSAT 
momemtum wheel was spun up and BREMSAT was ejected into space at 2:23pm EST 
at the rate of 3.4 ft/sec.

  On Flight Day 8 (2/10/94), the astronauts preformed a number of 
operations to prepare Discovery for it's trip home.  These included Hot-Fire 
tests of all 44 Reaction Control Systems jets, Flight control system checkout, 
SAREX stow, CPCG Stow, ASC-3 Deactivation, ORSEP Deactivation, stowage of 
all non-essential cabin items and Ku-Band antenna stow.

  Flight Day 9 (2/11/94) operations included the powerup of all critical 
orbiter entry systems (Group B powerup), SAMS deactivation, CAPL Deactivation 
and De-Orbit preps.  Ground controllers gave Discovery a go to start Spacehab 
deactivation at 8:00am EST and closeout was complete by 8:20am EST.  Landing 
at KSC runway 15 at 2:18:41 pm EST.

<end of mission>

Mission Name: STS-62 (61)
  Columbia (16)         
  Pad 39-B (29)
  61st Shuttle Mission
  16th Flight OV-102
  EDO Mission (3)
  KSC Landing (20) 

Crew:
   John H. Casper (3), Commander
   Andrew M. Allen (2), Pilot
   Pierre J. Thuot (3), Mission Specialist 1
   Charles D. Gemar (3), Mission Specialist 2
   Marsha S. Ivins (3), Mission Specialist 3

Milestones:
     OPF #2  -- 11/09/93
     VAB HB1 -- 02/03/94
     PAD 39B -- 02/10/94

Payload:
  USMP-2, OAST-2, DEE, SSBUV-6, LDCE, APCG, PSE, CPCG, CGBA, BDS, MODE, AMOS, BSTC, EDO

Mission Objectives:
     The 14-day mission is the latest in a series of Extended 
Duration Orbiter (EDO) flights which will provide additional 
information for on-going medical studies that assess the impact 
of long-duration spaceflight, 10 or more days, on astronaut 
health, identify any operational medical concerns and test 
countermeasures for the adverse effects of weightlessness on 
human physiology.

     The United States Microgravity Payload (USMP) will be 
making its second flight aboard the Space Shuttle.  The USMP 
flights are regularly scheduled on Shuttle missions to permit 
scientists access to space for microgravity and fundamental 
science experiments which cannot be duplicated on Earth and 
provide the foundation for advanced scientific investigations 
that will be done on the international space station.

    The Office of Aeronautics and Space Technology (OAST-2) payload
contains six experiments that will obtain technology data to 
support future needs for advanced satellites, sensors, 
microcircuits and the space station.  Data gathered by the 
OAST-2 experiments could lead to satellites and spacecraft that 
are cheaper, more reliable and able to operate more 
efficiently.

     STS-62 will help scientists calibrate sensitive ozone-
detecting instruments with the sixth flight of the Shuttle 
Solar Backscatter Ultraviolet (SSBUV) Instrument. This highly 
calibrated tool is used to check data from ozone-measuring 
instruments on free-flying satellites -- NASA's Total Ozone 
Mapping Spectrometer (TOMS) and Upper Atmosphere Research 
Satellite (UARS) and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric 
Administration NOAA-9 and NOAA-11 satellites.

     The Protein Crystal Growth (PCG) experiments and the 
Commercial Protein Crystal Growth (CPCG) experiments aboard 
Columbia will help scientists understand the growth of crystals 
to study the complex molecular structures of important 
proteins.  By knowing the structure of specific proteins, 
scientists can design new drug treatments for humans and 
animals and develop new or better food crops.  

     NASA's efforts in the important field of biotechnology are 
represented by the fourth flight of the Physiological Systems 
Experiment which is designed to evaluate pharmaceutical, 
agricultural or biotechnological products, and the first flight 
of the Biotechnology Specimen Temperature Controller (BSTC), 
designed to test the performance of a temperature control 
device being developed for use with the Bioreactor, a cell-
culture growth device.  Also flying again on the Shuttle is the 
Commercial Generic Bioprocessing Apparatus (CGBA) payload which 
will support more than 15 commercial life science 
investigations that have application in biomaterials, 
biotechnology, medicine and agriculture.  

     The Middeck 0-Gravity Dynamics Experiment (MODE) will make 
its second flight on STS-62.  MODE investigates how the 
microgravity of space flight influences the behavior of large 
space structures.  The MODE test article can be configured in 
different shapes typical of space structural forms-- the truss 
of a space station, for example -- to help engineers develop 
and verify an analytical modeling capability for predicting the 
linear and nonlinear modal characteristics of space structures 
in a microgravity environment.  MODE also will gather force 
measurements of nominal, crew-induced disturbance loads on the 
Shuttle.

     Astronauts will demonstrate a new magnetic end effector 
and grapple fixture design for the Shuttle's Canadian-built 
robot arm that engineers believe will increase the arm's 
dexterity and alignment accuracy, provide operators with a 
sense of touch and allow the use of more compact "handles" on 
satellites and other Shuttle payloads.

Launch:  
  Launch March 4, 1994; 8:53:01am EST.  Winds were at bearing
287 degrees at 13 knots.  Temperature was 53 degrees with relative
humidity at 58%. The Abort Once Around (AOA) option site for this 
launch was changed shortly before launch from Edwards AFB to the 
Kennedy Space Center.  Launch window was 2 hours and 30 min and 
lifted off on it's scheduled 8:53am EST launch time.  The launch 
countdown went smoothly and only 2 minor problem reports 
were being worked.  They related to slight leakages in some Ground 
Servicing Equipment (GSE) on the Mobile Launch Platform liquid oxygen
system.   Also, due to high seas, the Solid Rocket Booster recovery 
ships were kept in port at the time of the launch.  They left port 
shortly after launch and met up with the boosters 140 miles off the 
coast of Cape Canaveral around midday on 3/5/94.

  Launch attempt on March 3, 1994 was canceled due to the USAF Range
Weather Operations Forcast Facility at Cape Canaveral Air Force
Station predicting the probability of a launch weather criteria
violation at 90%.  The Spaceflight Meteorology Group at JSC predicted
winds of 18 mph to 33 mph would be present at the shuttle landing
facility and flight rules cause for a launch attempt to be scrubbed if
runway crosswinds exceed 17 mph.  By canceling the launch attempt 11
hours before tanking operations were scheduled to begin, launch
options for the following two days were preserved where the
probability of weather violation was predicted to be only 10% on
3/4/94 and 3/5/94.

  Columbia main engine cutoff at MET 8min 21sec or 9:01:40 a.m. EST after 
a burn time of 510.4 seconds.  OMS-1 burn was not required. Initial orbit 
153.7nm.  Go for APU Hydraulic shutdown at 9:08am EST.  Onboard computers 
were reloaded to support the OMS-2 burn to circularize Columbia's orbit to 
the desired 160nm x 163nm.  OMS-2 burn of 2min 46sec (269fps) occured at 
9:36a.m EST. Columbia's empty weight 181,299 lbs. and total launch weight 
4,519,319 lbs.

Orbit:
  Altitude:  163nm
  Inclination: 39.00 degrees
  Orbits:  224
  Duration:  13 days,  23 hours, 16 minutes,  41 seconds.
  Distance:  5,820,146 miles

Hardware:
  SRB: BI-064
  SRM: 360L/W036
  ET :  SN-062
  MLP: 1
  SSME-1: SN-2031
  SSME-2: SN-2109
  SSME-3: SN-2029

Landing:  
  KSC 3/18/94 at 8:10am EST.  Shuttle Landing Facility Runway 33.   Columbia
landed on the first opportunity. Main gear touch down was at 8:09.41 am EDT, 
nose gear touchdown was at 8:10.00 and wheels stop was at 8:10.35.  Landing 
speed was 211 knots (242 mph). Columbia touched down about 3500 feet from 
the threshold (rollout was 10,166 feet).    Just as the main landing gear 
dropped and locked, infrared cameras at KSC saw several objects drop from 
the vicinity of Columbia wheel well.  Post flight inspection detected a 
4-inch square heat protection tile and six strips of thermal barrier were 
missing from the orbiter around the area of the wheel well.  One camera 
angle also showed the orbiter cross the center line, compensate and cross 
again. The vehicle was then towed to OPF bay 2 to be prepared for it's 
next flight on STS-65.

Mission Highlights:
  Flight Day One consisted of Ascent operations and orbiter reconfiguration 
to support orbital operations, an OMS-2 burn to circularize Columbia's 
orbit to a 163nm x 160 nm orbit, USMP-2 activation, PSE operations, 
APCG activation, CPCG operations, RMS checkout, DEE operations, CGBA 
activation.  Payload bay doors were opened at 10:26am EDT.

  On Flight Day Two, 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 11 other experiments mounted in Columbia's cargo bay.  Mission 
controllers in Houston also investigated a problem in a fuel line 
pressure sensor on one of Columbia's three Auxiliary Power Units (APU's).
Higher than normal pressures were detected and then returned to normal 
after engineers powered up heaters on the unit.  The APU's provide 
hydraulic power to operate key landing systems and only one of the three is 
needed for a successful landing. However flight rules call for a shorted 
mission in the event a single unit is lost.

  On Flight Day Three (Sunday, March 3, 1994), 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 Andrew M. Allen and Mission Specialists Marsha Ivins 
and Charles D. Gemar each took a turn on a stationary bicycle mounted in 
Columbia's middeck. The stationary bike has long been a staple of 
shuttle flights to allow exercise that counters the effect of 
weightlessness on the muscles. The bike aboard Columbia, however, 
features a new mounting system of shock-absorbing springs that is being 
evaluated as a method of keeping vibrations from exercise, which can 
disturb sensitive experiments, to a minimum. 

  Also, Gemar set up a model of the scaffold-like truss structure that may 
be used on a future space station 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 shuttle's outer skin interacts 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 cargo bay payloads continued 
their investigations throughout the day.  The second United States 
Microgravity Payload (USMP-2) experiments, continue to produce a wealth
of data for scientists on the ground.  

  The Critical Fluid Light Scattering Experiment, or Zeno, science
team reported that they expect 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 is a more precise search for the
critical temperature after its location has been determined within
a narrow band.  Once the temperature is located, the team will
spend nearly 24 hours taking a good look at the phenomenon they've
waited years to see.  They will study 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 onboard.  The SAMS team 
began sending results of their data collection during various
orbiter activities to STS-62 crew members.  The crew was interested
in how they can minimize their influence on the microgravity
environment.  Measurements are made with the system at specific
times when microgravity disturbances may be caused by events such
as crew exercise and movement of the Shuttle's Ku-band antenna.
Such observations also collect "signatures" which the team will be
able to easily identify in future data.

  A related system, the Orbital Acceleration Research Experiment
(OARE), is managed by NASA's Johnson Space Center.  It is useful on
missions such as USMP-2 where it is important to accurately
characterize a wide variety of disturbances in the microgravity
environment.  Working closely with SAMS, the OARE records any
low-frequency activity such as the Shuttle's friction with the
rarefied upper atmosphere.  SAMS is most suitable for recording
higher-frequency activity such as crew exercise.  The OARE        
instrument continues to process data in support of the USMP-2
experiments, and team members say all is going well.

  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.  When the USMP-2 mission is over, the IDGE team will
study hundreds of photographs taken of the dendrites grown in
microgravity.  Learning more about how dendrites grow is one
valuable key to developing better metal products and improving our
industrial competitiveness.

  Upon completion of its first phase of pre-programmed operations
last 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 allows them to get the best possible data
from their investigation.  

  The Advanced Automated Directional Solidification Furnace (AADSF)
studies the directional solidification of semiconductor materials
in microgravity.  Downlinked experiment data indicates that
solidification of a crystal of mercury cadmium telluride is taking
place, and the AADSF science team is constantly monitoring this
slow but steady progress.  Testing the AADSF in microgravity is
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 have gathered good data with
their directional solidification furnace.  Currently, however, the
team is still troubleshooting a problem discovered on Saturday
night with a troublesome "Seebeck measurement."  This electronic
signal measures changes in the microstructure of a solidifying
metal, and is conducted on one of three experiment samples of
bismuth-tin.  Other measurement techniques will be used on the two
remaining samples later in the mission; both these samples are
operating nominally.  Measurement data from the three samples will
give scientists insight into the precise nature of solidification
in reduced gravity.        

  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 has dissipated, and 
controllers have confidence the APU would operate well if needed. 
However, they will continue to closely watch the readings from that area. 
All of the three APUs, which supply power to the hydraulic systems, 
operated well during launch. They are not used again until landing. 
The crew began eight hours of sleep at 4:53 p.m. 

  Flight Day 4 began Monday, March 7, 1994 at 12:53 a.m.  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 are represented by the STS-62 crew. Commander John 
Casper is a colonel in the U.S. Air Force, Pilot Andrew M. Allen is a major 
in the U.S. Marine Corps, Mission Specialist Sam Gemar is a lieutenant 
colonel in the U.S. Army, and Mission Specialist Pierre Thuot is a 
commander in the U.S. Navy. 

  After completing their post-sleep activities, the crew got started on the 
payload work for the day. Astronauts performed checks of the protein 
crystal growth experiment and the rodents that are housed in the middeck 
as part of the Physiological Systems Experiment. Gemar also continued his 
work with the Middeck 0-Gravity Dynamics Experiment. MODE is designed to 
study the fundamental, non-linear, gravity-dependent behavior of hybrid 
scaled structures.  Understanding these structures is 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 uses sensors 
called accelerometers to take measurements of on-board vibrations and 
accelerations. Such disturbances, though slight, could affect the 
sensitive microgravity experiments. SAMS measurements allow scientists to 
adjust their experiments to improve their scientific results. 

  Columbia astronauts Andrew M. Allen and Charles D. Gemar got a half day 
off from their busy schedule operating the many microgravity experiments 
on STS-62.  Due to the long duration of STS-62, each crew member will get 
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 may be used on a future space station.  The truss model, 
set up to float free in the middeck, was analyzed to determine its behavior 
in weightlessness.  It will be the subject of more test runs as the flight 
progresses. 

  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 all continue 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 today to attempt to detect sulphur dioxide emissions from 
volcanoes in Central America.  The objective of the observations by 
SSBUV are to investigate whether such emissions low in the atmosphere 
are detectable from orbit.  SSBUV's measurements in 
general are used to fine-tune satellites that monitor the ozone and other 
gases in the Earth's atmosphere. The crew began its eight hours sleep 
period at 4:53 p.m. 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 have seen on Earth. They 
believe this may mean the experiment has passed through the
xenon sample's critical point.  Meanwhile the team continued their delicate
temperature manipulations in order to verify what they have seen.  Once the
team is certain they have located the critical point, they will 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" irridescence.  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 is
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 are measured in
order to study the behavior of metals and semiconductors as they solidify.

  Team members of the Isothermal Dendritic Growth Experiment (IDGE), say they 
were pleased with the performance of their apparatus and the data they 
acquired during USMP-2. While dendrite growth was taking place, two 35mm
cameras took photographs for post-mission analysis.  When a dendrite
growth cycle is completed, the tiny crystalline structure is 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 C. Supercooling is the term used to describe the condition in which a
liquid is slowly cooled to below its normal freezing point, but due to its
purity, does not solidify.  The level of supercooling refers to the difference
between the temperature of the liquid and its normal freezing point.  IDGE is a
fundamental materials science experiment performed in the microgravity
environment of space in order to increase understanding of the solidification
processes.  This knowledge should be useful in improving industrial production
of a wide range of metals used in applications from aluminum foil to jet
engines.

  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 provides 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 awaken at 11:53 p.m. 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.  Pilot 
Andrew M. Allen (1hr 45min) and Mission Specialist Sam Gemar (1hr 45min) 
took turns in the Lower Body Negative Pressure Unit.  The sack-like 
device seals at the waist so that pressure around the lower 
body can be gradually decreased.  The lowered pressure draws body 
fluids down to the legs and lower torso, similar to the body's normal 
state on Earth.  The LBNP protocol is being tested as a countermeasure 
to the condition "orthostatic intolerance" in 
which a person feels lightheaded after standing.  Some astronauts 
experience such sensations upon standing after the shuttle lands.  Today, 
Allen and Gemar performed the 45-minute ramp test but at the direction 
of ground controllers,terminated the test 40 seconds early.

  STS-62 Commander John Casper, Mission Specialist Pierre Thuot and Mission 
Specialist Marsha Ivins relaxed on board Columbia for the first half of 
the day.  On long duration flights, mission planners schedule off duty 
time for each crew member to keep them well rested throughout the flight.  
Gemar and Allen had their off duty time on Monday. 

  With those activities complete, the crew turned its attention to the 
assortment of secondary payloads.  Astronauts checked on the protein 
crystal growth experiments, the Commercial Generic Bioprocessing 
Apparatus experiments and the rodents which were flying as part of the 
Physiological Systems Experiment.  They also continued the Middeck 0-
Gravity Dynamics Experiment activities. 

  On Flight Day 5 (Tuesday, March 8, 1994) Columbia's crew continued a 
daily regimen of daily exercise, photography and monitoring the progress 
of crystal growth and bioprocessing experiments aboard the Shuttle. 

  Meanwhile, ground-based researchers remotely operating experiments in 
Columbia's cargo 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 mesophere 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 Shuttle's payload 
bay was pointed toward Earth. 

  Other OAST-2 accomplishments included 10 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 Shuttle'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 will get one more half-day off before the mission, planned 
as the second longest in history, concludes on March 18.  Columbia is 
operating well with few problems encountered by the crew or Mission Control.  
The spacecraft remains in an orbit with a high point of 163 nautical miles 
and a low point of 161 nautical miles.  The crew began eight hours of 
sleep at 2:53 p.m. central and will awaken at 10:53 p.m. central to start 
a sixth day in space. 

  On Flight Day 6, (Wednesday, March 9, 1994) the STS-62 crew
members devoted their time to the secondary experiment housed in Columbia's
middeck.  Mission Specialist Sam Gemar returned to his work with the 
Middeck 0-Gravity Dynamics Experiment. MODE is an instrumented model of a 
truss structure which may be used on a future space station.  Engineers 
will use data from the 77 experiment protocols to improve upon designs and 
procedures for building large structures such a the International Space 
Station.

  Pilot Andy Allen took time from his day to talk with reporters in Cleveland,
Ohio; Philadelphia, Penn.; and Knoxville, Tenn. Prior to his interview, Allen
discussed the medical tests that crew members are performing before during and
after the flight.  Astronauts are collecting blood and urine samples to help
researchers determine the chemical regulatory changes the human body undergoes
while in space.  Pre- and post-flight test study 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 today, crew members will exercise 
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 Tuesday, 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 the substance
xenon.  For the next 24 hours, a series of subtle optical
measurements will be made in the area surrounding this phenomenon
where a fluid acts like both a liquid and a gas.

  Critical point experiments are difficult to perform on Earth
because at the critical point the fluid becomes highly
compressible, or elastic.  The sample being studied cannot be
maintained at the critical point because the substance's own weight
compresses part of the sample to a density greater than that of the
critical density.  This causes the sample to literally collapse
under its own weight.  During USMP-2, researchers have found that
the absence of gravity has the effect of "widening" the critical
zone, giving them a much "crisper" picture of the critical point
phenomenon and allowing them to take measurements not possible on
Earth.

  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
Shuttle cargo bay.  The AADSF scientists say that telemetry from
their experiment indicates crystal growth is proceeding
"exceptionally well."  By using a furnace with three temperature
zones -- each independently controlled -- and growing the crystal
slowly in one direction, a flatter solidification front, or
crystallization boundary, is achieved.  This grows a crystal that
will allow a more detailed post-mission study of the influence of
gravity on crystal defects and chemical component distribution. 

  After several days of successfully growing crystalline dendrites in
microgravity, team members for the Isothermal Dendritic Growth
Experiment (IDGE) report that their instrument can do what it was
designed to do and more.  The team reports they are very pleased
with the performance of the IDGE as well as the number and quality
of the dendrites grown so far during the STS-62 mission.  The IDGE
experimenters will continue 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. SAMS has flown eight
times previously,  and is scheduled for all upcoming USMP flights,
in a continuing program to enhance understanding of the
microgravity environment.

  On Flight Day 7 (March 10, 1994) Columbia's commander, John H. Casper 
had the pleasure to inform pilot Andrew M. Allen that he was selected 
for promotion from Major in the US Marine Corps to Lt. Colonel.

  On Flight Day 8 (March 11, 1994), marking the mid-point of the mission, 
Commander John H. Casper switched several of the environmental control 
systems to their backups for on-orbit check out.  The procedures require 
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 consists of three identical sample plates with 264 samples of 
various materials used in space vehicles.  One of the sample plates will 
be exposed to the space environment for most of the mission. One will be 
exposed only when the  payload bay is pointing in the ram position - or 
pointing into the direction of travel - and a third is exposed only when 
the orbiter is not in the ram position. 

  Mission Specialist Marsha 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, Mission Specialist Sam Gemar and Pilot Andrew M.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 p.m.  CST, and was scheduled to 
be awoken at 9:53 p.m. CST to begin its ninth day of orbit operations.

  On Flight Day 9 (March 12, 1994) plan called for the 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 will unlatch the shuttle's robot arm and use 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 will be used to get a birds-eye view of EISG in operation.

  On Flight Day 10 (March 13, 1994) Commander John Casper, Pilot Andy 
Allen and Mission Specialists Pierre Thuot, Sam Gemar and Marsha Ivins 
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 planned
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 eleven in space.  The crew began 
its standard eight hour sleep shift a little before 2 p.m. and is scheduled 
to wake up at 9:53 pm CST.

  The Flight Day 11 (March 14, 1994) plan called for two OMS burns
OMS-3 of 37.9fps at MET 9/17:44 to lower the orbit to 157nmx140nm and
an OMS-4 of 31.8fps at MET 9/18:34 to lower the orbit even further to
a 140nm x 139nm 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 nautical miles and shifting the focus of 
science onboard to the second major goal of the flight.

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

  Early in the morning, Commander John Casper and Pilot Andy Allen fired 
Columbia's orbital maneuvering system engines twice to descend from a 
161 by 157 nautical mile high orbit to a 140 nautical mile 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 that 
may 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 will set the pace for the ensuing 
days of the flight.

  Mission Specialists Marsha Ivins and Sam Gemar each took a turn evaluating a
tracking system for Columbia's mechanical arm today as well.  Part of the
Dexterous End Effector (DEE) experiment, the system uses 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, an alignment that
may one day be required for delicate construction tasks.  Each crew member also
took a turn at exercise as has 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 p.m.
central and awaken at 9:53 p.m. to start Day Eleven. On its 159th orbit,
Columbia was in excellent condition and flight controllers have noted no new
problems with the spacecraft's systems.

  As payload cameras showed the Earth vista from 140 nautical miles up, the The
STS-62 crew of Columbia sent a special goodnight message -- the Bette Midler
song "From a Distance" -- for the men and women 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.

  Observations in the cargo bay are now concentrating on the interaction of
Shuttle surfaces with atomic oxygen, nitrogen and other gases as they ram
through the rarified atmosphere at 17,500 miles an hour.  Early in the day,
Commander John Casper and Pilot Andy Allen lowered Columbia's orbit by 20
nautical miles to support the OAST-2 shuttle glow observations.

  Mission Specialists Marsha Ivins, Sam Gemar and Pierre Thuot each took a turn
evaluating a tracking and grapple system for Columbia's robot arm.  The
Dexterous End Effector (DEE) demonstration 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 also is part of the DEE equipment.

  The astronauts were scheduled to awaken at 9:53 p.m. to start their 12th 
day of work in space.  Columbia is in excellent condition and flight 
controllers have noted no new problems with the spacecraft's systems.

  The Flight Day 12 (March 15, 1994) plan called for Gemar and Allen to
spend another 1hr 45min in the LBNP, the operation of the Dexterous End 
Effector experiment (DEE), 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 that may 
one day expand the reach of the Shuttle's mechanical arm.

  Mission Specialists Marsha Ivins, Pierre Thuot and Sam Gemar took turns
operating the arm to test new technology called the Dexterous End Effector
(DEE).  DEE includes a magnetic grasping mechanism, a sensor that determines
the force being applied by the arm and displays that information to the
operator, and a tracking system that allows the arm to be precisely aligned.

  The crew gave good reviews to the technology during the morning, testing 
it by using the 50-foot-long arm to insert pins into sockets that had 
progressively smaller clearances, ranging from 12/100ths of an inch of 
clearance for the loosest to 3/100ths of an inch for the tightest.  Later, 
a foot-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 Pilot Andy 
Allen each had one ramp session in the Lower Body Negative Pressure (LBNP) 
device.  A medical experiment, LBNP imitates gravity by using low air 
pressure around the lower half of the body to pull body fluids downward.  
Body fluids shift upward in weightlessness, away from the lower extremeties, 
and LBNP, in addition to gathering medical data, serves to counteract this 
effect and helps astronauts more easily readapt to gravity upon their 
return to Earth.

  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 will be used to help calibrate free-flying
satellites that continually monitor the ozone content of Earth's atmosphere.

The crew began an eight-hour sleep shift at 1:53 p.m.  CST, and will be
awakened at 9:53 p.m.  CST. About 2:08 a.m.  CST, a fifth orbital maneuvering
system burn will lower the perigee of Columbia's orbit to 105 nautical miles
for additional spacecraft glow measurements.

  The Flight Day 13 (March 16, 1994) plan called for another orbit change,
an OMS-5 burn of 56.6fps at MET 11/18:08 which is planned to lower the
orbit to 138nm x 105nm.  Also included is 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.

  Columbia's Commander John Casper and Pilot Andy Allen started out their 13th
day in orbit with an eye toward the trip home, performing a standard check of
the systems Columbia will use for entry and landing.

  For the first part of the morning's flight control systems checkout, the crew
used auxiliary power unit 3, one of three units that supply 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.

  Following the checkout, the crew fired Columbia's orbital maneuvering system
engines for 38 seconds, dropping one side of the Shuttle's orbit by about 35
nautical miles to the lowest orbital altitude of any Shuttle flight to date.
Columbia is now in an elliptical orbit with a high point of 140 nautical miles
and a low point of 105 nautical miles.  The lower orbit is required for
continuing observations of the glowing effect created as the Shuttle interacts
with atomic oxygen and other gases in low orbit.

  During the first shuttle glow observations in the new orbit, Mission 
Specialist Pierre 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 are under study for use on future spacecraft.

  The crew also began another series of evaluations of the Dexterous End 
Effector equipment using the shuttle's mechanical arm, 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. Columbia remains scheduled for a landing Friday morning.

  The Flight Day 14 (March 17, 1994) plan calls for a hot firing of the 
Reaction Control System (RCS) in preperation 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.

  Columbia's five astronauts this morning 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 orbital engines at 6:18 a.m.  Central on
Friday to begin a descent that will culminate with a touchdown on the Kennedy
Space Center Shuttle Landing Facility runway at 8:09 a.m.  EST. Weather
conditions in Florida are forecast to be favorable for the landing.

  Commander John Casper and Pilot Andy Allen test-fired Columbia's 38 primary
steering jets early this morning, 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.

  Meanwhile, Mission Specialist Sam Gemar spent four hours in the Lower Body
Negative Pressure Device (LBNP) a medical device that may assist astronauts to
more easily readapt to Earth's gravity.  The LBNP is a bag-like device that
lowers the pressure around the lower half of the body, pulling body fluids down
in an imitation of the effects of gravity on the body.

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

  Several final observations of the Shuttle glow effect, a phenomena 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 cargo bay canisters.

  The final few hours of the crew's day will be devoted to stowing gear and
preparing Columbia for the mission's end.  Columbia is in an orbit with a 
high point of 139 nautical miles and a low point of 105 nautical miles.

  The Flight Day 15 (March 18, 1994) plan called for deorbit preps
and a deorbit burn of 209fps at MET 13/22:04 with a planned landing
at KSC.  Landing occured at KSC 3/18/94 at (approx) 8:10am EST.  Runway 33

<end of mission>

Mission Name: STS-59 (62)
  Endeavour (6)         
  Pad 39-A (50)
  62nd Shuttle Mission
  6th Flight OV-105
  EAFB Landing (40)

Crew:
  Sidney M. Gutierrez (2), Commander
  Kevin P. Chilton (2), Pilot
  Linda M. Godwin (2), Payload Commander
  Jay Apt (3), Mission Specialist 1
  Michael R. Clifford (2), Mission Specialist 2
  Thomas D. Jones (1), Mission Specialist 4

Milestones:
     OPF-1 -- 12/14/93
     VAB --  3/14/94
     PAD --  3/19/94 

Payload:
  SRL-1, MAPS, CONCAP-IV, SAREX-II, STL, TUFI, VFT-4, GAS(x3)

Mission Objectives:
 Scientists around the world will be provided a unique vantage point
for studying how the Earth's global environment is changing when Space
Shuttle Endeavour is launched on Shuttle mission STS-59.  During the
9-day mission, the Space Radar Laboratory (SRL) payload in Endeavour's
cargo bay will give scientists highly detailed information that will
help them distinguish human-induced environmental changes from other
natural forms of change.

    The Space Radar Laboratory (SRL) payload is comprised of the Spaceborne 
Imaging Radar-C/X-Band Synthetic Aperture Radar (SIR-C/X-SAR) and the 
Measurement of Air Pollution from Satellite (MAPS).  The German Space Agency 
(DARA) and the Italian Space Agency (ASI) are providing the X-SAR instrument.

     The imaging radar of the SIR-C/X-SAR instruments have the ability to make 
measurements over virtually any region at any time, regardless of weather or 
sunlight conditions.   The radar waves can penetrate clouds, and under 
certain conditions, can also "see" through vegetation, ice and extremely dry 
sand.  In many cases, radar is the only way scientists can explore 
inaccessible regions of the Earth's surface.

Launch:       
  The STS-59 launch occured April 9, 1994 at 7:05am EDT from the
Kennedy Space Center (KSC), Fla., at the start of it's 2 1/2 hour
launch window.  No OMS-1 burn was required.  After ascent, APU #2 show
signs of over heating and was shutdown at 7:21am EDT.  APU's are only
used during ascent and entry operations and are typically powered off
shortly after launch.  APU #1 and APU #3 were shut off shortly after
APU #2.  Main Engine Cutoff was at MET of 8:33 with Endeavour traveling
at 25,777 feet per second.  At MET, Endeavour was in an orbit of 
117nm by 29nm.  OMS-2 Burn was at an MET of 37 min for 1min, 42 sec for a
burn of 164 fps.  This placed Endeavour in an orbit of 121nm by 120nm.

  The shuttle Endeavour completed it's six hour 3.5 mile journey to Pad 39A 
atop the crawler transporter at 1 p.m. on Saturday, 3/19/94.
 
   A launch attempt on April 7 was delayed at least one day so that
inspections could be done to insure Endeavour does has vanes of the
proper radius in its liquid oxygen engine preburner.  Inspectors at
Rocketdyne's engine plant in Canoga Park, California discovered flaws
in two components being tested and concerns were raised that
Endeavours engines could contain similar components.  The preburner's
3-inch nickel alloy vanes should have rounded tips while the vanes
discovered by Rocketdyne had sharper tips.  Engineers were concerned
the sharper tips have a higher probability of cracking and that could
cause a piece of debris to be pulled into the Liquid Oxygen High
Pressure Oxydizer Turbopump (HPOT). This, in turn, could cause a
premature engine shutdown.  The inspections involved snaking a
borescope thru the engine components on Endeavour and inspecting the
engine vanes.  Endeavour was verified to be in the proper configuration.

  The launch attempt on April 8 was scheduled for 8:07am but the launch team 
protected an option in the countdown timeline which would allow Endeavour to 
launch one hour sooner at 7:07 a.m.  EDT. By building flexibility into the 
launch time, NASA managers can evaluate predicted climatological and 
atmospheric conditions for the KSC area during the final part of the 
countdown and then select the optimum time for launch.  The launch attempt
on April 8 was delayed due to low cloud cover and then finally 
scrubbed at T-5 min due to bad weather (cross winds out of limits) at the 
Shuttle Landing Facility.  A 24-hour turnaround scrub was initiated.
 
Orbit:
  Altitude:  121nm
  Inclination: 57 degrees
  Orbits:  183
  Duration:   11 days,  5 hours, 49 minutes, 30 seconds.
  Distance:  4,704,875 miles

Hardware:
  SRB: BI-065
  SRM: 360W/H037
  ET :  SN-063
  MLP: 2
  SSME-1: SN-2028
  SSME-2: SN-2033
  SSME-3: SN-2018

Landing:  
  Edwards AFB April 20 at 12:55pm EDT Runway 22.   Main landing gear 
touchdown at MET 11 days 5 hours 49 minutes 30 seconds.  Nose gear touchdown 
15 seconds later and wheel stop at 11 days, 5 hours, 50 minutes and 23 
seconds. RCS OMS safing complete by 12:59pm EDT.  Landing opportunities 
for KSC April 20 at 11:29 a.m EDT and 1:01 p.m. EDT were passed over due 
to cloud cover obscuring visibility at the shuttle landing facility.

  Landing was originally scheduled 11:52am on Tuesday, April 19, 1994
on KSC's runway 33.  The landing was postponed a day (from STS-59 MCC
Status Report #30) due to weather violations in the landing area.  The
first opportunity was waived off due to cloud cover obscured clear
visibility of the runway.  The second (and last) KSC landing
opportunity for April 19th (which would have resulted in a landing at
12:23 pm) was also waived due to clouds and high winds in the vicinity
of the Shuttle Landing Facility.  The decision was made following near
continuous review of the weather conditions by flight controllers at
the Johnson Space Center and Astronaut Robert "Hoot" Gibson flying the
Shuttle Training Aircraft at the landing site.

     On Tuesday, April 19, 1994, 11:30 a.m. CDT (from STS-59 MCC
Status Report #31) Endeavour and its six astronauts will remain in
space an additional day.  Four landing opportunities are available
Wednesday -- two in Florida and two at Edwards Air Force Base in
California.  KSC remains the prime landing site with Edwards serving
as the backup.  The Florida landing times are 10:29 a.m. and 12:01
p.m. central.  The California landing times are 11:54 a.m. and 1:26
p.m.  central.  The deorbit burn designed to drop Endeavour out of
orbit for the landing phase will occur about 50 minutes prior to
touchdown.

Mission Highlights:

   Endeavour began its sixth mission this morning 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 will be operated around the clock during the next 10 days.

 By Saturday, April 9, 1994, 8 pm EDT, 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 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 and scientists are
processing its data.

  During the initial activation of the X-SAR package, controllers
reported they were unable to fully power up the high power 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 temporarily turned
off the power amplifier for about three hours while developing a
troubleshooting plan.  The problem was traced to an oversensitive
protection circuit, a type of circuit breaker in the instrumentation.
The radar lab engineers then bypassed the protection circuit and began
again turning on the instrument, called the X-band Synthetic Aperture
Radar, or X-SAR, at about 4:20 p.m. Saturday, and it has worked
without incident since being repowered, completing 100 percent of its
scheduled observations overnight.

  Since then, X-SAR controllers have 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 the Space
Tissue Loss investigations on the middeck, and the Get Away Special
experiments in the cargo bay.

  As of Sunday morning, April 10, 1994, the radar laboratory has 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 have gathered information on three of the
19 "supersites."  The supersites are the highest priority targets and
the focal points for many of the scientific observations. Sunday's
supersite observations have included global carbon and hydrologic
cycles in Duke Forest, North Carolina; hydrological cycles around
Otzal, Austria; and geological data on Lake Chad in the Sahara.
Observation sites for Sunday afternoon included Gippsland, Australia;
Sable Island; Toronto, Canada; Bermuda; Bighorn Basin, Wyoming; Chung
Li, China; and Mammoth Mountain, Calif. The supersite opportunities
are Raco, Michigan, and the Gulf Stream.

  By Sunday, April 10, 1994, 8 p.m. EDT (MCC STS-59 Status Report #5),
Space Radar Laboratory-1 has taken data readings over targets
including Nelson House, Manitoba, and Sable Island, Nova Scotia,
Canada; the Azores Islands; Gippsland and Alice Springs, Australia;
Toronto, Ontario, Canada; the Bermuda Islands, Cuiaba and Pantanal,
Brazil; Wyoming's Big Horn Basin; Chung Li, China; Sarobetsu, Japan;
Mammoth Mountain, Calif., Cerro Aconcagua, Argentina; Cerro Laukaru,
Chile and the Baikal Forest and Kamchatka Peninsula in Russia.

  Sunday evenings supersite observations by the Spaceborne Imaging
Radar-C (SIR- C) and the X-Band Synthetic Aperture Radar (X-SAR) --
those taken over 19 areas that have been deemed especially significant
by the scientists planning the observations -- focused on the
interaction of plants and animals in the ecology of the forests of
Raco, Mich.; 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 opportunties 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 Sidney M.
Gutierrez, Pilot Kevin P. Chilton and Payload Commander Linda M.
Godwin began its sleep shift about 5 p.m.  CDT, and will awaken at 2
a.m.  The Blue Team crew members, Jay Apt, Michael R. Clifford and
Thomas D. Jones awakened about 4 p.m. to begin their third flight day
on orbit, and will go to bed about 5 a.m.

  As of Monday, April 11, 1994, 6:30 a.m. CDT (from MCC STS-59 Status
Report #6) three real-time radar images were downlinked from Endeavour
overnight.  A view of the Sahara Desert in Algeria, one of the geology
sites, will help scientists to map surface and subsurface structures.
The Spaceborne Imaging Radar-C and the X-Band Synthetic Aperture Radar
can penetrate the Sahara's dry sand cover to reveal centuries-old
drainage patterns.  The desert salt flat regions showed up on the
image as bright ridges.

  Also, the two radar imaging systems were calibrated over Matera,
Italy, and Oberpfaffenhoffen, Germany, near Munich.  Students
from the University of Munich are participating in a concurrent
ecology project.  The students measure soil moisture, forestry
parameters, and the biomass of agricultural crops in the area at
the same time the radar data is gathered.  The students'
measurements will be compared with the radar images to help
scientists verify information about the interactions of the
various elements of Earth's environment.

  Thus far in the mission, all 16 "supersites" planned for
observations have been completed.  Supersites are those with
highest priority throughout the flight.  Of the 51 total science
sites thus far, 40 have been obtained.  The 11 that have been
missed due to recalibration operations will be replanned and
obtained during the rest of the flight.

  Mission Specialist Thomas D. Jones gave scientists real-time
observations of thunderstorms over Taiwan, the Philippines and
New Guinea to augment data being gathered by the Measure of
Atmospheric Pollution from Satellite (MAPS) experiment.  Jay Apt
described a "good-sized" dust storm on the northwest coast of
Australia.  MAPS takes readings of the levels of carbon monoxide
in Earth's lower atmosphere.

  The MAPS project's Vickie Connors reported to Endeavour's Red
Team of crew members that there is good correlation between what
the instruments on board are reading compared to data gathered on
the ground.  The air pollution measuring experiment has been in
operation since about 3 hours after launch and has collected more
than 38 hours of science data.  It has mapped nearly half of the
Earth's carbon monoxide distribution.

  Concluding Flight Day 3, the Blue Team of Jay Apt, Michael R.
Clifford and Tom Jones started their sleep period beginning about 8
a.m.  The Red Team of Sidney M. Gutierrez, Kevin P. Chilton, and Linda
M. Godwin went to work a few minutes after five this morning.

  By Monday, April 11, 1994, 6 p.m. CDT, (from STS-59 MCC Status Report #7)
several more real-time images were processed by the X-Band Synthetic
Aperture Radar today, looking at the Sahara Desert in Algeria, a
geology site, and the area around the Japanese Islands, an
oceanography site.  Endeavour flew over the southern portion of Japan,
and the quick-look processor showed oil slicks covering the ocean.
Scientists from a Tokyo research laboratory are working with an
oceanographer from Hamburg, Germany, to interpret the radar images.
Of particular interest to those scientists was the ocean front where
cold and warm currents meet.

  The X-SAR images were being complemented by Spaceborne Imaging
Radar-C images recorded on board for analysis after the flight, and
with Earth observations photography and notes recorded by the crew.

  Mondays radar work included calibration passes over Palm Valley,
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.

  Payload Commander 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, Mich., and Country Club
School in San Ramon, Calif., and Boy Scouts in Richardson, Texas.

  Endeavour continues its flawless performance allowing the crew to
devote all its time to science work.  The crew has reported air
bubbles in the water supply for Endeavour's galley, and flight 
controllers are working on a plan to alleviate this nuisance for
the crew.  The orbiter circles Earth every 89 minutes at an
altitude of 120 nautical miles.

  On Tuesday, April 12, 1994, 3 a.m. EDT a real-time image was
downlinked from the X-Band Synthetic Aperture Radar showing a region
of the Andes Mountains in Bolivia.  The X-SAR quick-look processor in
the Payload Operations Control Center at JSC allows scientists to see
a radar image as it is being recorded on special high-density tapes
aboard Endeavour. Scientists hope to learn more about the topography
and climate in the Central Andes including the movement of the Earth's
crust, called plate tectonics, and erosion, such as mudslides, caused
by climatic changes.

  During the Blue Team's shift, the X-Band Synthetic Aperture Radar
and the Spaceborne Imaging Radar-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.

  Jay Apt reported a large thunderstorm area over the central Pacific
Ocean, and later mentioned clear weather over South America with no
fires spotted.  Tom Jones commented on the largest lightning storm
seen so far on the mission over western Africa, and good Earth
observations photography over Altai, China, and the Yellow River.

  Thomas D. Jones, Mission Specialist 4 on this flight, had the second
half of his workday off duty today.  Crew members are routinely given
off-duty time during the longer Shuttle flights to relax.  Other crew
members will alternate time off as the mission progresses.

  The Red Team began their work about 7 a.m. EDT on Tuesday April 12,
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.

  Also overnight, a real-time image was downlinked from the X-Band
Synthetic Aperture Radar about 2 a.m. central time showing a region of
the Andes Mountains in Bolivia. Scientists hope to learn more about
the topography and climate in the Central Andes including the movement
of the Earth's crust, called plate tectonics, and erosion, such as
mudslides, caused by climatic changes.

  On the blue shift as well, Jay Apt reported a large thunderstorm
area over the central Pacific Ocean, and later mentioned clear weather
over South America with no fires spotted.  Tom Jones commented on the
largest lightning storm seen so far on the mission over western
Africa, and good Earth observations photography over Altai, China, and
the Yellow River. Jones had the second half of his workday off duty.
Crew members are routinely given off-duty time during the longer
Shuttle flights to relax, and the other crew members will alternate
time off as the mission progresses.  The blue team will again take
over operations onboard for the next shift beginning at about 6 p.m.
central today.

  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.  Comparative
readings will be taken during the wet season with the STS-68 SRL-2
flight in August.  Endeavour's crew was asked to document the weather
and human disturbances of the area's ecology, looking in particular
for evidence of fires, storm damage and clear cutting.

  The SIR-C L- and C-band radars continue to record data on board
Endeavour and to downlink selected data takes for processing at NASA's
Jet Propulsion Laboratory.

  Godwin reported that the crew had a cloud-free opportunity to
photography Chickasha, Okla., one of the 19 "supersites" that are
receiving special attention by the radar instruments, and that
they had seen sea ice along the coast of the Kamchatka Peninsula
of Russia.

  Crew members reported that bubbles are continuing to form in
their galley water supply, and flight controllers were preparing
to uplink and in-flight maintenance procedure that is expected to
eliminate the nuisance.

  On Wednesday, April 13, 1994, 7a.m. EDT, the STS-59 Blue Team -- Jay
Apt, Rich Clifford and Tom Jones -- completed its fifth working day in
space with a handover to the Red Team of Sid Gutierrez, Kevin Chilton
and Linda Godwin.

  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 back scatter.  Scientists also viewed radar images of sea ice
and seasonal melt in the Sea of Okhstok off the coast of Siberia and a
critical region of expanding drought in the Sahel area of the Sudan in
Africa.  At the high-priority calibration site at Matera, Italy,
ground- based engineers measured the strength of the radar signals and
the size of the swath being recorded on the radar tapes aboard
Endeavour.

  While the X-SAR quick look processor in JSC's Payload Operations
Control Center fed the real-time images to scientists, the SIR-C and
X-SAR instruments recorded the information on special high-density
tapes in Endeavour's crew cabin.

  At about 2:45 a.m. Houston 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 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.  The
study will evaluate a total of 72 astronauts over several Shuttle
missions.

  Mission Specialist 2 Rich Clifford had off-duty time for the second
half of his work day.  The astronauts will alternate off-duty time
over the course of the flight.  Also, an in-flight maintenance
procedure to install a make-shift seal for drink bags and food
containers at the galley water dispenser helped reduce bubbles in the
drinking and food preparation water.

  On Wednesday, April 13, 1994, 10:30 a.m. CDT, Red Team crew members
Sid Gutierrez, Kevin Chilton and Linda Godwin were on duty for their
fifth shift of the mission.  New observations by the Space Radar Lab-
1 (SRL-1) instruments during the past day have included Shuttle
Imaging Radar-C (SIR-C) data on the Kamchatka Peninsula in Russia and
calibration data taken simultaneously by the SIR-C and its companion
instrument, the X-Band Synthetic Aperture Radar, of Oberpfaffenhofen,
Germany.  Observation data obtained by SRL-1 has already been used to
produce a vegetation and biomass map for a forest in Raco, Michigan as
well, and more data has been taken of the rain forest around Manaus,
Brazil, in the Amazon River Basin.

  On Wednesday, April 13, 1994, by 6 p.m. CDT, the Shuttle Imaging
Radar-C (SIR-C) and X-Band Synthetic Aperture Radar (X-SAR) processed
information on sites including the Kamchatka Peninsula in Russia,
Ruiz, Colombia, and Sonora, Mexico, for geologists; the
Oberpfaffenhofen, Germany, and Sarobetsu, Japan, calibration sites for
the radar's designers; the Raco, Michigan, and Amazon River Basin
forests for ecologists; and the Southern Ocean for oceanographers.
The Measurement of Air Pollution from Satellite instrument continues
to record how much carbon monoxide is present in the troposphere and
where it is located.

  The crew reported good photography opportunities over Manitoba,
Canada, saying the lakes appear more "bluish" than anticipated.  They
also reported their first opportunity to photograph Chickasha, Okla.,
one of the 19 supersites that is of special interest to hydrologists
studying the globe's water cycle.

Gutierrez was interviewed by CNBC Television's Tom Snyder and Clifford
will answer questions from Mutual Radio network listeners during an
interview for the Jim Bohannan show at 11:15 p.m. central.

   On Thursday, April 14, 1994, 3:30 a.m. CDT, Mission Specialist Rich
Clifford answered listeners' questions about space flight, the SRL-1
mission objectives, and the quality of life aboard the Space Shuttle
Endeavour during a 20-minute interview on Mutual Radio Wednesday
night.

  At 12:13 a.m. central time, six minutes of real-time radar images
were televised for scientists as Endeavour flew across Europe.  The
Otztal, Austrian Alps, hydrology super site is important to scientists
studying how the snow cover influences runoff in the area and the
amount of water available to surrounding areas from the melted snow.
Recent heavy snows in Bavaria will contribute even more information to
researchers.  The new images from the Spaceborne Imaging Radar-C
(SIR-C) and the X-Band Synthetic Aperture Radar (X-SAR) will be
compared to previous radar images obtained from radar systems mounted
in aircraft.

  The SIR-C and X-SAR instruments have recorded images for ecological
studies at Baikal Forest, Russia, Mabira, Uganda, and Western Sayani,
Siberia; for oceanography research at the East Australian coast, the
North Atlantic, and the Gulf Stream; for studies of Earth's water
cycle at Mammoth Mountain, California, Chickasha, Oklahoma, and
Bebedouro, Brazil.  Images were gathered for geologists at Cerro
Laukaru, Chile, Altai, China, and Mount Pinatubo, Philippines; along
with calibration of the systems' radar beams at the Amazon River in
South America, and at the Flevoland, Netherlands, super site.

  The Blue Team reported good photography of a gigantic fire-scarred
area in China that burned in 1987.  This region is of special interest
to the Measurement of Atmospheric Pollution experiment for studies of
forest regrowth after a fire event.  The MAPS experiment measures the
carbon monoxide in Earth's lower atmosphere to help investigators
determine how well the atmosphere can clean itself of "greenhouse
gases," chemicals that can increase the atmosphere's temperature.

  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 a.m.
central time until 7 a.m. when the Blue Team will hand over to the Red
Team of Sid Gutierrez, Kevin Chilton and Linda Godwin.

  On Thursday, April 14, 1994, 6 p.m. CDT the Spaceborne Imaging
Radar-C and X-Band Synthetic Aperture Radar observations included
passes over the Northeast Pacific Ocean, the Gulf of Mexico, the Sea
of Okhotsk and the Southern Ocean for oceanographers; Ruiz, Colombia,
Kliuchevskoi, Kamchatka, Stovepipe Wells, Calif., and the Galapagos
Islands for geologists; Sena Madureira, Brazil, for ecologists; and
Bebedouro, Brazil, and Chickasha, Okla., for hydrologists.

  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 will study 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, taking advantage of recent storms
that have brought rain to the area.  Dr. Ted Engman of Goddard Space
Flight Center is working with a team of 15 students from Ninnekah
(Okla.) High School to take ground measurements that will tell
scientists exactly how deep the radar is measuring the soil moisture.

  On Friday, April 15, 1994, 3 a.m. CDT (per STS-59 Status Report #17)
The STS-59 Blue Team -- Jay Apt, Rich Clifford and Tom Jones -- are
monitoring, along with ground-based Payload scientists, 26 separate
data takes on their shift.  Fifteen of those radar imagery sessions
are for oceanographers studying wave patterns, how the ocean
temperatures affect atmospheric heating and cooling, and the surface
features of ocean and sea floors.  Geology sites imaged today include
Ruiz, Colombia, Merv, Iran, and Siberia.  The radar antennae were
calibrated on the flight day seven Blue Shift at Mount Fugendake,
Japan, and Oberpfaffenhofen, Germany.  Researchers studying the water
cycles of Earth at the Bebedouro, Brazil, super site; the Khumba,
Himalayan, site; and the Orgeval Watershed, France, site will get
radar data from today's orbits to compare with flyovers on other
mission days.  Ecology targets recorded overnight include Baikal
Forest in Russia, Thetford, England, and Gujarat, India.

  Tom Jones commented that the pollution cloud noted over Manilla Bay
in the Philippines on flight day six was almost invisible today.  At
about 1:50 a.m. central time, Jones reported that the astronauts had
seen fires along the west coast of Burma and smoke over Tasmania.
These visual observations supplement data being gathered on the
Measurement of Air Pollution by Satellite (MAPS) experiment, which
measures how well Earth's lower atmosphere can cleanse itself of
"greenhouse gases" that affect atmospheric temperatures.

  Payload investigators watched a live downlink of X-Band Synthetic
Aperture Radar (X-SAR) images from the coast of Spain over the
Oberpfaffenhofen, Germany, calibration super site.  While the X-SAR
and the Spaceborne Imaging Radar-C (SIR-C) recorded the images aboard
Endeavour, students on the ground simultaneously took agricultural
biomass measurements and soil moisture samples.  The radar image
investigators will include the students' data in the postflight
analysis of the Mission to Planet Earth studies.

  As of Friday, April 15, 1994, 11:30 a.m. CDT, on Endeavour's seventh
day of around-the-clock observations of Earth winds down, scientists
on the ground are elated with the view already afforded them by the
radar observations completed.

  One of the instruments aboard, the Measure of Atmospheric Pollution
from Satelllites, or MAPS, has exhausted its supply of infrared film,
and a preliminary composite of the distribution of carbon monoxide in
Earth's atmosphere it measured is being developed.  MAPS' information
may assist scientists as they study the amounts of "greenhouse gases"
in the atmosphere, gases that could lead to a general warming of the
planet.

  Other notable images in work on the ground include views of the Mt.
Pinatubo volcano in the Phillipines and a composite image of Hawaii's
Kilauea volcano using all three radar frequencies aboard Endeavour.
In addition, views of the Galapagos Islands and a stereo view of the
Kamchatka Peninsula, Russia, are being prepared.  Still, the vast
majority of information obtained by the Space Radar Lab remains stored
on data-recording tapes aboard Endeavour and will not be available for
processing until after landing.

  The Red Team -- Sid Gutierrez, Kevin Chilton and Linda Godwin -- are
now in their seventh 12-hour work shift onboard, continuing to
supplement the radar data with still photography as Endeavour crosses
above the various sites.  More than 14,000 still photographs are
expected by the end of the flight as a bonus to the radar information.

  On Friday, April 15, 1994, 6 p.m. 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 Cable News
Network viewers around the world.

  The crew is continuing to work on a nuisance with it galley, the
presence of bubbles in the water used for drinking and rehydrating
food.  Engineers on the ground developed the in-flight maintenance
procedure in an effort to provide some relief for the crew and to
fully understand the problem so that it can be eliminated on future
flights.

   On Saturday, April 16, 1994, 3 a.m. CDT (from STS-59 MCC Status
Report #20), At about 11:30 p.m. and again at 1:15 a.m. 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, Russia. At the Star
City facility, Thagard is training as the prime U.S. crew member and
Dunbar as a backup for a 1995 joint U.S./Russian mission aboard the
Russian MIR space station.

     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 Rugen Island, off Germany's northern
coastline in the Baltic Sea, to their list of Earth observations
photography.

     Among the numerous radar images recorded on the Blue shift were
views for oceanographers over the North Sea and the Labrador Sea; for
ecologists over sites at Chulchaca, Yucatan, Mexico, Duke Forest,
North Carolina, and Manaus Cabaliana, Brazil; and for geologists at
Fort Zinder in the Sahara Desert, the Karakax Valley, China, and
Zhamanshin, Russia.

    On Saturday, April 16, 1994, 12:30 p.m.CDT, (from STS-59 MCC
Status Report #21), the Space Radar Lab-1 instruments also are
continuing to operate well, and all observations are being made on
schedule.  Although the majority of information that has been gathered
is stored aboard the shuttle, scientists remain intrigued by data that
has been transmitted to the ground.  Recent images processed on the
ground include a composite map of the ancient riverbeds detected
beneath the sands of the Sahara desert.  The map will help scientists
study what the region looked like in ancient times and how
once-productive areas can become desert.

     The crew was sent a preliminary composite map of carbon moxide
distribution in Earth's atmosphere derived from measurements made the
the MAPS instrument aboard Endeavour, an instrument that studies air
pollution.

     The sites being observed today 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.

     On Saturday, April 16, 1994, 7 p.m.CDT (from STS-59 MCC Status
Report #22), the Space Radar Lab-1 instruments are continuing to
record their observations of the Earth below according to schedule.
The sites being observed today included areas of Japan, Italy, Russia,
Chile, China, Uganda and Saudia Arabia. All of the observation sites
have been recorded at least once, and remaining observations are to
supplement the data already obtained.

     One annoyance that has been worked 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, and
the crew has worked with experts on the ground to pinpoint how those
bubbles were getting into food and water containers.

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

   On Sunday, April 17, 3 a.m.  CDT (from STS-59 MCC Status Report
#23) the Blue Team --Jay Apt, Rich Clifford and Tom Jones -- is
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 livable environment.  Geology sites covered
on the Blue shift include Puerto Aisen, Chile, Charana, Bolivia, and
Bangladesh; ecology sites at Les Landes, France, Western Sayani,
Siberia, and Chimalapas, Mexico; and oceanography sites over the North
Sea and, later this morning, the Equatorial Pacific Ocean.

  Two televised downlinks of moving radar images from the X-Band
Synthetic Aperture Radar system fed through the X-SAR quick-look
processor at JSC allowed mission scientists to view regions from the
Sahara Desert to Russia, with a calibration data take at Matera,
Italy.  The Payload Operations Control Center later told the Blue Team
that the Matera calibration "was perfect." Another moving image
downlink covered an ecology site at Les Landes, France, south of
Bordeaux, followed by another calibration at the Oberpfaffenhofen
super site.  There students from the University of Munich gathered
agricultural crop biomass measurements and soil moisture readings at
the same time aircraft-mounted radar systems, sponsored by the
European Space Agency, also measured the radar beams emitted by the
SIR-C and X-SAR instruments.

    On Sunday, April 17, 12:30 p.m. CDT (from STS-59 MCC Status Report
# 24), Endeavour's flight control surfaces and thruster jets were
checked out today to ensure they are in good working order for
Tuesday's planned landing at the Kennedy Space Center at 10:53 a.m.
CDT.  The latest weather forecast at landing time shows scattered
clouds and only a slight chance of rain offshore.

  While consoles in Mission Control concentrated on the orbiter
systems checks, the payload community continued to gather data using
the Space Radar Laboratory equipment located in the payload bay. The
round-the-clock observations with two types of radar and an air
pollution monitoring system is monitored by two teams of astronauts
aboard the Orbiter and three teams of scientists in the payload
control room adjacent to the primary flight control room.

  The STS-59 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.

   On Monday, April 18, 1994, 2 p.m. CDT, (from STS-59 MCC Status
Report # 26), Endeavour's crew is starting to pack up while final
radar observations of Earth are being made and Shuttle mission STS-59
winds down, aiming toward a 10:52 a.m.  central landing Tuesday at
Florida's Kennedy Space Center.

     Aboard Endeavour, the Red Team crew members -- Commander Sid
Gutierrez, Pilot Kevin Chilton and Payload Commander Linda Godwin --
are in the last half of their 10th 12-hour work shift of the flight.
Early in the shift, Gutierrez and Chilton performed a standard
checkout of the systems Endeavour will use for tomorrow's return home
and found them in excellent shape.  Meanwhile, observations with the
Space Radar Lab-1 instruments have continued without interruption.

     The radar lab will continue observations until just after
midnight central time, when it will be powered off for the landing.
The instruments have taken advantage of one extra day in orbit, added
to the flight because of abundant supplies, to gain observations of
several unscheduled areas around the globe.  Some of the unplanned
observations made include glaciers in Alaska, flooding in the midwest,
areas of Cambodia in Southeast Asia, and Almaz, Russia.

     The weather forecast is favorable for a landing in Florida
tomorrow, although flight controllers will be watching a possibility
of low clouds and a slight chance of showers in the area.  Endeavour's
first opportunity for landing Tuesday, and the time at which all
activities are aiming toward, would begin with an engine firing at
9:58 a.m. central, on Endeavour's 165th orbit, to begin a descent to a
touchdown on KSC's runway 33 at 10:52 a.m. central.  A second
opportunity exists on Endeavour's166th orbit beginning with a deorbit
burn at 11:28 a.m. central leading to a touchdown in Florida at 12:23
p.m.  central.  Two opportunities also exist tomorrow for a landing at
Edwards Air Force Base, California, but shuttle managers do not plan
to use them, and would stay in orbit for an extra day for more
attempts at a Florida landing before landing in California.

    On Monday, April 18, 1994, 5 p.m. CDT (from STS-59 MCC Status 
Report #27) Endeavour's Red Team -- Commander Sid Gutierrez, Pilot Kevin
Chilton and Payload Commander Linda Godwin -- is in the last hours of
its 10th shift of the STS-59 mission.  Early in the shift, Gutierrez
and Chilton performed a standard checkout of the systems Endeavour
will use for Tuesday's return home and found them in excellent shape.
Gutierrez and Chilton also maneuvered the the shuttle to a new
attitude and calibrated the Heads-Up Display they will use for
landing.  

     Observations with the Space Radar Laboratory-1 (SRL-1)
instruments continued without interruption.  SRL-1 also switched to
its backup electronics package.  Scientists switched from the primary
electronics systems -- which have worked flawlessly throughout the
flight -- to verify that the redundant system functions as well.

   SRL-1 will continue observations until just after midnight, when it
will be powered off for the landing.  The instruments have taken
advantage of one extra day in orbit, added to the flight because of
abundant supplies, to gain observations over targets of opportunity.

   On Tuesday, April 19, 1994, 11:30 a.m. CDT STS-59 MCC Status Report #31 
reports: Endeavour and its six astronauts will remain in
space an additional day.  Clouds and high winds in the vicinity of the
runway precluded a return to the Kennedy Space Center today.

     Four landing opportunities are available Wednesday -- two in
Florida and two at Edwards Air Force Base in California.  KSC remains
the prime landing site with Edwards serving as the backup.  The
Florida landing times are 10:29 a.m. and 12:01 p.m. central.  The
California landing times are 11:54 a.m. and 1:26 p.m.  central.  The
deorbit burn designed to drop Endeavour out of orbit for the landing
phase will occur about 50 minutes prior to touchdown.

     Mission Control's entry team will evaluate weather conditions and
make a final decision on the landing site after taking over control of
the mission about 4:30 Wednesday morning.

     Following today's 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
late Monday night 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.

     The full complement of payloads will fly again on the STS-68
mission aboard Endeavour in August.  The spacecraft remains in a
stable 116 nautical mile orbit.

<end of mission>

Mission Name: STS-65 (63)
  Columbia (17)         
  Pad 39-A (51) 
  63rd Shuttle Mission
  17th Flight OV-102
  Night Launch (9)
  EDO mission
  Spacelab mission
  Longest STS mission to date
  KSC Landing (21)

Crew:
  Robert D. Cabana (3), Commander
  James D. Halsell (1), Pilot
  Richard J. Hieb (3), Payload Commander
  Carl E. Walz (2), Mission specialist 2
  Leroy Chiao (1), Mission Specialist 3
  Donald A. Thomas (1), Mission Specialist 4
  Chiaki Naito-Mukai (1), Payload Specialist 1
  
  Jean-Jacques Favier (0), Alternate Payload Specialist (CNES)    

Milestones:
     OPF 2   -- 3/18/94
     VAB HB1 -- 6/8/94  6:48pm EDT (Rollover began at 6:07pm)
     IVT     -- 6/13/94
     PAD 39A -- 6/15/94 5:42am EDT (Rollout began at 11:26pm)
     TCDT    -- 6/21/94 to 6/22/94

Payload:
  IML-2, APCF, CPCG, AMOS, OARE, MAST, SAREX-II, EDO

Mission Objectives:

   The International Microgravity Laboratory (IML-2) is the second in a series
of Spacelab (SL) flights designed to conduct research in a microgravity 
environment.  The IML concept enables 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 contributes to the research 
base for the space station.

  As the name implies, IML-2 is an international mission.  Scientists from the
European Space Agency (ESA), Canada, France, Germany and Japan are all 
collaborating 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 are mounted in twenty 19" racks in the IML 2 Module.

  Research on IML-2 is dedicated to microgravity and life sciences.
Microgravity science covers a broad range of activities from
undestanding 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 are 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 include: 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 include: 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 are:  Advanced Protein Crystalization 
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 is also flying with
an Extended Duration Orbiter (ED0) pallet and no RMS Arm was installed. 
This is 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.

Launch:  
 Friday, July 8, 1994 at 12:43:00.069am EDT.  The launch occured
exactly on time at the beginning of a 2.5 hour launch window.  The
countdown progressed smoothly but was held at the T-9 min mark due to
a Return to Launch Site (RTLS) weather constraint.  The count was
restarted with the intent to hold again at the T-5 min mark if there
were still constraints. The low pressure heated ground purge in the
SRB aft skirt was not required to maintain the case/nozzle joint
temperatures within the required LCC ranges.  The purge was activated
at T-26 minutes for the high flow rate inerting of the SRB aft skirt.

 The weather constraint was cleared at 12:36am leading to an ontime
liftoff.  Transatlantic Abort Landing (TAL) sites were Banjul, Gambia
(Prime), Ben Guerir, Morocco (Alternate). Preliminary data indicates
that the flight performance of both RSRMs was well within the
allowable performance envelopes, and was typical of the performance
observed on previous flights.  The RSRM propellant mean bulk
temperature (PMBT) was 81 degrees F at liftoff.

Onorbit APU shutdown commenced at 12:58 EDT while Columbia was in an initial
transfer orbit of 78nm over the Atlantic.  

     Personnel aboard the solid rocket booster retrieval ships
spotted the boosters soon after splashdown and were on station at
about 1:15 p.m. EDT to begin recovery operations.

Orbit:
  Altitude:  160 nm (184 sm)
  Inclination:  28.45 degrees
  Orbits:  235
  Duration:   14 days,  17 hours, 55 minutes, 00 seconds.
  Distance:  6,143,000 miles

Hardware:
  SRB: BI-066
  SRM-L:  360P039A
  SRM-R:  360W039B 
  ET :  ET-64
  MLP: 3
  SSME-1: SN-2019 (30 starts, 11,216 sec) 
  SSME-2: SN-2030 (30 starts,  9,453 secs)
  SSME-3: SN-2017 (18 starts,  6,639 secs)

Landing:  
  KSC, July 23 at 6:38:01 am EDT on Kennedy Space Center 
 Shuttle Landing Facility Runway 33.  Columbia landed on the 1st of two
landing opportunities (6:38 EDT or 8:13 am EDT).  Backup landing opportunity
would have been at Edwards at 8:39am EDT.  Nose Wheel touchdown was
at 6:38:18 am EDT and wheel stop at 6:39:09 EDT.  This gives the crew 
of Columbia the distinction of being the longest Shuttle mission to date
(surpassing Columbias SLS-2 launch aboard STS-58 on 10/18/93) and the 
longest duration US space mission since the 84 day Skylab SL-4 mission 
by Gerald P. Carr, William R. Pogue and Edward G. Gibson on 2/8/74.

 The two landing opportunities for Columbia at the KSC Shuttle Landing
Facility on 7/22/94 (at 6:47 a.m. EDT and 8:23 a.m. EDT) were waived
due to cloud cover east of the runway that was expected to drift over
the SLF.  Weather at Edwards was favorable but flight controllers
decided to keep Columbia in orbit one extra day and try for a KSC
landing on 7/23/94.  

Mission Highlights:
  On Friday, July 8, 1994 at 6 p.m., STS-65 MCC Status Report #1
reports: Carrying IML-2, Columbia is now in a 163 by 160 nautical mile 
orbit.  Onboard, the Red Team crew members -- Commander Robert D. Cabana, 
Pilot James D. Halsell, Payload Commander Richard J. Hieb and Japanese 
Payload Specialist Chiaki Naito-Mukai -- are in the last half of their 
first work shift of the two-week mission.  Their crew mates -- Blue Team 
members Donald A. Thomas, Leroy Chiao and Carl E. Walz -- are in the midst 
of a six- hour sleep period and will take over duties aboard at 10:28 p.m. 
for a 12-hour shift.  Late in the afternoon, commander Robert D. Cabana 
played a videotape of Columbia's cockpit recorded during the liftoff and 
climb to orbit for flight controllers in Mission Control, describing the 
ascent as the tape played.

  On Friday, July 8, 1994 at 7 p.m., STS-65 Payload Status Report #1 reports:
One of the most complex science missions in the 11-year history of the
Spacelab program got underway this afternoon as the seven-member STS-65 crew
powered up the second International Microgravity Laboratory (IML-2) payload.
The 14-day flight schedule is packed with more than 80 experiments, to be
performed in 19 life-science and microgravity-science facilities.  The
ambitious research agenda builds on experience gained from previous Spacelab
missions, with approximately twice the number of experiments and facilities as
its predecessor, IML-1, which flew in January 1992.

	More than 200 scientists representing six space agencies from around
the world contributed to IML-2. Their investigations will cover scientific
questions that can best be answered away from gravity's influence.  Experiments
studying human physiology, aquatic animals or cultured cells will help reveal
the role gravity plays in shaping life on Earth. Investigations of fluids and
materials will uncover more about basic mechanisms which affect nearly every
physical science.

	Payload Specialist Chiaki Naito-Mukai of Japan began the first IML-2
experiment operations at 2:35 p.m.  CDT, when she activated the European Space
Agency's Advanced Protein Crystallization Facility. Housed in two orbiter
middeck lockers, it will operate automatically throughout the mission.  The
versatile space facility is the first to use three different crystal growth
methods, allowing scientists to choose the best conditions for their
experiments.  Scientists from the U.S. and seven European countries are growing
biologically important protein crystals which are difficult to produce on
Earth. Some 5,000 video images of the crystals made during flight will help
them determine the physical mechanisms which govern protein crystal growth.

     Post-flight analysis of the space-grown crystals will help determine
their structure and function, important for a better understanding of living
systems and the development of advanced medicines.  For instance, the
pharmaceutical industry uses structural information to design a drug which
binds to a specific protein, blocking a chemically active site.  Such a drug
fits a protein like a key in a lock to "turn off" the protein's activities,
thus possibly regulating metabolic processes.

     Payload Commander Rick Hieb, Pilot Jim Halsell and Mukai floated into
the Spacelab module at 3:21 p.m.  Hieb and Halsell had the lab up and running
ahead of schedule, just minutes after 4 p.m.  Payload operations control from
the Marshall Space Flight Center's Spacelab Mission Operations Control facility
in Huntsville began about a half hour later.

   Chiaki Naito-Mukai activated the IML-2 payload, then checked out
the European Space Agency's Biorack facility in preparation for
loading its many sample containers.  The perishable biological
specimens were stored on the orbiter middeck shortly before launch.
Various containers holding samples for the facility's 19 life science
investigations will be relocated for experiment processing more than
2,000 times during the mission.

     Operation of most of the remaining IML-2 facilities will begin over the
next 12 hours.  Crew members will continue activating Biorack experiments, look
in on the fish and newts in Japan's Aquatic Animal Experiment Unit, and take a
mental performance test on a laptop computer for comparison with tests made
later in the mission.  They will start up radiation and motion detectors to
monitor the Spacelab environment.  The first experiments will begin in the
European Space Agency's Critical Point Facility and Germany's Slow-Rotating
Centrifuge Microscope.

   On Saturday, July 9, 1994 at 6 a.m., STS-65 MCC Status Report #2 reports:
The Blue Team astronauts -- Mission Specialists Carl Walz, Don Thomas and Leroy
Chiao -- began the first shift of operational research after the Red Team --
Commander Bob Cabana, Pilot Jim Halsell, Payload Commander Rick Hieb and
Japanese Payload Specialist Chiaki Mukai -- powered up International
Microgravity Lab-2 and checked out the lab's equipment.  As the Blue Team
works, the Red team is awakening after an 8-hour sleep shift.

  While Chiao and Thomas worked in the Spacelab module tucked in Columbia's
payload bay, Walz took care of orbiter housekeeping chores, and performed the
first run on the Performance Assessment Workstation, or PAWS. Using graphic
input devices that coincide with targets on a computer screen, crew members
will record the effects of microgravity on the cognitive skills required for
successful performance of many tasks during the mission.  The laptop computer
will record the speed and accuracy of the cursor movements, and the time
required to interpret the displayed instruction throughout the flight.

On Saturday July 9, 1994 at 6 p.m., STS-65 MCC Status Report #3 reports:
Commander Bob Cabana and Pilot Jim Halsell managed activities in the crew
compartment of the orbiter while the rest of the Red Team, consisting of 
Mission Specialist Rick Hieb and Payload Specialist Chiaki Mukai, spent 
their first full day in space working in the laboratory.  

   Other than a short-lived problem with the bathroom aboard Columbia,
all vehicle systems are performing well, with no problems being tracked
by flight controllers in Mission Control.  The Waste Containment
System, or WCS, experienced a problem with the solid waste compactor
piston when the unit became stuck briefly.  Halsell worked a procedure
to check the unit and it has functioned fine since.   Inside the
Spacelab module, the astronaut team is working on a system that relays 
Japanese life-sciences experiment data to scientists on the ground.  One
data channel on the radiation monitoring experiment was not functioning 
properly.

  Cabana hooked up the onboard ham radio, called SAREX for Shuttle Amateur 
Radio Experiment and talked with middle school students at the Bair Middle 
School in Sunrise, Florida.

 On Sunday, July 10, 1994 at 6 a.m., STS-65 MCC Status Report #4 reported:
The Red Team of astronauts aboard Columbia began its third duty shift of the
14-day mission this morning as near continuous operations in the pressurized
Spacelab module gather more and more data for scientists participating in the
International Microgravity Laboratory-2 mission.

  Commander Bob Cabana and Pilot Jim Halsell took  take care of activities in 
the crew compartment while Mission Specialist Rick Hieb and Payload Specialist
Chiaki Mukai spent their second day working in the laboratory.  The Blue 
Team of Mission Specialists Carl Walz, Leroy Chiao and Don Thomas began its 
sleep shift about 9:30 a.m.  CDT after a smooth shift.  Neither the crew nor 
flight controllers in Houston reported any significant problems overnight.

  One highlight was a television interview with Cleveland natives Walz and 
Thomas by a hometown television station.  Displaying Cleveland penants, 
stickers and shirts, the pair discussed how important the STS-65 experiments 
are to long-duration space flight, how their academic studies helped them to 
become astronauts and how the Apollo 11 lunar landing motivated them 25 
years ago.

 On Sunday, July 10, 1994 at 6 p.m., STS-65 MCC Status Report #5 reported:
Routine housekeeping was the order of business today as Columbia
circles the Earth virtually trouble free continuing to provide a
stable platform for the around the clock science work ongoing in the
Spacelab module. Commander Bob Cabana and Pilot Jim Halsell are in
charge of Orbiter upkeep while Mission Specialist Rick Hieb and
Payload Specialist Chiaki Mukai continue science work in the
laboratory in support of the second International Microgravity
Laboratory mission.

  Both Hieb and Mukai spent time in a device designed to help
astronauts counter the effects of microgravity on the human body.  The
lower body negative pressure device, or LBNP, is used to create a
vacuum that pulls fluids back into the lower portions of the body as
it is on Earth.

  While Halsell reviewed his landing skills on the portable in-flight
landing trainer, called PILOT, Cabana conducted a tour of the Orbiter
watching over the shoulders of crew members as they performed various
experiments throughout the spacecraft.  He ended the tour with views
of the Earth from the operating altitude of 163 nautical miles.

  Mission manager Lanny Upton reported that Columbia astronaut Richard
J. Hieb reseated an electrical connector on a cable used to transmit
data to the Payload Operations Control Center (POCC) in Huntsville.
Data is now flowing between the medical experiments that use this
connection and the shuttles onboard recorder and downlink antenna
system.  Previous to the fix, astronauts were manually reading out
some important data and sending it down to scientists on the ground.
They were also making use of an onboard camcorder to videotape some
experiment data and send it in lew of using a camera built into the
experiment.

 On Monday, July 11, 1994 at 6 a.m., STS-65 MCC Status Report #6 reported:
The STS-65 astronauts remain focused on the work at hand as Columbia
continues to provide a trouble-free environment for microgravity
research.  The only difficulty reported during the Blue Team's shift was the
early termination of an excess supply water dump. The dump was stopped
when nozzle temperatures were seen to be dropping too fast. Mission
Specialist Carl Walz walked through a series of test procedures
designed to determine whether ice had formed on the nozzle.

 
   On Monday, July 11, 1994 at 6 p.m., STS-65 MCC Status Report #7 reported: 
From an orbiter standpoint, no problems are being tracked by
the flight control teams in the Mission Control Center monitoring
systems along with the crew.  The only item of interest seen early
this morning was a drop in temperature on the supply water nozzle that
is kept heated to prevent possible formation of ice during routine
dumps of excess water overboard throughout the flight.  Flight Flight
controllers are evaluating the data to determine what may have caused
the drop in temperature, and will dump excess water by evaporating it
through an alternate system called the flash evaporator system, or
FES.

  On Monday, July 11, 1994 at 7 a.m., STS-65 Payload Status Report #6
reports: Payload Specialist Chiaki Mukai spent time in the Lower Body
Negative Pressure device, part of NASA's Extended Duration Orbiter
Medical Project. For this experiment, Mukai's lower body was encased
in a fabric bag, which seals around the waist of the crew member and
provides negative pressure to draw body fluids back into the lower
extremities. This experiment is designed to help counteract effects of
space on the heart and to help crew members stay comfortable and
healthy, especially upon their return to Earth. Mukai had difficulty
obtaining a good seal around her waist and the experiment was
concluded early. This 45-minute "ramp" test, scheduled to be performed
again later in the mission for both Mukai and Payload Commander
Richard J. Hieb, will include measures to ensure a good seal around
the crew member's waist.

   Mission Specialist Leroy Chiao placed samples of a unicellular
organism, Loxodes striatus, into the Slow Rotating Centrifuge Microscope
facility, called NIZEMI for its German name. Dr. Ruth Hemmersbach-Krause's
experiment uses the various levels of gravity provided by the NIZEMI
facility to study the orientation, velocities and swimming tracks of this
organism to determine the point at which they begin to perceive
gravitational forces. Since scientists believe these cells may function
similarly to the inner ear of vertebrates, this information can provide
a better understanding of the underlying mechanisms by which living
creatures sense gravity.

    Dr. Augusto Cogoli of Zurich, Switzerland, watched video from
Spacelab of his Motion experiment as it was subjected to varying levels
of gravity in the NIZEMI facility overnight. Chiao performed routine
microscope refocusing steps to provide a clear view of the cells'
activities during the experiment run. The Motion experiment is designed
to determine whether or not immune system T- and B- cells can contact
each other in a weightless environment. Observing these cells in
microgravity will help scientists gain a better understanding of how
the immune system works.

    Dr. Antonius Michels, of the University of Amsterdam in The 
Netherlands, watched downlink video of his experiment that measures the
propagation, or wave motion, of heat within the fluid sulfur hexafluoride
as it neared the condition where a precise combination of temperature and
pressure compel the liquid and gas phases to become identical and form
one phase, the critical point. Since the properties of a fluid can be
altered dramatically in this one-phase state, studies such as this one,
being conducted in the European Space Agency's Critical Point Facility,
can provide insight into a variety of physics problems ranging from phase
changes in fluids to changes in the composition and magnetic properties
of solids.

    In an investigation to study the effect of disturbances caused by 
the onboard crew and equipment operations on extremely sensitive 
experiments, Chiao installed a container of diluted salt water that
included an indicator dye into the Vibration Isolation Box Experiment
System (VIBES). Dr. Hisao Azuma, principal investigator from Chohu-shi,
Japan, watched a live video transmission as Chiao intentionally
disturbed the facility to determine how well the VIBES equipment 
prevented disturbances in the liquid-dye solution.

    Mission Specialist Don Thomas reported that Dr. Akira Takabayashi's
goldfish continued to appear healthy. These goldfish are being studied
to clarify causes of space motion sickness, and video downlink gave
Takabayashi a good view of the goldfish as they reacted to the 
stimulation of light inside their container. Thomas then moved on
to another Aquatic Animal Experiment Unit investigation where he
injected female newts with a hormone to induce them to lay eggs in
their water tank. Principal Investigator Dr. Masamichi Yamashita will
examine these space-born newt eggs after the Shuttle's landing to
determine the effects of gravity on cells during the early stages of
their development.

    Throughout their shift, Chiao and Thomas returned to the European
Space Agency's Biorack, transferring containers of biological samples
to various locations within the facility. Chiao worked with samples from
two investigations, which are designed to help scientists understand 
more about the effects of gravity on skeletal system cells, as well as
one which will examine the way that mouse cells multiply after exposure
to retinoic acid in microgravity. As scheduled, Thomas terminated the
growth of several samples of rapeseed roots that were genetically 
altered before launch. He then placed samples of cress seedlings in
the Biorack photobox to complete planned activities for an experiment
which has studied the growth patterns of these seeds in microgravity.

    Materials sciences in the Electromagnetic Containerless Processing
Facility, which began late in this shift, will continue into the next
shift. Also during the next 12 hours, crew members will continue life
sciences experiments in the Biorack, NIZEMI and Aquatic Animal 
Experiment Unit facilities.      

 On Tuesday, July 12, 1994 at 6 a.m., STS-65 MCC Status Report #8 reported: 
Mission Specialists Leroy Chiao and Don Thomas stayed busy tending the
Spacelab module's International Microgravity Laboratory-2 experiments
as Mission Specialist Carl Walz took care of shuttle housekeeping. The
Blue Team is scheduled to begin its sleep shift about 9:30 a.m.

  From an orbiter standpoint, no significant problems are being tracked
by the flight control teams in the Mission Control Center. The only
item of interest is continuing analysis of a drop in temperature on the
supply water nozzle. That nozzle is kept heated to prevent possible
formation of ice during routine dumps of excess water overboard
throughout the flight.  Flight controllers are evaluating the data to
determine what may have caused the drop in temperature, and postponed
this morning's planned dump of waste water through an identical nozzle
immediately next to the supply dump nozzle. Excess supply water
continues to be dumped by evaporating it through the flash evaporator
system, or FES.

 On Tuesday, July 12, 1994 at 6 p.m., STS-65 MCC Status Report #9
reported: With a few nuisances, rather than problems, aboard the
Orbiter, the crew pressed on through a timeline packed with
experiments representing more than 12 countries. A couple of the video
tape recorders in the Spacelab module have been erratic, but four are
available to record necessary experiment data.  Erratic signatures
seen yesterday during a supply water dump overboard were not seen
today when the waste tank aboard Columbia was emptied.  Possible ice
in the supply water line or nozzle could explain the signatures seen
yesterday.

  Cabana took time out of his scheduled activities to show a tape of work
ongoing aboard the spacecraft during the last 24 hours, including daily
exercise, experiment work in the Spacelab and Earth observation.

   On Wednesday, July 13, 1994 at 6 a.m., STS-65 MCC Status Report #10 reports:
No new difficulties were reported overnight.  Two videotape recorders remained
out of commission in the Spacelab module, but there are a total of four are
available to record necessary experiment data.
 

   On Wednesday, July 13, 1994 at 6 a.m., STS-65 Payload Status Report #10 
reports: After Mission Specialist Leroy Chiao checked in on the 
Japanese goldfish and reported that they continue to appear healthy, 
he got busy with biological samples in the European Space Agency's 
Biorack facility.  Chiao completed scheduled activities on an 
experiment designed to study the loss of calcium in bones.  This 
investigation, which has been going on in the Biorack facility since 
shortly after Spacelab activation, will help scientists understand 
more about what happens to the bones of astronauts when they travel in 
space.  Results from this experiment, flown on IML-1 in 1992, showed 
that bones did not suffer a significant loss of calcium if exposed to 
periods of compression (such as exercise periods) during space flight, 
but more research is necessary to know how much exercise is needed to 
counteract the effect of spaceflight on the skeletal system.
 

    In another experiment involving bone cells, Payload Commander Rick 
Hieb and Payload Specialist Chiaki Mukai extracted and refrigerated 
samples of bone- derived cells that have been kept in the 
Japanese-provided Thermoelectric Incubator at body temperature.  These 
bone cells will help Principal Investigator Dr. Yasuhiro Kumei of 
Tokyo, Japan, and other reseachers study the differences in the rate 
of bone cell production during spaceflights as compared to Earth.

 
    Another Biorack experiment was concluded last night when Mission 
Specialist Don Thomas completed scheduled activities for the Norwegian 
experiment to examine the growth pattern of genetically altered plant 
roots in space.  Dr.  Tor-Henning Iversen will examine these plant 
roots after the mission to determine whether the growth pattern of 
plants that grow in any direction, apparently unaffected by gravity, 
on Earth is similar to normal roots grown in space.


     In the Slow Rotating Centrifuge Microscope (NIZEMI) facility, 
Thomas completed the last run of a type of green algae, chara.  This
experiment will help Dr. Andreas Sievers, the principal investigator
from Bonn, Germany, understand how sensitive these single plant cells
are to gravity and how they adjust to various levels of gravity.
Scientists must learn more about how plants grow in microgravity
before they can be considered as part of the ecological system for
longer stays in space.

 
    Thomas conducted the first run of a materials science experiment
which will use the NIZEMI facility to learn more about how the
solidification of metals is influenced by microgravity.  Chiao talked
to Principal Investigator Dr. Klaus Leonartz to perform the setup and
adjustment procedures for this experiment.  Results of melting and
solidifying a mixture such as Leonartz's succinonitrile- acetone
sample will help scientists improve the way metals are produced in the
future.
 
    In the fluids science area, Dr. Antonius Michels, principal
investigator from The Netherlands successfully completed his
experiment. "The Critical Point Facility functioned flawlessly,
especially in providing stability to our sample," said Michels, after
his sulfur hexafluoride fluid finished its scheduled run last night.
Dr. Michels' experiment was flown on IML-1 and again on this mission
to study the point where a liquid behaves as both a liquid and a gas.
 
    Thomas later installed another container into the European Space
Agency's Critical Point Facility to begin Dr. Richard Ferrell's study
of how energy is transported in a fluid once it reaches its critical
point.
 

    Chiao performed activities in preparation for the first-time
activation of the French-provided facility called Applied Research on
Separation Methods Using Space Electrophoresis (called RAMSES, the
acronym for its French name).  In the RAMSES facility, scientists will
conduct experiments to gain a better understanding of the basic
mechanisms that govern electrophoresis, the separation of biological
samples according to their electrical properties.  Away from the
influence of Earth's gravity, molecules of biological samples can
separate according to their electrical charges, producing an
ultra-pure product.
 

    In the Bubble, Drop and Particle Unit (BDPU) facility, an
experiment to study the behavior that occurs between layers of fluids
that do not mix, such as oil and water, was terminated when a layer of
silicon fluid moved into the center of the container.  Dr. Jean
Koster, principal investigator from the University of Colorado,
attributed to the problem of basic physics phenomena.
 
    Later, Thomas placed a sealed container filled with freon into the
BDPU to begin calibrations of the experiment for Dr. Johannes Straub
of Munich, Germany. This investigation, designed to study physical
changes during evaporation and condensation at the point where a
bubble contacts the liquid, will be performed later in the mission.
 
    The Massachusetts Institute of Technology science team watched
video from the Spacelab as they talked to Thomas during his
adjustments to the Electromagnetic Containerless Processing Facility
called TEMPUS, the acronym for its German name.  Principal
Investigator Dr. Julian Szekely's experiment, which involved a 10mm
(approximately 3/8 inch) sample of copper, was terminated when the
sphere made contact with its containment cage.  This investigation is
designed to study viscosity, internal friction, and surface tension,
the force that keeps liquid together in a drop.
 
    During the next 12 hours, crew members will tend to the biological samples
in the NIZEMI and Biorack facilities and conduct fluids science investigations
in the Critical Point Facility.

   On Wednesday, July 13, 1994 at 6 p.m., STS-65 MCC Status Report #11 reports:
Other than juggling various tape recorders aboard the Orbiter to support
science requirements, the crew has spent the day fulfilling routine
housekeeping chores and monitoring secondary experiments.
 
Commander Bob Cabana and Pilot Jim Halsell are handling Orbiter duty
while Mission Specialist Rick Hieb worked in the pressurized Spacelab
module.  Japanese Payload Specialist Chiaki Mukai was given the first
half of her day off.  After lunch, Hieb took the rest of the day off
and Mukai took over duty in the Spacelab.  The other three astronauts,
Carl Walz, Leroy Chiao and Don Thomas, working primarily overnight,
woke up about an hour ago and will begin their work day about 8 p.m.
tonight.

   On Wednesday, July 13, 1994 at 6 p.m., STS-65 Payload Status Report #11 
reports: IML-2 Payload Specialist Chiaki Mukai and Payload
Commander Rick Hieb both got four hours off today, but a full slate of
experiment activities continued in orbit and at Spacelab Mission
Operations Control in Huntsville.
 

    Several IML-2 experiment facilities are being controlled extensively from
the ground.  This remote commanding capability, called "telescience,"
multiplies valuable time in orbit because it frees the crew for experiment
operations where their hands and eyes are indispensable. "With this amount of
science squeezed into a 14-day mission, it is critical to have both the
telescience and the remote operations," said Mission Scientist Dr. Bob Snyder,
referring to science experiment teams at the Huntsville facility and user
support groups at remote sites in Europe and Japan.

 
    Critical Point Facility team members in Huntsville examined live video of
an experiment that studies how energy is transported within a single-component
fluid.  Near the critical point - the precise combination of temperature and
pressure where liquid and vapor phases coexist - fluids exhibit unusual
properties.  For instance, energy transport by heat diffusion slows down, while
transport driven by changes in pressure speeds up.  Dr. Richard Ferrell of the
University of Maryland is using two test cells during IML-2 to study the
different forces.  Today's experiment focuses on pressure changes.  Tiny
temperature changes are being induced both by external heaters and by heat from
a pulse of current passing through a resistance wire inside the cell.  An
experiment to study heat diffusion is scheduled for Friday.
 

    In addition to enhancing fundamental knowledge of fluid physics, Ferrell's 
experiments should aid the design of other low-gravity, critical point 
investigations.  To plan accurate timelines for their experiments, space 
researchers need to know how quickly their samples will reach thermal 
equilibrium after temperature step changes near the critical point.

    Close cooperation between ground controllers and the crew has 
become a routine part of operations in the TEMPUS electromagnetic 
containerless processing facility.  Hieb kept a close eye on a 
zirconium-cobalt alloy as the TEMPUS team sent commands to levitate, 
then melt, the small metal sphere inside the TEMPUS processing 
chamber. "The sample looks extremely stable today," the astronaut 
reported.  The TEMPUS team used remote commands to skillfully control 
their sample, reflecting the experience they have gained over several 
days of operating the new space facility.  They applied short, 
repetitive bursts of heat to the alloy, causing its temperature to 
rise and fall.  Dr. Hans J. Fecht of the Technical University of 
Berlin, Germany, will study the length of time it took for the 
addition or subtraction of heat to be reflected in the sample 
temperature.  He will then factor the results into a new mathematical 
model to determine the alloy's specific heat capacity.  Fecht and 
Dr. William L. Johnson of California Institute of Technology are using 
several zirconium alloys during this mission to study the formation of 
metallic glasses.  With their unique mechanical and physical 
properties, metallic glasses have promising applications in many 
technological areas.
 
   
   After transferring numerous Biorack sample containers between storage and
coolers, Hieb changed out food trays for the fruit flies in Dr. Roberto Marco's
experiment.  He reported the flies were "buzzing around with excellent
vitality." Along with the other Biorack principal investigators, Marco is
conducting his experiment at Kennedy Space Center in parallel with operations
in space.  Project Scientist Dr. Enno Brinckmann, the Biorack team's
representative at Spacelab Control in Huntsville, said, "Dr.  Marco tells us
the flies in space have been more mobile than their counterparts on the ground
at Kennedy." Marco's study tests his theory that premature aging of flies in
previous space experiments is due to increased activity as they attempt to move
in microgravity.

 
    Thus far, 10 of the 19 Biorack experiments are complete.  Mukai began her
work this afternoon with a run of the NIZEMI Slow-Rotating Centrifuge
Microscope's cress root experiment. "All of the seeds have germinated," she
told Principal Investigator Dr. Dieter Volkmann of the University of Bonn.
Scientists have studied the cress plant intensively over the last 20 years
to determine in detail how it can perceive and react to gravity.  Previous
experiments indicate it can respond to gravity changes very quickly.
Volkmann hopes to pinpoint the minimum amount of gravity to which it will
respond and how long it to takes to respond.  Before plants can be
considered as possible sources of food or oxygen in space, scientists must
thoroughly understand how changes in gravity affect plant growth.
 
    When Hieb brought the Free Flow Electrophoresis experiment up for its first
operations of the mission this morning, readouts indicated that the inner
cooling system line was not functioning correctly.  The Japanese life sciences
team postponed the electrophoresis experiment Mukai had been scheduled to run
this afternoon until the source of the problem can be isolated and corrected.
In the meantime, Mukai began operations of Japan's Large Isothermal Furnace,
originally scheduled for Saturday afternoon.  After powering up the facility,
she inserted an experiment by Dr. Randall M. German of Pennsylvania State for
several hours of automatic processing.  The experiment will study how gravity
changes heavy alloys during liquid phase sintering.  Sintering is a process for
combining dissimilar metals, using heat and pressure to join them without
reaching the melting point of one or both metals.

   On Thursday, July 14, 1994 at 6 a.m., STS-65 MCC Status Report #12 reports:
Columbia's astronauts beamed down three explanations of International
Microgravity Laboratory-2 experiments overnight as virtually trouble-free
operations continued on the 14-day mission to study how plants, animals and
materials react to space flight.  Blue Team member Carl Walz, who continued to
keep watch over the shuttle's systems, explained the operation of the
Performance Asses sment Workshop being used to study astronaut performance on
long-duration space missions in hopes of developing techniques to forest all
any loss of productivity.
 
   Fellow Mission Specialist Don Thomas gave explanations of both the Quasi-Steady
Acceleration Measurement equipment that is measuring the microgravity
environment in the Spacelab module, and the Applied Research on Separation
Methods experiment, which is studying e lectrophoresis methods in
microgravity.  Thomas and Mission Specialist Leroy Chiao took turns working in
the Spacelab module and enjoying half-day vacations.  Commander Bob Cabana,
Pilot Jim Halsell, Payload Commander Rick Hieb and Japanese Payload Specialist
Chiaki Mukai were awakened abo ut 4:45 a.m.  CDT, and will take over the duty
shift about 6:45 a.m.  The Blue Team is scheduled to begin its sleep shift
about 8:30 a .m.

    On Thursday, July 14, 1994 at 6 a.m., STS-65 Payload Status Report
#12 Even though the Space Shuttle's payload crew members took some
scheduled time off to relax and enjoy their sixth day in space, life
and materials sciences continued in support of the second
International Microgravity Laboratory (IML-2) mission overnight.
 
    Members of the National Space Development Agency of Japan science
team here discovered last night that another newt egg had hatched,
bringing the total to two baby newts to be born in space.
 
    Later, Mission Specialist Don Thomas found that one of Dr. Michael
Wiederhold's adult female Japanese red-bellied newts had died since
its last observation period yesterday.  Wiederhold said there was
always a chance that one of the newts might not make it through the
flight.  However, he does not expect significant impact to the results
of his research. "We launched three containers of newts in order to
gather science, even with an unfortunate occurrence such as this," he
said.  The cassette containing the dead newt was removed from the
Aquatic Animal Experiment Unit (AAEU) to prevent contamination to the
facility's water system.  The Japanese red-bellied newts are part of
an experiment studying how microgravity affects early cell
development.
 
    Researchers report that the other newts, as well as the Medaka and
goldfish, continue to be appear healthy.  During the first part of his
shift, Thomas opened the window to the goldfish tank, allowing them to
experience a period of daylight as they would on Earth.
 
    Mission Specialist Leroy Chiao transferred chemically prepared
samples of cress plant roots from the incubator to the staging area of
the Slow Rotating Centrifuge Microscope (called NIZEMI). Video
downlink gave Dr. Dieter Volkmann of Bonn, Germany, a good view of how
his seedlings of cress are reacting to varying levels of gravity.
Studies such as this one must be conducted before plants can be
considered as part of a controlled ecological environment for extended
stays in space.
 

    In another IML-2 life sciences experiment, Chiao placed containers
of Dr.  Dorothy Spangenberg's jellyfish into the NIZEMI facility to
further observe the effects of microgravity of varying levels of
gravity on their development.  This experiment is intended to improve
scientists' understanding of the effects of microgravity on the
developmental processes of animals and the role that gravity plays in
the development of organisms on Earth.

 
    Thomas installed a test container into the European Space Agency's
Bubble, Drop and Particle Unit (BDPU) for Dr. Shankar Subramanian of
Potsdam, New York.  His experiment, which is now underway, examines
the movement and shape of gas bubbles and liquid drops in silicone oil
when a temperature gradient is established within a container.

 
    Dr.  Richard Ferrell, of the University of Maryland, watched both
live and recorded images of his experiment in the European Space
Agency's Critical Point Facility. Ferrell's experiment is studying the
properties of a pure, single- component fluid composed of identical
molecules at the critical point.  The critical point is the state of a
fluid at which liquid and vapor exhibit the same properties.
 
    An experiment to separate and collect ultra-pure components of
biological samples was conducted in the Applied Research on Separation
Methods Using Space Electrophoresis (called RAMSES, the acronym for
its French name).  Chiao initiated and monitored an experiment in the
RAMSES facility during the first part of his shift.  For this
investigation, a sample of hemoglobin and bovine serum albumin (which
was colored to trace its movements) was used to evaluate the degree of
protein purification that is possible in microgravity.  At one point
in the experiment, Chiao reported seeing a bubble in the container,
near the entry point for the separated molecules.  Mission Specialist
Carl Walz held a camera up to the experiment window to give Principal
Investigator Dr. Victor Sanchez of Toulouse, France, a good view of
the flow of the sample.  When Sanchez determined that the proteins
were separating and moving around the bubble, he decided to continue
the experiment run to completion as planned.

 
    Thomas talked to the ground operations team at the Spacelab
Mission Operations Control center in Huntsville to make adjustments to
the Electromagnetic Containerless Processing Facility (called TEMPUS)
in preparation for Dr. William Johnson's niobium-nickel experiment
run.  Johnson, from the California Institute of Technology, watched
video from the Spacelab as his metallic glass sample enjoyed a
complete cycle of melting, levitating and undercooling.  This
materials science experiment took advantage of this new facility and
the unique environment of space to learn more about the physical
properties of metallic glasses and undercooled alloys when heat is
introduced into the equation.


   On Thursday, July 14, 1994 at 6 p.m., STS-65 MCC Status Report #13
reports: Columbia's astronauts continued around-the-clock science work
in the Spacelab module housed in the payload bay, taking time to
provide details of the STS-65 mission during an interview earlier
today.  Commander Bob Cabana and Pilot Jim Halsell took time out of
their schedules to talk with NBC's Today Show, Weekend edition, about
the mission objectives and how they relate to future work on the
International Space Station. They also discussed and compared their
work as test pilots to being pilot astronauts. The interview is
expected to air Sunday morning.  Mission Specialist Rick Hieb and
Payload Specialist Chiaki Mukai each worked a full day in support of
the second International Microgravity Laboratory mission, following a
half day off each yesterday.

 
   On Friday, July 15, 1994 at 6 a.m., STS-65 MCC Status Report #14 reports:
Walz beamed down television pictures of Chiao working with the Ramses  
electrophoresis experiment and provided a tour of the laptop computers used by 
the crew.      


   On Friday, July 15, 1994 at 6 p.m., STS-65 MCC Status Report #15
reports: While the science work continued, Cabana demonstrated some of
the crew's daily activities aboard the Space Shuttle, including food
preparation, housekeeping and Earth observation.  The commander of the
mission also spent some time recovering the use of one of the still
cameras on board that malfunctioned yesterday.  He discovered a bent
pin inside the body of the camera and straightened it using a pair of
needle-nose pliers.  Using the ham radio equipment on board, Halsell
talked about the mission with students at the West Monroe High School
in his hometown as Columbia flew overhead.

  
  Cabana, Halsell and Hieb discussed mission objectives and life in
space with about a dozen children during a special event with the TBS
show "Feed Your Mind."  The children queried the crew about what it's
like to be an astronaut, what crew members did for fun in their spare
time, and whether their feelings about Earth have changed since they
have been in space.  Cabana said, that from space, the Earth is a
beautiful blue planet surrounded by a thin, delicate looking layer of
atmosphere that protects it from the harsh ultraviolet rays of the 
sun. He said the sight reinforces the knowledge that 
humanity must take care of the planet.  

 
   On Saturday, July 16, 1994 at 6 p.m., STS-65 MCC Status Report #17
reports: Routine business was the order of the day aboard Space
Shuttle Columbia as Mission Control continues to track no problems
aboard the spacecraft.  Commander Bob Cabana, Pilot Jim Halsell and
Payload Specialist Chiaki Mukai discussed life in space with children
during an interview with the Nickelodeon channel. Questions ranged
from the experiments on board, to personal hygiene to the Earth's
environment. Mission Specialist Rick Hieb continued to work in the
Spacelab module throughout the day.

 
  Spacecraft communicator Mario Runco in Mission Control earlier
relayed a message to the crew of STS-65 at the exact moment the Saturn
V was launched 25 years ago from the Kennedy Space Center to begin the
Apollo 11 mission to the Moon. At 8:32 a.m., Runco said, "On this day,
at this moment 25 years ago, three of your predecessors began an epic
journey that would change the way we viewed our world. Columbia's
journey today, as her namesake did back then, is pushing the frontiers
of knowledge and science for all mankind. Thank you, Columbia."

 
  Runco then told the crew a fictitious engine burn was on board for
them to look at to leave low Earth orbit and travel to the Moon.
Commander Bob Cabana responded, "Don't we wish."


   On Saturday, July 16, 1994 at 6 p.m., STS-65 Payload Status Report #17 
reports: IML-2 experiment scientists continued using the
microgravity laboratory of space to explore the properties of fluids
and metals today.  The Spacelab crew concentrated on a Lower Body
Negative Pressure experiment to monitor their own adaptation to that
microgravity.

 
     Early this morning, STS-65 Commander Bob Cabana exchanged
experiment containers in the European Space Agency's Critical Point
Facility, beginning a 77-hour experiment run to determine how various
perturbations, such as heating or a pressure change, affect a fluid
near its critical point - the special state where there is no
difference between liquid and vapor at a specific temperature and
pressure.  This is the second part of a United States experiment which
looks at how long it takes a fluid at the critical point to stabilize,
or reach equilibrium, after it has been disturbed.  Scientists will
heat a portion of the cell's exterior, then observe how the heat
transfers through the fluid.

 
      In the first segment of the experiment, the Critical Point
Facility team charged a wire inside the test cell to 500 volts,
simulating approximately the pressure created by gravity on Earth.
"The effect of the charging was something like turning the gravity on
and off," explained Principal Investigator Dr.  Richard Ferrell. "The
electric field caused the fluid to be drawn toward the wire.  We could
see changes in the amount of fluid in the vicinity of the wire, which
agreed with our theory of fluid behavior." Ferrell and his team of 10
U.S. physicists will analyze their data to see how long it took for
the fluid to relax when the charges were turned off.  They will
compare the two experiment segments to determine how pressure changes
and heat diffusion interact to transfer energy.
 
   The Bubble, Drop and Particle Unit (BDPU) appears to have confirmed a
theory proposed by Dr. Antonio Viviani of the Second University of
Naples, Italy. Vapor bubbles were injected into a test cell filled
with an alcohol-water solution, then alternate sides of the cell were
heated and cooled.  As Viviani had predicted, the bubbles did not
always move toward the warmer side as they would in most materials.
He explained, "This demonstrates for the first time that, in some
fluids of high technology interest, bubbles can go toward the colder
part of the fluid or stop in the middle, due to the particular
interaction between temperature and surface tension" (the tension on
the surface where the liquid and bubble meet).  Insights into these
mechanical properties could be applied to manufacturing new or better
glasses, ceramics, composite materials and alloys in space and on
Earth.
 
      Early this morning, Dr. William Johnson of the TEMPUS
electromagnetic containerless processing reported another "first" -
the detection of an unknown metastable phase in their nickel-niobium
sample material.  In a metastable phase, a material can be quite
different than it is in a stable phase.  For instance, a diamond is a
metastable phase of carbon. "People have been wondering for a long
time about the special behavior of this alloy, but there was no
explanation for it," said TEMPUS team member Dr. Knut Urban. "The
excellent quality of the space images allowed us to detect a phase
which had been masked by other forces on Earth." The undercooled
nickel-niobium sample was solidified and will be brought back to the
ground for microstructural analysis.

 
      This afternoon, TEMPUS team members got another short look at a
nickel- silicon alloy they had studied yesterday.  The observation was
halted when the molten alloy contacted the experiment cage.

 
      Dr.  John Charles of Johnson Space Center says his team got the
information they needed during the mission's third set of Lower Body
Negative Pressure measurements on Payload Specialist Chiaki Mukai and
Payload Commander Rick Hieb. Crew members wrapped some padding around
Mukai's waist before her turn in the negative pressure bag, resulting
in a tighter vacuum seal.  The procedure incrementally reduced, then
raised, pressure on the crew members' lower bodies to draw fluids back
into their legs.  Their condition was monitored by ultrasound heart
images and blood pressure readings during the experiment.
 
      Mukai reported the aquatic animals onboard are doing fine, then
recorded some video of the Medaka fish.  She counted around 20 baby
Medaka fish in the IML-2 aquariums.
 
      Mission Manager Lanny Upton said another repair procedure for the
Free-Flow Electrophoresis Unit is being formulated.  It will be
similar to those attempted yesterday, where additional water was
forced into the unit's fluid cooling loop to remove a suspected air
bubble.  However, a time slot for the maintenance procedure has not
yet been designated in the crew schedule.  Approximately one-half of
FFEU's allocated crew time is still available to accomplish the
in-flight maintenance procedure.
 
      Eighteen of the 19 IML-2 experiment facilities are up and running
well.  Twenty-four of the 82 experiments are completed, and scientists
have obtained quite a bit of data on most of the others.

 
     On Sunday, July 17, 1994 at 6 a.m., STS-65 MCC Status Report #18
reports: As business continues to be routine aboard Columbia, the Red
Team is beginning its 10th day of work on International Microgravity
Laboratory-2 experiments. Commander Bob Cabana, Pilot Jim Halsell,
Payload Commander Rick Hieb and Payload Specialist Chiaki Mukai began
their workday at 4:45 a.m.  CDT as the crew continues to shift its
schedule to be ready for Friday's planned landing.


     On Sunday, July 17, 1994 at 6 a.m., STS-65 Payload Status Report #18 
reports:  During their ninth day in space, Mission Specialists Don Thomas
and Leroy Chiao took a few minutes out of their busy schedule to pay
tribute to two NASA centers.  On the 25th anniversary of the launch of
Apollo 11, Thomas talked about some memorabilia he had onboard from
those days and honored the people of Marshall Space Flight Center and
Kennedy Space Center, "Who got the Apollo 11 mission off to a great
start." Following their live broadcast, Thomas and Chiao got back to
the business at hand, conducting life, materials and fluid science
experiments in support of the second International Microgravity
Laboratory (IML-2) mission.

 
      Dr.  Antonio Viviani of Aversa, Italy, received a round of
congratulations from science teams at the Spacelab Mission Operations
Control center in Huntsville at the end of his last scheduled
experiment run in the Bubble, Drop and Particle Unit (BDPU) last
night.  Chiao placed a test container into the BDPU and performed
various activities during the experiment while Viviani controlled the
behavior of air bubbles in the alcohol-water solution by sending
ground commands to the BDPU from Huntsville. The results of Viviani's
IML-2 experiment fully confirmed over two years of his on-ground
research and computer modeling. "Because of gravity, this experiment
can not be done on Earth," explained Viviani. "And it could not be
done in space without a good theory, a good facility and test
container, outstanding support from the science team and a great
crew." Fluid science investigations will help researchers develop
better methods of producing stronger metal alloys and glass in space.
 
      Chiao conducted a second fluid science experiment in the BDPU
overnight, using a three-layer liquid solution (consisting of
fluorinert-silicone- fluorinert).  Principal Investigator Dr.
Jean-Claude Legros of Brussels, Belgium, wants to learn more about how
to control fluid flows within the middle layer of a tri-layer
solution.  After Chiao agitated the test container to stir up the
tracer particles inside, he installed the container into the BDPU
facility, where the solution was heated.  Two stainless steel curtains
separating the three layers of fluid were rolled up, allowing the
layers to touch.  Next, the sides of the container were heated,
creating a thermal gradient from one side of the container to the
other.  This type of research is of particular interest to scientists
in the field of developing crystalline metals and semiconductors.

      Chiao also performed newly defined start-up procedures for the
Applied Research on Separation Methods Using Space Electrophoresis
(called RAMSES) last night.  During the first flight for this
facility, science and engineering teams have revised their pre-launch
activation procedures to include a waiting period before the actual
experiment runs.  Once RAMSES was ready, Chiao began the
electrophoresis process to separate proteins into a pure solution,
research that is being conducted for a French pharmaceutical company.
 
      In another materials science experiment, Thomas monitored an 8mm
sample of nickel and tin as the science team in Huntsville sent
computer commands to the Electromagnetic Containerless Processing
Facility (called TEMPUS) to melt, levitate and solidify the metal
alloy.  Dr. Merton Flemings, of the Massachusetts Institute of
Technology, studied the undercooling process of the nickel-tin alloy
to determine how the properties of metals change in an unstable
fast-frozen, supersaturated state.  Flemings will share the data from
his experiment with other science teams who are studying heat capacity
of molten alloys, as well as the viscosity (internal friction) and
surface tension (the force that keeps the liquid together in a drop).
 
      In life sciences studies, 12 of 19 scheduled experiments have been
completed for the European Space Agency's Biorack investigations, and
others will be conducted throughout the mission.  Last night, Thomas
activated cultures of human skin fibroblast and bacterial cells that
were exposed to ionized radiation before launch.  He placed the cells
into the Biorack incubator where they were allowed to repair
themselves.  After various incubation periods, Thomas transferred the
cell containers to the Spacelab freezer, completing this Biorack
investigation, designed to help Principal Investigator Dr. Gerda
Horneck of Cologne, Germany, understand more about how
radiation-damaged cells repair themselves in microgravity.
 
      Thomas withdrew samples from two containers of baker's yeast and
preserved them for a Biorack experiment which studies the effect of
stirring and mixing on the growth of cells in microgravity.  Dr.
Augusto Cogoli of Zurich, Switzerland, will make postflight analyses
of these yeast cells that were preserved at various stages of growth
to help determine the best method of cultivating cells in space.
 
      Both Chiao and Thomas worked with samples of cress roots during
their shift.  They removed containers of chemically prepared cress
roots from the Slow Rotating Centrifuge Microscope (called NIZEMI)
static rack, activated them with water and returned them to the
incubator where they will grow in microgravity for a couple of days
before being exposed to varying levels of gravity.  Dr. Dieter
Volkmann of Bonn, Germany, is the principal investigator for this
experiment, designed to determine the lowest level at which roots
become sensitive to changes in microgravity.
 
      Thomas mounted a camera on the Aquatic Animal Experiment Unit
(AAEU) and turned on a light in the goldfish tank, allowing Principal
Investigator Dr.  Akira Takabayashi of Toyoake, Japan, to see how the
goldfish react to light stimulation in microgravity.  Takabayashi's
experiment further explores the hypothesis that space motion sickness
is caused by conflicting messages sent from the eyes and the
gravity-sensing mechanism, the otolith.
 
      Thomas also reported that the newts continue to appear healthy.
He also said that of the eggs that were produced on Earth, 18 have
hatched and are active, swimming around in their individual chambers.
 
      During the next 12 hour shift, STS-65 crew members will perform an
inflight maintenance procedure on the Free Flow Electrophoresis Unit,
and continue life and materials science experiments.

     On Sunday, July 17, 1994 at 6 p.m., STS-65 Payload Status Report #19 
reports: Today, IML-2 crew members assisted science teams with
ground-commanded materials experiments, attempted to repair the Free
Flow Electrophoresis Unit, and got a few well-deserved hours of rest.
NASA Administrator Dan Goldin surprised the crew with a telephone call
from Mission Control in Houston. He praised their hard work, saying it
would help lay the groundwork for future space exploration.
 
      Payload Commander Rick Hieb volunteered two blocks of his free
time today to perform maintenance procedures on the Japanese space
agency's Free Flow Electrophoresis Unit. Assisted by Pilot Jim Halsell
this morning, Hieb twice replaced all the distilled water in the
unit's fluid cooling system to flush out air bubbles in the line.  The
unit reached its normal activation state and ran well for an hour and
20 minutes, then automatically shut off.  Not willing to give up, Hieb
tried the procedure for a third time just before his pre-sleep period.
Thus far, the unit continues to operate within specifications.  If
this remains to be the case, the blue shift crew will prepare for a
chromosome DNA separation experiment in the unit.

 
      Payload Specialist Chiaki Mukai worked closely with ground
controllers to perform a run of Dr. Klaus Leonartz' solidification
study in the NIZEMI slow- rotating centrifuge.  A transparent,
two-component material which mimics the behavior of metal alloys was
melted, then slowly resolidified, as the centrifuge turned to simulate
various levels of gravity.  The NIZEMI microscope gave Mukai and
experiment scientists a clear view of the point where the liquid was
turning into a solid, called the solidification front. "Using the
NIZEMI, we can observe fluid flows and detect the gravity levels at
which they begin," explained Leonartz. "We can also determine the
effect of the fluid flow on the solid.  If we can learn how to make
semiconductors or metals more homogenous, we can improve their
properties.  By determining gravity thresholds, we can learn how to
use other methods, such as electromagnetic forces, to surpress fluid
flows during processing on Earth."
 
      Another fluid-flow experiment was conducted in the Bubble, Drop
and Particle Unit this morning.  An experiment container holding three
layers of immiscible (non-mixing) fluids was heated from the top and
the bottom.  Dr.  Jean-Claude Legros of Brussels, Belgium, watched
downlinked video as resulting tension differences where the fluids
contacted one another began to create flows within the layers.  The
team will use the observations to verify numerical calculations they
had made to predict the velocity and direction of the fluid flows in
the middle layer. "The rough data we received from our remote support
center in Belgium seems to match our predictions," said Legros.  The
calculations could help researchers develop methods for controlling
fluid flows during the manufacture of sophisticated materials, such as
silicon and metal alloys for the electronics industry.
 
      The current Bubble, Drop and Particle Unit experiment, which
continues until late tonight, uses vapor bubbles in a liquid
refrigerant to study the process of evaporation and condensation where
the liquid and vapor form common surfaces.  It should provide a better
understanding of boiling processes and the behavior of fluids at a
liquid-vapor interface.  Principal investigator for the experiment is
Dr. Johannes Straub of the Technical University of Munich, Germany.
 
      The TEMPUS electromagnetic containerless processing facility
levitated, melted and solidified an aluminum-copper-cobalt alloy this
morning.  After the mission, investigators will study the preserved
sample to determine its atomic arrangement.  They will be looking for
"quasicrystals," a recently discovered atomic structure that can give
materials a high degree of hardness, as well as novel electrical and
physical properties.  The study aims for a better understanding of how
and why quasicrystals form.
 
      The flight crew suspended orbiter thruster firings for a short 
period this afternoon, providing the most stable environment possible 
as the TEMPUS facility melted a sphere of pure zirconium.  The strong, 
ductile metal was heated to more than 3,600 degrees Fahrenheit (2,000 
degrees Celsius), several hundred degrees higher than any for any 
previous melt in space.  The sample was levitated for about 10 
seconds, then cooled down and solidified.
 
      The Japanese space agency's Large Isothermal Furnace processed two
cartridges of tungsten-nickel-iron alloys for Dr. Randall German's
liquid phase sintering experiment.  The material was heated so the
iron and nickel formed a liquid, surrounding the uniformly dispersed
powered tungsten.  The method is used extensively on Earth to combine
dissimilar materials, but researchers suspect gravity plays a role in
distorting the microstructure of such alloys.  German, of Pennsylvania
State University, will compare seven different compositions of the
space-processed alloy, heated for different periods of time, with
similar alloys processed on Earth. He will look for differences in
shape, texture, density and high-temperature strength.
 
  On Monday, July 18, 1994 at 6 a.m., STS-65 MCC Status Report #20 
STS-65 Astronauts Leroy Chiao, Don Thomas and Carl Walz discussed their work on
the second International Microgravity Laboratory mission in a live television
interview overnight.  Columbia's Blue Team members told CBS' "Up to the 
Minute" program that they are enjoying their flight and looking forward to 
doing similar work on the International Space Station when it becomes 
operational.  They also said they would like to follow in the footsteps of 
the Apollo 11 astronauts who landed on the Moon 25 years ago this week.
 
   Commander Bob Cabana, Pilot Jim Halsell, Payload Commander Rick Hieb, and
Payload Specialist Chiaki Mukai began their 11th workday on orbit at 4:45 a.m.
CDT after awakening at 2:45 a.m.  On this shift, Cabana and Halsell will test 
their thinking skills on the Performance Awareness Workstation. Halsell also 
will pract ice on the Portable In-flight Landing Operations Trainer. Hieb 
will start the day as a subject for the Lower Body Negative Pressure device, 
being tested as a possible countermeasure against the detrimental effects of 
space flight, with Mukai assisting.  Mukai will climb into the sack-like 
device that pulls bodily fluids back into the legs and feet as the subject 
of a second LBNP run.
 
  On Monday, July 18, 1994 at 6 a.m., STS-65 Payload Status Report #20 
While performing a scheduled examination of the Japanese newts container in
the Aquatic Animal Experiment Unit (AAEU), Thomas reported that a second female
adult newt had died.  This Japanese red-bellied newt produced eggs earlier in
the mission as part of an experiment for Dr. Masamichi Yamashita of Kanagawa,
Japan, who is studying the effects of gravity on cells during the early stages
of development.
 
    Principal Investigator Dr. Ken-Ichi Ijiri of Tokyo, Japan, received video
from the Spacelab of his Medaka fish.  Ijiri observed the swimming behavior of
the Medaka and watched the Medaka fry (that were fertilized on Earth and
recently hatched on this flight) as they swam in their own separate containers
within the AAEU aquarium.  Also at the AAEU facility, Chiao opened the window
on the goldfish tank and closed it before his shift ended, giving the goldfish
a daylight period.
 
    In the European Space Agency's Bubble, Drop and Particle Unit, Chiao
initiated an investigation to study evaporation and condensation processes in
fluids.  More specifically, Dr. Johannes Straub, of Munich Germany, examined
the boiling process of a liquid refrigerant. "For the first time, while
watching video from space, we have seen that when two large bubbles join
together, or coalesce, their movements produce new bubbles," explained Straub.
"We are very excited about seeing this phenomenon since we can not do this
experiment on Earth due to the buoyancy of bubbles.  We are extremely pleased
about the way the facility has performed and we appreciate the good job the
crew has done to help us get this science." Knowledge gained from this
investigation could influence future chemical engineering and manufacturing
techniques.
 
    Thomas installed a sample container of indium-gallium-antimony into the
Japanese space agency's Large Isothermal Furnace. This experiment is designed
to help Principal Investigator Dr. Akira Hirata of Tokyo, Japan, develop new
techniques to uniformly mix semiconductor alloys with different densities to
produce materials that will transmit electrons more efficiently.
Semiconductors are widely used in computers and other electronic devices.
 
    In an experiment to separate chromosome DNA from a nematode worm, Thomas
injected concentrated suspensions of the DNA into the Japanese-provided Free
Flow Electrophoresis Unit (FFEU), along with a special buffer solution designed
to test isoelectric focusing.  The FFEU appears to be operating well following
a third inflight maintenance procedure, which was performed by the Red Team
Sunday. Principal Investigator Dr. Hidesaburo Kobayashi of Saitama, Japan, is
testing this method of chromosome separation in space to help solve problems in
genetic mapping and molecular biology.
 
    Chiao monitored the start up of two separate experiments in the
Electromagnetic Containerless Processing Facility (called TEMPUS) last night.
In the first TEMPUS investigation, Principal Investigator Dr. Dieter Herlach
studied a sphere of nickel and carbon alloy, which was undercooled, or
solidified at a temperature below normal for this alloy.
 
    In the second TEMPUS experiment run, Chiao reported on the progress of a
sample of iron and nickel alloy as it was melted, levitated and undercooled for
Principal Investigator Dr. Ivan Egry of Cologne, Germany. Egry is studying
internal friction (viscosity) and the force that keeps a liquid together in a
drop (surface tension).  Although both of these samples made contact with their
cage while processing in the TEMPUS facility last night, ground commanding
allowed them to be successfully retracted from the heating chamber.
 
    Chiao also conducted life science experiments in the Slow Rotating
Centrifuge Microscope facility (called NIZEMI). He placed sample containers of
slime mold (Physarum polycephalum) into the NIZEMI, where they were exposed to
varying levels of gravity.  This investigation will help Dr. Ingrid Block of
Cologne, Germany, understand more about how single-cell organisms sense and
respond to gravity.
 
    In an experiment for Dr. Dieter Volkmann of Bonn, Germany, Chiao placed
seedlings of cress roots into the NIZEMI facility.  Later, Thomas talked to
Volkmann about the growth status of the cress roots.  Volkmann is studying
these chemically prepared cress roots to determine the lowest level at which
the roots become sensitive to changes in gravity.
 
    Thomas placed samples of Loxodes striatus cells into the NIZEMI facility
for an experiment to study the orientation, velocities and swimming tracks of
these unicellular organisms.  Since these cells may work similarly to the inner
ear of vertebrates, Principal Investigator Dr. Ruth Hemmersbach-Krause of
Cologne, Germany, wants to learn more about the underlying mechanisms that
allow living creatures to sense gravity.
 
    In a technology experiment for Principal Investigator Dr. Augusto Cogoli of
Zurich, Switzerland, Thomas took samples of baker's yeast from their containers
and preserved them for post-flight analyses.  This investigation, which studies
the effect of stirring and mixing on the growth of baker's yeast, may influence
the way life science experiments are performed in the future.
 
    While all these activities were going on in space, the Critical Point
Facility science team in the Spacelab Mission Operations Control center in
Huntsville watched video downlink of the sulfur hexafluoride sample as it was
heated to reach its critical point (the state of a fluid at which liquid and
vapor exhibit the same properties).

 
  On Monday, July 18, 1994 at 6 p.m., STS-65 MCC Status Report #21
A small thruster jet failed early this morning, but was recovered after flight
controllers determined the problem was a clogged transducer.  Called a vernier
engine, the thruster is one of six used to fine-tune the position of the
spacecraft to keep it stable.  STS-65 Commander Bob Cabana, Pilot Jim 
Halsell, Payload Commander Rick Hieb, and Payload Specialist Chiaki Mukai 
took time out to talk with Larry King for the Cable News Network show 
airing Tuesday at 8 p.m.
 
   As has been the case for most of the flight, Cabana and Halsell tested their
proficiency skills on the Performance Awareness Worksta tion and the Portable
In-flight Landing Operations Trainer.  Hieb and Mukai took turns in the 
Lower Body Negative Pressure device, a possible countermeasure against the 
detrimental effects of space flight.  Carl Walz, Leroy Chiao and Don Thomas 
woke up just before three this afternoon and took over for their co-workers 
at about 5 p.m.
 
  On Monday, July 18, 1994 at 6 p.m., STS-65 Payload Status Report #21
Payload Specialist Chiaki Mukai and Payload Commander Rick Hieb finished
their fourth Lower Body Negative Pressure test today.  As part of their natural
adaptation to microgravity, space travelers experience a shift of fluid into
their upper body.  This experiment reduces pressure around a crew member's
lower body to force fluids back to the legs.  Echocardiograph and blood
pressure tests made during various steps of lowered pressure show scientists
how the crew member's cardiovascular system has adapted to microgravity.  The
experiment is part of the Johnson Space Center's Extended Duration Orbiter
Medical Program, designed to protect the health and safety of the crew during
12- to 17-day missions aboard the Space Shuttle.  
 
   Dr.  Dieter Volkmann of Bonn, Germany, continued using the NIZEMI Slow
Rotating Centrifuge Microscope to compare cress roots grown in microgravity
with those grown in the Biorack centrifuge.  The samples are being exposed to
one-tenth of Earth's gravity on the NIZEMI centrifuge. "Thus far, we have
observed a difference in gravity sensitivity between the microgravity samples
and the one-gravity samples.  That's a first," said Volkmann. "The microgravity
roots responded in six minutes, while samples grown in the one- gravity
centrifuge took 10 minutes." Volkmann will study the preserved roots after
landing to pinpoint the structures within them that perceive low-level gravity.
 
    IML-2 controllers adjusted today's planned schedule to allow Mukai to 
perform the mission's second experiment in the Free Flow Electrophoresis 
Unit.  The Japanese space agency experiment team says the facility has been 
"doing great" since Payload Commander Rick Hieb completed a successful 
maintenance procedure yesterday afternoon.  The FFEU experiment, developed 
by Principal Investigator Dr. Wes Hymer, of Pennsylvania State University, 
examines rat pituitary cells. "Previous space flights have shown that the 
'factory' which leads to the production of growth hormone is modified in 
space," said Hymer. "We are trying to find out whether the change occurs 
on the surface of the cell itself or on the surface of an individual 
growth-hormone-containing particle within the cell."
 
 
    When Mukai removed the cell culture kit from the incubator, she reported
that a majority of the cells had come loose from the bottom of the container
and were clumping together.  She went ahead with the planned procedure for
separating the sample into individual cells, but they remained clumped.  Since
unattached cells are required for electrophoresis, she returned the culture
kits to storage. "The same procedures were done on identical cell cultures at
Kennedy Space Center, and this did not happen," said Hymer. "It will take some
time to determine whether flight factors caused the unexpected clumping." The
second part of Hymer's experiment, which studies cells broken down into their
individual sub-cellular components, will be conducted if a time slot becomes
available on the next shift.
 
    Dr.  Shankar Subramanian of Clarkson University in Potsdam, New York,
expanded his study of the interactions and migration of liquid drops in the
Bubble, Drop and Particle Unit. For this experiment run, multiple drops are
being injected into a container of silicone oil.  Subramanian and his team are
studying the drops' size, shape and speed of motion.  The team will compare the
observations with their calculations predicting the motion of drops in
microgravity.  This afternoon's Large Isothermal Furnace experiment evaluates a
technique for improving the quality of alloys used in high-tech aircraft and
spacecraft.  Hieb placed a cartridge containing four titanium-aluminum alloys
into the furnace to be melted and solidified.  Two of the samples have ceramic
particles added.  The particles should increase the high-temperature strength
of the material, improving its microstructure and thus its mechanical
properties.  On Earth, differences in density between the ceramic particles and
the metal alloy keep the particles from distributing uniformly, but in space
they should remain spread evenly within the samples.  Dr. Masao Takeyama of
Japan's Research Institute of Metals will compare the processed alloys to
determine whether addition of ceramic particles is an effective method for
controlling alloy structure.
 

    Hieb provided additional video of the fruit flies in Dr. Roberto Marco's
Biorack experiment.  Marco, who is conducting parallel experiments at Kennedy
Space Center, reports the IML-2 flies appear to be adapting to microgravity.
After greatly accelerated activity near the beginning of the mission, their
current behavior is about the same as flies in Biorack's simulated gravity
centrifuge in space and in his control experiment on the ground.  This confirms
a similar observation aboard the Russian BION-10 satellite in 1993.  Mukai
reported that the Animal Aquatic Experiment Unit seems to be working well, and
the Medaka fish all appear to be healthy.  A procedure has been designed to
remove the newt which died last night from one of the four aquarium cassettes,
so decomposition products will not get into the system's water loops.  It will
be carried out tonight, and the newt will be frozen to preserve it for analysis
after landing.  Newt eggs which were launched inside the cassette will remain
to continue development.
 
    The eight principal investigators for the TEMPUS electromagnetic
containerless processing facility shared brief observations of a one-quarter-
inch sphere of pure nickel.  They commanded operations from the ground, in
order to give the crew more time for other experiment activities.  The thermal
equilibration experiment in the Critical Point Facility, which began Saturday,
will continue throughout the night.  The crew will work with Biorack, RAMSES
electrophoresis separation facility, and Bubble, Drop and Particle Unit
experiments.
 
  On Tuesday, July 19, 1994 at 7 a.m., STS-65 MCC Status Report #22
STS-65 Commander Bob Cabana and Payload Specialist Chiaki Mukai started their
twelfth day in space with a television interview that involved questions from
Japan, Brazil and Australia.  Topics included several of the experiments on 
the International Microgravity Laboratory-2 flight, the beauty of the Earth 
from orbit and the need to protect Earth's diminishing resources.  Among the 
interviewers was Dr. Mamoru Mohri, who became the first Japanese payload 
specialist to fly aboard a space shuttle on the STS-47 Spacelab-J mission of 
September 1992.  Mukai is the first female Japanese payload specialist to 
fly in space.
 
  Columbia's systems continue to perform almost flawlessly.  One recent item of
interest has been a continuing series of error messages from one of the
shuttle's three inertial measurement units, which provide guidance information
for the on-board computers.  Flight controllers are studying the messages
carefully, but have determined that the IMU is still functioning well and
capable of providing data needed to land the shuttle.  The orbiter remains in a
163 by 158 nautical mile orbit, circling the Earth every 90 minutes.
 
  On Tuesday, July 19, 1994 at 6 a.m., STS-65 Payload Status Report #22
Mission Specialists Carl Walz, Don Thomas and Leroy Chiao took a break
during their eleventh day in space to thank the French Space Agency's Jean-
Jacques Favier, STS-65 alternate payload specialist at the Spacelab Mission
Operations Control center in Huntsville. The crew then went back to work,
conducting investigations in the weightless environment of space for the second
International Microgravity Laboratory (IML-2) mission.
 
    During the first part of his shift, Thomas performed an inflight
maintenance procedure to remove the dead newt from its container in the Aquatic
Animal Experiment Unit. He then placed the newt into the Spacelab freezer to
preserve it for post-mission analyses.  Later, Thomas reported that the
remaining adult newts and the recently hatched newt larvae continue to appear
healthy.  He also injected the newt tank with dye, which acts as a tracer, to
help Principal Investigator Dr. Michael Wiederhold of San Antonio, Texas, study
development of the gravity-sensing organs in the newts that hatched during the
flight.
 
    The Japanese goldfish in the aquarium facility experienced their daylight
period when Chiao opened the window to their tank at the beginning of his shift
and closed the window before his shift ended.
 
    Thomas initiated an experiment in the French Space Agency's Applied
Research on Separation Methods Using Space Electrophoresis (called RAMSES)
facility.  For this experiment, Thomas installed the sample bag of a highly
concentrated protein extract into a buffer solution, which helped the proteins
flow through an electrical field.  This process, known as electrophoresis,
caused the proteins to separate according to their individual electrical
charges.  The separated proteins will be returned to Earth for analysis by a
French pharmaceutical company.  Bernard Schoot of Romainville, France, co-
investigator and Principal Investigator Dr. Victor Sanchez of Toulouse, France,
were excited by the way the proteins separated last night. "This investigation
went better than expected and we are extremely pleased," said Schoot. "Because
of the high concentration of protein in this sample, we can not do this
investigation on Earth."

 
   Chiao also conducted an experiment in the Japanese space agency's Free Flow
Electrophoresis Unit (FFEU).  This experiment run was the second part of an
investigation for Dr. Wes Hymer of Pennsylvania State University. After Chiao
injected a sample of rat pituitary cells with a solution that caused them to
separate into growth hormones and prolactins, the cells (granules) were
separated in the FFEU's electrophoresis chamber.  Once the sample containers
are returned to Earth, Hymer will analyze these separated cells to determine
how they were affected by spaceflight.
 
    All pre-mission objectives for two experiments in the German-provided Slow
Rotating Centrifuge Microscope (called NIZEMI) were completed last night.  For
the first experiment, Chiao placed a small container of succinonitrile-acetone
into the NIZEMI facility.  Dr. Klaus Leonartz of Aachen, Germany, watched video
from the Spacelab as the two-component mixture solidified in microgravity.
This type of low-gravity experiment will help improve materials in the future
as scientists begin to understand more about the solidification process.
 
    Chiao also placed additional seedlings of cress roots into the NIZEMI
centrifuge, exposing them to varying levels of gravity.  Dr. Dieter Volkmann of
Bonn, Germany is studying these chemically prepared samples of roots to
understand more about how changes in gravity affect plant growth.  This
information is important as we consider raising plants for food and oxygen
during extended stays in space.
 
    In the European Space Agency's Biorack facility, Chiao withdrew samples of
baker's yeast to determine if it has been expanding during the flight.
Researcher Dr. Augusto Cogoli of Zurich, Switzerland, is studying another way
of stimulating growth in the yeast - stirring and mixing.  There are two
containers of baker's yeast involved in this experiment.  One container has a
stirring mechanism to mix the yeast culture.  The second container, which
serves as a control sample, does not have a stirring mechanism.  Results from
Cogoli's experiment may influence the way life science experiments in space are
conducted in the future.
 
    Chiao added a culture medium to Bacillus subtilis bacteria that were
exposed to radiation before launch.  Dr. Gerda Horneck of Cologne, Germany, is
the principal investigator for this experiment to test the hypothesis that
gravity affects the ability of biological systems to repair themselves after
radiation damage.  Scientists must understand more about radiation-damaged
cells and their ability to recover from the effects of radiation - an
environmental factor in space - before humans can plan for much longer
missions.
 
    Chiao deactivated the Japanese-provided Large Isothermal Furnace last night
after all five of the scheduled experiment operations had been completed.
After this IML-2 mission, scientists will analyze their alloy samples to better
understand and improve production techniques on Earth.
 
    During the next 12 hours, the Red Team will be performing activities in
support of the Spinal Changes in Microgravity experiment and conducting life
science investigations in the Biorack and NIZEMI facilities.  They also will
transfer containers into the Free Flow Electrophoresis Unit and deactivate the
Electromagnetic Containerless Processing Facility since all pre-mission
objectives have been met.
 
  On Tuesday, July 19, 1994 at 6 p.m., STS-65 MCC Status Report #23
The only issue of any significance is with a backup stabilizing unit
on one of the three navigation platforms in the nose of the Orbiter.
Called an Inertial Measurement Unit, or IMU, the device is used to
provide navigation data to the spacecraft's onboard computers.  The
backup rate gyroscope has experienced transient spikes periodically,
but none have interfered with the operation of the navigation
platform.  Flight controllers have compared the IMU with one of its
sister units to ensure that it is healthy.
  
   Earlier today, the crew downlinked video of Japanese Payload
Specialist Chiaki Naito-Mukai working in the Spacelab module with the
Aquatic Animal Enclosure Unit and the Japanese Medaka fish.  Payload
Commander Rick Hieb and Mukai also participated in a Canadian
experiment that measures changes to the astronauts' spinal columns.
The astronauts also shared Earth views as the Orbiter passed over the
South American continent.

 On Wednesday, July 20, 1994 at 6 a.m., STS-65 MCC Status Report #24
STS-65 Commander Bob Cabana told reporters on the ground early
Wednesday that the crew of Columbia is proud have the Apollo 11 lunar
landing as part of its heritage, that today's space program is made up
of people who are equally talented and hard working, and that they are
ready to take on the challenge of an International Space Station.
  

   Cabana's comments came at the start of the in-flight news
conference, which also covered the crew's ability to recover the
operations of five experiment mechanisms during the course of the
flight, the importance of America's space program as an inspiration
for the country's young people, and the willingness of many members of
NASA's astronaut corps to return to the Moon.  Cabana also said the
close coordination seen on the STS-65 International microgravity
Laboratory-2 mission will serve as a model for space station
operations, especially in the area of telescience, which has been
exploited heavily on this flight with some 25,000 remote commands
having been sent to the Spacelab experiments so far.
 

     Payload Specialist Chiaki Mukai, the first Japanese female to fly
in space, fielded a variety of questions in both Japanese and English,
including inquiries as what she felt was the most impressive view from
orbit (The Earth's limb at sunrise and sunset), and what she would
most like to do when she returns to Earth (see the people who worked
so hard on this mission happy with the results).

 
     Flight controllers continue to monitor one of Columbia's three
Inertial measurement Units, which has experienced a series of
transient error messages, but remain convinced that the navigation
instrument is healthy and could support landing.

 On Wednesday, July 20, 1994 at 6 p.m., STS-65 MCC Status Report #25
  
STS-65 Commander Bob Cabana observed the 25th anniversary of the first
landing on the Moon today in a special commemoration on board the
Space Shuttle which bears the same name as the Apollo 11 command
module -- Columbia.  At 3:18 p.m. CDT, the exact time the lunar module
Eagle landed at Tranquillity Base 25 years earlier, Cabana extended
his best wishes to all those celebrating the "giant leap for mankind."
  

     This afternoon, Cabana also talked to the crew aboard the
Russia's Space Station Mir exchanging greetings and well wishes on the
25th anniversary of Apollo 11.  In a linkup through the Mission
Control Centers in Houston and Kaliningrad, Cabana talked with
cosmonauts Yuri Malenchenko, Talgat Musabayev and Dr. Valery Polyakov
about life on the Shuttle and Mir, and future cooperation in space on
the International Space Station.

 
     The Orbiter systems continue to perform well allowing continuous
science gathering in the pressurized Spacelab module in the payload
bay in support of the second International Microgravity Laboratory
mission.  In a precautionary measure, flight controllers are still
monitoring the performance of Inertial Measurement Unit 1, which
experienced transient errors in the redundant rate gyro earlier in the
flight.
 
     Flight controllers also are beginning to review deorbit and entry
messages in preparation for Columbia's return to Earth Friday.  Two
landing opportunities are available for Columbia at the Kennedy Space
Center -- at 5:47 a.m. and 7:23 a.m.  Long-range weather shows
favorable conditions forecast for the landing.

 On Thursday, July 21, 1994 at 6 a.m., STS-65 Payload Status Report #26 
reports:  During their thirteenth day in orbit, Mission Specialists
Don Thomas, Carl Walz and Leroy Chiao continued some of the final
experiments for the second International Microgravity Laboratory
(IML-2) mission and shut down some of the equipment in preparation for
the Space Shuttle Columbia's planned landing on Friday.

 
    Chiao deactivated the Bubble, Drop and Particle Unit. This
multi-user facility was developed by the European Space Agency an
used extensively during the mission to help scientists understand more
about the behavior of fluids in microgravity.

 
    Researcher Dr. Dorothy Spangenberg of Norfolk, Virginia, watched
from the Spacelab Mission Operations Control center in Huntsville, as
video from Spacelab brought images of her swimming jellyfish last
night. "It was a great success," Spangenberg said, after seeing
jellyfish that developed while in space swimming around in their
containers inside the German-provided Slow Rotating Centrifuge
Microscope. This microscope system, called NIZEMI, was designed to
improve scientists' understanding of how microgravity affects the
development of animals and plants and the role that gravity plays in
the way organisms develop on Earth. Following this last NIZEMI
experiment run, Chiao prepared the facility for the Shuttle landing.
 

    The last two experiments in the European Space Agency's Biorack
facility were completed overnight.  Thomas photographed lentil seeds,
which were exposed to both microgravity and gravity environments, to
help researchers test a theory about how gravity-sensing cells at the
tip of plant roots regulate root growth.  Principal Investigator
Dr. Ghrald Perbal of Paris, France, has been investigating which
direction plant roots grow when there is no distinguishable up or
down, as is the case in the weightless environment of space.

 
    In the other completed Biorack experiment, Thomas moved one
container of sea urchins to the Biorack incubator and one container to
the cooler.  Dr.  Hans- Jurg Marthy of Banyuls-sur-Mer, France, is
studying sea urchin embryos and larvae to determine if the way their
skeletons absorb calcium and minerals is normal in space.  Information
gathered during this experiment could be applied to fighting disorders
experienced by people on Earth (such as osteoporosis) and help protect
future space travelers.
 
    After Thomas completed that experiment, he packed up the Biorack
equipment.  Part of this process included storing seven dosimeters
that have been documenting the radiation environment inside the
Biorack facility throughout the STS-65 mission.  Dr. Guenther Reitz of
Cologne, Germany, is principal investigator for this experiment,
designed to provide a baseline of radiation data for all Biorack
scientists to use when analyzing their experiment results after the
mission.
 
    Biostack, a German-provided investigation, continued to collect
data on the points of entry and paths of high-energy cosmic rays
within the Spacelab module last night.  Reitz is also the principal
investigator for this multi-national program to determine the effect
of radiation energy on life forms in space.  Reitz's experiment uses
two different strains of shrimp eggs and salad seeds.  After the
mission, scientists will compare any radiation damage to their IML-2
biological organisms with cosmic particle penetrations identified by
the detectors.
 
    Thomas deactivated the Real-Time Radiation Monitoring Device
(RRMD).  This Japanese-developed instrument, which has actively
measured the high-energy cosmic radiation entering the Spacelab module
during IML-2, is the first device to transmit information to the
ground during a flight.  On longer spaceflights in the future, it may
be possible to forecast radiation storms due to increased levels of
solar activity, with devices similar to the RRMD.
 
    In another experiment to test the environment of the Spacelab
module, Thomas used a hand-held, battery-powered air sampler to
collect information on airborne contaminant levels in
Spacelab. Results from this IML-2 investigation for Principal
Investigator Duane Pierson of Houston, Texas, will be added to data
from previous flights to establish baseline microbial levels during
missions of different lengths to evaluate potential risk to crew
health and safety.
 
    Last night, Thomas made the final observations of the newts and
goldfish in the Aquatic Animal Experiment Unit (AAEU).  Thomas exposed
the goldfish to light stimulation, allowing Dr. Akira Takabayashi of
Toyoake, Japan, to make further studies of their swimming behavior in
orbit.  Takabayashi said the goldfish "appear to have adapted to the
weightlessness of space." After Columbia's landing, Takabayashi will
observe the goldfish to determine their ability to re-adapt to the
Earth's gravity.  This experiment explores the hypothesis that space
motion sickness is caused by conflicting messages being sent to the
brain from the eyes and the otoliths (gravity-sensing mechanisms).
 
   An in-flight maintenance procedure was performed last night for the
Applied Research on Separation Methods Using Space Electrophoresis
facility (called RAMSES). After reviewing the data, managers decided
not to attempt reactivation.
 
    Thomas performed scheduled recording disk change-out procedures on
the Quasi-Steady Acceleration Measurement (QSAM) device.  The QSAM
system, located in a rack of the Spacelab module, has been running
throughout this mission, detecting steady, low-frequency, residual
accelerations that may have had an effect on some of the onboard
experiments.  In a related experiment, Chiao exchanged a data disk in
the Space Acceleration Measurement System (SAMS) instrument.  The SAMS
device has been measuring higher-frequency accelerations and
vibrations in the Spacelab module during this flight.  Scientists will
compare data from the QSAM and SAMS instruments with results from
their IML-2 experiments to determine if onboard investigations were
affected by accelerations during the flight.
 
    Payload Commander Rick Hieb and Payload Specialist Chiaki Mukai
prepared the Lower Body Negative Pressure device for a day of
activities as part of the Extended Duration Orbiter Medical
Project. During the next 12 hours, Hieb and Mukai will continue with
this activity, then stow the apparatus.
 
<end of mission>


Mission Name: STS-64 (64)
  Discovery (19)         
  Pad 39-B (30) 
  64th Shuttle Mission
  19th Flight OV-103
  EAFB Landing (41)
  28th EVA of Shuttle program

Crew:
   Richard N. Richards (4), Commander      
   L. Blaine Hammond, Jr. (2), Pilot
   Jerry M. Linenger (1), Mission Specialist 1
   Susan J. Helms (2), Mission Specialist 2
   Carl J. Meade (3), Mission Specialist 3
   Mark C. Lee (3), Mission Specialist 4

Milestones:
     OPF -- 2/11/94
     VAB -- 8/11/94
     PAD -- 8/19/94

Payload:
  LITE-1, ROMPS, SPARTAN-201, TCS, SPIFEX, GAS(x11), SAFER, SSCE, BRIC-III, RME-III, MAST, SAREX-II, AMOS

Mission Objectives:
    The STS-64 mission will carry the LIDAR In-Space Technology Experiment 
(LITE), a project to measure atmospheric parameters from a space platform 
utilizing laser sensors, the Robot Operated Materials Processing System 
(ROMPS) to investigate robot handling of thin film samples,  and the 
Shuttle Pointed Autonomous Research Tool for Astronomy (SPARTAN-201). SPARTAN  
is a free-flying retrievable platform with two telescopes to study the solar
wind, a continuous stream of electrons, heavy protons and heavy ions ejected
from the sun and traveling through space at speeds of almost 1 million miles
per hour.  The solar wind frequently causes problems on Earth by disrupting
navigation, communications and electrical power.

  The STS-64 mission will also carry the Shuttle Plume Impingement Flight 
Experiment (SPIFEX).  This experiment is designed to directly measure RCS 
plume loads in the far-field regime under actual on-orbit conditions.  
Discovery's payload bay also contains a GAS bridge assembly with 12 GAS 
canisters (G-178, G-254, G-312, G-325, G-417, G-453, G-454, G-456, G-485, 
G-506 and G-562).  One additional experiment in the payload bay is the 
Trajectory Control Sensor (TCS) package positioned on an Adaptive Payload 
Carrier.  It will provide relative trajectory data on a target vehicle 
operating in close proximity (less than 5000ft) of the Orbiter.  The TCS 
will provide range and range rate data for target vehicles having a 
reflective surface.  Additionally, the TCS provides bearing, bearing rate, 
attitude, and attitude rates for target vehicles utilizing special 
retro-reflectors.   

  In Discovery's middeck area, STS-64 will carry the Simplified Aid for EVA 
Rescue (SAFER) system, the Solid Surface Combustion Experiment (SSCE), the 
Biological Research in Canister III (BRIC-III) experiment, the Radiation 
Monitoring Equipment III (RME-III) experiment.  Other experiments onboard 
STS-64 include Military Application of Ship Trails (MAST), Shuttle Amateur 
Radio Experiment-II (SAREX-II) and Air Force Maui Optical Site Calibration 
Test (AMOS).

Launch:  
  Launch September 9, 1994 6:22:35:042pm EDT.  The Launch window opened 
at 4:30am EDT with a 2 hour 30 min window.   The late afternoon launch 
was scheduled to permit nighttime operation of the LITE-1 laser early in 
the mission.  The launch was delayed due to launch weather violations 
near the launch complex LC 39B area.  Discovery's Main Engine Cutoff 
(MECO) occured at 6:33pm EDT while the orbiter was 790nm down range an 
at an altitude of 380,000 ft (52nm). Discovery's empty weight was 
173,499lbs (with 3 SSME's) and the orbiter weight at liftoff was 
241,434lbs.  Payload weight up was 19,478lbs.

 Scheduled Trans-Atlantic Abort (TAL) sites were Zaragoza, Spain, 
Ben Guerir, Morocco and Moron, Spain.  

Orbit:
  Altitude:  140 nm
  Inclination:  57 degrees
  Orbits:  176
  Duration:   10 days, 22 hours, 49 minutes, 57 seconds.
  Distance:  4.5 million miles

Hardware:
  SRB: BI-068
  SRM: 360L041
  ET :  SN-66
  MLP: 2
  SSME-1: SN-2031
  SSME-2: SN-2109
  SSME-3: SN-2029

Landing:  
  September 20, 1994 on Runway 04 at Edwards Air Force Base at
5:12:52pm EDT.  Nose wheel touchdown at 5:13:04 p.m. EDT with a wheel
stop at 4:13:52 p.m.  EDT.  Discovery had four landing opportunities
on 9/20/94, two in Florida and two at Edwards Air Force Base, Calif.
The Florida opportunity was waived off due to low clouds and
precipitation near the Shuttle Landing Facility.  A KSC landing would
have involved a deorbit engine firing at 12:11 p.m. CDT, on the
flight's 174th orbit, followed by a touchdown at 1:11 p.m. CDT. A
second opportunity would begin with a 1:45 p.m.  CDT deorbit burn and
result in a 2:45 p.m. CDT Florida touchdown.
 
  The opportunities for a landing at Edwards began on the 176th orbit
with a deorbit burn at 4:14 p.m. EDT and touchdown at 5:11 p.m. EDT. A
second opportunity would have Discovery fire its engines at 5:50 p.m.
EDT and touchdown at 6:46 p.m. EDT.
 
  KSC September 19, 1994 2:42pm EDT was waived-off due to bad
weather. Four landing opportunities -- two to Florida and two to
California -- existed for Discovery on Monday.  The first and primary
opportunity began with a deorbit burn at 12:23 p.m.  central time on
the mission's 158th orbit leading to a 1:23 p.m.  touchdown. A second
opportunity to land at KSC would have begun with a deorbit burn at 1:55
p.m. on the 159th orbit and lead to a 2:55 p.m. touchdown.  Later
landing opportunities result in touchdowns at Edwards Air Force Base,
Ca., at 4:24 p.m. or 5:56 p.m. Central time.

  The Monday weather forecast for KSC called for a chance of
thunderstorms within 30 miles of the landing strip while it calls for
acceptable landing weather at Edwards. Should the weather not
cooperate today, Discovery has landing opportunities at both KSC and
Edwards on Tuesday and Wednesday. The forecast for the later
opportunities is similar to today's weather predictions.

  Discovery's Payload down weight was 19,436lbs and the orbiter 
landing weight was 211,834lbs.

Mission Highlights:
 On Saturday, September 10, 1994 at 9 a.m. CST, STS-64 MCC Status Report #1 
reported: Payload activities on board the Space Shuttle Discovery picked 
as the STS-64 crew began its second day in orbit.  Discovery's six 
astronauts started Flight Day 2 to a parody of a Beach Boys tune called 
"We'll Have Fun, Fun, Fun on the Shuttle," sung by Mach 25. 

  Before crew members went to sleep, the Lidar In-space Technology
Experiment, STS-64's primary payload, was activated and reported to be
in good working condition.  Experiment controllers reported that they
were receiving "terrific looking returns." 

  LITE will be used during the course of the mission to collect
atmospheric data with a laser system to measure clouds, particles in
the atmosphere and the Earth's surface.  This information will help
scientists explain the impact of human activity on the atmosphere.
Lidar, an acronym for light detection and ranging is similar to the
radar commonly used to track everything from airplanes in flight to
thunderstorms. It can be thought of as an optical radar, but instead
of bouncing radio waves off its target, lidar uses short pulses of
laser light.  Some of that light reflects tiny particles in the
atmosphere, called aerosols, then back to a telescope aligned with the
laser. By precisely timing the lidar echo and by measuring how much
laser light is received by the telescope, scientists can accurately
determine the location, distribution and nature of the particle. The
result is a revolutionary new tool for studying the composition of
Earth's atmosphere.  

  A new materials processing facility called ROMPS for Robotic Operated
Materials Processing System also was activated yesterday and ran
throughout the night.  ROMPS will process crystals in microgravity by
transporting a variety of semiconductors from storageracks to furnaces for
processing. 

  Mission Specialist Susan J. Helms powered up Discovery's robot arm
to work with the Shuttle Plume Impingement Flight Experiment, also
known as SPIFEX. The experiment consists of a 33-foot long beam that
will be used to characterize and measure the plumes of the steering
jets.  SPIFEX will be maneuvered on the end of the robot arm to take
measurements of 86 separate jet firings. This information will be used
by engineers determine the effects of thrusters on large space
structures such as the International Space Station.  Crew members also
will set up their ham radio equipment to support the Shuttle Amateur
Radio Experiment.

 On Saturday, Sept 10, 1994 at 4:30 p.m. CST, STS-64 MCC Status Report #3 
reports: Discovery's crew began its first full day in orbit with an
assortment of experiments aboard the shuttle. Following a good
performance checkout last night, the Lidar in Space Technology
Experiment (LITE) completed three orbits of nightime observations
above the eastern hemisphere.

  LITE took laser measurements of aerosols above northern Europe,
clouds above Indonesia and the south Pacific, and the surface of the
Himalayan Mountains. Simultaneous atmospheric measurements were
performed by LITE in orbit and by researchers on the ground of the
atmosphere above Tomsk, Russia, a site that has long been a part of
various atmospheric studies.

  Also early today, Mission Specialist Susan J. Helms performed a check
of Discovery's mechanical arm, finding it to be in excellent
condition.  Helms then grappled the Shuttle Plume Impingement Flight
Experiment, a 32-foot long extension to the mechanical arm, raising it
above Discovery's cargo bay. During SPIFEX activation, flight
controllers noticed a communications problem with the interface
between Discovery's payload general support computers and the data
system on SPIFEX. After cycling a circuit breaker that powers the data
system, communications were restored and SPIFEX is operating properly.
Later, cold nitrogen gas was fired at SPIFEX to calibrate sensors
which will be used to study the effects of the shuttle's reaction
control system jet plumes.

  On Sunday, Sept 11, 1994 at 9 a.m. CST, STS-64 MCC Status Report #4
reports: Planning for the third day of STS-64 went smoothly last night
as flight controllers refined the timeline to enhance today's payload
activities.  In general, the changes will allow for additional live
satellite coverage for the Lidar In-Space Technology Experiment (LITE)
and the Space Plume Impingement Flight Experiment (SPIFEX), two of
Discovery's primary payloads.  LITE controllers have reported that
they are seeing good results thus far.  Crew members started their
third day in space at 7:23 a.m. CDT to a parody of the song "My Girl"
called "My World" by Mach 25.

 On Sunday, Sept 11, 1994 at 4 p.m. CST, STS-64 MCC Status Report #5
reports: Discovery's crew spent the first half of the mission's third
day continuing an investigation of the exhaust plumes emitted by the
shuttle's steering jets.  Using the Shuttle Plume Impingement Flight
Experiment attached to the end of the shuttle' s mechanical arm,
Mission Specialist Susan Helms positioned instruments above steering
jets both at the rear and over the nose of Discovery.
 
   Measuring single and dual jet firings, SPIFEX's instruments
characterized the heat and pressure from the jets to help plan for
dockings of the shuttle with the Russia's Mir Space Station and the
International Space Station.  Also, Commander Dick Richards and Jerry
Linenger were interviewed by CNN, answering questions about their
mission that had been sent in by CNN viewers.
 
  For the rest of the day, the focus aboard Discovery shifted back to
laser observations using the Lidar in Space Technology Experment. LITE
will take three successive orbits of observations during the last part of
the crew's day. The crew also will exercise during the last part of the
day, evaluating a new type of treadmill carried aboard Discovery. Exercise
has been a long-standing portion of shuttle missions as one method for
offsetting the effects of weightlessness on the body. 

  On Monday, Sept 12, 1994 at 7 a.m. CST, STS-64 MCC Status Report #6
reports: Investigators are describing some of the data takes with the
Lidar In-Space Technology Experiment, or LITE, as "rich" when compared
to measurements taken by ground and aircraft instruments. LITE is the
first use of a "lidar" system in space.
 
  Information from the Shuttle Plume Impingement Flight Experiment, or
SPIFEX, indicates that all instruments on the 32-foot long extension
of the Discovery's robot arm are in good health and providing high
quality data.  At the end of the days activities, SPIFEX will be
berthed on the starboard side of the payload bay so that the arm will
be available for the deploy and retrieval of the Spartan satellite on
Tuesday. SPIFEX is being used in tests to help engineers characterize
exhaust plumes emitted by the shuttle's steering jets.
 
  Overnight, the Robot Operated Materials Processing System, or ROMPS,
continued its smooth operations. The first U.S. robotics system to be
used in space, ROMPS transports semiconductor samples from storage
racks to halogen lamp furnaces for heating and cooling.
 
  The STS-64 crew began its fourth day in space at 6:23 a.m. CDT with the   
song "Ace in the Hole" by George Strait.           
 
 On Monday, Sept 12, 1994 at 3 p.m. CDT, STS-64 MCC Status Report #7
reports: A variety of observations by the Lidar In-space Technology
Experiment (LITE) marked Discovery's fourth day in orbit, as well as a
few final studies of the shuttle's steering jet exhaust plumes.
 
  LITE completed observations of smoke in the atmosphere above
portions of South America, the sea surface in the mid-Atlantic, clouds
above Central America, and the upper atmosphere above northern Europe.
Observations by the laser radar were made during both daylight and
night passes. Several precisely targeted observations required
Commander Dick Richards to aim the laser by altering Discovery's
orientation, while other sites were surveyed by using a slow rocking
of Discovery to create a sweep with the laser pulses.
 
  Scientists with LITE are delighted with the information obtained
thus far, and a variety of concurrent measurements by ground
instruments and airborne instruments have been recorded.
 
  Earlier today, Mission Specialist Susan J. Helms conducted a few
more tests of exhaust plumes from Discovery's small jets using SPIFEX,
a 32-foot long instrumented boom grasped by the shuttle's mechanical
arm.  However, early in the test session, communications broke off
between the laptop computer aboard Discovery and the experiment's
instruments, causing several low-priority studies to be missed.  The
communications link was restored prior to latching the experiment back
into its cradle along the right edge of Discovery's cargo bay.
 
  SPIFEX has completed the majority of its planned studies, including
all of the studies of heat and pressures from the jet exhausts that
were deemed to be a high priority for the experiment.  The information
will assist in planning future dockings between the shuttle and space
stations.

  At 6:03 p.m. CDT today, Commander Richard N. Richards, along with
Carl J. Meade and Mark C. Lee, the two astronauts who plan to conduct
a spacewalk later in the flight, will be interviewed by a reporter for
Space News.  The interview will be carried live on NASA TV.  The crew
will begin an eight-hour sleep period at 10:23 p.m. central and awaken
at 6:23 a.m.  Tuesday.

 On Tuesday, Sept 13, 1994 at 8 a.m. CDT, STS-64 MCC Status Report #8
reports: The STS-64 crew today prepared to release the Spartan-201
satellite which is expected to spend about 40 hours flying free of
Discovery as it collects information on the Sun and its solar winds.
Following deployment, the orbiter will perform three separation burns
to move it away from Spartan to a station-keeping point about 50 miles
behind. Spartan-201 will then begin its mission to look for evidence
explaining how the solar wind is generated by the Sun.
 
  The solar wind originates in the corona, the outermost atmosphere of
the Sun. Spartan-201- carries two separate telescopes to study the
corona. The White Light Coronagraph measures density distribution of
electrons making up the corona. The other telescope, the Ultraviolet
Coronal Spectrometer investigates the temperatures and distribution of
protons and hydrogen atoms through the layers of the corona. This
information, which will be recorded on board the satellite and
retrieved after landing, will help scientists characterize this part
of the Sun. Spartan will be retrieved on Thursday to be berthed once
again in Discovery's payload bay for the return home.
 
  Overnight, the Robot Operated Materials Processing System continued
to processes semiconductor samples. Fifty-four of the 100 ROMPS
samples have been processed, and controllers are pleased with the
system's performance so far.
 
  Crew members began their fifth day in space at 6:23 a.m. CDT with a
parody of the Beach Boys song "I Get Around" called "We Orbit Round"
by Mach 25. The astronauts' efforts to conserve Discovery's cryogenic
fuels are paying off. Flight controllers in Houston say the outlook
for an additional day in space is promising.
 
 On Tuesday, Sept 13, 1994 at 8 p.m. CDT, STS-64 MCC Status Report #9
reports:  Discovery's crew was given a go to stay in space an
additional day prior to the checkout and deployment of a science
satellite designed to study the Sun's corona.  Later, the crew
continued work with a laser instrument to measure the Earth's
atmosphere and cloud cover.
 
  Mission managers gave the go ahead to extend the mission after evaluating 
electrical power usage thus far.  The latest margins showed electrical 
power consumption is running below pre-flight predictions to provide 
enough hydrogen and oxygen to permit an extra day of science data 
gathering.  The STS-64 mission now is scheduled to conclude with a 
landing September 19 in the early afternoon.
 
  The Spartan satellite was released from Discovery's robot arm at 4:30 
Tuesday afternoon followed closely by three separation maneuvers to 
slowly move the Orbiter away from SPARTAN to a station-keeping point 
about 50 miles behind.  Two orbits after release, the satellite began its 
mission searching for evidence explaining how the solar wind is generated 
by the Sun.  SPARTAN will be retrieved on Thursday to be berthed once 
again in Discovery's payload bay for the return home.
 
  After the deploy, the six crew members began preparations for
continued work with the primary payload aboard the orbiter -- LITE.
The laser device bounces off of the Earth's clouds and atmosphere
providing real- time data on the environment and the effects of human
interaction.
 
  Overnight, the Robot Operated Materials Processing System, or ROMPS,
will continue to process semiconductor samples in canisters mounted on
the side of the payload bay.  The operation is conducted remotely
while the crew sleeps.  Discovery's crew will go to sleep shortly
before 10:30 this evening and wake up tomorrow morning at 6:23 to
begin checkout of spacesuit equipment to be used during Friday's
spacewalk.
 
 On Wednesday, Sept 14, 1994 at 7 a.m. CDT, STS-64 MCC Status Report #10 
reports:  Crew members began their sixth day in space with the song "On
Orbit," sung by Mach 25 to the Green Acres theme. Following the
completion of post-sleep activities, Mission Specialists Carl Meade
and Mark Lee will begin checking out the space suits they will use
during Friday's extravehicular activity.
 
  The six-hour space walk, currently scheduled to begin at about 9:45
a.m.  Central Friday, is designed to test several tools and techniques
that may be used at the International Space Station. Among the tools
is the Simplified Aid for EVA Rescue, or SAFER, a small,
self-contained, propulsive backpack that can provide a free-flying
astronaut control and mobility.  SAFER is designed for self-rescue use
by a space walker in the event the shuttle is unable or unavailable to
retrieve a detached, drifting crew member.
 
   Science activities with the Lidar In-Space Technology Experiment,
or LITE, continued with three data takes. The science activities in
space are being coordinated with concurrent activities on the ground.
Tuesday, 10 different groups from Japan, China, Puerto Rico and the
United States took measurements of the Earth's atmosphere from the
ground at the same time LITE was recording data in space.
 
  SPARTAN-201 is moving out ahead of Discovery, opening at a rate of
3.6 n.m. per hour. Later today, the crew will start maneuvering the
orbiter back toward the science satellite, setting up for its
retrieval on Thursday.  Overnight, flight controllers looked at the
data from Discovery's rendezvous radar which was recording
questionable readings during the deploy operations. Controllers have
concluded that the signatures were the result of the radar's late
acquisition of the satellite, the cause of which is still being
investigated.
 
  The Robot Operated Materials Processing System, or ROMPS, also
continues to process semiconductor samples in canisters mounted on the
side of the payload bay. The operation, conducted remotely while the
crew sleeps, is being characterized by its controllers as "very
successful." So far, 74 of the 100 samples have been processed..

 On Wednesday, Sept 14, 1994 at 5 p.m. CDT, STS-64 MCC Status Report #11 
reports:  Discovery's crew on Wednesday checked out equipment that
will be used during an untethered spacewalk on Friday; continued work
in support of laser mapping of clouds, atmospheric and environmental
conditions; and began the process of catching up with a science
satellite which has been operating free of the Orbiter for two days.

  The two spacesuits were checked out by astronauts Mark Lee, Carl
Meade and Jerry Linenger and are ready to support the spacewalk on
Friday.  They also tested the small jet pack that will be used to fly
free of the Shuttle without tethers for the first time in 10 years.
Also tested was an electronic checklist that fits on the forearm of
the astronauts to provide computer data on various aspects of the
spacewalk.  While Lee and Meade are in the payload bay, Linenger will
assist with the choreography from inside the Shuttle.

  Today, science activities with the Lidar In-Space Technology
Experiment, or LITE, continued with three data takes.  The science
activities in space are being coordinated with concurrent activities
on the ground.  The astronauts also began targeting Discovery for a
rendezvous and retrieval of the SPARTAN satellite deployed Tuesday.
The furthest distance the two reached prior to beginning the
rendezvous was 60 nautical miles.  Two small firings of the thruster
jets on the Orbiter were conducted today and the closing rate was
about one nautical mile per orbit.

  Flight controllers spent the day discussing options for rendezvous
in the event the Orbiter's radar system was unavailable during the
final stages of the rendezvous profile tomorrow.  The system did not
lock on to the satellite until about an hour after deploy.  The
problem has not yet been explained.  The rendezvous options without
the radar system include using the ground navigation data as well as
using Discovery's on board star trackers.  Though these procedures are
not as precise and would require slightly more propellant than normal,
the propellant margins are adequate to support a "no-radar" rendezvous
and the crew and flight control teams are trained for just such a
scenario.

  The Robot Operated Materials Processing System (ROMPS) continues to
process semiconductor samples in canisters mounted on the side of the
payload bay. The operation, conducted remotely while the crew sleeps
has so far processed 78 of the 100 samples planned for the mission.

 On Thursday, Sept 15, 1994 at 7 a.m. CDT, STS-64 MCC Status Report #12 
reports:  Discovery is slowly closing in on Spartan-201 as the STS-64 
crew prepares to retrieve the science satellite later today.  Spartan-201 
was deployed from Discovery's payload bay Tuesday for about 48 hours of 
data collection on the solar wind and the Sun's corona.
 
  With Spartan's science operations nearing completion, crew members
will fire Discovery's steering jets several times catch up with the
satellite. Once Spartan is within the orbiter's each, Mission
Specialist Susan Helms will use the robot arm to grab the satellite
about 3:47 p.m. CDT and secure it in the payload bay for return home.
The information gathered during the free-flying operations will be
analyzed by scientists post flight.
 
  Later today, space-walking astronauts Carl Meade and Mark Lee will
perform an abbreviated pre-breathing protocol in preparation of
Friday's extravehicular activity. The protocol helps clean nitrogen
from the blood of the EVA astronauts before they venture outside the
crew cabin, thus preventing the condition known as "the bends."  At
5:23 a.m., flight controllers awakened crew members with the song
"Hound Dog" by Elvis Presley.
 
 On Thursday, Sept 15, 1994 at 12 noon CDT, STS-64 MCC Status Report #13 
reports:  Discovery is closing in on the Spartan-201 satellite, aiming 
for a capture of the satellite at about 3:47 p.m. central time.  Spartan 
will have spent a total of almost 48 hours flying free from the shuttle 
and performing its observations of the sun. 

  Discovery's final approach toward Spartan will begin with a Terminal
Phase Initiation, or TI, burn at about 1:44 p.m., when Discovery is
about 8 nautical miles behind the satellite.  Shortly before that
engine firing, Mission Specialist Susan Helms will power up the
shuttle's mechanical arm in preparation for the retrieval.

  Commander Dick Richards will take over manual control of Discovery
at about 2:56 p.m. central as the shuttle closes to within a mile of
the satellite.  Flying with Discovery's aft flight deck controls,
Richards will maneuver the shuttle to within 45 feet of Spartan so
Helms can use the arm to lock on to the satellite, predicted to occur
at about 3:47 p.m.  central.  Discovery's rendezvous radar system has
been activated and is currently tracing the Spartan as the shuttle
closes in.

  Earlier today, the crew decreased Discovery's cabin pressure to 10.2
pounds per square inch as part of preparations for tomorrow's planned
spacewalk by Mark Lee and Carl Meade.  The lower pressure, along with
about 25 minutes Lee and Meade spent breathing pure oxygen, assists in
purging nitrogen from the astronauts' bloodstreams to avoid a
condition commonly called the bends when they encounter the 4.3 psi
spacesuit pressure.

   On Thursday, Sept 15, 1994 at 7 p.m. CDT, STS-64 MCC Status Report #14 
reports: Space Shuttle Discovery and its crew of six astronauts successfully
retrieved the Spartan 201 satellite Thursday afternoon, bringing the
science satellite into the orbiter's cargo bay after two days of
independent science research into solar activity. 

   Mission specialist Susan Helms used the Shuttle's mechanical arm to
grapple the satellite and bring it into its latches.  Discovery's
rendezvous radar, which had given some earlier problem indication when
Spartan was deployed on Tuesday, performed well during the final
rendezvous phase.

   Earlier today, the cabin pressure in Discovery was reduced to 10.2
PSI in preparation for Friday's spacewalk.  Astronauts Mark C. Lee and
Carl J. Meade will exit the orbiter's airlock Friday morning for a
six-hour EVA to test of a device designed as a rescue aid or future
spacewalkers who become untethered while working outside their
spacecraft or space station.

 On Friday, Sept 16, 1994 at 7 a.m. CDT, STS-64 MCC Status Report #15 
reports:  Mission Specialists Carl J. Meade and Mark C. Lee are getting ready
to venture out of Discovery's crew cabin this morning to spend six
hours testing a new propulsive backpack.

  Called SAFER for Simplified Aid For EVA Rescue, the backpack is designed
for use in the event a crew member inadvertently becomes untethered while
conducting an extravehicular activity. During today's space walk, Meade
and Lee will take turns testing the cap abilities of the unit by
performing four specific test sequences. 

  The first sequence gives the operator an opportunity to become
familiar with the device before attempting the other
demonstrations. Once the space walker is familiar with the unit, the
engineering evaluation will begin. For that test, the space walker
will fly several short translational and rotational sequences. Next, a
self-rescue demonstration will take place. In it, one space walker
will stand in the foot restraint at the end of Discovery's mechanical
arm and impart a series of rotations to the SAFER space walker. The
SAFER space walker will then activate the unit's attitude control
system to stop the rotation and fly back to the end of the arm. The
fourth test, a flight qualities evaluation, will have the space walker
fly a precise trajectory that will follow the bent mechanical arm,
demonstrating the kind of precision translation that might be needed
at the International Space Station.

  Preparations for the space walk began shortly after 7 a.m. CDT. At about
8:36 a.m., Meade and Lee will begin a 50-minute period of breathing
pure oxygen in their space suits to cleanse the nitrogen from their blood
before depressurizing the airlock. The two space walkers will step out
of the airlock at about at 9:43 a.m. 

  Today's EVA follows on the heels of Thursday's successful retrieval of the
Spartan-201 satellite. Mission Specialist Susan Helms used Discovery's
robot arm to capture the satellite and secure it in the payload bay for
return home. Throughout the rendezvous, Discovery's radar system
performed well. 

  The STS-64 payloads also are performing well. Operations with the Lidar
In-Space Technology Experiment continued with four hours of data
recording, including readings taken over Super Typhoon Melissa. The
payload community also reported that the Robot Operated Materials
Processing System has completed its crystal growth activities for the
flight. 

 On Friday, Sept 16, 1994 at 5:30 p.m. CDT, STS-64 MCC Status Report
#16 reports: Astronauts Mark Lee and Carl Meade today successfully
completed the first untethered U.S. space walk in a decade, trying out
a new rescue aid for astronauts who might float free from their
spacecraft.  The spacewalk or EVA lasted 6 hours 51 minutes and was
the 28th in the Space Shuttle program.
 
  Lee and Meade exited the airlock mid-morning Friday and conducted
several tests of the SAFER, the Simplified Aid for EVA Rescue, while
untethered in Discovery's cargo bay.  Astronaut Jerry Linenger
assisted his crewmates from inside the spacecraft and Susan Helms
maneuvered Discovery's robot arm for the procedures.
 
  Saturday is the bonus day on orbit for STS-64, added when mission
managers determined that onboard supplies were sufficient to get one
more day of science operations.  Additional runs are planned of the
Shuttle Plume Impingement Flight Experiment or SPIFEX which looks at
the effect of shuttle jet firings on other space structures, and the
Lidar in Space Technology Experiment or LITE to study the atmosphere.

 On Sunday, Sept 18, 1994 at 3 p.m CDT, STS-64 MCC Status Report #20
reports: Although the primary scientific package aboard Discovery
continued to observe Earth's climate for a few more hours, the crew of
shuttle mission STS-64 began packing its bags Sunday afternoon for the
trip home Monday. Commander Richard N. Richards and Pilot L. Blaine Hammond 
performed standard day-before-landing checks of Discovery today and
found their spacecraft in good health. One of the 38 steering jets on
Discovery did malfunction during a test firing, but the jet is not
needed for the return to Earth and has been shut off.

  The Lidar in Space Technology Experiment, or LITE, laser radar instrument
was scheduled to make several more observations of Earth tonight. The
other experiments aboard Discovery, all of them having gathered as much or
more data than originally planned, are complete. 

 On Monday, Sept 19, 1994 at 7 a.m. CDT, STS-64 MCC Status Report #21
reports:  Flight controllers are keeping an eye on weather at in
Florida and California while the STS-64 crew prepares Discovery for
the trip home after spending almost 10 full days in orbit.
 
  Overnight, the Lidar In-Space Technology Experiment wrapped up its
operations for the mission following a special data take over an
erupting volcano in New Guinea. Throughout the flight, LITE has
emitted around 2 million laser pulses from the instruments in
Discovery's payload bay and collected around 45 hours of data.
 
  Crew members, who awakened to the song "Yakkety Yak" by the
Coasters," will begin their final deorbit preparations at about 8:23
a.m.  CDT.

 On Monday, Sept 19, 1994 at 3 p.m. CDT, STS-64 MCC Status Report #22
reports: Flight controllers opted to have Discovery spend an extra day
in orbit hoping for clear Florida weather on Tuesday after today's
landing opportunities to the Kennedy Space Center were thwarted by
thunderstorms and low, thick clouds.
 
  The crew spent the last portion of today preparing the shuttle for
an extra night in orbit. The crew will begin an eight-hour sleep
period at 8:23 p.m.  CDT and awaken at 4:23 a.m. CDT Tuesday.
 
  For Tuesday, Discovery has four landing opportunities -- two to Florida
early in the afternoon and two to Edwards Air Force Base, Calif., in the
late afternoon. Kennedy Space Center is the preferred landing site and all
activities will be aimed toward the first opportunity to land at KSC with
a deorbit engine firing at 12:12 p.m. CDT, on the flight's 174th orbit,
followed by a touchdown at 1:12 p.m. CDT. A second opportunity to land in
Florida would begin with a 1:45 p.m. CDT deorbit burn and result in a 2:45
p.m. CDT touchdown. 
 
  The Tuesday forecast for Florida calls for conditions similar to
today's with possible rain showers in the vicinity of the landing
site. If weather again prohibits a landing at KSC Tuesday, flight
controllers will likely attempt a landing in California. The forecast
for Edwards Air Force Base calls for excellent landing weather
Tuesday.
 
  Tuesday's opportunities for landing in California begin with a deorbit
burn by Discovery at 3:16 p.m. CDT on the flight's 176th orbit leading to
a touchdown at 4:13 p.m. CDT at Edwards. A second opportunity would have
Discovery fire its engines at 4:50 p.m. CDT to begin its descent and touch
down at 5:46 p.m. CDT at Edwards. 
 
 On Tuesday, Sept 20, 1994 at 7 a.m. CDT, STS-64 MCC Status Report #23
reports: The STS-64 crew awakened at 4:23 a.m. CDT to the sounds of
chirping birds and a crowing rooster and a medley of cartoon theme
songs including Woody Woodpecker. The astronauts spent the morning
configuring the orbiter for landing operations that will bring
Discovery back to Earth, ending the 11-day mission.
 
  Discovery has four landing opportunities today -- two to Florida in the 
early afternoon and two to Edwards Air Force Base, Calif., in the late 
opportunity involves a deorbit engine firing at 12:11 p.m. CDT, on the 
flight's 174th orbit, followed by a touchdown at 1:11 p.m. CDT. A second 
opportunity would begin with a 1:45 p.m. CDT deorbit burn and result in a 
2:45 p.m. CDT Florida touchdown.
 
  The opportunities for a landing at Edwards begin on the 176th orbit with a
deorbit burn at 3:14 p.m. CDT and touchdown at 4:11 p.m. CDT. A second
opportunity would have Discovery fire its engines at 4:50 p.m.  CDT and
touchdown at 5:46 p.m. CDT. 
 
  Weather forecasters are predicting the possibility of low clouds and
precipitation for the landing area in Florida, but excellent weather in
California. 
 
<end of mission>

Mission Name: STS-68 (65)
  Endeavour (7) 
  Pad 39-A (52) 
  65th Shuttle Mission
  7th Flight OV-105
  8th Rollback
  RSLS Abort after SSME Ignition (5)
  EAFB Landing (42)

Crew:
  Michael A. Baker (3), Commander
  Terrence W. Wilcutt (1), Pilot
  Thomas D. Jones (2), Payload Commander
  Steven L. Smith (1), Mission Specialist 1
  Daniel W. Bursch (2), Mission specialist 2
  Peter J.K. Wisoff (2), Mission Specialist 3

Milestones:
   Flow A:
     OPF -- 5/03/94
     VAB -- 7/21/94
     PAD -- 7/27/94
  Flow B (rollback):
     VAB -- 8/24/94
     PAD -- 9/13/94

Payload:
  SRL-2, CPCG, BRIC, CHROMEX, CREAM, MAST, GAS(x5)

Mission Objectives:
   During the 10 day mission, the Space Radar Laboratory (SRL) payload
in Endeavour's cargo bay will make its second flight.  The SRL
payload, which first flew during STS-59 in April 1994, will again give
scientists highly detailed information that will help them distinguish
between human-induced environmental changes and other natural forms of
change.  

   SRL-2 will take radar images of the Earth's surface for Earth system 
sciences studies, including geology, geography, hydrology, oceanography, 
agronomy and botany.  

        The SRL payload is comprised of the Spaceborne Imaging
Radar-C/X-Band Synthetic Aperture Radar (SIR-C/X-SAR), and
the Measurement of Air Pollution from Satellite (MAPS).  The
German Space Agency (DARA) and the Italian Space Agency (ASI)
are providing the X-SAR instrument.

    The imaging radar of the SIR-C/X-SAR instruments has the
ability to make measurements over virtually any region at any
time, regardless of weather or sunlight conditions.  The
radar waves can penetrate clouds, and under certain
conditions, also can "see" through vegetation, ice and
extremely dry sand.  In many cases, radar is the only way
scientists can explore inaccessible regions of the Earth's
surface.

     The SIR-C/X-SAR radar data provide information about how
many of Earth's complex systems - those processes that control
the movement of land, water, air and life - work together to
make this a livable planet.  The science team particularly
wants to study the amount of vegetation coverage, the extent
of snow packs, wetlands areas, geologic features such as rock
types and their distribution, volcanic activity, ocean wave
heights and wind speed.  STS-68 will fly over the same sites
that STS-59 observed so that scientists will be able to study
seasonal changes that may have occurred in those areas
between the missions.

     An international team of 49 science investigators and
three associates will conduct the SIR-C/X-SAR experiments.
Thirteen nations are represented:  Australia, Austria,
Brazil, Canada, China, the United Kingdom, France, Germany,
Italy, Japan, Mexico, Saudi Arabia and the United States.

     The MAPS experiment will measure the global distribution
of carbon monoxide in the troposphere, or lower atmosphere.
Measurements of carbon monoxide, an important element in
several chemical cycles, provide scientists with indications
of how well the atmosphere can cleanse itself of "greenhouse
gases," chemicals that can increase the atmosphere's
temperature.

    STS-68 provided a continuation of NASA's Get Away
Special (GAS) experiments program.  The project gives a
person or organization a chance to perform experiments in
space on a Shuttle mission.  Two universities, North Carolina
A&T State University and University of Alabama in Huntsville,
and the Swedish Space Corp., Soina, Sweden, will have small
self-contained payloads flying during the STS-68  mission.
Other GAS hardware in Endeavour's payload bay will carry
500,000 commemorative stamps for the U.S. Postal Service in
recognition of the 25th anniversary of the Apollo 11 Moon
landing.

     Other payloads aboard Endeavour include the Biological
Research in Canister (BRIC) which will fly for the first
time, and the Military Applications of Ship Tracks (MAST)
which will be making its second flight.  BRIC experiments,
sponsored by NASA's Office of Life and Microgravity Sciences
and Applications, are designed to examine the effects of
microgravity on a wide range of physiological processes in
higher order plants and arthropod animals (e.g., insects,
spiders, centipedes, crustaceans).  MAST is an experiment
sponsored by the Office of Naval Research (ONR) and is part
of a five-year research program developed by ONR to examine
the effects of ships on the marine environment.

     The Commercial Protein Crystal Growth (CPCG) experiment,
the Chromosome and Plant Cell Division in Space Experiment
(CHROMEX) and the Cosmic Radiation Effects and Activation
Monitor (CREAM) experiment also will be carried aboard
Endeavour.

Launch:  
  Launch September 30, 1994 at 7:16:00.068am EDT from Kennedy Space
Center Launch Pad 39-A. The Launch window opened at 7:16am EDT with a
2 hour 30 minute window.  Orbiter weight at liftoff was 247,129 lbs
including payload.  Total vehicle weight was 4,510,392lbs.  Payload
liftoff weight 27,582lbs.  Main Engine Cutoff (MECO) was at an 
Apogee of 115nm and a Perigee of 28nm at MET of 8min 35sec with 
Endeavour traveling at 25,779 feet per second.  No OMS-1 burn was
required.  OMS-2 burn was 1min 42sec (164 fps) at MET 33 min.

  The launch was originally scheduled August 18, 1994, but there was a
Redundant Sequence Launch Sequencer (RSLS) abort at T-1.9 sec after
all 3 main engines ignited.  This is the fifth time in the shuttle
program where an RSLS abort has occured after main engine ignition.
Previous aborts have occured on 41-D, 51-F, STS-55 and STS-51 .  The
automatic abort was initiated by the onboard General Purpose Computers
(GPC) when the discharge temperature on MPS SSME Main Engine #3 High
Pressure Oxidizer Turbopump (HPOT) exceeded its redline value.  The
HPOT typically operates at 28,120 rpm and boosts the liquid oxygen
pressure from 422 psia to 4,300 psia.  There are 2 sensor channels
measuring temperature on the HPOT.  The B channel indicated a redline
condition while the other was near redline conditions.  The
temperature at shutdown was at 1563 degrees R. while a normal HPOT
discharge temperature is around 1403 degrees R.  The readline limit to
initiatate a shutdown is at 1560 degrees R.  This limit increases to
1760 degrees R. at T-1.3 sec (5.3 sec after Main Engine Start). Main
Engine #3 (SN 2032) has been used on 2 previous flights with 2,412
seconds of hot-fire time and a total of 8 starts.  This was the first
flight for the HPOT on Main Engine (SSME) #3.

  A new launch date was set for early October and then moved up to
late September.  The procedure that has been used on previous aborts
treats an RSLS abort after SSME ignition as a launch and to require a
complete engine reinspection.  A rollback of Endeavour to the VAB was
done on 8/24/94.  Afterwards, Endeavour SSME's were removed and
inspected.  Three flight certified SSME's (removed from the Atlantis
STS-66 mission) were installed on Endeavour and then Endeavour was
rolled back to the launch September 13, 1994.  SSME #3 was
shipped to the Stennis Space Center in Mississippi for test stand
firing over the Labor day weekend (9/5/94).

  Transatlantic Abort Landing (TAL) sites for the initial launch
attempt were Zaragoza, Spain, Moron, Spain and Ben Guerir, Morocco.
Abort Once Around landing site was White Sands Space Harbor, N.M.

Orbit:
  Altitude:  120 nm
  Inclination:  57 degrees
  Orbits:  182
  Duration:   11 days, 5 hours, 46 minutes,  8 seconds. 
  Distance:  4,703,216 miles

Hardware:
(Flow A)
  SRB: BI-067
  SRM: 360W040
  ET :  65/LWT-58
  MLP: 1 
  SSME-1: SN-2012
  SSME-2: SN-2034
  SSME-3: SN-2032
(Flow B)
  SRB: BI-067
  SRM: 360W040
  ET :  65/LWT-58
  MLP: 1
  SSME-1: SN-2028
  SSME-2: SN-2033
  SSME-3: SN-2026

Landing:  
  Landing October 11, 1994 1:02:09pm EDT.  Edwards Air Force Base
concrete Runway 22.  Endeavour did an OMS deorbit burn at
12:09 pm EDT about 4,600 miles from the landing strip at Edwards Air
Force Base.  The burn lasted 2 min 17 sec which lowered Endeavour's
velocity 232 ft/sec.  Astronaut John Casper flew the shuttle training
aircraft at Edwards and said the weather was clear with light winds.
Approach was from the south west with a right overhead turn of 
280 degrees.  Nose wheel stop at 13:02:21 EDT.  Wheel stop at 1:03:08 
EDT.  Rollout was approximately 8,495 feet down the runway.  Landing 
speed at main touchdown was approximately 265mph.  Orbiter landing 
weight was 222,026lbs.  Payload Landing weight was 27,582lbs.  

  Landing was originally scheduled for KSC, October 11, 1994 at 11:36
a.m. EDT.  The KSC landing attempts on 10/11/94 were waived off due to
cloud cover over the Shuttle Landing Facility.  

Mission Highlights:
 On Friday, September 30, 1994 at 9 a.m. CST, STS-68 MCC Status Report
#1 reports: The Flight Control team in Houston gave the "Go for Orbit
Operations" just before 8 a..m.  The crew then began setting up the
experiment and systems hardware aboard Endeavour. The primary payload
on this flight is the Space Radar Laboratory (SRL-2), making its
second flight to study the Earth's environment.

  Experiment operations will be conducted around the clock on this
flight, with the astronauts divided into two teams. Commander Michael
A. Baker, pilot Terrence W. Wilcutt and mission specialist Peter J.K.
Wisoff are the "red team."  Mission specialists Daniel W. Bursch, 
Thomas D. Jones and Steven L. Smith are the "blue team."

 On Friday, September 30, 1994 at 5 p.m. CDT, STS-68 MCC Status Report #2 
reports:  Shortly after 4 p.m. today, flight controllers reported
that the on-orbit checkout of the Spaceborne Imaging Radar (SIR-C) and
the Synthetic Aperture Radar (X-SAR) had been completed, and that the
primary SRL-2 instruments were ready for operation. Throughout the
checkout, data takes were recorded over a number of sites, including
Raco, Michigan; Bermuda; Bebedouro, Brazil; the Northeast Pacific
Ocean and the Juan de Fuca Strait, between the United States and
Canada.

  In addition to the prime payload, Wilcutt also activated the
Commercial Protein Crystal Growth Experiment, the Cosmic Radiation
Effects and Activation Monitor, and checked on the mouse-ear cress
seedlings growing in the CHROMEX-05 experiment. The crew successfully
engineered an in-flight maintenance procedure to get additional
cooling air to the CPCG apparatus after higher than desired
temperatures were noted by crystal growth sensors.

 On Saturday, October 1, 1994 at 9 a.m. CDT, STS-68 MCC Status Report #3 
reports: Environmental studies continued throughout Saturday
morning aboard Endeavour as six astronauts working around the clock in
two shifts assisted the Space Radar Laboratory science team on the
ground with real-time observations from space.

  While Commander Mike Baker and Pilot Terry Wilcutt made attitude
adjustments of the orbiter to assist in precisely pointing the radar
systems, Mission Specialist Jeff Wisoff provided running commentary
and tape recording assistance for the many ground sites as Endeavour
passed overhead at an altitude of 119 nautical miles. The STS-68
mission's three other crew members -- Steve Smith, Dan Bursch and Tom
Jones -- perform the same duties on the opposite shift, beginning at
about 4:30 this afternoon.

  Late Friday night, Tom Jones sent down some video of a volcano
erupting in Kamchatka.  The experiment scientists reported the volcano
began erupting a couple of weeks ago, but the latest "burst" from the
Kliuchevskoi (pronounced clue-chev-skoy) volcano occurred about eight
hours after Endeavour's 6:16 a.m. launch Friday.

  The SRL team is planning a series of data takes using the radar
equipment as Endeavour moves over that area of the world. Those images
will be compared with similar radar images gathered during the STS-59
mission in April, prior to the volcanic activity.  Other radar data
gathering of the Earth's surface today included the desert regions of
Africa, both the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans and mountainous regions
of the East and West coasts of the United States.

  Early Saturday, Mike Baker sent down a short video tape of smudges
and streaks he noticed shortly after launch on several of the forward
flight deck windows.  None of the streaks would hamper visual
observations during entry and landing slated for Monday, Oct. 10.

 On Sunday, October 2, 1994 at 9 a.m. CDT, STS-68 MCC Status Report #4
reports: Radar data gathering today included forest areas of North
Carolina, ocean current patterns in the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans,
desert areas in Africa, and mountainous regions of the East and West
coasts of the United States.

 On Monday, October 3, 1994 at 10 a.m. CDT, STS-68 MCC Status Report #5 
reports: Endeavour's Space Radar Laboratory equipment continued to
search the Earth's land masses and oceans for environmental changes
that have occurred since the last SRL mission in April.

  The Red Team of Mike Baker, Terry Wilcutt and Jeff Wisoff will be on
duty throughout much of the day while the Blue Team of Steve Smith,
Dan Bursch and Tom Jones sleeps.  Radar data gathering today included
much of the East Coast of the United States, current patterns in the
Atlantic and Pacific Oceans as well as other bodies of water, desert
areas in Africa, and mountainous regions around the world.

  Mission Specialist Jeff Wisoff pinpointed storms, lightning and
fires and relayed the information to the SRL science team.  His
observations help correlate and corroborate data collected from the
science instruments, including the Measurement of Air Pollu tion by
Satellite, which measures carbon monoxide levels in the atmosphere.

  Taking such measurements on this flight helps understand changes in
the distribution of carbon monoxide as well as other seasonal changes
in the environment that have occurred since Endeavour's last mission
in April.

 On Monday, October 3, 1994 at 5 p.m. CDT, STS-68 MCC Status Report #6
reports: Endeavour's payload bay cameras sent to Earth damatic video
of the western coast of Oregon and the length of California and the
Baha Peninsula that scientists will compae with radar images
downlinked from Space Radar Laboratory-2 instruments earlier in the
flight.  The observations were part of a continuing effort to watch
the Earth below for evidence of environmental changes that have
occurred since the last SRL mission in April. The overall goal of the
mission to better understand the differences in changes caused by
natural processes and compare them to changes brought about by human
activity.  Radar data was recorded today over much of the East Coast
of the United States, the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, Manitoba,
Canada, and French Guyana.

  Special readings were taken with the Measurement of Air Pollution by
Satellite instrument as intentionally set fires were monitored by
scientists from the University of Iowa and the Canadian Forest
Service.  The wind field and thermal evolution of the fires will be
analyzed to provide a better interpretation of carbon monoxide
emissions from the burning forest and to help calibrate color
infreared photography taken by the STS-68 crew.  These fires were
planned in advance of the mission, and would have been set for forest
management purposes even if the shuttle mission were not in progress.

  Astronauts relayed information about storms, lightning, fires and
clear cutting to the SRL science team that will be used to help
understand the radar images and MAPS data on carbon monoxide levels in
the atmosphere.

 On Tuesday, October 4, 1994 at 9 a.m. CDT, STS-68 MCC Status Report #7 
reports: STS-68 crew members this morning performed two slight
maneuvers to fine tune Endeavour's orbit to mirror its track on the
first Space Radar Laboratory mission to support a new experiment
called interferometry.  The trim burns adjust the orbit to within 30
feet of where it was in April which will allow scientists to make near
identical measurements with the radar equipment to develop a three
dimensional comparison of environmental changes during the six months
separating the two missions -- STS-59 and STS-68.

 On Tuesday, October 4, 1994 at 5 p.m. CDT, STS-68 MCC Status Report #8 
reports: Space Radar Laboratory-2 scientists adjusted their
observation plans to take advantage of an opportunity to train their
instruments on the islands of Japan following a Tuesday night
earthquake there. Endeavour passed over the Sarobetsu, Japan,
calibration site about 3:30 p.m. CDT, and the Synthetic Aperture Radar
sent down real-time data of the area below, allowing scientists to
look for changes in the coastline of the islands that may have been
due to the large tsunami waves associated with the quake. The
Spaceborne Imaging Radar also recorded data on the area.

  STS-68 crew members continued to perform slight maneuvers to fine
tune Endeavour's orbit to intersect its track on the SRL-1 mission to
support a new experiment called interferometry. The trim burns
adjusted the orbit to within 30 feet of where it was in April as it
passed over the Mammoth Mountain, Calif., backup supersite. This
should allow scientists to make nearly identical measurements with the
radar equipment to develop a three dimensional comparison of
environmental changes during the six months separating STS-59 and
STS-68.

  Radar images over the Sahara desert and the North Atlantic will help
scientists evaluate global changes and how they affect the climates in
other areas of the world.

  Also today, Payload Commander Tom Jones discussed the significance
of radar systems and the Earth's environment in an interview with
ABC's Good Morning America.  Mission Specialist Jeff Wisoff discussed
the mission with CONUS Communications Syndicate affiliates WTKR-TV in
his hometown of Norfolk, Va., and the All-News Channel in Minneapolis.

 On Wednesday, October 5, 1994 at 8 a.m. CDT, STS-68 MCC Status Report #9 
reports: Space Radar Laboratory scientists received some images of
Japan, near the location of Monday nights earthquake, but any
evidence of the natural disaster was not immediately noticeable.
Other radar observations during the night included studies of other
volcanoes including Mt. Pinatubo in the Phillipines, Cotopaxi in
Ecuador, and Teide in the Canary Islands.

  Radar images recently processed on the ground were images of
Pasadena, Ca., with ample clarity to allow the the Rose Bowl to be
distinguishable, and images of Washington State and Yellowstone
National Park, both showing scars from forest fires.

  During the night, the crew reported a missing thermal tile around
one of the overhead windows of the orbiter.  The tile apparently came
off recently since crew members look out the window often to perform
the visual observations that accompany radar operations.  Flight
controllers report that, while the tile is missing, the underlying
thermal blanket is still intact.

  Astronaut Linda Godwin, who served as the payload commander on the
first Space Radar Laboratory mission in April, briefed the crew from
the payload control room about 4:30 a.m. Wednesday, commemorating the
tenth anniversary of Challenger's 41-G mission, which carried the
Spaceborne Imaging Radar (SIR-B) and the Measurement of Air Pollution
by Satellite (MAPS).  She also noted the first flight aboard a Shuttle
of that radar-imaging equipment on Columbia in November 1981.

 On Wednesday, October 5, 1994 at 4 p.m. CDT, STS-68 MCC Status Report #10 
reports: Mission to Planet Earth observations by Endeavour's
payload bay radar instruments were being suspended temporarily
Wednesday afternoon to save fuel while flight controllers work to fix
a minor problem involving the shuttle's small reaction control system
jets.

  One of the small rocket engines which help control the pointing of
the Shuttle was turned off because of a temperature sensor problem.
That caused all of the vernier jets, used for delicate pointing
control, to be turned off and the larger steering jets to be used.
The flight control team late Wednesday decided to allow the Shuttle's
pointing to vary over a wider range to save thruster fuel while the
initial problem was being addressed.  A software change which will
disregard the failed temperature sensor should be in place within 24
hours.  Radar operations will be resumed once the update is made.

  The radar instruments earlier Wednesday collected images over the
Kliuchevskoi volcano in Kamchatka, Russia, which erupted about 8 hours
after Endeavour's launch Friday.  Images also were collected over
Yellowstone National Park, Wyo.; Chickasha, Okla.; Ruiz, Columbia;
Cuprito, Nevada; Colima, Mexico; the Galopagos Islands and San Juan,
Argentina. Observations with the Measurement of Air Pollution from
Satellite were taken, with one particular target being line fires in
British Columbia, Canada.

 On Thursday, October 6, 1994 at 8 a.m. CDT, STS-68 MCC Status Report #11 
reports: Endeavour's small steering jets are now back in
continuous operation and Space Radar Laboratory observations are
continuing on schedule after Mission Control sent a software update to
the shuttle about 3:30 a.m. today.

  The software patch accommodated a failed temperature sensor in one
of the vernier jets and allows Endeavours onboard computers to
track the operation of the jet via a second sensor located near the
failed sensor.  While the patch was being developed and tested in
simulators, observations by the Space Radar Laboratory continued at a
reduced pace.

  These small jets were used only when Mission Control had solid,
stable communications with the orbiter when ground controllers could
monitor the jet firings.  The jets were turned off when communications
with the shuttle were unavailable or intermittent, a common occurrence
during standard shuttle operations.

  The observations using the radar systems that were missed while the
software patch was being put in place, had been performed at least
once previously during the mission and are scheduled for observation
again later in the flight.  SRL scientists say the impact of the
temporary pause is minimal on the scientific investigations under way.

  One observation completed during the night was of a controlled oil
spill in the North Sea designed to test the radar's ability to
discern oil spills from the naturally produced film caused by fish and
plankton in the water.  In addition to the 106 gallons of diesel oil
placed in the water, 26 gallons of algae products were placed in the
water nearby for radar comparison.  The ground team expected to have
the oil spill cleaned up within about two hours using oil-recovery
ships in the area.  The experiment was conducted to prove the
usefulness of radar systems to more rapidly detect spills allowing
quicker clean up.

 On Thursday, October 6, 1994 at 5 p.m. CDT, STS-68 MCC Status Report #12 
reports: Endeavour's astronauts this afternoon sent down
spectacular videotape views of the west coast of California recorded
as the shuttle passed about 115 nautical miles overhead on its 103rd
orbit. The scenes covered the San Joaquin Valley, San Francisco Bay,
Monterey Bay, Los Angeles, Vandenberg Air Force Base and San Diego
Bay.
 
  During the next few days, scientists will test a new technique
called "interferometry" as the earth observations data collection
continues. The technique is expected to yield topographic information
of unprecedented clarity by using slightly different shuttle positions
to provide three-dimensional images of the terrain below.
 
  Among the Space Radar Laboratory observations today were the North
Sea, where scientists intentionally released small oil and algae
spills to see how well the SRL-2 instruments could track them, as well
as observations of Bebedouro, Brazil; the Western and Northeast
Pacific Ocean; Chickasha, Oklahoma; the Gulf of Mexico; Ruiz,
Colombia; Sena Madureira, Brazil; Weddell Sea; the Kliuchevskoi
Volcano in Kamchatmka; Stovepipe Wells, California; and the Galapagos
Islands.
 
  Earlier today, the Mission Management Team extended STS-68 by one
day to allow additional science. Endeavour is now expected to land at
the Kennedy Space Center at about 10:36 a.m. Tuesday.

  The orbiter continues to perform well. The only problem reported
during the day was the failure of a primary reaction control system
jet. The jet problem is not expected to have any effect on the mission
since the orbiter has two other jets thrusting in the same direction.

 On Friday, October 7, 1994 at 8 a.m. CDT, STS-68 MCC Status Report #13 
reports: Observations made during the night included the volcano
Merapi on the Indonesian island of Java; Duke Forest in North
Carolina; the Gulf of St.  Lawrence; Sydney, Australia; and the
volcano Mt. Pinatubo in the Philippines.
 
  Tom Jones, the Payload Commander for this second flight of SRL,
spent some time this morning explaining the importance of the radar's
volcanic studies.  Demonstrating with three common types of volcanic
rock, Jones explained how the radar's various frequencies allow it to
map lava and ash flows around volcanoes.  The work one day may lead to
a permanent radar platform in orbit for use in assisting predictions
of impending volcanic eruptions and safeguarding people living near
active volcanoes.
 
   Late Thursday, Endeavour's astronauts sent down spectacular views
of the west coast of California recorded as the shuttle passed about
115 nautical miles overhead on its 103rd orbit.  The scenes included
the San Joaquin Valley, San Francisco, Monterey Bay, Los Angeles,
Vandenberg Air Force Base and San Diego.
  
 On Friday, October 7, 1994 at 5 p.m. CDT, STS-68 MCC Status Report #14 
reports: Astronauts aboard Endeavour and Space Radar Laboratory-2
scientists on the ground today began in earnest to test the new
technique of "interferometry" to produce even richer images of the
Earth's surface.

  From an altitude of 111 nautical miles, the Spaceborne Imaging Radar
and Synthetic Aperture Radar recorded long swaths of interferometric
data over central North America, the Amazon forests of central Brazil,
and the volcanoes of the Kamchatka Peninsula in Russia.

  This morning, Endeavour's orbit was lowered from 117 nautical
miles to 112 nautical miles to support a new technique called
"interferometry."  The technique is expected to yield topographic
information of unprecedented clarity by using slightly different
shuttle positions to provide three- dimensional images of the terrain
below.

  The Measurement of Air Pollution from Satellite experiment also
continues to function well, and the crew's infrared film, used to
provide complementary still images of fires investigated by MAPS, has
been expended. Controlled "line fires" in Ontario, Canada, were set as
planned and observed by the crew in an effort to help calibrate the
MAPS measurements.


 On Saturday, October 8, 1994 at 5 a.m. CDT, STS-68 MCC Status Report #15 
reports: As Endeavour's seventh mission in space reaches the home stretch,
scientific observations turn to the gathering of near three-dimensional
views of various sites around the world to better understand climatic
changes.  The six crew members discussed the mission and the future of
radar observations of the Earth during a news conference this morning. 

  The radar array aboard the shuttle began a series of observations
above volcanoes, glaciers and other sites designed to create 3-D
images.  These spaceborne radar images, produced regularly on a
long-term basis, eventually could provide scientists with insight into
movements of the Earth's surface as small as a fraction of an inch.

  Such close monitoring may allow scientists to detect pre-eruptive
changes in volcanoes and movements in fault lines that precede
earthquakes, providing an early warning of imminent natural hazards.
Other future applications could include tracking the rate of global
warming by monitoring the movement of glaciers and the tracking of
floods and mudslides.

  Earlier this morning, Mission Specialist Dan Bursch took a break
from his work to provide a television tour of the crew's orbital home
office, explaining the shuttle's displays, controls, computers and
cameras, as well as living accommodations.

 On Sunday, October 9, 1994 at 9 a.m. CDT, STS-68 MCC Status Report #16 
reports: It has seemed like deja vu on board Endeavour as the crew
spent much of the last 24 hours precisely repeating many Space Radar
Laboratory observations to provide scientists with duplicate images
for highly accurate three-dimensional maps of volcanoes, glaciers and
other phenomena.

  Overnight, Mission Specialists Jeff Wisoff and Steve Smith replaced
one of three payload recorders which malfunctioned yesterday.  The
procedure, which the two astronauts trained for prior to the mission,
was completed in about an hour and a half.  Although only two of the
payload high data rate recorders were functioning, the planned
observations by the radar lab were not interrupted. The two recorders
alone were sufficient for retaining the radar data obtained during the
overnight shift of astronauts Smith, Dan Bursch and Tom Jones.

  Small engine firings by Endeavour late yesterday aligned the
spacecraft's trajectory to within an estimated 65 feet of what had
been planned when the spacecraft's orbit was lowered on Friday.  This
permits the precise repeat observations by the radar.

  During the night, Bursch and Smith took a break from their
environmental studies to talk with KGO Radio in San Francisco.  The
interview included phone-in questions from area children.

 On Monday, October 10, 1994 at 10 a.m. CDT, STS-68 MCC Status Report #16 
reports: In low Earth orbit, Endeavour's systems are being checked
out today to ensure they are healthy and ready to support landing
Tuesday.  The flight control surfaces will be tested using one of the
hydraulic systems called an Auxiliary Power Unit, and ground station
communications checks will be done.

   Interferometry data gathering with the radar instruments in the
orbiter's payload bay continued throughout the night and morning prior
to the scheduled deactivation of the X- band Synthetic Aperture Radar.
Interferometry will allow scientists to overlay radar images of the
same site taken on successive days forming a three dimensional image
of the Earth's surface.  These topographical images can be used to
create a baseline used to understand the changes in the environmental
and ecological climate around the world.

  Landing of Endeavour remains scheduled for Tuesday morning about
10:36 a.m. CDT.  Two landing opportunities are available at the prime
landing site at Florida's Kennedy Space Center and two are available
in California at the Edwards Air Force Base Facility.

<end of mission>

Mission Name: STS-66 (66)
  Atlantis (13)         
  Pad 39-B (31) 
  66th Shuttle Mission
  13th Flight OV-104 
  EAFB Landing (43)

Crew:
  Donald R. McMonagle (3), Commander
  Curtis L. Brown Jr. (2), Pilot
  Ellen Ochoa (2), Payload Commander
  Scott E. Parazynski, M.D. (1), Mission Specialist
  Joseph R. Tanner (1), Mission Specialist
  Jean-Francois Clervoy (1), Mission Specialist

Milestones:
     OPF -- 5/30/94
     VAB -- 10/3/94 
     PAD -- 10/9/94

Payload:
  ATLAS-03, SSBUV-7, CRISTA-SPAS, ESCAPE-II, PARE/NIR-R, PCG-TES, PCG-STES,
  STL/NIH-C, SAMS, HPP-2

Mission Objectives:
  The Atmospheric Laboratory for Applications and Sciences - 3
(ATLAS-03) is the primary payload aboard STS-66. It will continue the
series of Spacelab flights to study the energy of the sun and how it
affects the Earth's climate and environment.  The ATLAS 3 mission will
make the first detailed measurements from the Shuttle of the Northern
Hemisphere's middle atmosphere in late fall.  The timing of the
flight, when the Antarctic ozone hole is diminishing, allows
scientists to study possible effects of the ozone hole on
mid-latitudes, the way Antarctic air recovers, and how the northern
atmosphere changes as the winter season approaches.

  In addition to the ATLAS-03 investigations, the mission will include
deployment and retrieval of the Cryogenic Infrared Spectrometer
Telescopefor Atmosphere, or CRISTA.  Mounted on the Shuttle Pallet
Satellite, the payload is designed to explore the variability of the
atmosphere and provide measurements that will complement those
obtained by the Upper Atmosphere Research Satellite launched aboard
Discovery in 1991.  CRISTA-SPAS is a joint U.S./German experiment.

  Other payloads in Atlantis cargo bay include the Shuttle Solar 
Backscatter Ultraviolet (SSBUV-7) payload and the Experiment on the 
Sun Complementing ATLAS (ESCAPE-II).  Payloads located in the middeck 
include the Physiological & Anatomical Rodent Experiment (PARE/NIR-R), 
Protein Crystal Growth-Thermal Enclosure (PCG-TES), Protein Crystal Growth-
Single Locker (PCG-STES), Space Tissue Loss/National Institute of Health 
(STL/NIH-C), Space Acceleration Measurement System (SAMS) and the Heat 
Pipe Performance-2 Experiment (HPP-2).

Launch:
  Launch November 3, 1994. 11:59:43.060am EDT from LC-39B.  Launch window was 
from 11:56am EDT to 12:58pm EDT.Window was 1 hr 02 min.  Weather at KSC 
was excellent but a cold front approaching the Iberian Peninsula caused 
weather concerns at the Transatlantic Abort Landing (TAL) sites in Spain 
and Portugal.  Weather at Zaragoza, Spain and Moron, Spain was unacceptable 
for launch but Ben Guerir, Morocco was initially marginal with cross wind 
in excess of 18 knots.  Cross winds were showing a downward trend so the 
count was resumed at the T-9min mark at 11:47am EDT with a plan to 
reaccess the weather situation in Morocco at the T-5min mark.  The countdown 
was held for three minutes and 43 seconds at the T-5 minute mark as 
managers discussed the weather at the transoceanic abort landing sites. 
At T-5min, cross winds were at 14-15 knots and a go was given for launch.

  No significant technical issues were worked throughout the duration of 
the countdown. 	Post launch inspections of the pad reveal no unusual 
damage to the pad surface or the mobile launcher platform.  The solid 
rocket booster retrieval ships have reached the spent boosters. Divers 
have recovered the parachutes and the ships will begin towing the boosters 
back to Port Canaveral later today. 

  Had Atlantis not launched by Monday, it would have been delayed until 
at least November 14 so that Helium in the Cryogenic Infrared Spectrometers 
& Telescope (CCRISTA-SPAS) payload could be replenished.

   The launch was originally scheduled for October 27 but the the need to 
refurbish three more engines for Atlantis after the RSLS abort of the 
initial launch attempt of STS-68 caused a week delay.   Earlier during 
launch processing, on Monday, October 3, 1994 at 10 a.m. CDT, STS-68 
MCC Status Report #5 reports that one of Columbia's windows was removed 
and placed on Atlantis which was found to have a tiny scratch in one 
of the overhead windows.  Other concerns included a check of Atlantis's
plumbing after a water leak onboard Endeavour during the landing of STS-68 
on October 11, 1994.

Orbit:
  Altitude:  164nm
  Inclination:  57 degrees
  Orbits:  174
  Duration:   10 days,  22 hours, 34 minutes,  2 seconds. 
  Distance:  4,554,791 miles

Hardware:
  SRB: BI-069
  SRM: 360L/W038
  ET :  SN-67
  MLP: 3
  SSME-1: SN-2030
  SSME-2: SN-2034
  SSME-3: SN-2017

Landing:  
  11/14/94 at 10:33:45am EST. Edwards Air Force Base Runway 22.  Landing 
was originally scheduled for KSC but was diverted to California due to 
high winds, rain and clouds caused by Tropical Storm Gordon.  Fourth 
diverted landing in 1994 and third in a row. 43rd landing at Edwards.  Main 
wheel touchdown at 10:33:45 EST, Nose wheel touchdown at 10:33:56 and wheel 
stop at 10:34:34.  Rollout distance 7,657 feet (2,334 meters).  
Rollout time: 49 seconds.

  APU #1 was requested shutdown shortly after landing due to fuel line
temperature fluxuations.  All other post landing activites were
normal.  Mission Control requested the Ammonia Boiler B to be
activated at 10:38am EST.  This is a normal procedure anytime the
orbiter avionics need to loose excess heat beyond what can be done by
cold soaking before deorbit.
 
  Planned KSC landing on 11/14/94 at 7:31 a.m. EST was
passed over due to a tropical storm system off the coast of Florida in
the Atlantic.  This storm is expected to bring a chance of clouds and
thunderstorms into the Kennedy Space Center for tomorrow's two east
coast landing opportunities.  The two landing times in Florida are
6:31 a.m. and 8:04 a.m. central time with the deorbit burn occurring
about an hour prior to landing.  Two landing opportunities 
available for California's Edwards Air Force Base were at 9:34 a.m.  and
11:07 a.m.  central time.  The weather is expected to be favorable on
the west coast tomorrow.

Mission Highlights:
  Shortly after launch, on of Atlantis's Reaction Control System (RCS) steering
jets on the Left Aft side failed.  This is not expected to cause any problems 
due to the number of redundant RCS jets.

 On Thursday, November 3, 1994 at 5pm CDT, STS-66 MCC Status Report #1
reports: Commander Donald R. McMonagle, Pilot  Curtis L. Brown Jr., 
Payload Commander Ellen Ochoa and Mission Specialists Jean-Francois Clervoy, 
Scott E. Parazynski, and Joe Tanner immediately began configuring Atlantis 
and its Atmospheric Laboratory for Applications and Science-3 payload for
11 days of scientific investigations that should provide clues on how
the environment is changing and how humans contribute to those
changes.

  The astronauts were given a "go" for orbit operations at 12:33 p.m.
Central, and immediately began activation of the Spacelab pallet and
its experiments. Ochoa and Tanner successfully checked out the 50-foot
robot arm, and at 3:54 p.m. Central Ochoa reported that she had
grappled the German-built Shuttle Pallet Satellite (SPAS) and was
beginning to power up its systems.

  Using the Canadian-built remote manipulator system, Ochoa will lift
SPAS out of the payload bay Friday morning and deploy it for eight
days of free-flying observations with its primary instruments -- the
Cryogenic Infrared Spectrometers and Telescopes for the Atmosphere and
the Middle Atmosphere High Resolution Spectrograph Investigation. The
instruments will be measuring a variety of gases in the middle
atmosphere and lower thermosphere. Also onboard SPAS will be the
Surface Effects Sample Monitor, which will measure the decay of
surfaces in the near-Earth environment of space.

  The astronauts are split into two teams to provide around-the-clock
support for the scientific investigations. The Red Team of McMonagle,
Ochoa and Tanner worked the first duty shift, while the Blue Team of
Brown, Clervoy and Parazynski began a six-hour sleep shift at 3 p.m.
Central that will put the astronauts on a night-shift schedule by
Houston standards.

 On Thursday, November 3, 1994 at 6 p.m.CST, STS-66 Payload Status Report #1 
reports: The seven atmospheric and solar instruments from the previous 
ATLAS missions have reinforcements this flight - two new atmospheric 
experiments mounted on the German space agency's deployable CRISTA-SPAS 
satellite.

    Payload Commander Ellen Ochoa, a veteran of the ATLAS 2 mission,
finished activating Spacelab systems at 1:34 p.m. CST.  Ground
controllers at Spacelab Mission Operations Control in Huntsville,
Ala., completed commands to power up the ATLAS payload at 2:30 p.m,
three and a half hours after launch.

    The first ATLAS 3 experiment operation was a test of the
Atmospheric Trace Molecule Spectroscopy (ATMOS) experiment's sun
tracker.  The experiment, provided by NASA's Jet Propulsion
Laboratory, views the atmosphere illuminated by the rising and setting
sun to measure the quantity and distribution of 30 to 40 atmospheric
gases - more than any other space instrument.  The sun tracker's
motorized mirrors follow the sun as it moves in relation to the
orbiter, reflecting sunlight onto the instrument's detectors.
Commander Donald R. McMonagle maneuvered Atlantis so the experiment team in
Huntsville could receive real-time video as they commanded the tracker
to scan from the middle to the edge of the solar disk.  "This is the
first time we have been able to compare video of the tracker's actual
movements with the commands we sent," said Principal Investigator Dr.
Mike Gunson.  "We found the instrument is positioned very accurately,
and this gives us an important reference point for commanding
throughout the mission."  ATMOS made its first science observation of
an orbital sunrise at 4:30 p.m.

    Mission Specialist Joe Tanner used the orbiter's Remote
Manipulator System arm to power up the CRISTA-SPAS satellite for a
Cryogenic Infrared Spectrometers and Telescopes for the Atmosphere
(CRISTA) status test.  The experiment, one of two onboard the
satellite, is encased in a thermos-bottle-like vacuum container cooled
with super-cold helium.  This prevents heat given off by the
instrument from interfering with its readings of cool, infrared
radiation in the atmosphere.  After its deployment, the satellite will
follow about 24 to 44 miles (40 to 70 kilometers) behind the Shuttle
for a week, adding new insights on the distribution of gases which
contribute to ozone chemistry in the middle atmosphere.

 On Friday, November 4, 1994 at 7:30am CDT, STS-66 MCC Status Report #2 
reports:  The CRISTA-SPAS science satellite was released from Atlantis`s 
payload bay early this morning for an eight-day flight free from the Shuttle 
to measure the Earth's atmosphere and ozone layer. 

  After a complete checkout of the Cryogenic Infrared Spectrometers
and Telescopes for the Atmosphere (CRISTA) and the Middle Atmosphere
High Resolution Spectrograph Investigation, Mission Specialist
Jean-Francois Clervoy used the Shuttle's robot arm to gently raise the
satellite out of the payload bay and released it at 6:50 a.m. Central.
The release took place as Atlantis flew 164 nautical miles above
Germany on the 14th orbit of the mission.  Payload Commander Ellen
Ochoa will use the robot arm again on November 12 to capture the
satellite and place it back in the payload bay for the trip home.

  Overnight, Curtis L. Brown Jr., Parazynski and Clervoy worked with the
Active Cavity Radiometer Irradiance Monitor, one of seven instruments
that comprise the Atmospheric Laboratory for Applications and
Science-3 payload.  The payload complement is designed to study the
Earth's atmosphere with particular attention to the ozone layer and
will help researchers determine how human activity is affecting the
atmosphere.

  Brown also took sightings on several stars to calibrate and test
Atlantis's heads up display and Course Optical Alignment Site
instruments. These instruments are used to backup the Inertial
Measurement Units on board the orbiter that keep Atlantis oriented in
space.

  Mission Commander Donald R. McMonagle, Ochoa and Mission Specialist Joe
Tanner began their second day in space at about 4 a.m. today.  The
other three astronauts are scheduled to go to bed at about 1 p.m. this
afternoon

 On Friday, November 4, 1994 at 6 a.m. CDT, STS-66 Payload Status Report #2 
reports: At MET 0/19:00, Instruments aboard the third
Atmospheric Laboratory for Applications and Science (ATLAS-3) Spacelab
mission have been powered up, and two of them took readings of a
variety of gases in the middle atmosphere throughout the past twelve
hours.  Information from the ATLAS experiments, along with that
gathered by free-flying satellites, will give scientists increased
insight into the complex chemistry of the middle atmosphere which
affects global ozone levels.

  The mission's atmospheric studies continued as the Millimeter-Wave
Atmospheric Sounder (MAS), made its first set of measurements and
employed its improved scan mode to continuously observe Earth's far
horizon and look for traces of water vapor, ozone and chlorine
monoxide at different altitudes.  The instrument, mounted on the
Spacelab pallet, uses a dish-shaped antenna to study the chemistry of
ozone, and also to measure temperature and pressure, in Earth's middle
atmosphere.  Using its new chlorine monoxide receiver, that is twice
as sensitive as the one that flew on the ATLAS 1 (STS-45) and ATLAS 2
(STS-56) missions, MAS can take better measurements of chlorine
monoxide, an important compound involved in ozone depletion, over both
hemispheres.

  Also, the Atmospheric Trace Molecule Spectroscopy (ATMOS) instrument
continued to operate nominally, making its observations of orbital
sunrises and sunsets and measuring the concentrations of more than 30
gases in the middle atmosphere.  The device uses a technique called
limb sounding, which involves viewing the infrared portion of sunlight
as it shines through the Earth's horizon, or 'limb.' Because trace
gases absorb at very specific infrared wavelengths, the science team
can determine what gases are present, in what concentrations, and at
what altitudes.  A more thorough knowledge of which gases are present,
and of how their concentrations change over time, can help scientists
determine the extent of man-made and natural changes.

  Mission Specialist Ellen Ochoa activated the Shuttle Solar
Backscatter Ultraviolet (SSBUV) experiment, which will be used to
verify the accuracy of atmospheric ozone and solar ultraviolet
irradiance data obtained by instruments on free-flying National
Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and NASA satellites.  Its door
was opened to expose the instrument to the space environment, and a
period of "outgassing" followed, during which the device cooled until
5:30 a.m. CST.  SSBUV will take its first atmospheric readings after
the first period of solar observations.

  The Cryogenic Infrared Spectrometers and Telescopes for the
Atmosphere (CRISTA) experiment began its checkout and pre-deploy
activities in preparation for its release aboard the ASTRO-SPAS
retrievable satellite at 6:50 a.m. CST.  This instrument will gather
the first global information about medium and small scale disturbances
in trace gases of the middle atmosphere.  These measurements will be
taken in three dimensions simultaneously and will provide information
about disturbances caused by winds, waves, turbulence and other
processes.  A pressure increase observed earlier in CRISTA's liquid
helium container has since leveled off and should not affect the
scheduled deployment of the satellite.  Also aboard the ASTRO-SPAS
carrier, the Middle Atmosphere High Resolution Spectrograph
Investigation (MAHRSI) will measure amounts of hydroxyl and nitric
oxide in the middle atmosphere and lower thermosphere, from 24 to 72
miles (40 to about 120 km) high.

   The solar instruments have been activated and calibrated for the
first period of solar observations.  SOLSPEC and SUSIM are operating
nominally.  ACRIM successfully completed its shutter test and is
undergoing further testing.  During the next twelve hours, solar
observations will begin after the deployment of ASTRO-SPAS as ATLAS 3
starts its second day in orbit.  All Spacelab systems are working well
at this time.

 On Friday, November 4, 1994 at 5pm CDT, STS-66 MCC Status Report #3
reports: The Cryogenic Infrared Spectrometers and Telescopes for the
Atmosphere-Shuttle Pallet Satellite (CRISTA-SPAS), released from
Atlantis this morning to fly free and study the sun for eight days, is
now trailing Atlantis by about 22 nautical miles, separating from the
orbiter at a rate of about three miles per orbit. During the
afternoon, controllers for the satellite prepared CRISTA-SPAS for the
hands-off operations over the next several days. Controllers refined
the satellite's navigation via ground commands to solve a brief
problem with its precise pointing ability, but CRISTA-SPAS is now
working well as it aims the scientific instruments at their planned
targets.

  Ochoa took two brief breaks from her work today first to explain the
Measurement of Solar Constant Experiment, or SOLCON, to ground
controllers and then to answer questions about her research from high
school honor students during an interview with WRC-TV in Washington,
D.C.

  The crew reported a minor problem with the resistance settings on an
exercise bicycle carried on board Atlantis, however the problem was
solved by manually setting the bike's tension for each astronaut.
Exercise is a constant feature of all shuttle missions for both
ongoing medical studies and as a method of counteracting the effects
of weightlessness on the body.

 On Friday, November 4, 1994 at 6 p.m. CST, STS-66 Payload Status Report #3 
reports: (MET 1/7:00) With the STS-66 mission well into its
second day in orbit, six additional instruments are at work to
decipher the complex chemistry of Earth's atmosphere.

  The flight is part of NASA's Mission to Planet Earth, a coordinated
research effort to comprehensively study the planet's environment. The
mission's first solar observation period, which began around noon
today, will measure the sun's energy during daylight portions of eight
orbits.  All four solar instruments are veterans of both previous
ATLAS (STS-45,STS-56) flights, plus either Spacelab 1 (STS-9) or
Spacelab 2 (51-F) in the mid-1980s.

  The Jet Propulsion Laboratory's Active Cavity Radiometer Irradiance
Monitor (ACRIM) and Belgium's Measurement of the Solar Constant
(SOLCON) experiment detect the total amount of radiation from the sun,
to within 0.1 percent accuracy.  The Solar Spectrum Measurement
(SOLSPEC) experiment from France breaks sunlight down into
ultraviolet, visible and infrared wavelengths, while the Naval
Research Laboratory's Solar Ultraviolet Spectral Irradiance Monitor
(SUSIM) concentrates on ultraviolet radiation.

  Sunlight, particularly ultraviolet radiation, provides energy for
the chemical reactions that create atmospheric changes.  Before
scientists can predict accurately how human activity will affect the
atmosphere, they must thoroughly understand the natural forces driving
it.  Even small fluctuations in solar radiation are important parts of
that equation.  For instance, variations of one percent or less in
total solar radiation could cause droughts or lengthy periods of
unseasonal cooling.

  Two new atmospheric instruments are in operation for the first time
in space - the Cryogenic Infrared Spectrometers and Telescopes for the
Atmosphere (CRISTA) experiment and the Middle Atmosphere High
Resolution Spectrograph Investigation (MAHRSI).  Both are aboard the
autonomous CRISTA-SPAS satellite, which the crew deployed at 6:50 CST
this morning.  After receiving several hours of start-up commands from
the operations team at Kennedy Space Center, the instruments made
their first observations shortly before noon.

  CRISTA, provided by the University of Wuppertal in Germany, is
gathering data to give scientists their first three-dimensional global
"maps" of the middle atmosphere.  The instrument uses three infrared
telescopes looking in different directions to locate small-scale
structures of various gases, thought to be distributed in the
atmosphere by winds, wave interactions, turbulence and other
disturbances.  Global measurements of these gases and their changes
will help scientists create more precise models of the chemistry and
dynamics of the stratosphere - the region of the atmosphere 10 to 30
miles above the Earth which contains the ozone layer - and give them a
better understanding of Earth's energy balance.

  Science operations for CRISTA were interrupted when the satellite's
guidance system lost sight of its reference stars this afternoon, but
they resumed when ground commands successfully reoriented the
satellite a few hours later.

  MAHRSI is making ultraviolet measurements of nitric oxide and
hydroxyl in an area parallel to that of CRISTA's center telescope.
Comparing results from CRISTA and MAHRSI will provide important
insights into the chemistry and the heating and cooling of the middle
atmosphere.  Both hydroxyl and nitric oxide are natural chemicals that
react with ozone and other gases to affect the chemical balance of the
ozone layer.  This is the first time hydroxyl has been measured from
space so low in the atmosphere.  Principal Investigator Dr.  Robert
Conway, of the Naval Research Laboratory in Washington, D.C., reports
that the first data received from MAHRSI is remarkably close to their
predictions, based on expected hydroxyl amounts and instrument
properties.

  While the CRISTA/SPAS instruments were being activated, the
Atmospheric Trace Molecule Spectroscopy (ATMOS) experiment got two
bonus observations of orbital sunsets, measuring the distribution of
trace gases in the atmosphere over northern Europe.

  This morning, the Goddard Space Flight Center's Shuttle Solar
Backscatter Ultraviolet (SSBUV) experiment completed internal
calibration exercises to ensure it is operating properly.  The
experiment team is completing preparations for SSBUV to take its first
science data - measurements of ultraviolet radiation from the sun - on
the last two solar orbits tonight.

  This afternoon, Payload Commander Ellen Ochoa restarted the ATLAS 3
Global Positioning System (GPS), and it locked onto four of the
positioning satellites in orbit.  An earlier attempt had only locked
onto two of the necessary four satellites.  This will give ATLAS 3
experiment teams an extra means for verifying the precise locations
where their instruments take data.  Primary position information comes
from the Shuttle's inertial measurement units.

  ATLAS 3 payload controllers and the Millimeter Wave Atmospheric
Sounder (MAS) team in Huntsville are investigating a loss of science
data transmission from the MAS instrument, which occurred after its
successful observations last night.  Thus far, they have not
determined the source of the problem.  The next MAS operations are
scheduled for early tomorrow morning.

  After solar observations conclude just before midnight, the crew
will point the Shuttle toward the CRISTA-SPAS satellite to receive a
sample of science data to be relayed to the ground.  Then the
atmospheric instruments will begin another set of measurements, and
SSUBV will make its first ATLAS 3 readings of global ozone.


  On Saturday, November 5, 1994 at 9am CST, STS-66 MCC Status Report #4 
reports: The rate at which the CRISTA-SPAS separates from the orbiter
has been smaller than expected, but the distance between the two
spacecraft is well within safe limits for Atlantis' scheduled
maneuvering engine firings.  In fact, one of those periodic engine
firings that had been scheduled for this morning was not needed as the
satellite and shuttle continued to separate at a sufficient rate, a
deletion that resulted in fuel savings for the orbiter.

  The Blue Team of astronauts -- Pilot Curt Brown and Mission
Specialists Jean-Francois Clervoy and Scott Parazynski -- began their
day about nine last night.  Parazynski worked with a student-designed
payload, Experiment of the Sun for Complementing the ATLAS Payload and
for Education (ESCAPE).  ESCAPE is conducting research in extreme
ultraviolet wavelengths, a field in which little research has been
done over the last 20 years.

  On Saturday, November 5, 1994 at 6 a.m. CST, STS-66 Payload Status Report #4 
reports: Solar instruments aboard the third Atmospheric
Laboratory for Applications and Science (ATLAS 3) completed their
first eight orbits of observations last night, and the mission's
second session of atmospheric observations is currently in progress.
Scientists need both types of data to view the "big picture" of
factors which influence this planet's atmospheric life-support system,
especially its protective ozone layer.

  The period of solar observations concluded around midnight CST, and
the crew pointed the Shuttle toward the Cryogenic Infrared
Spectrometers and Telescopes for the Atmosphere-Shuttle Pallet
Satellite (CRISTA-SPAS) to receive a sample of science data to be
relayed to the ground.  Science teams for the four solar instruments
at Spacelab Mission Operations Control in Huntsville report their
observations went very smoothly, and the quality of the data collected
looks good.

  At around 6:45 p.m. CST, Commander Donald R. McMonagle, aided by Mission
Specialist Ellen Ochoa, maneuvered the Orbiter Atlantis to perform a
special calibration of the Solar Ultraviolet Spectral Irradiance
Monitor (SUSIM).  This planned procedure allowed the SUSIM device to
scan across the sun, pointing at the sun's center and at four
off-center points to verify the alignment of the instrument on the
center of the sun.  Changes in ultraviolet radiation output bring
about changes in Earth's atmospheric conditions, such as the amount of
ozone in the middle atmosphere.  A better record of the sun's
ultraviolet output will help scientists distinguish between
atmospheric changes caused by variations in ultraviolet radiation and
those brought about by human activity.

  The Active Cavity Radiometer Irradiance Monitor (ACRIM), from NASA's
Jet Propulsion Laboratory, and Belgium's Solar Constant experiment
(SOLCON) each made extremely precise, independent measurements of the
total solar irradiance, or total energy from the sun received by the
planet Earth.  Computer models suggest that even small variations in
this total solar irradiance could have significant impacts on climate.
Therefore, these instruments measure this quantity to a long-term
accuracy of plus or minus 0.1 percent or better.  SOLCON commands were
sent from their remote control facility in Brussels.

  France's Solar Spectrum (SOLSPEC) experiment concentrates on
measuring solar radiation as a function of wavelength in the
ultraviolet, visible and infrared.  The device is monitored by
scientists at the Spacelab Mission Operations Control center in
Huntsville, Ala., but most calibrations and observations for this
instrument are controlled through the onboard equipment computer.
Some commands are sent from the remote center in Brussels.

  The Shuttle Solar Backscatter Ultraviolet (SSBUV) instrument, from
NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, completed a cooling period and
then made its first observations of the mission during the last two
orbits of the solar observation period.  Scientists will compare those
measurements with readings of ultraviolet radiation scattered back
from the Earth's atmosphere, to be obtained by SSBUV in the
atmospheric observation periods of the ATLAS 3 mission.  Ozone absorbs
different wavelengths of ultraviolet light at different altitudes, so
comparisons of the incoming ultraviolet radiation with backscattered
radiation give scientists a highly accurate picture of the total
amount of ozone in the atmosphere, as well as its distribution by
altitude.

  Atmospheric observations resumed at around 1 a.m. CST, with
remote-sensing operations by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory's
Atmospheric Trace Molecule Spectroscopy (ATMOS).  The instrument is
observing orbital sunrises around the South Pole to study the
Antarctic ozone hole and compare ozone amounts inside and outside the
edge of the swirling mass of cold air known as the "polar vortex."
This vortex acts as a container for chemical reactions that cause
ozone depletion.

  The Cryogenic Infrared Spectrometers and Telescopes for the
Atmosphere (CRISTA) and the Middle Atmosphere High Resolution
Spectrograph Investigation (MAHRSI), two new atmospheric instruments
aboard the retrievable CRISTA-SPAS satellite, continue to make
observations of the middle atmosphere's chemistry.  CRISTA measures a
variety of gases in the middle atmosphere, and MAHRSI detects the
amounts of nitric oxide and hydroxyl in the middle atmosphere and
lower thermosphere.  With its fast scanning technique, CRISTA recorded
several hundred thousand spectra of trace gases in Earth's atmosphere.
Currently, all systems aboard the CRISTA-SPAS satellite are working
nominally.

  The ground control team for the Millimeter-Wave Atmospheric Sounder
(MAS) instrument is currently working with ATLAS 3 payload controllers
to determine the nature of a problem which is preventing the reception
of scientific data from the instrument.  It is suspected that the
problem is internal, possibly a malfunction in the instrument's
microprocessor.  Until the source of the problem is determined, its
potential impact on MAS's science remains uncertain.

 On Saturday, November 5, 1994 at 5pm CDT, STS-66 MCC Status Report #5
reports: The astronauts on board Atlantis gathered spectacular views
of a late season hurricane in the Atlantic Ocean as they continued
supporting scientific observations being made with the Atmospheric
Laboratory for Applications and Science.  Mission commander 
Donald R. McMonagle shared images of Hurricane Florence during an 
interview this morning with The Weather Channel.

  Throughout the day, McMonagle and his crew mates on the Red Team --
Payload Commander Ellen Ochoa and Mission Specialist Joe Tanner --
tended to a variety of middeck experiments on board Atlantis and
continued supporting both the ATLAS-3 and CRISTA-SPAS payloads.  The
CRISTA-SPAS satellite currently is trailing Atlantis by about 42
miles, and the distance between the two spacecraft is increasing by
about 2 miles each orbit. 
 
 On Saturday, November 5, 1994 at 6 p.m. CST, STS-66 Payload Status Report #5 
reports: (MET 2/7:00) ATLAS 3 experiments aboard the Shuttle
Atlantis are in the midst of an atmospheric observation period which
began early this morning and will continue until Sunday night.  The
two instruments aboard the autonomous CRISTA-SPAS satellite are in
their second day of collecting additional information about the
composition of the atmosphere.

   "The ATLAS 3 mission is the most complete global health check on
the atmosphere that has ever been done, measuring more trace gases
that are important in ozone chemistry than any previous research
effort," said Mission Scientist Dr. Tim Miller.  Scientists will add
the mission's atmospheric and solar studies to those of satellite
instruments to help determine what creates ozone variations over
different parts of the globe at different times of the year.

  The Shuttle Solar Backscatter Ultraviolet (SSBUV), from NASA's
Goddard Space Flight Center, is measuring the total amount of ozone
under the orbiter's path and how it is distributed by altitude.
SSBUV's primary purpose is to verify ozone readings made by its sister
instrument aboard the NOAA-9 meteorological satellite and NASA's Total
Ozone Mapping Spectrometer on the Russian Meteor 3 satellite.
Satellite instruments can be degraded by extended exposure to
ultraviolet radiation and particles such as atomic oxygen.  SSBUV
undergoes rigorous calibration before and after flight.  By comparing
its measurements with those made by the satellites over the same Earth
location within the hour, scientists can make corrections for any
drift in the satellite instruments.  ATLAS 3 is SSBUV's seventh
flight.

   The Atmospheric Trace Molecule Spectroscopy (ATMOS) instrument made
spectral measurements of the atmosphere during orbital sunsets over
Northern Hemisphere sites from Eastern Europe to the middle portion of
North America.  Orbital sunrises illuminated the atmosphere for ATMOS
observations as far south as the Antarctic coast.  The ATMOS team at
Spacelab Control in Huntsville relays data to their lab at NASA's Jet
Propulsion Laboratory in California, where it is translated to show
the amounts and distribution of 30 to 40 trace gases which influence
ozone chemistry in the middle atmosphere.

   This morning, Commander Donald R. McMonagle pointed the orbiter's cargo
bay toward the CRISTA-SPAS satellite for three hours of communications
with the instruments onboard -- the Cryogenic Infrared Spectrometers
and Telescopes for the Atmosphere (CRISTA) and the Middle Atmosphere
High Resolution Spectrograph Investigation (MAHRSI).  The Shuttle
relayed sample data that had been recorded onboard to scientists at
Huntsville and the Payload Operations Center in Florida.

    Preliminary data analysis indicates that MAHRSI science operations
are going very well, according to instrument scientist Jeff Morrill of
the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory.  "We feel confident that we will
be able to determine distributions of hydroxyl in the middle
atmosphere."  Hydroxyl is a hydrogen compound that plays a part in the
natural destruction of ozone.  Measurements of nitric oxide, another
catalyst in ozone chemistry, will take place later in the mission.

   CRISTA Principal Investigator Dr. Dirk Offermann said he is "very
satisfied" with his data, reporting the instrument had measured more
than two million spectra in 22 hours of operation.  The instrument is
making a three-dimensional map of how a variety of gases are
distributed in the middle atmosphere.  CRISTA's space observations are
supported by an ambitious ground-based campaign.  Sounding rockets are
launched twice a day when the Shuttle and CRISTA-SPAS pass over the
Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia.  On both daily passes over the
Hohenpeissenberg station in Germany, high-precision ozone-measuring
balloons are launched.  Coordinated readings also are being made by
airplane flights west of Scotland over the Atlantic.  Data from these
instruments will provide extra calibration for the CRISTA
measurements.

   Throughout the morning, the Millimeter Wave Atmospheric Sounder
(MAS) team worked with ATLAS 3 payload controllers to revive their
instrument.  The onboard computer still is not responding.  Though
they will continue these efforts the remainder of the flight, the MAS
team feels they have very little chance of obtaining more science data
from ATLAS 3.

  According to Principal Investigator Dr. Gerd Hartmann, MAS
experienced an apparent malfunction of its onboard computer system at
6:56 CST Friday morning, resulting in loss of science data
transmission to the ground and an inability to communicate with the
computer.  The problem was discovered when communications were
reestablished with the ATLAS 3 payload after the CRISTA-SPAS
deployment.  Indications are that a sudden input current surge in MAS
data control electronics may have burned out some electrical
components.  The cause of the current surge and the actual components
which failed probably will not be firmly established until the
instrument is examined after landing, .

  Prior to the malfunction, MAS worked flawlessly for 12 hours, with
ten hours of data obtained on water vapor and ozone distribution over
America, Africa and Europe.  Some useful information on chlorine
monoxide also was gathered.

   Atmospheric observations will continue throughout the night, with
an hour-long interruption around midnight to relay science data from
instruments on the CRISTA-SPAS satellite through Atlantis to the
ground.

 On Sunday, November 6, 1994 at 9am CST, STS-66 MCC Status Report #6
reports: With the Atmospheric Laboratory for Applications and Science
operating in Atlantis' payload bay, the six astronauts are continuing
round-the-clock studies of the Earth's atmosphere and ozone layer. The
Blue Team -- Pilot Curt Brown and Mission Specialists Jean-Francois
Clervoy and Scott Parazynski -- began its fourth day on orbit about 8
p.m. CST Saturday. Throughout their shift, the three astronauts have
worked with the instruments comprising the ATLAS-3 payload.

  Atlantis is station-keeping in front of the CRISTA-SPAS science
satellite at a distance of about 48 nautical miles.  The Cryogenic
Infrared Spectrometers and Telescopes for the Atmosphere satellite was
deployed Friday and will be retrieved Saturday following eight days of
atmospheric data gathering.

  Clervoy devoted most of his work day with the Heat Pipe Performance
experiment designed to evaluate fluid transfer through various types
of pipes for possible use on future spacecraft.

 Today the Red Team -- Mission Commander Donald R. McMonagle, Mission
Specialist Joe Tanner and Ochoa -- will support a number of secondary
experiments housed in Atlantis' middeck.  McMonagle will work with the
Heat Pipe Performance experiment.  Each of the Red Team astronauts
will exercise on the Shuttle's bicycle ergometer during their workday.

 On Sunday, November 6, 1994 at 6 a.m. CST, STS-66 Payload Status Report #6 
reports: (MET 2/19:00) Atmospheric instruments of the
ATLAS-3 Spacelab continue to use a variety of remote-sensing
techniques to define the chemical composition of Earth's atmosphere.
The chemistry of the middle atmosphere is very complex, involving many
gases.  Accurate measurements of a large number of trace molecules are
needed to verify computer models of how that chemistry works, so
atmospheric changes which occur naturally can be distinguished from
those that are induced by human activity.

  The Atmospheric Trace Molecule Spectroscopy (ATMOS) instrument
continued to view the sun's infrared radiation through the Earth's
atmospheric limb during orbital sunrises and sunsets, making global
measurements of the composition of the troposphere, stratosphere and
mesosphere.  Already, the device has provided additional data on
atmospheric trace gases in near real-time.

  For the first time, scientists here at the Marshall Space Flight
Center in Huntsville have been completing analysis of ATMOS'
observations within 24 hours of acquisition and comparing their
results with those obtained by the Total Ozone Mapping Spectrometer
(TOMS) aboard the Russian Meteor 3 satellite.  Such rapid data
reduction represents a remarkable improvement over the previous
flights of the ATMOS instrument.  According to ATMOS team member Mark
Abrams, "by building automated data processing systems, we've been
able to reduce the data processing time by more than a factor of a
hundred....from months to hours."  ATLAS 3 marks the fourth flight of
ATMOS aboard the Shuttle.

  The Shuttle Solar Backscatter Ultraviolet Spectrometer (SSBUV)
peered through the atmosphere to the Earth's surface to identify both
the total amount of ozone present and its distribution by altitude.
The SSBUV team has already done preliminary processing of solar data
taken by the instrument on Friday to determine how well it compares
with data from previous missions.  So far, analysis has revealed that
these measurements are of high quality and that they agree to within
one or two percent with results from ATLAS 1 and 2.  This information
should help the scientists to distinguish those processes induced by
solar activity from those caused by human activities.  During the
current atmospheric observation period, SSBUV has completed 14 orbits
of Earth views and 12 concurrent measurements with its sister
instrument aboard the NOAA-9 spacecraft.  The primary purpose of
SSBUV, now on its seventh flight , is to verify the accuracy of data
being gathered by free-flying satellites.

  After 30 hours of data collection, the CRISTA instrument had
measured more than three million infrared spectra of trace gases in
the Earth's atmosphere.  The device has completed over 6000
measurements of variations in the distribution of trace gases at
heights between 30 and 150 km with a resolution of 1.5 km.  CRISTA
continues to collect data at a rate of 26 spectra per second, and all
parts of the system are working nominally.  The second instrument
aboard CRISTA- SPAS, the MAHRSI experiment, is measuring hydroxyl
spectra in the middle atmosphere, and the observed spectral data shows
a clear detection of hydroxyl.  Hydroxyl plays a key role in the
natural destruction of ozone.  Both CRISTA and MAHRSI are very pleased
with the quantity and quality of the data they have received.

  Atmospheric observations will continue to be the primary focus of
activity for the next shift, followed by another period of
communication period with the CRISTA-SPAS spacecraft.  Then, the
mission's second solar pointing period will begin.

 On Sunday, November 6, 1994 at 6 p.m. CST, STS-66 Payload Status Report #7 
reports: (MET 2/7:00) The Jet Propulsion Laboratory's ATMOS
team reported interesting preliminary results of their observations
inside the Antarctic polar vortex, an area of high-speed circulation
over the South Pole.  The circulation bottles up chemical
constituents, making it something of a test tube where the atmosphere
can be studied in isolation.

  "Our data show very low ozone levels over the Antarctic, as expected
for this time of year," said ATMOS Principal Investigator Dr. Mike
Gunson.  "We also see evidence from certain long-lived gases that the
air descended to lower altitudes as it cooled over the preceding
winter period.  This also was expected, but it is the first time it
has actually been observed over such a broad range of altitudes."

  A "hole" in the ozone layer forms over the Antarctic around
September each year, when increased springtime sunlight strikes air
cooled during the Southern Hemisphere winter.  The sun's ultraviolet
radiation triggers chemical reactions that both create and destroy
ozone.  In recent years, human activity has introduced high levels of
chemicals into the atmosphere which upset its natural balance.  For
instance, one free atom of chlorine released from chlorofluorocarbons
can destroy thousands of ozone molecules.

  "By late November, ozone-rich air from the mid-latitudes mixes with
the Antarctic air to fill in the lost ozone, and chemicals such as
nitrogen oxides - - which act like a sort of atmospheric antacid --
begin to gobble up free chlorine, repairing the ozone loss," explained
Gunson.  In the winter, nitrogen oxides are frozen as nitric acid in
ice crystals in polar stratospheric clouds.  ATLAS 3 is flying during
an intermediate period, when the ozone hole has begun to recover but
before it has dissipated.  Today's data indicate that nitrogen oxides
are still very low.  Chlorine measurements will be available in the
next couple of days.

  During this morning's communications period with the free-flying
CRISTA-SPAS satellite, the Middle Atmosphere High Resolution
Spectrograph Investigation (MAHRSI) began taking readings of nitric
oxide at high altitudes.  The instrument previously had been making
global readings of hydroxyl, and it will return to that mode during
the next communications period.  Both gases are active in the natural
cycle of ozone chemistry.

  The Cryogenic Infrared Spectrometers and Telescopes for the
Atmosphere (CRISTA) continues to scan the atmosphere, making millions
of spectra to map global locations and movements of some 15 trace
gases.  The huge number of observations is necessary because each
cubic mile of atmosphere over the Earth is essentially its own
separate chemical laboratory.  For scientists to thoroughly understand
chemical reactions and transport mechanisms like atmospheric winds,
they must have extensive samples from as many latitudes, longitudes
and altitudes as possible.

   The Shuttle Solar Backscatter Ultraviolet (SSBUV) experiment is
finishing up its first period of atmospheric viewing, recording ozone
levels and distribution for comparison with instruments aboard
free-flying ozone-monitoring satellites.

  SSBUV is housed in two Get-Away Special (GAS) canisters, mounted in the
orbiter's cargo bay just in front of the ATLAS 3 Spacelab pallet.
Data from the instrument is being relayed to the Goddard Space Flight
Center in Greenbelt, Md., the instrument's home base, for preliminary
analysis.

  The atmospheric observation period for the Shuttle-mounted
instruments will end at about 6:30 p.m. CST.  Then the orbiter will
maneuver to relay communications between CRISTA-SPAS instruments and
ground controllers for one orbit.  Eight orbits of solar observations
will follow.

 On Monday, November 7, 1994 at 8 a.m CST, STS-66 MCC Status Report #7
reports: The Cryogenic Infrared Spectrometers and Telescopes for the
Atmosphere satellite is trailing Atlantis at a distance of about 55
nautical miles.  On Sunday, Commander Donald R. McMonagle performed a
station-keeping burn to keep the two spacecraft at a relative distance
of about 40 n.m. until CRISTA-SPAS is retrieved on Saturday following
eight days of atmospheric data gathering.

  Throughout the night, the Blue Team -- Pilot Curt Brown and Mission
Specialists Jean- Francois Clervoy and Scott Parazynski -- maneuvered
Atlantis to allow one of the seven instruments to measure fluctuations
in the amount of ultraviolet radiation emitted by the sun.  Middeck
payload activities included a status check of the protein crystal
growth experiment and activation of the student-designed ESCAPE
experiment which is studying extreme ultraviolet wavelengths.

  After completing his shift, Clervoy discussed the mission and his
experiences thus far with French Prime Minister Edouard Balladur,
Minister of Defense Francois Leotard, Minister of Transportation and
Telecommunications Jose Rossi and European Space Agency Director
General Jean-Marie Luton.  Crew members also used cameras on board
Atlantis to document environmental changes as they orbited at an
altitude of approximately 160 n.m.

 On Monday, November 7, 1994 at 6 a.m. CST, STS-66 Payload Status Report #8 
reports: (MET 3/19:00) ATLAS 3 had completed a total of 30
orbits of atmospheric observations at the conclusion of the mission's
second atmospheric period last night, when Commander Donald R. McMonagle 
maneuvered Atlantis to relay communications between CRISTA-SPAS
instruments and ground controllers for one orbit.  During these
scheduled communications, the Cryogenic Infrared Spectrometers and
Telescopes for the Atmosphere (CRISTA) and Middle Atmosphere High
Resolution Spectrograph Investigation (MAHRSI) instruments send their
data through the Shuttle Orbiter to scientists on the ground.  This
enables them to make real-time calibrations and adjustments of these
instruments .  The CRISTA instrument has now collected about 5 million
infrared spectra of trace gases in the Earth's atmosphere.  In this
communication period, the MAHRSI science team again turned their
instrument from nitric oxide measurements at high altitudes to global
hydroxyl measurements which will continue into the next shift.  Both
hydroxyl and nitric oxide participate significantly in the ozone
chemistry cycle.

  The Active Cavity Radiometer Irradiance Monitor (ACRIM) and the
Solar Constant (SOLCON) experiment took "superb" readings of the total
solar energy coming to Earth, according to Roger Helizon of the ACRIM
team.  They made preliminary data comparisons with each other, as well
as with observations by the ACRIM 2 instrument aboard the Upper
Atmosphere Research Satellite (UARS).  Science teams said that the
rough comparisons were very good, indicating that instruments
measuring total solar irradiance on the satellites had not experienced
significant degradation.

  ATLAS instruments take very reliable readings of the sun, since they
are carefully calibrated against strict laboratory standards before
and after each flight.  Yet these readings are "snapshots" of only a
few days' duration.  Long-term conditions are tracked by free-flying
satellites, whose instruments may be somewhat degraded by extended
exposure in space.  By comparing the two measurements, scientists can
determine the amount of degradation in free-flying satellite readings.
This allows them to make accurate corrections, essential to tracking
subtle changes over time in the solar energy influencing atmospheric
conditions.

  The Solar Spectrum (SOLSPEC) instrument again received good data
from solar observations of the infrared, visible and ultraviolet
radiation from the sun.  The data from these observations is sent to
Paris, France for processing, and so far the results of this data
analysis are according to expectations.  The Naval Research
Laboratory's Solar Ultraviolet Spectral Irradiance Monitor (SUSIM) was
calibrated successfully, then received good data during the seven
solar orbits, permitting comparisons with the SUSIM instrument aboard
the UARS satellite.  The UARS SUSIM has been decreasing in sensitivity
since the satellite was placed in orbit.  This is to be expected since
ultraviolet light, which SUSIM monitors, has a severe impact on space
instruments.  Comparison with ATLAS measurements gives scientists an
accurate yardstick for evaluating that degradation.

  The Shuttle Solar Backscatter Ultraviolet (SSBUV) experiment made
solar irradiance measurements during the sixth and seventh solar
orbits of this shift.  The instrument is operating nominally.  The
instrument has now completed a total of four solar and 22 Earth
orbital views and is making solar ultraviolet data comparisons with
SUSIM and SOLSPEC.

  The current solar viewing period will continue until around 7:30 am
CST this morning.  Atmospheric observations will follow, after the
next communication between the CRISTA-SPAS instruments and ground
controllers.

 On Monday, November 7, 1994 at 5 p.m CST, STS-66 MCC Status Report #8
reports: As the crew worked through its fifth day in space, Mission
Commander Don McMonagle spent some time testing heat pipe designs and
a special type of cooling radiator that has no moving parts. The tests
are part of the Heat Pipe Performance experiment which involves
applying specifically-measured amounts of heat to the various heat
pipe designs, measuring the cooling capacity of the pipe, and
determining the limits of each design's operation. McMonagle found
time for additional experiment runs with the heat pipes today beyond
those originally planned. The tests will provide designers with
insight into how well the pipe designs operate in weightlessness. Heat
pipes, because of their efficiency and reliability, already are used
on some permanent satellites as cooling devices.
 
  Earlier today, ground controllers noticed performance of one of the
channels of Atlantis' Ku-band communication system was degrading. The
system is used for high data rate communications with the ground, such
as the ATLAS science data.  The problem was traced to the connections
between one of Atlantis's network signal processors and the Ku- band
system.  Ground controllers switched to a backup processor aboard
Atlantis and full communications capability has been restored. The
original network signal processor still works well for all modes of
communication except the single Ku-band channel.
 
  Around midday today, Atlantis performed a slight engine firing to
maintain its distance from the CRISTA-SPAS satellite.  CRISTA-SPAS is
now trailing Atlantis at a distance of approximately 47 nautical
miles, and is extending that distance by about 1 nautical mile per
orbit.

 On Monday, November 7, 1994 at 6 p.m. CST, STS-66 Payload Status Report #9 
reports: (MET 4/7:00) Complementary instruments aboard the
Shuttle Atlantis and the CRISTA-SPAS satellite are in the fifth day of
the STS-66 mission, making a detailed examination of Earth's life
support system, the atmosphere.

  "Each separate experiment is enhanced by the others, because we can
compare similar measurements with other instruments," said Ernest
Hilsenrath, principal investigator for the Shuttle Solar Backscatter
Ultraviolet (SSBUV) experiment .  SSBUV studies both solar radiation
and atmospheric gases.  It compares the amount of ultraviolet
radiation from the sun with that scattered back from the Earth.  The
difference reveals the amount of ozone in the atmosphere.

  Over the past few months, Hilsenrath and his colleagues with the
Naval Research Laboratory's Solar Ultraviolet Spectral Irradiance
Monitor (SUSIM) and France's Solar Spectrum (SOLSPEC) experiment have
been closely comparing their solar ultraviolet measurements from the
previous ATLAS flights.  They are also comparing the short-term,
highly calibrated ATLAS readings with long-term measurements from
solar ultraviolet instruments on NASA's Upper Atmosphere Research
Satellite (UARS).  "We're finding that the agreement among the
instruments is ten times better than the agreement which existed
between solar instruments that flew before UARS [launched in 1991] and
ATLAS [first launched in 1992]," said Hilsenrath.

  New computer capabilities and experience from previous flights are
speeding up comparisons of the solar observations, Hilsenrath added.
"It took us 30 months to compare results from ATLAS 1 and 18 months to
compare those from ATLAS 2, but within 36 hours of our first ATLAS 3
observations, we were beginning some preliminary comparisons," he
said.

  Ultraviolet light is the driver for ozone chemistry.  Therefore, for
scientists to predict atmospheric changes, they must have a thorough
understanding of fluctuations in ultraviolet radiation.

  At the end of the flight's second solar observation period this
morning, the astronaut crew maneuvered the Shuttle to scan the solar
experiments across the disk of the sun.  The "criss-cross" scan checks
the accuracy of their coalignment and measures how much the
instruments' response depends on the sun angle.

  A communications period with the CRISTA-SPAS instrument followed.
It was extended for about an hour, allowing the Middle Atmosphere High
Resolution Spectrograph Investigation (MAHRSI) to refine their
pointing by doing extra light-of-sight calibrations with bright guide
stars.

  Both MAHRSI and the other satellite-mounted instrument, the
Cryogenic Infrared Spectrometers and Telescopes for the Atmosphere
(CRISTA), will furnish detailed measurements about the global
atmosphere that complement those of the ATLAS instruments.  MAHRSI
zeros in on hydroxyl and nitric oxide, two natural gases important in
ozone chemistry.  CRISTA is mapping three- dimensional distributions
and movements of some 15 trace gases.

  After the satellite communication period, SSBUV joined the
Atmospheric Trace Molecule Spectroscopy (ATMOS) experiment for the
mission's third round of atmospheric observations.

  ATMOS principal investigator Dr. Mike Gunson reports that his
instrument has already collected the equivalent of some 40,000 floppy
disks of data on trace gases in the atmosphere.  "To understand the
myriad of chemical pathways in the atmosphere and how they relate to
each other, we need to collect detailed information on as many gases
as possible," Gunson said.

  Gunson said preliminary ATMOS data show the Antarctic ozone hole
region seems to be very well contained, with marked differences
between the atmosphere inside and outside the hole.  Thus far, he has
seen no signs of intermediate zones.

  Though it is too early to interpret readings of Northern Hemisphere
ozone, both Hilsenrath and Gunson expect to see it recovering to
normal levels after depletion triggered by the Mt. Pinatubo volcano
eruption in 1991.  "Of course, predictions have been known to be
disproved by actual observations," added Hilsenrath.

 On Tuesday, November 8, 1994 at 8 a.m CST, STS-66 MCC Status Report #9 
reports: With Atlantis' systems performing without problem, the six
astronauts that make up the STS-66 crew took time to discuss the
progress of the mission with reporters during the traditional
in-flight press conference.  Questions from reporters in Texas,
Florida and France covered a variety of subjects ranging from the
Atmospheric Laboratory for Applications and Science-3 activities to
election day. Besides stating that he was pleased with the progress of
the mission thus far, Mission Commander Don McMonagle also confirmed
that all five U.S. astronauts had the opportunity to vote prior to the
flight.

  Over night, the Blue Team of Curt Brown, Jean-Francois Clervoy and
Scott Parazynski worked supporting the ATLAS-3 instruments and a Heat
Pipe Performance unit designed to test various types of cylinders that
could provide a more effective and efficient method of dissipating
heat on future spacecraft and space stations.

  Brown oversaw a small maneuvering engine firing performed just after
five this morning to refine Atlantis' orbit in front of the Shuttle
Pallet Satellite which was deployed on the second day of the mission.
The series of engine firings maintain the proper distance from the
satellite prior to its capture and return to the payload bay scheduled
for Saturday.

  The Red Team of Commander Don McMonagle and Mission Specialists
Ellen Ochoa and Joe Tanner took over control of the orbiter and
payloads about six o'clock this morning as the crew continues to
divide the day into two 12-hour shifts.

 On Tuesday, November 8, 1994 at 6 a.m. CST, STS-66 Payload Status Report #10 
reports: (MET 4/19:00) The third mission of the Atmospheric
Laboratory for Applications and Science (ATLAS 3) is providing an
opportunity for scientists from around the world to gather data about
our planet and its atmosphere.  Instruments on board Space Shuttle
Atlantis operated throughout the night, sending back information about
the conditions of the Earth's protective blanket.

  The Atlas 3 instruments have completed their second atmospheric and
second solar observation periods.  The atmospheric instruments
continue to gather high-quality data about the atmosphere, and the
ATLAS science teams are very pleased with the mission's results so
far.  Currently, the Shuttle Atlantis' cargo bay is pointed toward the
Earth for the flight's third atmospheric period.

  Investigators for the Shuttle Solar Backscatter Ultraviolet (SSBUV)
experiment have been compiling a precisely calibrated database of
global stratospheric ozone measurements.  SSBUV, which compares direct
solar ultraviolet radiation with the amount of sunlight scattered off
the Earth's surface, is using the amount of cloud coverage seen
through a payload bay camera in order to determine what produces the
backscattering in their field of view.  According to SSBUV
co-investigator Richard Cebula, "cloud cover helps us understand the
reflectivity of the Earth and how that reflectivity affects the
retrieval of ozone data."

  A primary objective of SSBUV during the ATLAS series of missions is
to provide highly accurate ozone measurements that will be used to
verify data being obtained by free- flying satellites.  SSBUV readings
help scientists resolve the problem of calibration drifts in
ozone-sensing instruments that are exposed to the environment of space
for long periods of time, thus improving the accuracy of the
measurements.

   The Atmospheric Trace Molecule Spectroscope (ATMOS) continued to
observe the atmosphere last night, having completed a total of 110
observations of the sun through the atmosphere during sunrises and
sunsets.  Scientists want to learn more about the components of the
middle atmosphere, how they interact, and how they change over time.
Models of stratospheric chemistry are used to predict the future
evolution of this atmospheric region, and ATMOS data will help in the
evaluation of those models.  ATMOS also viewed the Sun with no
atmospheric interference to provide calibration of the solar spectral
background, solar spectral features, and instrument response to the
sun.

  The CRISTA-SPAS instrument completed its period of communications
with the Orbiter early in the evening, during which the Cryogenic
Infrared Spectrometers and Telescopes (CRISTA) made a small, two
degree turn from viewing the atmospheric limb to view the Earth
directly and verify the instrument's altitude, then turned back to
look through the atmosphere.  According to CRISTA Principal
Investigator Dirk Offermann, this planned special mode of operation
"gives us an altitude reference independent of the star tracker."
CRISTA has begun a period of observations in the high atmosphere and
is acquiring approximately 4,000 height scans of trace gases per day.
These measurements have important applications for atmospheric
dynamics and chemistry, as well as for the understanding of Earth's
energy balance.

  The Middle Atmosphere High Resolution Spectrograph Investigation
(MAHRSI) experiment continues to accurately measure the concentration
of hydroxyl in the middle atmosphere, collecting data that will help
scientists more accurately test the current understanding of observed
ozone levels in the middle atmosphere and resolve conflicts between
satellite ozone observations and ozone amounts predicted by computer
models.  MAHRSI does this by observing light emitted by hydroxyl
molecules after they absorb ultraviolet energy from the Sun.  Hydroxyl
is an important member of the odd hydrogen family, those gases that
contain a single hydrogen atom, and contributes directly to the
destruction of ozone in the middle atmosphere.  "Things are looking
very good for data analysis," said Principal Investigator Robert
Conway as MAHRSI continues to work on producing "the first ever global
maps of hydroxyl."

 On Tuesday, November 8, 1994 at 5 p.m CST, STS-66 MCC Status Report #10 
reports: Throughout the day, the Red Team of Don McMonagle, Ellen
Ochoa and Joe Tanner worked with the Atmospheric Laboratory for
Applications and Science-3, maneuvering the orbiter to provide the
scientific instruments with the best view of the Earth and the Sun.
Crew members also spent time with a variety of middeck payloads,
including the protein crystal growth experiment and a space tissue
loss study designed to validate Earth- based models on how
microgravity affects the human body.
 
  This afternoon, McMonagle commanded a small maneuvering engine
firing to increase the closing rate between CRISTA- SPAS and Atlantis.
The maneuver will keep the relative distance between the two
spacecraft at 40 to 60 nautical miles prior to its capture and return
to the payload bay scheduled for Saturday morning.
 
  The Blue Team, now in its seventh flight day, is awake and preparing
for another busy shift. Pilot Curt Brown, and Mission Specialists
Jean- Francois Clervoy and Scott Parazynski will perform routine
communications health checks with CRISTA-SPAS and Brown will maneuver
Atlantis in support of ATLAS-3 observations of cloud tops and
atmospheric gasses.
 
 On Tuesday, November 8, 1994 at 6 p.m. CST, STS-66 Payload Status
Report #11 reports: (MET 5/7:00) "As we approach the halfway point in
this mission, the management team is very proud of the flawless
performance of the Spacelab, and the scientists are very pleased with
the data they are getting," said ATLAS 3 Mission Manager Paul Hamby in
today's press briefing.  Information being collected during the 11-day
flight will help scientists understand the chemistry, dynamics and
physics of Earth's protective ozone layer.

  The German ASTRO-SPAS satellite, with its payloads the Cryogenic
Infrared Spectrometers and Telescopes for the Atmosphere (CRISTA) and
Middle Atmosphere High Resolution Spectrograph Investigation (MAHRSI),
is orbiting the Earth about 65 miles away from Atlantis.  ASTRO-SPAS
systems are in very good health, and CRISTA and MAHRSI continue
gathering large amounts of data. Thus far in the mission, CRISTA has
collected more than eight million infrared spectra of trace gases in
the atmosphere.

  During their communication period with the ground this morning, the
two instruments checked alignment of their fields of view with bright
targets in the night sky.  CRISTA tracked Mars and MAHRSI used Sirius,
the brightest star in the sky, as reference points.  The coalignment
confirmed that both were pointing at the correct altitudes.

  The two instruments then began several hours of cooperative
observations, taking measurements of nitric oxide in the coldest part
of the atmosphere, called the mesopause, about 62 miles (100
kilometers) above the Earth's surface.  "In this region, nitric oxide
has a fairly long lifetime," explained MAHRSI Principal Investigator
Dr. Robert Conway.  "By watching its movement as the instruments
circle the globe, orbit after orbit, we can see how waves and winds
transport the gas."

  Nitric oxide collects high in the mesosphere above the winter polar
region.  Atmospheric circulation then transfers it to lower latitudes
above the equator and pushes it down into the upper stratosphere.
Though other members of the nitrogen oxide family slow ozone depletion
in the lower stratosphere by absorbing chlorine, nitric oxide at
higher altitudes participates in the chemical cycle that destroys
ozone.

  MAHRSI returned to its primary task of measuring hydroxyl in the
upper stratosphere during this afternoon's communications linkup
between the satellite and the ground.

  Dr. Dominique Crommelynck, principal investigator for Belgium's
Solar Constant (SOLCON) experiment, and Roger Helizon with the Jet
Propulsion Laboratory's Active Cavity Radiometer Irradiance Monitor
(ACRIM) say they are pleased with results so far from their
measurements of the total radiation from the sun.  Both appear to
agree with previously obtained values from the Upper Atmosphere
Research Satellite's ACRIM-II instrument and the ATLAS 2 mission.
Crommelynck said he has been able to adjust measurements from earlier
space instruments to assemble a single set of continuous observations
since 1978.  He stressed, however, that "scientists will need
measurements over tens or even hundreds of years to truly understand
the influence of solar radiation on Mother Earth."

  Principal Investigator Dr. Gerard Thuillier has received the first
processed Solar Spectrum (SOLSPEC) data from his home laboratory at
the National Center for Scientific Research in Paris, and science
teams here in Huntsville are beginning to compare ultraviolet
radiation data taken during the mission's initial solar observation
period.  Thuillier and Dr.  Michael VanHoosier, co-investigator for
the Solar Ultraviolet Spectral Irradiance Monitor (SUSIM), say data
from both of their instruments and Shuttle Solar Backscatter
Ultraviolet (SSBUV) experiment show a high level of agreement.

  This afternoon, SSBUV completed a series of atmospheric measurements
to calibrate their sister ozone-monitoring instrument aboard the
NOAA-9 meteorological satellite.  Then they adjusted their
spectrometers to detect a wavelength range virtually identical to that
measured by the Total Ozone Mapping Spectrometer (TOMS).  For 11
orbits, SSBUV will make six measurements per second of the total ozone
under the Shuttle's orbital path.  Results will be used to calibrate
the mapping spectrometer, which has been making similar readings from
the Russian Meteor-3 satellite since 1991.

 On Wednesday, November 9, 1994 at 8 a.m CST, STS-66 MCC Status Report #11 
reports: Overnight, Pilot Curt Brown commanded a maneuvering burn
that placed Atlantis in a station keeping orbit 35 miles ahead of the
Cryogenic Infrared Spectrometers and Telescopes for the Atmosphere
satellite. The satellite will continue to gather data about t he
Earth's atmosphere and protective ozone layer until Saturday when
Brown and Mission Commander Don McMonagle are scheduled to complete a
rendezvous with CRISTA-SPAS.

  In the orbiter's payload bay, the Atmospheric Laboratory for
Applications and Science continues its observations of the chemical
processes that affect the Earth's atmosphere.  Throughout the day,
both teams of astronauts will continue to monitor the ATLAS -3
investigations with Brown and McMonagle commanding Atlantis into a
series of attitudes to enhance the scientific observations.

  The Blue Team, consisting of Brown and Mission Specialists
Jean-Francois Clervoy and Scott Parazynski, supported the Heat Pipe
Performance and Protein Crystal Growth Experiments. Parazynski also
demonstrated a new resistive exercise device comprised of a series of
tethers which allowed him to use his own body weight for resistance.
Data indicate that load-bearing exercise may minimize bone density
loss during extended space flights.  Parazynski also discussed mission
objectives and Tuesday's election results with KCBS television in Los
Angeles, Calif., during an interview late last night.

 On Wednesday November 9, 1994 at 6 a.m. CST, STS-66 Payload Status Report #12 
 reports: (MET 5/19:00) The solar instruments are in standby, as science 
teams evaluate data from the first two solar observation periods and 
prepare for the third.

  The Atmospheric Trace Molecule Spectroscopy (ATMOS) experiment
measured the chemical and physical composition of the middle
atmosphere.  Since ATMOS first flew on Spacelab 3 in 1985, scientists
have retrieved height profiles of over 30 trace gases from ATMOS data,
including several chlorofluorocarbons, nitrogen-oxygen compounds,
ozone, carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide, water and methane.  The
instrument measures these gases selectively and can simultaneously
observe about ten to fifteen trace gases in one observation.

  The ATMOS instrument viewed the stratosphere at orbital sunrise and
sunset, gathering information in the infrared portion of the
electromagnetic spectrum.  Since trace gas molecules absorb solar
radiation at different wavelengths, ATMOS determines which wavelengths
are being absorbed, giving scientists a more detailed picture of the
molecular makeup of the atmosphere.  ATMOS data from ATLAS 3 will be
compared to information gathered during other missions to examine
worldwide, seasonal and long-term atmospheric changes.  According to
Principal Investigator Mike Gunson, ATMOS has already far exceeded its
minimum success requirements for the mission, performing "well beyond
expectations" on its "most productive, and certainly most
scientifically interesting, flight ever on any Shuttle mission."
ATMOS has now filled about 80 percent of its onboard recorder, having
completed a total of 166 sunrise and sunset observations.

  The Shuttle Solar Backscatter Ultraviolet (SSBUV) experiment
continued to perform coincident measurements for NASA's Total Ozone
Mapping Spectrometer (TOMS) and with ozone measuring instruments
flying on the NOAA 9 satellite as called for by the National Plan for
Stratospheric Monitoring.  The SSBUV instrument makes its ozone
measurements by comparing the amount of solar radiation reaching the
top of the Earth's atmosphere to the amount being scattered back from
the atmosphere.  This information gives scientists a measure of the
amount of ozone present in a given area.

  At around 3:45 CST this morning, the SSBUV team participated in what
Principal Investigator Ernest Hilsenrath called "a spontaneous
experiment collaboration" with the Middle Atmosphere High Resolution
Spectrograph Investigation (MAHRSI) instrument to test the possibility
of using MAHRSI's limb-scanning ability to measure ultraviolet
radiation and ozone in the lower stratosphere.  Taking advantage of a
planned CRISTA-SPAS maneuver in which MAHRSI scanned the ultraviolet
portion of the electromagnetic spectrum at heights between 55 and 15
km, the SSBUV team cooperated with the MAHRSI team to demonstrate the
feasibility of this ozone limb-scanning technique in preparation for a
solar limb- scanning instrument currently under development for
possible use on future space missions.

  SSBUV measures ozone in the upper stratosphere by looking straight
down at the Earth using ultraviolet backscatter observations.  MAHRSI,
on the other hand, measures hydroxyl and nitric oxide in the
stratosphere and mesosphere, using limb-scanning, or edge on viewing
above the Earth's horizon.  This experiment successfully demonstrated
the feasibility of using limb-scanning of the ultraviolet spectrum to
obtain ozone measurements in the lower stratosphere.  According to
MAHRSI Principal Investigator Robert Conway, "there was a question
about whether our instrument had enough sensitivity to perform this
experiment successfully, but, sure enough, we did.  The data look
excellent."  Analysis of this experiment's results will continue
throughout the next shift.

  During the second half of the next 12 hour shift, the four solar
science instruments for ATLAS 3 will begin their third period of solar
observations.  The Active Cavity Radiometer Irradiance Monitor, from
the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, and Belgium's SOLCON experiment will
measure the total solar energy received by the Earth.  The SOLSPEC
experiment will concentrate on the sun's radiant output in
ultraviolet, visible and infrared wavelengths while the U.S. Naval
Research Laboratory's Solar Ultraviolet Spectral Irradiance Monitor
examines solar output in the ultraviolet wavelengths.  SSBUV will also
observe the sun during one or two of the solar orbits, and the second
Experiment of the Sun for Complementing the Atlas Payload and for
Education (ESCAPE-II) will be in operation for all solar orbits.

 On Wednesday, November 9, 1994 at 5 p.m CST, STS-66 MCC Status Report
#12 reports: The crew told Mission Control that night time passes are
becoming shorter as the shuttle's orbit aligns more with the line
between night and day, called the terminator. By the last day of the
flight, Atlantis' orbit will be almost parallel to the terminator,
putting the crew in continual daylight for several orbits.

  Payload Commander Ellen Ochoa told controllers the crew can see as
many as 13-14 layers in the atmosphere during sunsets, while Commander
Don McMonagle said they are collecting photographs of the sunsets with
a 300 millimeter telephoto lens to supplement the atmospheric data
obtained by cargo bay instruments.

  Throughout the day, McMonagle performed a series of maneuvers to
position the ATLAS instruments for solar science gathering, rotating
the orbiter toward the sun during observations and away from it
between observing opportunities. During one maneuver, several "failed
jet" messages were observed.

  Flight controllers are studying the possibility that one of two hand
controllers used to fire the shuttle's large steering jets may have
sent spurious firing commands to the shuttle's jets when it was
powered on for a maneuver. The jets were turned off at the time and
did not fire. The problem does not impact any of the shuttle's current
scientific work, since the smaller steering jets, or verniers, are
used to point the shuttle for the atmospheric observations. An
analysis of the problem, including a possible checkout of the hand
controller, is continuing.

 On Wednesday November 9, 1994 at 6 p.m. CST, STS-66 Payload Status Report #13 
reports: (MET 6/7:00) ATLAS 3 atmospheric instruments have
finished another two days of observations to check the health of the
atmosphere, and the four solar instruments are in the midst of their
third set of observations.

  With the mission less than a day past its mid-point, the Atmospheric
Trace Molecule Spectroscopy (ATMOS) instrument has already gathered
more data than it did during either ATLAS 1 or ATLAS 2.  One of the
gases it focused on in the last observing period was hydrogen
chloride, which provides a direct measurement of the amount of
chlorine available in the atmosphere for ozone chemistry.

  Payload Commander Ellen Ochoa explained this morning that ATMOS is
unique not only because it measures as many as 30 or 40 trace gases
simultaneously, but also because it can detect very small
concentrations of those gases -- down to a few parts per billion.
"Even though the quantities are small," she observed, "these gases can
play a large part in ozone destruction."

  The ATMOS team has encouraged the crew to get as many photographs of
the atmosphere as possible, and this afternoon Commander Don McMonagle
made pictures as a sunrise illuminated Earth's thin protective
blanket.  Ochoa viewed the sunrise with high-magnification binoculars,
and she commented that she could see 13 or 14 atmospheric layers above
the clouds.

  The Shuttle Solar Backscatter Ultraviolet (SSBUV) experiment
completed a series of Earth ozone measurements to calibrate those
being made by NASA's Total Ozone Mapping Spectrometer (TOMS) aboard
the Russian Meteor-3 satellite.

  A six-orbit period of solar observations began at around 1 p.m.,
with the Solar Constant (SOLCON) experiment and the Active Cavity
Irradiance Monitor (ACRIM) making very precise measurements of the
total radiation arriving at Earth from the sun.  The Solar Spectrum
(SOLSPEC) instrument and Solar Ultraviolet Spectral Irradiance Monitor
(SUSIM) are looking at the sun's radiation as a function of
wavelength.

  This morning, principal scientists for SUSIM, SOLSPEC and SSBUV
announced that preliminary data for their first set of ultraviolet
solar observations agree approximately to five percent of one another.
This is the closest agreement ever achieved by three individual solar
instruments without post-flight calibration.  The correlation is
especially significant since each instrument uses different physics to
achieve their calibration.  The scientists expect to refine the
agreement even further during post-flight analysis.

  "It is important to obtain very accurate measurements of ultraviolet
radiation, because it sets up the chemistry in the atmosphere,
triggers catalytic cycles that make and destroy ozone, and drives
heating in the atmosphere," said SSBUV Principal Investigator Ernest
Hilsenrath.  Changes in this ultraviolet output are very subtle, but
their impact is of the same order as that of chemicals released into
the atmosphere by industrial activity.  To distinguish changes due to
solar variations from those caused by human activity, both must be
closely tracked.  "Measurements made by the ATLAS missions and the
satellite instruments they calibrate will provide a baseline for the
future," said Hilsenrath.  "They will be a legacy for environmental
investigators in the next century, so they can look back at our data
and compare it with changes they may observe in the atmosphere."

  While the Shuttle-based experiments concentrate on the sun, the
Cryogenic Infrared Spectrometers and Telescopes for the Atmosphere
(CRISTA) experiment and the Middle Atmosphere High Resolution
Spectrograph Investigation (MAHRSI) are continuing atmospheric
observations from aboard Germany's free-flying CRISTA-SPAS satellite.

  CRISTA Principal Investigator Dr. Dirk Offermann, of the University
of Wuppertal in Germany, reported his instrument has made the first
global readings of atomic oxygen in far-infrared wavelengths as low as
62 miles (100 kilometers).  "This is important because it will help us
understand how atomic oxygen functions as a cooling mechanism in the
upper atmosphere," explained Offermann.  Though far-infrared readings
of atomic oxygen at similar altitudes have been made during brief
sounding rocket flights, and by satellite instruments at higher
altitudes, they have never before been made so low in the atmosphere
on a global scale.  Atomic oxygen is produced in the upper
stratosphere when solar ultraviolet light strikes molecular oxygen
(the form of oxygen people breathe), breaking it down into single
oxygen atoms.

The MAHRSI team has processed preliminary data showing global
concentrations of hydroxyl.  Hydroxyl is very influential in the ozone
chemistry of the middle atmosphere.

 On Thursday, November 10, 1994 at 8 a.m CST, STS-66 MCC Status Report #13 
reports: After several "failed jet" messages were observed
following a maneuver earlier today, ground controllers had the crew
check the forward hand controller to verify its operation. Checkout
validated performance in all axes and flight controllers continue to
study the possibility that contacts in the hand controllers were
transiently energized when the flight control power was turned on. The
problem does not impact any of the Shuttle's current scientific work,
since the smaller steering jets, or verniers, are used to point the
shuttle for the atmospheric observations.

  Clervoy took time to discuss the science and objectives of the
STS-66 mission with European media representatives during an interview
overnight.

  With the mission past its halfway point, the Red Team -- Mission
Commander Don McMonagle, Payload Commander Ellen Ochoa and Mission
Specialist Joe Tanner -- are scheduled to take a half day off today
and the Blue Team will take a half day off following wakeup late this
afternoon.  The half day off is a standard practice for Shuttle
missions lasting more than 10 days.

 On Thursday, November 10, 1994 at 6 a.m. CST, STS-66 Payload Status Report #14
 reports: (MET 6/19:00) The ATLAS 3 solar instruments
completed the sixth and final orbit of their solar observation period
at around 9:25 p.m. CST, and then last night's scheduled
communications with the CRISTA-SPAS satellite started.  This was the
third of four periods planned during ATLAS 3 for the Shuttle's cargo
bay to point at the sun.  By accumulating data during multiple
observation periods, scientists can make extremely precise
measurements of the sun's total energy output and its dispersion.
Multiple solar periods also allow them to study short-term solar
variations.  All the solar instruments collected very high quality
data.

  Two University of Colorado students participated in science planning
meetings in Huntsville during the last three solar observation
periods.  The students represented a Colorado Space Grant Consortium
project, the second Experiment of the Sun for Complementing the ATLAS
Payload and for Education (ESCAPE-II), housed in a Get-Away-Special
canister in the Shuttle cargo bay.

  A secondary payload co-manifested for the ATLAS 3 mission, ESCAPE-II
is making observations concurrently with the ATLAS solar instruments,
in particular with the Solar Ultraviolet Spectral Irradiance Monitor
(SUSIM), which also measures solar ultraviolet radiation in the same
wavelength ranges.  The experiment was designed, managed and built
entirely by 60 undergraduate and graduate students at the University
of Colorado in Boulder.  ESCAPE II is a follow-on payload to the
Extreme Ultraviolet Solar Complex Autonomous Payload Experiment
(ESCAPE I), also known as the Solar Ultraviolet Experiment (SUVE),
which flew in April 1993 onboard the Space Shuttle Discovery as part
of the STS-56/ATLAS 2 mission.

  Instruments on ESCAPE II include a Far Ultraviolet Spectrometer
(FARUS) and a digital Lyman Alpha Spectrum Imaging Telescope (LASIT),
which obtain digital images of the solar disk in extreme ultraviolet,
121.6 nanometer, wavelengths in which little research has been done
over the last 20 years.  The experiment is expected to shed new light
on how the sun's extreme ultraviolet wavelengths affect the upper
atmosphere, as well as providing for the ESCAPE II students what
instrument Team Leader Kathy Wahl called "a hands-on education that
you do not get in any classroom experience."

  The Active Cavity Radiometer Irradiance Monitor (ACRIM) monitored
solar irradiance in its ongoing effort to determine possible
fluctuations in the sun's total output of optical energy.  The Upper
Atmosphere Research Satellite (UARS) also carries a similar ACRIM
instrument, and the two ACRIM's have been making cooperative
observations throughout the mission.  At the close of the last solar
observation period, ACRIM team member Roger Helizon observed, "the sun
is very stable this year.  This gives us flat data plots, allowing us
to do very tight collaborative measurements with UARS."

  After the end of the solar period and during the communications
between the orbiter and the CRISTA-SPAS instruments, atmospheric
observations resumed as the Middle Atmosphere High Resolution
Spectrograph Investigation (MAHRSI) switched from measuring hydroxyl
to measuring nitric oxide at heights of 60 to 84 miles (100-140 km).

  At around 3:30 a.m. CST, the MAHRSI science team at the Marshall
Space Flight Center in Huntsville used an Internet connection to
research data records of the International Ultraviolet Explorer (IUE),
a satellite launched in 1978, to obtain an old ultraviolet spectrum
observation of the Moon.  In order to compare and validate their
spectral measurements of hydroxyl, the MAHRSI team looks for an
ultraviolet spectrum, that is free from atmospheric interference, to
use as a reference.  Ultraviolet spectra of the Moon are ideal for
such purposes, and the data records of IUE furnished this reference.
"For us, it's a real breakthrough in the analysis of our data,"
commented MAHRSI Principal Investigator Robert Conway .

  Meanwhile, the Cryogenic Infrared Spectrometers and Telescopes for
the Atmosphere (CRISTA) instrument continued collecting infrared
spectra of trace gases.  CRISTA has taken a total of over ten million
spectra so far, an amount that would fill more than six thousand
computer discs with raw data.  Both the CRISTA and MAHRSI instruments
continue to perform well, amassing valuable atmospheric data.

  The Atmospheric Trace Molecule Spectroscopy (ATMOS) instrument
continued observing orbital sunrises and sunsets to identify and
measure molecules and their vertical distribution in the atmosphere.
ATMOS acquired good spectral data on key atmospheric molecules,
especially chlorine-containing gases, that it is intended to measure
as part of its science objectives.  The ATMOS science team reports
that the experiment's onboard data recorder is over eighty-five
percent full and that they are trying to take as many of their
measurements via live down link in order to conserve the remaining
recorder space for the rest of the mission.  The Shuttle crew made
occasional maneuvers of Atlantis during the night to help facilitate
this live down link.

 On Thursday, November 10, 1994 at 5 p.m. CST, STS-66 MCC Status Report #14 
report: During space flights lasting more than 10 days,
flight controllers schedule a few hours of off-duty time for each crew
member. This break from the steady pace of activities helps astronauts
maintain their high performance levels throughout the mission. The Red
Team - - Mission Commander Don McMonagle, Payload Commander Ellen
Ochoa and Mission Specialist Joe Tanner -- had its off-duty time
Thursday afternoon while the Blue Team -- Pilot Curt Brown, and
Mission Specialists Jean-Francois Clervoy and Scott Parazynski -- has
Thursday evening off.

  Maneuvers to orient Atlantis to enhance the science gathering
efforts of the Atmospheric Laboratory for Applications and Science
continued throughout the day. During the first half of its day, the
Red Team also worked with a variety of middeck experiments being
carried on Atlantis.

 On Thursday, November 10, 1994 at 6 p.m. CST, STS-66 Payload Status Report #15
 reports: (MET 7/7:00) The Atmospheric Trace Molecule
Spectroscopy (ATMOS) experiment support team, at the Jet Propulsion
Laboratory in California, has been working around the clock to convert
the instrument's raw data into gas-distribution charts.  ATMOS
scientists at Spacelab Mission Operations Control in Huntsville say
preliminary results seem to provide important pieces in the puzzle of
how the Antarctic ozone hole originates and what happens after the
ozone is completely destroyed.

  "We knew that industrial chlorofluorocarbons have been reaching the
stratosphere, where they release free chlorine atoms which then break
down Antarctic ozone by the end of winter," said ATMOS Principal
Investigator Dr.  Mike Gunson.  "Today's preliminary results tell a
very interesting story about how the chlorine is deactivated in the
springtime, as the Antarctic ozone layer begins to return to normal
conditions."  The data indicated that at altitudes of about 12 miles
(20 kilometers), where ozone depletion is greatest, almost all of the
chlorine had been chemically bound into hydrogen chloride molecules.
At 15 miles (25 kilometers), the atmosphere recovers in a different
way.  There, the chlorine appeared in both chlorine nitrate and
hydrogen chloride compounds.

  Gunson added that ATMOS data from ATLAS 3 strongly suggest the ozone
hole is a very contained region of the atmosphere.  "If the very low
water-vapor and nitrogen levels we see in the ozone hole were being
spread out to other parts of the atmosphere, that would help explain
what causes decreases in ozone levels at mid-latitudes and the
tropics," he said.  "However, we are not seeing a direct tie between
the two areas.  If the ozone hole does affect mid-latitudes, it must
be in a more indirect fashion."

  Sunsets in the Shuttle's orbital path are occurring further south as
the mission progresses, so ATMOS observations in the Northern
Hemisphere are focusing increasingly on tropical regions.

  The Cryogenic Infrared Spectrometers and Telescopes for the
Atmosphere (CRISTA) experiment, aboard the free-flying CRISTA-SPAS
satellite, has mapped the atmosphere over nearly the entire globe five
times since it went into operation Friday.  Its three-dimensional
records of trace gases in the middle atmosphere will reveal details
never measured before.

  The CRISTA instrument was built to a large part by students at the
University of Wuppertal in Germany and two of their professors.  The
original idea for the experiment was conceived in 1985.  "While the
actual instrument was manufactured by industry, students did the
calculations, constructed the cryostat, designed the optics, then
integrated the equipment with the help of university technicians,"
said Professor Dirk Offermann.  After the mission, the data reduction
will be done almost entirely by students.  "The instrument is working
almost perfectly, and we are very pleased with the results," Offermann
added.  Offerman is guiding CRISTA science planning at Spacelab
Mission Operations Control in Huntsville, and his colleague, Professor
Klaus Grossmann, is commanding telescope operations from the Kennedy
Space Center in Florida.  About 20 students from undergraduate to
doctoral levels have been involved in the project over the last nine
years.

  The Middle Atmosphere High Resolution Spectrograph Investigation
(MAHRSI) made measurements of hydroxyl this morning as the CRISTA-SPAS
satellite orbited over Southern California.  MAHRSI then began a
12-hour set of scans to track distributions of nitric oxide in the
middle atmosphere.

  At the same time, the Shuttle Solar Backscatter Ultraviolet (SSBUV)
experiment started 24 hours of nitric oxide measurements.  During last
night's solar observations, SSBUV took readings of the sun in nitric
oxide wavelengths to furnish comparisons for today's observations.
SSBUV controllers first studied nitric oxide during the ATLAS 2
mission, using their instrument's ability to focus on specific
wavelengths to pinpoint the gas, then refined the procedure during the
STS-62 flight last March.  Both nitric oxide and hydroxyl are active
in the chain of chemical reactions that destroys ozone in the middle
atmosphere.

 On Friday, November 11, 1994 at 8 a.m.CST, STS-66 MCC Status Report #15 
reports: The Blue Team -- Pilot Curt Brown, and Mission
Specialists Jean-Francois Clervoy and Scott Parazynski -- spent time
attempting to fix a hand-held laser device being carried on board
Atlantis. The laser is part of a technology demonstration to show that
the hand held radar can provide reliable range and range rate
information during shuttle rendezvous operations.

  Maneuvers to orient Atlantis to enhance the science gathering
efforts of the ATLAS-3 payload continue on board, as do operations
with several middeck payloads including the Protein Crystal Growth and
Space Tissue Loss experiments.

 On Friday, November 11, 1994 at 6 a.m. CST, STS-66 Payload Status Report #16 
reports: (MET 7/19:00) Preliminary results, available for
the first time during an ATLAS mission, continue to provide scientists
and the crew with insights to both the investigations and the
processes occurring in the atmosphere.  Among the results to date is
the detection of increasing amounts of Freon-22 in the stratosphere.
This chemical, used as a replacement for Chlorofluorocarbons, is not
as great a threat as Chlorofluorocarbons to the ozone layer, but is
still a growing source of stratospheric chlorine.

  The Atmospheric Trace Molecule Spectroscopy (ATMOS) experiment is
viewing sunrises and sunsets through the Earth's atmospheric limb,
measuring the trace gases involved in the chemistry of the
stratosphere and mesosphere.  The ATMOS onboard recorder is nearing
capacity, and observations will likely be downlinked live from the
orbiter Atlantis throughout the remainder of the mission.  The crew
will continue to maneuver the Shuttle in ways to best enable the
Tracking and Data Relay Satellite System (TDRSS) to provide real-time
downlink of ATMOS's observations of sunrises and sunsets.

  ATMOS Principal Investigator Dr. Mike Gunson commented that the data
are posing a "challenging scientific puzzle" as well as providing a
"really interesting story to tell about the ozone hole and the
processes leading to its formation."  "I'm really happy with the way
things have gone," he added.  "Enormously successful is almost an
understatement at this point."

  The Solar Spectrum Measurement (SOLSPEC) instrument, which measures
solar radiation in the ultraviolet, visible and near-infrared
wavelengths, viewed the Earth during this atmospheric period.
Although primarily a solar instrument, SOLSPEC took advantage of the
Earth-viewing position of the orbiter to record ultraviolet and
visible light as it was scattered back from the atmosphere.  This data
will be combined with information from SOLSPEC's solar observations to
determine concentrations of trace gases in the atmosphere

  The Shuttle Solar Backscatter Ultraviolet (SSBUV) instrument
continues to obtain measurements of nitric oxide concentrations as the
instrument viewed the Earth.  These observations are being performed
in conjunction with the MAHRSI instrument to produce a more
comprehensive understanding of nitric oxide distribution in the
atmosphere.

  The Middle Atmosphere High Resolution Spectrograph Investigation
(MAHRSI) instrument continues to gather nitric oxide data and is
working with the SSBUV team to measure global distributions of this
compound, which is active in the chain of chemical reactions that
destroys ozone in the middle atmosphere.

  The Cryogenic Infrared Spectrometers and Telescopes for the
Atmosphere (CRISTA) experiment acquired very high resolution data
through "oversampling," or making double measurements in specific
altitudes to obtain better resolution, during its scans.  At this
time, CRISTA has taken observations in all of its operating modes, and
the science team is very pleased with its performance.

 On Friday, November 11, 1994 at 5 p.m. CST, STS-66 MCC Status Report #16 
reports: The ATLAS-3 observations were put on hold for a little
more than an hour today due to an electrical problem. A power inverter
that converts direct current electricity to alternating current
electricity for the ATLAS instruments and their support equipment shut
down unexpectedly. Payload Commander Ellen Ochoa aboard Atlantis
quickly switched to a backup inverter that repowered the equipment.
However, to ensure there was not an electrical problem with the
instruments themselves, flight controllers delayed observations for a
short while to analyze the situation.  Observations with the ATLAS-3
instruments resumed about 4 p.m.

  Also, the crew switched the onboard flight control computer being
used for systems management to a backup mass memory unit after a
connection between the computer and the primary MMU proved faulty.
Both the computer, one of five flight control computers on board
Atlantis, and the MMU are in excellent condition. The problem was only
in the connection between the two devices. To restore full backup
capability onboard, flight controllers may eventually ask the crew to
switch the Systems Manager function to a different computer and assign
another function to the current SM computer.

  During the day, Mission Specialist Joe Tanner took a brief break to talk
with a Chicago radio station, answering questions about Atlantis's. 
Commander Don McMonagle took a phone call from Dr. Herman Smith, a retired
Marine Corps Captain in Houstan's VA Medical Center, to commemorate
Veterans Day and christen a new patient bedside telephone system. 

 On Friday, November 11, 1994 at 6 a.m. CST, STS-66 Payload Status Report #17 
reports: (MET 7/19:00) Preliminary results, available for
the first time during an ATLAS mission, continue to provide scientists
and the crew with insights to both the investigations and the
processes occurring in the atmosphere.  Among the results to date is
the detection of increasing amounts of Freon-22 in the stratosphere.
This chemical, used as a replacement for Chlorofluorocarbons, is not
as great a threat as Chlorofluorocarbons to the ozone layer, but is
still a growing source of stratospheric chlorine.
 
  The Atmospheric Trace Molecule Spectroscopy (ATMOS) experiment is
viewing sunrises and sunsets through the Earth's atmospheric limb,
measuring the trace gases involved in the chemistry of the
stratosphere and mesosphere.  The ATMOS onboard recorder is nearing
capacity, and observations will likely be downlinked live from the
orbiter Atlantis throughout the remainder of the mission.  The crew
will continue to maneuver the Shuttle in ways to best enable the
Tracking and Data Relay Satellite System (TDRSS) to provide real-time
downlink of ATMOS's observations of sunrises and sunsets.
 
  ATMOS Principal Investigator Dr. Mike Gunson commented that the data
are posing a "challenging scientific puzzle" as well as providing a
"really interesting story to tell about the ozone hole and the
processes leading to its formation."  "I'm really happy with the way
things have gone," he added.  "Enormously successful is almost an
understatement at this point."
 
  The Solar Spectrum Measurement (SOLSPEC) instrument, which measures
solar radiation in the ultraviolet, visible and near-infrared
wavelengths, viewed the Earth during this atmospheric period.
Although primarily a solar instrument, SOLSPEC took advantage of the
Earth-viewing position of the orbiter to record ultraviolet and
visible light as it was scattered back from the atmosphere.  This data
will be combined with information from SOLSPEC's solar observations to
determine concentrations of trace gases in the atmosphere
 
  The Shuttle Solar Backscatter Ultraviolet (SSBUV) instrument
continues to obtain measurements of nitric oxide concentrations as the
instrument viewed the Earth.  These observations are being performed
in conjunction with the MAHRSI instrument to produce a more
comprehensive understanding of nitric oxide distribution in the
atmosphere.
 
  The Middle Atmosphere High Resolution Spectrograph Investigation
(MAHRSI) instrument continues to gather nitric oxide data and is
working with the SSBUV team to measure global distributions of this
compound, which is active in the chain of chemical reactions that
destroys ozone in the middle atmosphere.
 
  The Cryogenic Infrared Spectrometers and Telescopes for the
Atmosphere (CRISTA) experiment acquired very high resolution data
through "oversampling," or making double measurements in specific
altitudes to obtain better resolution, during its scans.  At this
time, CRISTA has taken observations in all of its operating modes, and
the science team is very pleased with its performance.
 
 On Saturdy, November 12, 1994 at 5 a.m. CST, STS-66 MCC Status Report #17 
reports: The Cryogenic Infrared Spectrometers and Telescopes for
the Atmosphere (CRISTA) satellite ended its eight-day mission this
morning when the STS-66 crew retrieved the science satellite and
returned it to the orbiter's payload bay for the trip home.

  Payload Commander Ellen Ochoa captured the Shuttle Pallet Satellite,
with its CRISTA and Middle Atmosphere High Resolution Spectrograph
Investigation (MAHRSI) instruments, with the robot arm at 7:05 a.m.
Central this morning as Atlantis traveled southeast of New Zealand on
Orbit 141. Following additional testing while on the end of the robot
arm, the satellite is scheduled to be placed back into the payload bay
at about 9:30 a.m. today.

  During the rendezvous sequence, Atlantis flew an elliptical pattern
in front of the satellite called a MAHRSI Football maneuver to allow
the instrument to gather Shuttle glow data.  Investigators will use
the information to calibrate data obtained from the atmospheric
instruments by detecting and measuring the gas hydroxyl in the
proximity of the orbiter.

  Crew Commander Don McMonagle also tested a new rendezvous technique
to demonstrate the approach that will be used on Atlantis' next flight
in June 1995 to rendezvous and dock with the Russian Space Station
Mir. The technique, which has the orbiter approaching from beneath its
target, minimizes thruster jet firings that could "plume" or
contaminate the space station systems and solar arrays.

  Throughout the night, the Blue Team of astronauts -- Pilot Curt
Brown and Mission Specialists Jean-Francois Clervoy and Scott
Parazynski -- supported the rendezvous activities, maneuvering
Atlantis through a series of burns to place it in the correct position
for its rendezvous with CRISTA-SPAS. The Red Team -- McMonagle, Ochoa
and Mission Specialist Joe Tanner -- woke up at 2 a.m. to oversee the
final stages of the satellite rendezvous and retrieval.  Tanner used a
hand-held laser device that will be used on the Shuttle/Mir docking
missions to gather precise range and range rate data throughout the
rendezvous.

 On Saturday, November 12, 1994 at 6 a.m. CST, STS-66 Payload Status Report #18
 reports: (MET 8/19:00) Both MAHRSI and the Cryogenic
Infrared Spectrometers and Telescopes for the Atmosphere (CRISTA)
instrument participated overnight in a cooperative experiment with the
Shuttle Solar Ultraviolet Backscatter (SSBUV) instrument.  The
CRISTA-SPAS satellite, which carries CRISTA and MAHRSI, pointed in an
almost completely downward, or nadir, direction to allow these two
instruments to operate in an observation mode similar to that of
SSBUV, measuring variations in infrared and ultraviolet radiation
scattered back from cloud tops and Earth surface areas.  Dr. Dirk
Offermann, the CRISTA principal investigator, reports that the
experiment went very well, and the instruments even passed over one
end of the now-elongated Antarctic ozone hole.  According to Dr.
Offermann, CRISTA verified this fact when it recorded "a clearly
visible decrease in our ozone signals" over the tip of South America.
CRISTA is the only instrument flying with the STS-66 mission that can
use infrared scanning to view the Earth's atmosphere even at night.

  At around 12:45 a.m., MAHRSI and CRISTA collaborated on another
exploratory observation, simultaneously obtaining spectral
measurements of the moon in ultraviolet and infrared wavelengths.
This direct look at Earth's satellite will be used as a reference
standard for data processing.  Robert Conway described the spectrum as
superior to the one acquired from the Internet on the previous day,
saying, "We needed to know exactly how our instrument looks at these
measurements."

  The Shuttle Solar Backscatter Ultraviolet (SSBUV) experiment has
completed 73 Earth observations periods and, along with the other
ATLAS 3 experiments, has temporarily shut down for CRISTA-SPAS
retrieval.  The instrument team is assessing whether to attempt
observations of the moon in conjunction with other instruments and is
preparing for further Earth and solar view observations.

  The Atmospheric Trace Molecule Spectroscopy (ATMOS) instrument
primarily observed sunsets over equatorial latitudes last night.
"That's really important to us," said ATMOS Co-Investigator Mark
Abrams, who described the equator as a "source region" for ozone
mixing over more heavily populated areas of the globe.  "Having a good
idea about what the source region looks like gives us a good idea
about what is going on over the mid-latitudes," he added.  ATMOS has
made more than 200 solar occultations in this mission, more than the
combined occultations of its three previous flights.  Many of these
measurements will be correlated with observations from instruments on
NASA's Upper Atmosphere Research Satellite.

  Although ATLAS 3 is flying during what was expected to be the
quietest portion of the current solar cycle, information from other
observatories obtained via the Internet reveals an unexpected amount
of solar activity, including sun spots.  The SUSIM instrument has
detected higher solar intensities at short wavelengths than expected
during its observations, and these data will be critical in
characterizing what is occurring and developing a better understanding
of solar activity.  The instrument team decided to keep the instrument
door open and take data during CRISTA-SPAS retrieval.  This data will
be compared with that obtained with the instrument door closed during
deployment.

  Preparations are now underway to retrieve the CRISTA-SPAS carrier
and secure it in the Shuttle's payload bay.  As part of this, the
orbiter is in the process of maneuvering around the carrier, in an
operation known as the "MAHRSI football" because of the shape of its
path, so the MAHRSI instrument can make ultraviolet observations of
the Shuttle and the area immediately around it.  The measurements of
the Shuttle and its attendant "Shuttle glow" will help scientists
improve their understanding of this phenomenon and assist with
refining data from ATLAS and other missions by allowing interference
created by the glow to be predicted.

  After the ASTRO-SPAS carrier has been secured at around 7 a.m. this
morning, the ATLAS 3 mission will begin its final period of
atmospheric and solar observations.

 On Saturday, November 12, 1994 at 8 p.m. CST, STS-66 MCC Status Report #18 
reports: Atlantis' crew safely tucked an atmosphere-observing satellite 
into the shuttle's cargo bay today ending eight days of independent 
science gathering activities taking measurements of the Earth's atmosphere 
and sun.  The Cryogenic Infrared Spectrometers and Telescopes for the 
Atmosphere (CRISTA) instrument mounted on its Shuttle Pallet Satellite 
(SPAS) is now latched securely in Atlantis' payload bay for its return 
trip to Earth.  Observations with the Atmospheric Laboratory for 
Applications and Science instruments aboard Atlantis continued throughout 
the day.

  With CRISTA securely in place, Ochoa again commanded the shuttle's
robot arm to view an icicle that formed on the exterior of the left
hand cargo bay door during a routine water dump Friday. The television
views showed the door's edges and latches to be free of ice.  Flight
controllers are considering a variety of options to dislodge the
icicle, including using the shuttle's robot arm to break it off of
Atlantis' payload bay doors.

 On Saturday, November 12, 1994 at 6 p.m. CST, STS-66 Payload Status Report #19
 reports: (MET 9/7:00) Two unique atmospheric instruments concluded 
almost eight days of very successful operations, as STS-66
Payload Commander Ellen Ochoa retrieved the German Space Agency's
reusable CRISTA-SPAS satellite this morning.  Its two instruments --
the German Cryogenic Infrared Spectrometers and Telescopes for the
Atmosphere (CRISTA), from the University of Wuppertal, and the Middle
Atmospheric High Resolution Spectrograph Investigation (MAHRSI), from
the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory in Washington, D.C. -- were
designed to measure concentrations and distribution of trace gases in
Earth's atmosphere on a global scale.

  Dr. Dirk Offermann, principal investigator for the CRISTA
experiment, reported that his instrument performed almost flawlessly
as it gathered unprecedented three-dimensional profiles of the
atmosphere.  About 100 gigabits of data from 180 hours of CRISTA
observing time are stored on magnetic tapes onboard the satellite.
"The measurement speed of CRISTA is so high, that conventional
satellites would deliver this data set in about half a year," said
German Space Agency representative Dr. Wolfgang Frings.  CRISTA will
be the first instrument to provide such detailed information on the
"weather" in the upper atmosphere -- the dynamics of winds,
temperature changes and movements which distribute the gases that
influence ozone chemistry.

   According to Offermann, the CRISTA investigation is not finished yet.
A campaign of balloon and rocket experiments will continue for about
two weeks, providing additional comparisons on the dynamic atmosphere.
Post-flight calibrations at Kennedy Space Center will check on the
accuracy and precision of CRISTA measurements.  "This is an important
capability only offered by the Space Shuttle, because it brings
instruments back to Earth," Offermann said.

  "Like CRISTA, we have had a most amazing week," said MAHRSI
Principal Investigator Dr. Robert Conway.  The instrument accomplished
what he termed the "difficult and rather delicate" task of collecting
high-resolution, global maps of hydroxyl in the middle atmosphere.  It
also did almost 30 hours of nitric oxide mapping, much of it in
cooperation with the Shuttle Solar Ultraviolet Backscatter (SSBUV)
experiment.  Both gases are active catalysts in ozone destruction.

  Conway compared some early MAHRSI hydroxyl measurements with water
vapor data from the Millimeter Wave Atmospheric Sounder (MAS),
collected during the mission's first atmospheric research period.
"Water vapor is a parent molecule of hydroxyl, because the production
of hydroxyl depends on the abundance of water vapor," explained
Conway.  "By combining the MAS water vapor maps with MAHRSI's maps of
hydroxyl abundances, we have two parts of the puzzle for understanding
the photochemistry of ozone."

  The Atmospheric Trace Molecule Spectroscopy (ATMOS) experiment has
completed atmospheric observations for ATLAS 3, after having
accumulated the equivalent of 110,000 floppy disks of data -- more
than from all three of its previous flights combined.

  Today ATMOS viewed the sun directly, rather than using it to
illuminate Earth's atmosphere.  The current angle of the Shuttle's
orbit in relation to the sun would spread atmospheric observations
over such a wide area that they would not be useful.  "It would be
like taking the temperature of Los Angeles and Mexico City at the same
time," said ATMOS Assistant Project Manager Gregory Goodson.  The
unusual illumination conditions of the STS-66 orbit, which changed
gradually over the course of the flight, were planned to accommodate
the requirements of both ATMOS and CRISTA.

  Sensitive infrared measurements of the full sun provide an essential
reference for ATMOS scientists because they must remove solar spectra
from their atmospheric observations to properly interpret results.
Solar scientists will get valuable information about the sun's
chemistry and physics from the high-resolution infrared spectra as
well.

  Spectacular Earth scenes broadcast from Shuttle cameras today
supported the Shuttle Solar Backscatter Ultraviolet (SSBUV)
experiment's "reflectivity measurements."  The video and SSBUV spectra
will be compared to determine how various Earth surface features like
clouds, oceans, deserts and mountains reflect sunlight back into the
atmosphere.  Variations in reflectivity affect SSBUV's measurements of
the total ozone above the different surface features.  "Today's
studies give atmospheric scientists a tool for adjusting their ozone
models," explained an SSBUV team member.

  France's Solar Spectrum (SOLSPEC) experiment is making more readings
of solar radiation scattered back from Earth.  Though its primary
objective is measuring the spectral radiation of the sun, SOLSPEC's
Earth views will be compared with its solar results to determine the
amount of ozone in the atmosphere.  The data also can be compared with
that being made by SSBUV, whose primary assignment is to track ozone
concentrations by comparing ultraviolet radiation backscattered from
the Earth with solar ultraviolet radiation.

 On Sunday, November 13, 1994 at 10 a.m. CST, STS-66 MCC Status Report #19 
reports: Today, crew members continued supporting observations of
the instruments that make up the third dedicated Atmospheric
Laboratory for Applications and Science. They also checked the small
thruster jets to ensure their health for tomorrow's landing
activities, deactivated several of the middeck secondary experiments
and began packing up equipment for the trip home.

  Mission managers have decided not to use the robot arm to dislodge
an icicle that developed on the left payload bay door and extends to
the water dump nozzles on the left side of the orbiter. The decision
was made after the camera on the end of the robot arm which would
provide ground controllers with insight into the operation
malfunctioned overnight. Since the ice is not a safety concern,
managers opted to not perform the procedure without the ability to
watch it on the ground.

 On Sunday, November 13, 1994 at 6 a.m. CST, STS-66 Payload Status Report #20 
reports: (MET 9/19:00) The Atlantis crew maneuvered the
orbiter's cargo bay to face the sun last night for the last of four
ATLAS 3 solar observation periods.  All four solar experiments -- the
Active Cavity Radiometer Irradiance Monitor (ACRIM), the Solar
Constant (SOLCON) and Solar Spectrum (SOLSPEC) experiments, and the
Solar Ultraviolet Spectral Irradiance Monitor (SUSIM) -- are adding
nine orbits of observations to the excellent data they acquired during
previous solar periods.  The Shuttle Solar Backscatter Ultraviolet
(SSBUV) instrument is operating in its solar-viewing mode during one
of the sun orbits.  Solar observations are a vital part of this
atmospheric mission, because energy coming from the sun drives the
Earth's climate system and the photochemistry of ozone in the
stratosphere.

  ACRIM Co-Investigator Dr. Roger Helizon, of NASA's Jet Propulsion
Laboratory, is especially pleased with comparative sunspot activity
measurements his team has made with similar instruments aboard the
Upper Atmosphere Research Satellite (UARS).  "We learned more about
the sensitivity of this device than ever before," he commented, adding
that the sun during ATLAS 3 has "just the right amount of sunspot
activity" to facilitate sunspot measurements.

  SOLCON's unattended monitoring of solar irradiance began at around
11:00 p.m. CST with instrument activation, and the instrument
continues to make solar observations.  Data from these observations
will help determine the total amount of energy reaching Earth from the
sun and how this energy changes over time.

  The solar constant experiments, designed to take measurements to an
accuracy of one-tenth of one percent, are part of a long-term plan
during which scientists hope to collect 100 years of data on solar
variations.  The total energy output of the sun varies only slightly,
but variations of just one- half percent over a time scale of decades
are thought to be capable of creating major climate changes.
Observations of the sun made from space, above the distorting
influence of the atmosphere, can be much more precise than
ground-based readings.  The first observations with this level of
accuracy were made by NASA's Solar Maximum Mission in the 1980's.

  Before it powered down and entered a deep space cooling period in
preparation for its solar observations, SSBUV took measurements in a
single wavelength, just short of the visible light wavelengths.  This
data will help the scientists better understand ultraviolet scattering
in the atmosphere, which is important in understanding the accuracy of
ozone measurements.  After one orbit of pointing at deep space for its
cooling period, SSBUV began its solar observations, and is in the
process of planning unprecedented lunar observations in conjunction
with SUSIM and SOLSPEC to measure the moon's albedo, or the ratio of
reflected to incoming sunlight, in various wavelengths.  According to
SSBUV Principal Investigator Ernest Hilsenrath, this will be the "most
accurately calibrated set of instruments ever to look at the moon."

  The Atmospheric Trace Molecule Spectroscopy (ATMOS) experiment,
having completed all of its atmospheric observations for the mission,
is gathering solar spectral data by looking directly at the sun with
no atmospheric interference during sunsets.  This will provide solar
scientists with a high quality solar infrared spectrum.  ATMOS has
already taken more solar data than on all of its previous missions and
is hoping for a solar spectrum with a high ratio of signal to noise,
to "capitalize on the opportunity to maximize the amount of data we
have," according to Principal Investigator Dr. Mike Gunson.

  Following an instrument calibration, SOLSPEC performed three sets of
direct Earth measurements in the ultraviolet ranges to assist in the
determination of the chemical composition of the atmosphere.  The
instrument then began unattended solar observations.  SOLSPEC is
currently gathering data on solar irradiance in the ultraviolet,
visible and infrared wavelengths.

  After performing a pre-observation calibration to help monitor the
instrument's high-resolution performance, SUSIM resumed performing
solar observations.  The instrument is currently obtaining a complete
set of spectral scans to determine the ultraviolet solar irradiance.

  Currently, crew members are scheduled to deactivate the payload
later this evening.  Science teams and payload controllers at Marshall
are still awaiting word as to whether the Shuttle landing will be
delayed due to weather.  ATLAS instruments might have an opportunity
for four bonus observations, two atmospheric and two solar, if a
decision is made to postpone landing.

  After the mission, analysis of these data will begin, producing
results which will eventually be publicly archived.  "The data belong
to everybody," observed NASA Headquarters Program Scientist Dr. Jack
Kaye.  "Following post-flight data analysis, the data ultimately will
be deposited in Earth Observing System Data Information System
archives at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, where it will be made
available to atmospheric scientists around the world."

<end of mission>

Mission Name: STS-63 (67)
  Discovery (20)         
  Pad 39-B (32) 
  67th Shuttle Mission 
  20th Flight OV-103
  Night Launch (10)
  MIR Rendezvous / Fly around
  1st Mission with Female Pilot
  EVA Operations

Crew:
 James D. Wetherbee (3), Commander
 Eileen M. Collins (1), Pilot
 C. Michael Foale (Ph.D.) (3), Mission Specialist
 Janice E. Voss, Ph.D. (2), Mission Specialist
 Bernard A. Harris, Jr., M.D.(2), Mission Specialist
 Vladimar G. Titov (4), Cosmonaut

Milestones:
     OPF -- 9/28/94
     VAB -- 1/05/95
     PAD -- 1/10/95

  1/17/95 Start of Terminal Countdown Demonstration Test (TCDT)
  1/18/95 Flight Readiness Review 
  1/21/95 Load hypergolics
  1/23/95 Hot fire APU No. 2
  1/26/95 Ordnance install and hypergolic pressurization
  1/27/95 Install and checkout spacesuits
  1/29/95 Crew arrival for launch (12 midnight)
  1/29/95 Begin S0007 Countdown procedure (4:30pm)
  2/01/95 Begin 24-Hour Scrub Turnaround
  2/03/95 Launch

Payload:
  SPACEHAB-3, Spartan-204, MIR-Rendezvous, CSE, GLO-2, ODERACS-II, IMAX, SSCE, AMOS, MSX

Mission Objectives:
   STS-63's primary objective was to perform a rendezvous and fly
around of the Russian space station MIR.  The objectives of the MIR
Rendezvous/Flyby are to verify flight techniques, communications and
navigation aid sensor interfaces, and engineering analyses associated
with Shuttle/Mir proximity operations in preparation for the STS-71
docking mission.

   Other objectives of this flight are to perform the operations
necessary to fulfill the requirements of experiments located in
Spacehab-3 and to fly captively, then deploy and retrieve the
Spartan-204 payload.  Spartan-204, the Shuttle Pointed Autonomous
Research Tool for Astronomy, is a free-flying retrievable platform.
It is designed to obtain data in the far ultraviolet region of the
spectrum from diffuse sources of light.  Two crewmembers will also
perform a five hour spacewalk.

  Payloads flying aboard STS-63 include the Cryo Systems Experiment
(CSE), the Shuttle Glow (GLO-2) experiment, Orbital Debris Radar
Calibration Spheres (ODERACS-2), the Solid Surface Combustion
Experiment (SSCE), the Air Force Maui Optical Site Calibration Test
(AMOS) and the Midcourse Space Experiment (MSX).
 
  
Launch:  
  Launch February 3, 1995 at 12:22:03.994am EST.  Transatlantic abort
(TAL) sites were setup at Zaragoza, Spain; Ben Guerir, Morocco and
Moron, Spain but were not needed.  MPS Main Engine cutoff was on
schedule at MET of 8min 33 sec.  A go was given for APU shutdown at
12:36am EST.  There were two RCS thruster problems during launch.
Thruster L2D failed and RCS R1U experienced a minor thruster leak
during ascent.  These jets have redundancy and are not expected to
cause any violations with the MIR Rendezvous/Flyby RCS redundancy
rules.  One flight waiver was processed for upper level winds at Mach
1.4 in the event of a single MPS engine out.  The SRB booster recovery
ships are in the recovery area and have spotted the SRB's.  Due to 9ft
seas in the area, recovery operations are not expected to begin until
daylight.

  The launch was originally scheduled for February 2, 1995 at 12:49am
EST but a 24 hour scrub turnaround was put into effect due to a
failure in Inertial Measurement Unit (IMU) #2.  Although 3 IMU's are
installed onboard the shuttle, if necessary, a flight can be
accomplished with only one.  The IMU's are located on the flight deck
forward of the flight deck control and display panels. The failed unit
was removed and replaced and the countdown was set to pick up at the
T-11 hour mark at 8:31am EST 2/3/95.  Launch window is 5 min.  The
actual launch time is expected to vary by several minutes based on new
MIR state vectors for Shuttle rendezvous phasing requirements which
will be updated an hour before launch.

  Rollout to Pad 39-B occured 1/10/95. 1st motion was around 12:40 p.m.
with hard down at around 8pm.  The rollout to Pad 39-B was originally
scheduled for 1/11/95 but was moved up one day when the pressure in a
right hand orbital maneuvering system pod oxidizer manifold dropped
from 150 psi to about 15 psi.  The manifold serves 4 of the OMS
thrusters on the right hand pod.  One of these thrusters (R3A) has a
documented very minor leak which was managed and controlled during the
past two flights.  However, from the time the orbiter left the OPF
(1/5/95) to the time it was first powered up in the VAB , the manifold
pressure dropped significantly.  Engineers think this radical drop was
caused by cold weather effects on the thruster's seal this past
weekend.  The manifold pressure was brought up to about 65 psi in the 
VAB, the maximum available with equipment in the VAB and after the
rollout to the pad, the mainfold pressure was returned to the standard 
150psi.  Low pressure in the manifold over a period of time may cause
other thruster seals to dry-out and leak.

  On 1/12/95, it was decided to proceed with plans to replace the
leaking thruster on the right hand orbital maneuvering system pod.  On
1/19/95, workers replaced both leaking thrusters (R3A and R3R) and
leak checks are complete and good.  Also, a faulty seal and quick
disconnect on Auxiliary Power Unit (APU) No. 2 was successfully
replaced.

Orbit:
  Altitude: 213nm 
  Inclination: 51.6 degrees
  Orbits:  129
  Duration:  8 days, 6 hours, 28 minutes, 15 seconds.
  Distance: 2,992,806 miles

Hardware:
  SRB: BI-070
  SRM: 360Q/L042
  ET :  SN-68
  MLP : 2
  SSME-1: SN-2035
  SSME-2: SN-2109
  SSME-3: SN-2029

Landing:  
  KSC February 11, 1995 at 6:51 a.m EST on Shuttle Landing Facility 
Runway 15.  

Mission Highlights:
  On flight day one (2/03/95) at 9:20am EST, Commander James D. Wetherbee 
performed a 39sec OMS burn to place it on a intercept course with the 
Russian MIR Space Station.  At that time, Discovery was located 7000nm 
behind MIR at an altitude of 190nm.  Payloads in the middeck and in the 
SpaceHab module were powered up and the RMS arm was checked out.

  On Friday, Feb 3, 1995 at 6:30 a.m. CST, STS-63 MCC Status Report #1 
reports that flight controllers were troubleshooting a problem with
AFT RCS thruster R1U which has a slow leak of 2-3lbs/hr.  Though
thruster leaks are a common occurrence, the leaky jet is slightly more
of a concern for STS-63 because of the Mir rendezvous.  Flight rules
for mission dictate that Discovery must have all its aft firing
thrusters operational before it moves within 1,000 feet of Mir. In
past missions, leaks frequently cleared themselves once the jets were
warmed by either thruster firings or the sun. Subsequently, flight
controllers asked Commander James D. Wetherbee to position the orbiter so
that sun would shine on the top side of the vehicle for several hours
to help warm up the leaking jet.  Currently, controllers are
proceeding with the rendezvous as planned but will continue to watch
the leak.

  Checkouts of the robot arm also went smoothly.  The arm will be used later 
in the mission to position and deploy the Spartan-204 payload for its far 
ultraviolet measurements of the space phenomena.

  On Friday, Feb 3, 1995 at 1:15 p.m. CST, STS-63 MCC Status Report #2
states: The leaking RCS thruster is losing between 1-2 pounds of
propellant every hour, a manageable loss according to mission
managers.  Temperatures on the thruster remain constant at about 54
degrees Fahrenheit. If the temperature drops below 40 degrees
Fahrenheit, controllers may have to close a manifold that supplies
propellant to the leaking jet.  Closing that valve would preclude the
use of another healthy maneuvering jet which is to be used for
close-in maneuvering around Mir. In that case, Discovery would not
maneuver any closer than 1,000 feet from Mir. 

  Crew members also activated the Spacehab module and began working
with the experiments housed inside. Twenty different experiments
ranging from protein crystal growth to a robotics demonstration
comprise the STS-63 Spacehab payload complement. The astronauts also
conducted a photographic survey of Discovery's payload bay using the
shuttle's robot arm.

  On Saturday, Feb 4, 1995 at 8:30 a.m. CST, STS-63 MCC Status Report #3
states:  One of the first tasks for the crew during its second day is 
space was to deploy the Orbital Debris and Radar Calibration Spheres, or
ODERACS, from a canister in the shuttle's cargo bay. The three spheres
and three wire strands, all of varying sizes and composition, were
released from Discovery on time at about 10:57 p.m. CST Friday and
will be used to fine-tune ground radars and optics worldwide that
track space debris. The spheres and wires may remain in orbit for
times ranging from as short as 20 days to 280 days.

  Mission Specialist and Russian Cosmonaut Vladimir Titov later used
the shuttle's mechanical arm to lift the SPARTAN-204 satellite from
the cargo bay shortly after midnight for several hours of studying the
shuttle glow phenomenon and shuttle steering jet firings. Shuttle glow
is an effect created by the interaction of the shuttle's surfaces with
atomic oxygen in low Earth orbit and is being observed on the mission
by the Far Ultraviolet Imaging Spectrometer aboard SPARTAN. Following
the conclusion of the SPARTAN-204 operations, the satellite was
latched down in the payload bay.

   Throughout the day, Discovery has continued to close the distance
with Mir at a rate of about 180 nautical miles with each
orbit. Discovery is now in an orbit of 200 by 182 nautical miles,
about 4,400 miles behind Mir.  One of Discovery's steering jets
continues to slowly leak propellant.

  On Saturday, Feb 4, 1995 at 4:30 p.m. CST, STS-63 MCC Status Report #4 
states: On the ground, flight controllers are assessing plans for
up-close maneuvers with Mir after a forward reaction control system
thruster (RCS thruster F1F) on Discovery began leaking during a hot
fire test earlier today. The thruster's oxidizer supply line has been
closed and Discovery has been maneuvered to a nose-toward-the-sun
attitude to warm the thruster. Flight controllers report they are
seeing a gradual increase in temperature on the forward jet.
Throughout the evening, flight controllers will continue to look at
what effect the failure may have on the planned rendezvous as well as
their options for restoring thruster operations.

  On Sunday, Feb 5, 1995 at 7:30 a.m. CST, the Mission Update status
briefing reported that the problem with forward RCS thruster F1F is
now resolved.  Previously it was leaking at the rate of 3-5lbs per
hour.  The forward part of the shuttle was placed in sunlight and
allowed to head up and RCS manifold #1 was turned off.  In an attempt
to stop the leak, Commander James D. Wetherbee and Pilot Eileen M. Collins 
closed and reopened the manifold of the leaky thruster several times.
Pressure was allowed to build up in the manifold and then the manifold
was open and the thruster commanded to fire. This cleared out any
residual fuel left in the thruster and stopped the leak.  This same
procedure was repeated on the leaking AFT R1U thruster to no avail.
At this time, Discovery 2000nm behind MIR and closing at a rate of
190nm per orbit.  The next orbital burn is scheduled for approximately
1:39pm EST.

  On Sunday, Feb 5, 1995 at 10 a.m. CST, STS-63 MCC Status Report #5
reports: Discovery is expected to catch up with the Russian space
station Monday morning, but mission managers are still discussing how
close the orbiter will come to the Mir. The original plan calls for
Discovery to come within 33 feet of the Mir complex, but because of a
leaking steering thruster, controllers also are looking at back-up
plans for having the shuttle fly around Mir at a distance of 400
feet. Mission managers in both countries are continuing to work toward
a consensus.

  Meanwhile in the Spacehab module, activities with its 20 experiments
are progressing smoothly.  Among those activities, crew members tested
a small robot called Charlotte. Designed by McDonnell Douglas
Aerospace, Charlotte is designed to service other experiments in the
absence of the crew. The robot moves along cables and has the
capability to change experiment samples and perform many routine
procedures.  The crew also activated an experiment that studies how
materials burn in weightlessness. In this instance, the Solid Surface
Combustion Experiment is examining how Plexiglas burns.

  On Sunday, Feb 5, 1995 at 5 p.m. CST, STS-63 MCC Status Report #6
reports: Commander Jim Wetherbee and Pilot Eileen Collins closed and
reopened the jet manifold several times in an attempt to stop the
leak, but those attempts were not successful. Shortly before the crew
went to sleep, the manifold was closed.  The crew will receive a
wake-up call at 11:21 p.m. CST to begin Flight Day 4.  Discovery is in
a 208 by 197 nautical mile orbit, less than 1,000 nautical miles
behind Mir and closing that distance by about 78 miles with each
orbit.

  On Monday, Feb 6, 1995 at 7 a.m. CST, STS-63 MCC Status Report #7
reports: Discovery's crew has begun preparations for a close encounter
with the Russian Mir space station this afternoon, although two
possible plans for the rendezvous exist -- one that would have
Discovery move to about 35 feet from Mir at its closest point and
another that would have Discovery remain about 400 feet from Mir.

  Regardless of how close Discovery approaches the station, for either
plan, Discovery will fire its engines at 8:16 a.m. central and again
at 9:02 a.m. central in maneuvers designed to decrease the present
rate -- 79 nautical miles per orbit -- that the shuttle is closing in
on the station.  Next, Discovery will fire its engines at 10:37
a.m. central, when the shuttle is about 8 nautical miles from Mir, to
begin the final phase of the rendezvous.  Discovery will arrive at a
point about 400 feet directly in front of Mir at 12:16 p.m. central.

  For the plan which has Discovery stay 400 feet from Mir, the shuttle
would then begin a flyaround of Mir at 1:30 p.m., circling the station
completely by about 2:16 p.m. and firing its engines to depart the
vicinity of the station at 2:28 p.m.  Under a plan where Discovery
would approach to 35 feet from Mir, Discovery would reach that closest
point to the station at 1:20 p.m.  The shuttle would then back away
and reach a point 400 feet distant again at about 2 p.m..  Discovery
would begin a flyaround of Mir from a distance of 400 feet at 2:26
p.m., completing the circle and firing its engines to separate from
the vicinity at 3:13 p.m.

  Which plan will ultimately be used depends on an evaluation of a
leaking right aft maneuvering jet aboard Discovery that is on going by
both shuttle flight controllers and Mir flight controllers.  A final
decision is expected as the morning progresses, although both
rendezvous plans are identical until 12:16 p.m. central, the time when
Discovery arrives a a point 400 feet from Mir.

  On Monday, February 6, 1995 at 8:23am, Commander James D. Wetherbee
and Pilot Eileen M. Collins performed a minor orbital burn (NH burn)
that adjusted Discovery's altitude and places the oribiter about 48nm
behind MIR.  The burn lasted 13 sec (8.6ft/sec).  Vladimar G. Titov
began 2-way raido communications with MIR via a special hand-held VHF
radio.  First radio contact was made at about 550,000ft.

  The 8sec NC-4 burn occured at 9:02am CST with Discovery at 48nm away
from MIR. This places the orbiter in position for the NCC-burn.  The
NCC-burn is the first burn calculated by onboard computers using
onboard navigation derived from orbiter star tracker sightings) After
the NCC-burn, the TI-Burn puts Discovery into the final phase of
rendezvous at 8nm behind MIR.  This will start Dicovery on an arc that
will take it below MIR.

  On Monday, Feb 6, 1995 at 9:30 a.m. CST, STS-63 MCC Status Report #8
reports: Discovery's crew was given a "go" to fly within 35 feet of
the Russian Mir space station at 9:25 a.m. CST.  

  F. Story Musgrave communicated to the crew that flight controllers
worked out a plan that will give them a GO to approach MIR to 10
Meters.  The rules setup with this plan require 3 conditions; 1) That
the right RCS Manifold #1 providing fuel to the leaking R1U thruster
be closed before 300 meters; 2) That Discovery approach no closer than
10meters; and 3) That in the event of any further loss of "Low Z" RCS
thruster capability, that the crew open the closed manifold, back out
to 400ft and hold position.

   Discovery fired its engines at 8:16 a.m. and 9:02 a.m. CST in
maneuvers that decreased the rate that the shuttle is closing in on
the station.  At 2/6/95 at 11:38 CST, Discovery is 2nm away from MIR
closing the distance at 19ft/sec.  The 3rd mid-course correction was
successful at 11:41 CST and Discovery is now closing at 16.5ft/sec.
Cosmonauts on MIR reported that they were able to see Discovery's RCS
jets firing.  At 11:48am CST, with Discovery and MIR flying above and
just north of Hawaii. Discovery was 1.3nm away from MIR, nose pointing
forward with the payload bay pointing towards MIR.  Discovery was
moving toward MIR at 9ft/sec.  At 11:59am CST Discovery was about
1700ft from MIR and moving at 3ft/sec.  Cosmonauts onboard MIR report
that they were able to see commander James D. Wetherbee waving in the
orbiter windows.

 At 2/6/95 at 12:06 CST (.9ft/sec and 960ft from MIR), Discovery
switched to a Low-Z attitude mode that restricts RCS thrusters firings
that point away from the MIR space station.  Discovery is slightly in
front of and below MIR.  At 12:22pm CST, Discovery matched the
velocity vector of MIR and linked up orbits at 422ft.  Both Discovery
and MIR downlinked video of each other from close proximity.
Discovery station kept at this location for about 1 hour before moving
in to closest approach at 10meters.  Closest approach with MIR occured
at 13:23pm CST while Discovery was over the Pacific Ocean and at an
altitude of 213 nautical.  It lasted for 10 min.  

  On Monday, Feb 6, 1995 at 5 p.m. CST, STS-63 MCC Status Report #9
reports:  "As we are bringing our space ships closer together, we are
bringing our nations closer together," said STS-63 Commander Jim
Wetherbee after Discovery reached the point of closest approach. "The
next time we approach, we will shake your hand and together we will
lead our world into the next millennium."

  Wetherbee reported that Discovery performed well during the
operations. The orbiter's performance, he said, was identical to that
of the flight simulators the crew trained in. Mir Commander Alexander
Viktrenko reported that the orbiter's thruster firing did not affect
the Mir's solar arrays. All insights collected today will be used to
refine planning for the first time a shuttle docks with Mir later this
year.

  The close approach operations went as planned and achieved a
distance of 37 feet between the top of the SpaceHab module and the
surface of the MIR module.  Discovery then backed out to 400 feet
and started MIR/Fly around operations.  At 3:13pm CST Discovery
initiated the burn that would seperate Discovery from MIR.  As the two
spacecraft seperated, Discovery gathered data that will be used for
the MIR Docking approach on STS-71.  On 2/6/95 at 5:23pm CST Discovery
was seperated from MIR and orbiting the earth at 214nmx207nm,

  Discovery had been slowly closing the distance between it and Mir
since a few hours after it reached orbit. Today, the final phase of
rendezvous brought the orbiter from behind the Russian station to a
point about 400 feet in front it. Discovery then moved down the
velocity vector (an imaginary line extending in the direction of
travel of a space vehicle) toward Mir. After reaching the point of
closest approach over the Pacific Ocean at an altitude of 213 nautical
miles and maintaining that position for 10 minutes, Discovery moved
away from Mir and initiated a fly-around of the station.

  On Tuesday, Feb 7, 1995 at 8 a.m. CST, STS-63 MCC Status Report #10 
and PAO commentary on NASA Select reports: As Discovery was over
Brazil, it prepared to release the Spartan 204 payload.  The RCS jets
were inhibited and the Remote Manipulator System (RMS) Robot arm was
placed in its derigidized position.  Mission Specialist and Russian
Cosmonaut Vladimir G. Titov released the Spartan 204 satellite and its
Far Ultraviolet Imaging Spectrograph instrument from the shuttle's
mechanical arm on time at 6:26 a.m. central.  At 6:31am CST, Commander
James D. Wetherbee backed Discovery away and Vladimar G. Titov
confirmed that Spartan was in good health by reporting the satellite
has performed its first solo maneuvers.  Discovery will move away from
Spartan 204 at about 4nm per orbit.

  The Spartan 204 satellite will spend about two days flying free of
Discovery, studying the gas and dust that fills space between stars
and planets. Spartan's observations will be recorded aboard the
satellite for analysis by scientists after Discovery's return to
Earth. The satellite will be retrieved by the orbiter's robot arm
Thursday just prior to a spacewalk by Mission Specialists Bernard
Harris and Mike Foale.

  On Tuesday, Feb 7, 1995 at 5 p.m. CST, STS-63 MCC Status Report #11
reports:  Discovery's fifth day in space has come to a close as the
STS-63 crew turns its attention from rendezvousing with a Russian
space station to scientific investigations, satellites and spacewalks.
Crew members continued working with the 20 experiments residing in the
Spacehab module. The experiments -- which represent a diverse
cross-section of technological, biological and other scientific
disciplines -- include plant studies, crystal growth studies and a
robotic experiment.

  Just before the crew turned in, flight controllers faxed several
pictures taken from video sent by Mir during the rendezvous activities
Monday. The pictures showed how Discovery looked to the Mir crew while
it approached the Russian station.

  On Wednesday, Feb 8, 1995 at 6 a.m. CST, STS-63 MCC Status Report #12
reports:  Discovery's crew focused on preparations today -- for a spacewalk
planned for Thursday and the shuttle's return to Earth planned for
Saturday morning.

  Payload Commander Bernard A. Harris and Mission Specialist
C. Michael Foale spent several hours this morning unstowing and checking
the spacesuits they'll use tomorrow for a five hour spacewalk.  The
spacewalk will evaluate the warmth provided by thermal garments added
to the spacewalkers' gear and as well as the astronauts' ability to
maneuver large objects, in this case, the Spartan satellite.  Harris
and Foale reported the suits and other gear are in excellent shape and
ready for the spacewalk.

  Also, Commander James D. Wetherbee and Pilot Eileen M. Collins
checked out the flight control systems Discovery will use for landing.
The cockpit displays and controls, navigation aids and the shuttle's
aerosurfaces were tested and found in excellent shape as well.

  On Wednesday, Feb 8, 1995 at 2 p.m. CST, STS-63 MCC Status Report #13
reports: Commanders of two space vehicles talked about their
missions and their historic rendezvous in space today during a special
ship-to-ship conversation from the Space Shuttle Discovery and the
Russian Space Station Mir.

  STS-63 Commander James D. Wetherbee and Mir Commander Alexander
Viktorenko spoke through an interpreter in Houston's Mission Control
Center. The conversation focused on the missions of the two crews and
the success of their rendezvous on Monday. Wetherbee said he
especially enjoyed the point in the joint operations when Mir
maneuvered to a new attitude while Discovery was circling it.  "It was
like dancing in the cosmos," Wetherbee said. "It was great."  The
commanders also said they were looking forward to meeting each other
on Earth and exchanged compliments about the two space vehicles and
the teams that designed them.  "Together our programs will be even
better," Wetherbee said.

  The six crew members officially began their eight-hour sleep period at
1:52 p.m. Central.  When they wake for their seventh day in space,
Mission Specialists Bernard A. Harris and C. Michael Foale will begin preparing
for their four and a half hour spacewalk. Harris and Foale will test
improvements in their spacesuits and perform several mass handling
exercises.  The two spacewalkers checked out their suits earlier today
and confirmed that they were ready for Thursday's activities.

  The spacewalk will begin around 6 a.m. Central, shortly after the
retrieval of the Spartan-204 satellite. Spartan has been flying free
of Discovery since Tuesday morning, collecting data on the
interstellar medium.

  On Thursday, Feb 9, 1995 at 6:30 a.m. CST, STS-63 MCC Status Report #14
reports:  Discovery's crew performed the second rendezvous of the mission today
and are now in the midst of a spacewalk in one of the busiest days
ever aboard a Space Shuttle.

  Commander James D. Wetherbee and Pilot Eileen M. Collins flawlessly eased the
shuttle to the Spartan-204 satellite this morning, which had been released
from Discovery on Tuesday, to allow astronaut  Janice E. Voss to capture
it using the mechanical arm. Voss locked on to the satellite and its
cargo of research on the material in interstellar space at 5:33 a.m.
CST as Discovery flew 240 miles above the Pacific Ocean south of the
Aleutian Islands.

  While free-flying from Discovery, Spartan's Far Ultraviolet Imaging
Spectrograph gathered more than 40 hours of observations to study the
interstellar medium, the gas and dust that fills space between stars
and planets and of which new such bodies are formed.

  Just after the satellite was captured, crewmates C. Michael Foale and
Bernard A. Harris began a five-hour spacewalk to test new thermal devices
designed to warm their spacesuits and evaluate how well they can
manipulate the 3,000-pound Spartan-204 satellite in weightlessness. Harris
became the first African-American to walk in space as the EVA started
at 5:56 a.m. CST.

  On Thursday, Feb 9, 1995 at 3 p.m. CST, STS-63 MCC Status Report #15
reports:  Two of Discovery's astronauts performed at 4 hour, 39 minute,
spacewalk to test modifications in their spacesuits and gain
experience in handling large masses in space.

  Mission Specialists Bernard A. Harris and C. Michael Foale floated into
Discovery's payload bay shortly after 6 a.m. Central to begin the
shuttle program's 29th spacewalk. After arranging their tools in the
payload bay, Harris and Foale were lifted out of the payload bay on
the robot arm to evaluate how well new space suit undergarments would
keep them warm.

  For the test, Mission Specialist Vladimir C. Titov positioned the arm so
that the two spacewalkers were high above and away from the relative
warmth of the payload bay.  They stayed in position for about 15
minutes, subjectively rating their comfort levels while sensors in
their gloves collected objective data that will be compared to
temperatures taken of the space environment around them.

  For the second part of the spacewalk, Harris conducted a mass handling
exercise with the Spartan-204 satellite to gain experience in moving
large objects on orbit. While Harris was finishing his portion of the
exercise, both astronauts reported that their hands were beginning to
get cold. Flight controllers subsequently decided to cancel Foale's
mass handling tasks and end the spacewalk early.

  Harris and Foale re-entered Discovery's airlock and finished their
spacewalk around 10:30 a.m. Central. All the information collected
during the extravehicular activity will be used to refine and develop
spacewalk techniques and systems for future shuttle and International
Space Station EVAs.

  As the spacewalk was beginning, Mission Specialist Janice E. Voss was
using the robot arm to pluck the Spartan-204 satellite from orbit and
secure it in the payload bay. Spartan-204 had been flying free of
Discovery for two days, collecting information on the material in
interstellar space.

  On Friday, Feb 10, 1995 at 7 a.m. CST, STS-63 MCC Status Report #16
reports: Discovery's crew began powering off experiments and packing
up the shuttle cabin in preparation for Saturday's trip home.  Two
final observations were performed during the morning with the GLO
experiment, a study of the glowing effect created as the shuttle's
surfaces interact with atomic oxygen in orbit. Commander James
D.Wetherbee and Pilot Eileen M. Collins fired Discovery's steering
jets to allow the experiment to observe their effect on the glow.

  On Friday, Feb 10, 1995 at 3 p.m. CST, STS-63 MCC Status Report #17
reports: Shuttle astronauts got one last look at the Russian Space
Station Mir before they return home Saturday, a fitting end to
Discovery's historic 20th flight.  At about 12:35 p.m. Central, Mir
performed an on-orbit maneuver during which STS-63 crew members
reported that they could see the station near the horizon as it
trailed behind the orbiter at a distance of 850 nautical miles. To
Discovery's payload bay cameras, Mir looked like a small flashing
star.  The sighting occurred as crew members were in the last stages
of putting away their experiments and equipment to configure the
orbiter for Saturday's trip back to Earth.

  Discovery is scheduled to land at Florida's Kennedy Space Center
Shuttle Landing Facility Saturday, firing its engines at 4:44 a.m. CST
to lead to a touchdown at about 5:51 a.m.  CST. The weather forecast
for Florida is currently favorable for the landing, although flight
controllers will be watching a possibility of low clouds and strong
winds there closely as the forecast is continually updated. Florida's
weather is forecast to deteriorate on Sunday.

  Two other landing opportunities exist for Discovery Saturday at
Edwards Air Force Base, Ca., as well. The first, which is unlikely to
be used since it occurs prior to the first Florida opportunity, would
have the shuttle fire its engines at 4:38 a.m. CST leading to a
touchdown at 5:43 a.m. CST. The second opportunity for Edwards occurs
one orbit after the Florida opportunity and would have Discovery fire
its engines at 6:13 a.m. CST leading to a touchdown at 7:19 a.m. CST.
Edward's weather is forecast to be excellent for a landing Saturday ,
and managers may opt to land there if Florida's weather prohibits a
landing.  Discovery also has backup landing opportunities available in
both Florida and California on Sunday.

  On Saturday, Feb 11, 1995 at 7 a.m. CST, STS-63 MCC Status Report #18 
reports: The Shuttle Discovery swooped to a dawn landing at the
Kennedy Space Center this morning on time to complete an historic
eight-day mission highlighted by the first rendezvous by a Shuttle
with the Mir Space Station.  Commander Jim Wetherbee and Pilot Eileen
Collins guided Discovery to a textbook touchdown on KSC's Runway 15 at
5:51 AM CST to complete a 2,992, 806 million mile mission spanning 129
complete orbits of the Earth, the 20th flight for Discovery.

  With nearly perfect weather at KSC awaiting him and his crewmates,
Wetherbee fired Discovery's orbital maneuvering system engines to
enable Discovery to drop out of its orbit for an hour-long descent
through the Earth's atmosphere. Discovery cut a blazing path through
the pre-dawn skies over the heartland of America as it raced toward
its Florida landing site.


  Live television pictures of the landing were transmitted to the
Russian Mission Control Center in Kaliningrad, Russia, where flight
controllers beamed them up to the three cosmonauts travelling aboard
the Mir Space Station.

  Less than an hour after completing their flight, Discovery's
astronauts left their vehicle for post-landing medical exams and
reunions with their families.  The astronauts returned to Houston's
Ellington Field for a welcoming ceremony at 5:30pm CST.

<end of mission>

Mission Name: STS-67 (68)
  Endeavour (8)
  Pad 39-A (53)
  68th Shuttle Mission
  8th Flight OV-105
  Night Launch (11)
  1st Launch new AF Range Control Center
  Longest Mission to date
  EAFB Landing (44)

Crew:
  Stephen S. Oswald (3), Commander
  William G. Gregory (1), Pilot
  Tamara E. Jernigan (3) , Payload Commander
  John M. Grunsfeld (1), Mission Specialist
  Wendy B. Lawrence (1), Mission Specialist
  Ronald A. Parise (2), Payload Specialist
  Samuel T. Durrance (2), Payload Specialist

  Scott D. Vangen (0), Alternate Payload Specialist

Milestones:
     OPF -- 10/21/94
     VAB -- 02/03/95
     PAD -- 02/08/95
    
     01/05/95 - Interface Verification Test
     01/11/95 - End-to-End Communications Test
     02/03/95 - Rollover to VAB
     02/13/95 - Launch Readiness Review
     02/08/95 - Rollout to LC-39A
     02/14/95 - Start Terminal Countdown Demonstration Test
     02/15/95 - Flight Readiness Review (10:00am)
     02/15/95 - Terminal Countdown Demonstration Test T-0 (11:00am)
     02/20/95 - Close AFT Engine Compartment
     02/21/95 - Ordanance Installation
     02/24/95 - Close Payload Bay Doors
     02/26/95 - Crew Arrives at KSC (10:45pm)
     02/27/95 - Begin STS-67 Launch Countdown (2:00am)


Payload:
  ASTRO-2, MACE, GAS(x2), PCG-TES-03, PCG-STES-02, SAREX-II, CMIX-03, MSX

Mission Objectives:
   Astro-2 is the second dedicated Spacelab mission to conduct
astronomical observations in the ultraviolet spectral regions.  It
consists of three unique instruments - the Hopkins Ultraviolet
Telescope (HUT), the Ultraviolet Imaging Telescope (UIT) and the
Wisconsin Ultraviolet Photo-Polarimeter Experiment (WUPPE).  These
experiments will select targets from a list of over 600 and observe
objects ranging from some inside the solar system to individual stars,
nebulae, supernova remnants, galaxies and active extragalactic
objects.  This data will supplement data collected on the Astro-1
mission flown on STS-35 in December 1990 aboard Columbia.

	Because most ultraviolet radiation is absorbed by Earth's
atmosphere, it cannot be studied from the ground.  The far and extreme
ultraviolet region of the spectrum was largely unexplored before
Astro-1, but knowledge of all wavelengths is essential to obtain an
accurate picture of the universe.  Astro-2 will have almost twice the
duration of its predecessor, and a launch at a different time of year
allows the telescopes to view different portions of the sky.  The
mission promises to fill in large gaps in astronomers' understanding
of the universe and lay the foundations for more discovery in the
future.
  
 On the Middeck, science experiments include the Protein Crystal Growth 
Thermal Enclosure System Vapor Diffusion Apparatus-03 experiment 
(PCG-TES-03), the Protein Crystal Growth Single Thermal Enclosure 
System-02 (PCG-STES-02), the Shuttle Amateur Radio Experiment-II
(SAREX-II), the Middeck Active Control Experiment (MACE), the Commercial 
Materials Dispersion Apparatus Instrumentation Technology Associates 
Experiments-03 (CMIX-03) and the Midcourse Space Experiment (MSX).

 The Middeck Active Control Experiment (MACE) is a space engineering
research payload.  It consists of a rate gyro, reaction wheels, a
precision pointing payload, and a scanning and pointing payload that
produces motion disturbances.  The goal of the experiment is to test a
closed loop control system that will compensate for motion disturbances.  
On orbit, Commander Stephen S. Oswald and William G. Gregory will use 
MACE to test about 200 different motion disturbance situations over 45 
hours of testing during the mission.  Information from MACE will be 
used to design better control systems that compensate for motion in 
future spacecraft.

 Two Get Away Special (GAS) payloads are also on board.  They are 
the G-387 and G-388 canisters.   This experiment is sponsored by the 
Australian Space Office and AUSPACE ltd.  The objectives are to make 
ultraviolet observations of deep space or nearby galaxies.   These 
observations will be made to study the structure of galactic supernova 
remnants, the distribution of hot gas in the Magellanic Clouds, the 
hot galactic halo emission, and emission associated with galactic cooling 
flows and jets.  The two GAS canisters are interconnected with a cable.
Canister 1 has a motorized door assembly that exposes a UV telescope 
to space when opened.  UV reflective filters on the telescopes optics 
determine its UV bandpass.  Canister 2 contains two video recorders for 
data storage and batteries to provide experiment power.

Launch:  
  Launch March 2, 1995. 1:38:34 am EST. Launch window was 2 hour 30 min.

  At 9:09pm EST, the only launch constraints were weather related with a 
40% chance for launch.  At 9:11pm the astronauts had their breakfast in the
astronaut quarters on the 3rd floor of the Operations and Checkout building .
Commander Stephen S. Oswald and William G. Gregory were given a final 
weather briefing while the rest of the crew suited up.  At 10:22pm, the 
STS-67 crew left for Pad 39-A and arrived at 10:42pm.  By 11:58pm the 
crew was all loaded and communications air-to-ground voice checks were 
completed.  By 12:50am on 3/2/95, the door to Endeavour's mid-deck was 
sealed and a go was given to clear the white room.  

  There were 4 minor problems tracked during the count.  The first
problem occured early in the count.  An experimental configuration of
communications system caused a timing glitch that was quickly corrected.
This configuration enables the orbiter to use the TDRSS during ascent 
in lew of the Bermuda Tracking station.   The goal was to get a 
communications lock via TDRSS in 7 seconds instead of a normal 40 seconds 
and if successful, this will improved safety and may eventually
reduce the need for the Bermuda Tracking station.  The second problem
was a minor leak in the LH2 storage system on Pad 39-A.  This leak will
be investigated when crews visit the pad after launch.  The third
minor problem occured when Endeavours Fuel Cells showed a degradation
in Fuel cell efficency. This was traced to a Helium contamination
during EDO pallet fill.  A purge of the line fixed the problem.

  At 1:26am a poll of the launch team identified all teams but one
were go for launch.  The final problem was an indication that the
B-supply secondary heater of the Flash Evaporator System was
approaching a redline condition.  This system is normally shutoff just
before launch.  At 1:29am the primary FES was brought online and the
clock was picked up with a plan to count down to the T-5 min mark.
The FES was verified as good and the count only suffered a 1 min delay
with this problem.  APU prestart was complete at 1:32am.  APU start
completed at 1:34am. Launch occured at 1:38am EST.

  Good SRB Seperations. Negative Return called at 1:42am EST, all 3
SSME's performed well.  At T+6min Endeavour was at 367,000ft altitude
and 335nm downrange.  At T+7min Endeavour was at 359,000ft and 354nm
downrange, traveling at 11,200mph.  At T+8:30, (1:47am EST) the Space
Shuttle Main Engines (SSME) cutoff as planned with Endeavour traveling
at 16,700mph, 800nm downrange.  External Tank seperation confirmed at
1:48am EST.

  Earlier during the STS-67 mission flow, on 02/21/95, a failed
shuttle Mass Memory Unit #1 was removed from Endeavour and replaced
with one from Discovery .  On 02/23/95, troubleshooting was done on a
minor leak in Endeavours Flash Evaporator System (FES) Freon coolant
loop.  The system was overpressurized and it was determined the leak
posed no impact to launch.


Orbit:
  Altitude:  187 nm
  Inclination:  28.45 degrees
  Orbits:  262
  Duration:   16 days, 15 hours, 08 minutes, 48 seconds. 
  Distance:  6.9 million miles

Hardware:
  SRB: BI-071
  SRM: 360W/L043
  ET :  SN-69
  MLP : 1
  SSME-1: SN-2012
  SSME-2: SN-2033
  SSME-3: SN-2031

Landing:  
  Dryden Flight Research Center, EAFB, March 18, 1995 at 4:47 p.m. EST 
Runway 22.  

At 1:05pm EST the port Payload Bay Door was closed with
the remaining door closed and latched by 1:08pm EST.  At 3:35pm EST,
Endeavour was given a go for deorbit burn with the start of the 
517ft/sec burn occuring at approximately 3:40pm EST. Endeavour went
subsonic at 46,000ft.  Main gear touchdown at MET (16/15:8:47), nose 
wheel touchdown at (16/15:9:01) and wheels stop at MET (16/15:9:46sec).
  
  On Friday, March 17, 1995 at 8 a.m. CST, STS-67 MCC Status Report #30 
reports: Endeavour had 3 scheduled KSC landing opportunities for
Friday 3/17/95 (1:53pm CST on orbit 246, 3:30pm CST on orbit 247 and
5:07pm on orbit 248) but they have been waived off due to bad weather
at the Kennedy Space Center.  NASA managers elected not to call up
landing support at the backup landing site at Edwards Air Force Base
in California for Friday and would keep the astronauts aloft for an
extra day in the event weather prevents a landing in Florida.

  For Saturday, backup landing support at Edwards has been activated
and there were 6 landing opportunities for March 18, 1995. (KSC landing
at 2:18pm CST on orbit 261, Edwards landing at 3:47pm CST on orbit 262
and another KSC opportunity at 3:55pm CST.  Two other Edwards landings
and one KSC landing opportunities exist later in the day.

Mission Highlights:
  On Thursday, March 2, 1995 at 2:18am CST (MET 1hr 39min), the
payload bay doors were opened and the crew was given a go for orbit
operations. 

  STS-67 Flight Day 1 Highlights:

  STS-67 MCC Status Report #01 reports: The crew --
Commander Stephen S. Oswald, Pilot William G. Gregory, Payload
Commander Tamara E. Jernigan, Mission Specialists John M. Grunsfeld
and Wendy B. Lawrence, and Payload Specialists Samuel T. Durrance and
Ronald A. Parise -- readied the shuttle and ASTRO-2 to support 15 and
a half days of astronomical observations.  The Blue Team of crew
members -- Jernigan, Lawrence and Durrance -- were on duty mornings
aboard the spacecraft while their fellow crewmembers, called the Red
Team, slept. The Red crew members took over duties at about 10:52
a.m.

 On Thursday, March 2, 1995 at 6 a.m. CST, STS-67 Payload Status Report #01
states: (0/5:22 MET) Payload Commander Tammy Jernigan completed initial 
activation of the Spacelab pallet systems just before 4 a.m then began 
activating the Spacelab Instrument Pointing System. At 5:47 a.m., she 
raised it upright in the Shuttle cargo bay to face the heavens.  Astronomers
will use the pointing system to precisely track the stars and galaxies
they study during the nearly 16-day mission.

   Payload controllers and science teams at NASA's Spacelab Mission
Operations Control center in Huntsville watched closely as Payload
Specialist Samuel T. Durrance supplied power from the Spacelab to the
telescopes shortly after 4 a.m., then started step-by-step procedures
to activate the individual instruments.  Samuel T. Durrance, an
astronomer from The Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Md., is a
veteran of the Astro-1 mission on STS-35 in December 1990, which was
the maiden Shuttle flight for all three Astro telescopes.

 On Thursday, March 2, 1995 at 8:00 a.m. CST, STS-67 MCC Status Report #02 
reports: The Blue Team -- Payload Commander Tammy Jernigan,
Mission Specialist Wendy Lawrence and Payload Specialist Sam Durrance
will wrap up its first day on orbit shortly before noon Central
time. The Red Team -- Commander Steve Oswald, Pilot Bill Gregory,
Mission Specialist John Grunsfield and Payload Specialist Ron Parise
will then continue with the science activities.

 On Thursday, March 2, 1995 at 5:00 p.m. CST, STS-67 MCC Status Report #03 
reports: Activation and calibration of the Astro-2 ultraviolet
telescopes are continuing slightly behind schedule following a
steering jet leak that has twice forced closure of the instruments
protective doors.  The leak is in a reaction control system thruster
designated R4R, a jet in the right aft orbital maneuvering system pod
that is aimed to the right of the shuttle. Flight controllers worked
with the crew to close the manifold that supplies oxidizer and fuel to
that jet, which effectively stopped the leak.

   The doors on the Hopkins Ultraviolet Telescope, the 
Wisconsin Ultraviolet Photo-Polarimeter Experiment and the 
Ultraviolet Imaging Telescope were first closed to protect the 
instruments from any remaining oxidizer coming out of that jet 
after the manifold was closed. Once the thruster's propellant lines 
had been evacuated, the telescope doors were reopened. The doors were 
briefly closed again while residual propellant downstream of the closed 
manifold dissipated, but are now open and all scheduled operations have
resumed.

  The failed jet, which is not being used to position the orbiter for
its science operations, is not a safety hazard in any way, and does
not affect the mission duration. The flight control team is looking at
options in dealing with the jet, but has not yet decided whether any
additional actions will be necessary.

 On Thursday, March 2, 1995 at 6 p.m. CST, STS-67 Payload Status Report #02 
reports: (0/17:22 MET) Payload Commander Tammy Jernigan
continued checkout of the Instrument Pointing System, on which the
three ultraviolet telescopes are mounted.  The crew reported success
with their first automatic star identification procedure at about 6:30
a.m. CST, verifying that the pointing system can center accurately on
the celestial objects Astro-2 science teams will choose to view.

  Payload Specialist Sam Durrance finished activating the Ultraviolet
Imaging Telescope, then completed the more complicated procedures to
put the Hopkins Ultraviolet Telescope into operation. Pilot Bill
Gregory, Mission Specialist John Grunsfeld and Payload Specialist Ron
Parise took over operations from the first crew at 11:30 a.m.  The two
crew teams are working 12-hour shifts, so astronomical observations
can continue around the clock.

   Activation and verification of the Wisconsin Ultraviolet
Photo- Polarimeter Experiment (WUPPE) detector was delayed by
difficulties keeping it aligned with a test target, but the WUPPE
science team and Parise corrected the problem after several attempts.
Alternate Payload Specialist John-David Bartoe reported from the
ground, "Ron, the WUPPE folks are ecstatic down here, and they like
everything they see."

   Astro telescope verification was interrupted briefly at around
1:15 p.m., when ground controllers closed the telescope doors to
prevent contamination by oxidizer leaking from one of Endeavour's
reaction control system thrusters.  The thruster was closed less than
hour later, and Parise reopened the doors.
	
   During the telescope shutdown, Grunsfeld continued checking
out the Instrument Pointing System and the Image Motion Compensation
System, which keeps the WUPPE instrument and the imaging telescope on
target despite subtle disturbances.  Johnson Space Center controllers
declared the Instrument Pointing System operational at 1:53 p.m., and
they transferred control of the equipment to the Marshall Center
payload team for science activities.

   Parise and Grunsfeld then began an extended procedure called Joint
Focus and Alignment, one that is unique for space telescopes to the
Astro-2 payload.  Since all three instruments often make simultaneous
observations of the same objects, science teams must be certain they
are pointing in precisely the same direction and are in near-perfect
focus. Final focusing and calibration of the Hopkins and Wisconsin
instruments will continue through the first half of the upcoming
shift.  Astro-2 observations of the ultraviolet sky will then begin.

 On Thursday, March 2, 1995 at 8 a.m. CST, STS-67 MCC Status Report #04 
reports: The Instrument Pointing System continues to perform
well. The preliminary assessments of IPS stability and accuracy show
that the system is operating well. Control loop software, gyro and
accelerometer response have been good, and Optical Sensor Package
performance has been excellent with two of three trackers slightly
exceeding performance expectations. IPS controllers in Houston are
currently tracking no problems or issues, and team members do not
anticipate a change in the IPS's performance.

   The payload control team at the Marshall Space Flight Center,
Huntsville, Ala., however, is looking at several reported excursions
in ASTRO-2's pointing abilities that have required the crew to
repeatedly fine tune the instruments after establishing the platform's
reference point for celestial observations. Controllers in Houston and
Huntsville are working on procedures that will reduce the number of
calibrations needed.

 On Thursday, March 2, 1995 at 6 a.m. CST, STS-67 Payload Status Report #03 
reports: (1/5:22 MET) Pilot William Gregory maneuvered the
orbiter into different attitudes, or positions throughout the night.
Payload Commander Tammy Jernigan, Mission Specialists John Grunsfeld
and Wendy Lawrence, and Payload Specialists Ronald Parise and Samuel
Durrance coordinated with science teams at Marshall Space Flight
Center in Huntsville, Alabama, performing procedures to align and
focus the Hopkins Ultraviolet Telescope (HUT), Ultraviolet Imaging
Telescope (UIT) and Wisconsin Ultraviolet Photo-Polarimeter Experiment
(WUPPE) last night.  Approximately 23 hours after launch, the Astro-2
instruments, nestled in Endeavour's cargo bay, were being calibrated
before observations of the invisible universe began.

    While still in the calibration, or Observatory Commissioning
Phase, two of the three Astro-2 instruments, HUT and UIT science
teams, were locked onto an ancient supernova remnant.  This supernova
remnant is the result of a powerful explosion, which ended the life of
a massive star many thousands of years ago, and was used as a
calibration target for the telescopes.  During this mission, HUT's
spectrographs will help scientists determine temperatures, densities
and chemical compositions of gases in the supernova remnant while the
UIT will image the filaments of excited gas in the supernova remnant.
HUT Guest Investigator Dr. John Raymond of Cambridge, Mass., will
obtain information about the shock waves energizing these nebulae.

  The first science observation for Astro-2, a supernova remnant
known as Cygnus Loop, began just before the Space Shuttle Endeavour
crossed the South Atlantic Anomaly early this morning.  Since this
South Atlantic area is a region of intense particle radiation that can
affect detectors in the telescopes, crew members secured the
instruments until the orbiter had moved away from the anomaly.  The
observation of Cygnus Loop then continued until the supernova remnant
was out of the telescopes' field of view.

  The HUT telescope continues in the calibration phase.  HUT,
developed at the Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Maryland, has
a 36-inch mirror to focus ultraviolet light into a spectrograph in the
middle of the telescope.  This spectrograph "spreads" light into a
spectrum, or band of colors, based upon the wavelength of the light.
Principal Investigator Dr. Arthur Davidsen and his colleagues will
study these spectra to determine the chemical composition,
temperature, densities and motion of the celestial objects being
observed during Astro-2.

    The UIT made its first deep, wide-field photographs in ultraviolet
light overnight.  After Endeavour lands, Principal Investigator
Theodore Stecher and the UIT science team in Greenbelt, Maryland, will
study the images made by this telescope during this 16-day mission,
looking for answers to astronomical questions such as the shapes of
nearby galaxies in the ultraviolet, the properties of massive hot
stars in these galaxies, the evolution of low-mass stars in clusters,
and the nature of the dust and gas that fill the space between stars.

  STS-67 Flight Day 2 Highlights:

 On Friday, March 3, 1995 at 4 p.m. CST, STS-67 MCC Status Report #05
states: Commander Steve Oswald and Pilot Bill Gregory set up the
Middeck Active Control Experiment (MACE) hardware. MACE is a five-foot
long flexible beam with mock satellite instruments mounted at either
end. It will float free in the shuttle's lower deck, and the
astronauts will measure how disturbances caused by one instrument
affect the performance of the instrument at the experiment's opposite
end. The information gathered will assist engineers in designing more
stable space structures.  The crew tested the MACE equipment and its
communications with the ground. Some problems were experienced
initially in sending information from the ground to the experiment
during checkouts, however such an uplink of information is not planned
or needed for the MACE operations for several days. Meanwhile,

 On Friday, March 3, 1995 at 6 p.m. CST, STS-67 Payload Status Report #04 
states: (1/17:22 MET) The three Astro-2 telescopes have begun 
their methodical exploration of the ultraviolet universe, as
scientists aboard the Shuttle Endeavour and at Spacelab Mission
Operations Control fine-tune the Astro-2 equipment and procedures to
optimize pointing stability. This afternoon, payload controllers
eliminated a drift in that had been detected in the Instrument
Pointing System by adjusting the target acquisition procedure.

  The Wisconsin Ultraviolet Photo-Polarimeter Experiment (WUPPE)
got its first turn as the primary instrument this morning.  Its
observations of a calibration star, Beta Cassiopeiae, showed that the
instrument optics, spectrometer and motion compensation system are
working well.  The team also will use the star as an unpolarized
standard against which other observations can be measured.

  The WUPPE team also made the first of several planned observations
of the supergiant star P Cygni.  These observations will help
scientists determine how this type of star ejects material into
interstellar space, whether uniformly in the shape of a shell, or in
the form of plumes or blobs of material.  Team members say this is an
interesting time to observe P Cygni, because recent ground-and
space-based observations indicate the star, which has been relatively
inactive for the past 100 years, has entered a more active phase of
its life.  Because the star can vary on a day-to-day basis,
observations made later in the mission will give astronomers an
important set of measurements over a relatively short time.

  During its time block, the Hopkins Ultraviolet Telescope (HUT)
observed a celestial "odd couple," two stars with radically different
temperatures in orbit around one another, called a symbiotic star
system.  The system HUT observed today, EG Andromedae, is made up of
an orange-colored giant star co-orbiting with a tiny, exceptionally
hot blue star.  Astronomers had not realized how hot the smaller star
is until an instrument aboard one of the Voyager planetary probes
picked up its strong ultraviolet emissions.

  The HUT team also checked out the sensitivity of their spectrometer
by viewing a white dwarf star, known as HZ 43, which they had observed
during Astro-1.  At a very late stage of its evolution, the star has
burned up nearly all of its fuel.  Astronomers understand physical
conditions in the atmospheres of HZ 43 and similar white dwarfs well
enough that they can calculate very precisely how much ultraviolet
light they emit.  This makes such stars useful for confirming the HUT
instrument's calibrations.

	The Ultraviolet Imaging Telescope (UIT) observations included
images of globular clusters, massive spherical concentrations of stars
that are the oldest class of objects in our Milky Way Galaxy.  "These
clusters appear to be 16 to 19 billion years old, despite recent
Hubble indications that the universe is only about 10 billion years
old," said UIT astronomer Dr. Steve Maran.  "UIT images of globular
clusters from Astro-1 revealed a previously unknown class of stars,
visible only in the ultraviolet, which may have skipped a stage in
stellar evolution as we had understood it.  We're hoping follow-up
observations of globular clusters during Astro-2 will give us a better
understanding of stellar physics."

  STS-67 Flight Day 3 Highlights:

 On Saturday, March 4, 1995 at 6 a.m. CST, STS-67 Payload Status Report #05 
reports: (2/5:22 MET) The Hopkins Ultraviolet Telescope
(HUT) led the observations of several celestial objects, starting with
AX Persei, a double star system consisting of a red star paired off
with a blue star in what is known as a symbiotic binary.  This means
that the two stars differ greatly in their temperature ranges.  They
are believed to be a pair in which gas from a large, cool star falls
onto a smaller, but more massive companion.  Not much is known about
how these stars interact, and data from these observations will help
improve current measurements of the hot star component's temperature
and gas emissions.

  The Wisconsin Ultraviolet Photo-Polarimeter Experiment (WUPPE)
also obtained "great observations" of the AX Persei star system,
according to WUPPE guest investigator Dr. Regina Schulte-Ladbeck.  In
a live interview with TV station WPXI in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania,
Dr. Schulte-Ladbeck described the instrument's view of the stellar
pair as "picture perfect from an operational point of view."

   Dr. Schulte-Ladbeck also used HUT and WUPPE to obtain spectral
measurements of a Wolf-Rayet star known as EZ Canis Majoris.
Wolf-Rayet stars are thought to represent one of the final phases of
evolution in massive stars that are between 100,000 and 1,000,000
times as bright as the Sun.  Wolf-Rayet stars have powerful stellar
winds, or emissions of ionized gas, that quicken the stars' aging
process.  The composition of these stellar winds is also important
because the elements they contain play a significant role in forming
the basic chemistry of life.  According to Dr. Schulte-Ladbeck, last
night's measurements alone, of the strength and composition of this
stellar wind, have already yielded "more information about EZ Canis
Majoris than we ever got on Astro-1."

  The Astro-2 scientists also turned their attention to one of
their prime targets of investigation, the brightest known Seyfert
galaxy, NGC 4151.  Seyfert galaxies are known for their extremely
bright and compact centers and radiate energy most strongly in the
ultraviolet and X-ray wavelengths.

  Ultraviolet Imaging Telescope (UIT) observations included
images of a globular cluster, NGC6752, and a spiral galaxy, M101.
Globular clusters are collections of relatively old stars, and they
are particularly suitable for observations by UIT due to the presence
of hot stars which emit most of their radiation in the ultraviolet
range.  This enables UIT astronomers to locate hot white dwarf stars,
hot binary systems and objects associated with sources of X-rays.

  Spiral galaxies, like our Milky Way, are flattened discs with
central bulges or nuclei from which the galaxies' arms extend.  M101
is a big spiral galaxy with spiral arms that are not tightly wound.
UIT's ultraviolet imaging offers a powerful new tool for the study of
this spiral structure, since it emphasizes hot stars, hydrogen and
dust.

  Early in the morning, the Astro-2 instruments made observations
of the Cygnus Loop, a middle-aged supernova remnant.  A supernova is
one of the most powerful explosions in the universe, and it occurs at
the end of a very massive star's life after the star's fusion reaction
stops.  The Cygnus Loop is of particular interest because it reveals
details about the structure and speed of shock waves from the
explosion as they travel through the interstellar medium.

  Jupiter had became a focus of investigation earlier in the
evening, especially for the HUT science team who obtained very good
spectral data on the planet's equator.  The planet is believed to have
a reservoir of heat energy left over from its creation, since Jupiter
radiates twice as much energy as it receives from the Sun.  HUT
scientists are particularly interested in the planet's immense
magnetosphere, a region of charged particles controlled by Jupiter's
magnetic field.

 On Saturday, March 4, 1995 at 1 p.m. CST, STS-67 MCC Status Report #06 
reports: During the past shift, the crew received word from
scientists who designed the Australian ultraviolet experiment that is
flying in two Getaway Special canisters in the cargo bay. The
experimenters reported they have achieved 100 percent of desired
observations and expressed a sincere thanks and appreciation for the
support they received during this mission. In addition, Jernigan and
Lawrence participated in an interview with National Public Radio as
Durrance supported the Astro-2 observations.

  STS-67 Flight Day 4 Highlights:

 On Sunday, March 5, 1995 at 6 a.m. CST, STS-67 Payload Status Report #07 
reports: (3/5:22 MET) Commander Steve Oswald maneuvered the Space
Shuttle Endeavour to enable the Hopkins Ultraviolet Telescope (HUT) to
lead an observation of a mysterious star in the constellation
Cassiopeia.  This star, known to astronomers as KPD0005, belongs to a
class of planetary nebulae, or clouds of gas with bright centers, that
includes some of the hottest stars known.  So hot are these stars'
surfaces, in fact, that their elements are completely ionized, making
their chemical composition difficult to analyze.  Only ultraviolet
astronomy, such as the Astro-2 instruments employ, can yield answers
to questions about the chemistry and evolution of this type of star.

   Following this, the HUT science team then turned their
attention back to the search for signs of interstellar helium, using
light from a distant quasar, known as 1700+64.  Since it is believed
that helium was formed in the Big Bang at the beginning of the
universe, the actual detection of intergalactic helium would probably
be the most significant scientific result that the HUT observations
might produce.  Because of the enormous distances of these objects,
the targets are necessarily faint, and such observations are the most
difficult that HUT scientists will attempt.  They are also the most
sensitive measurements ever made for interstellar helium.

   Another priority for the HUT scientists involves the study of
Type II Seyfert galaxies.  These galaxies, such as NGC1068 which was
observed last night, have bright centers that emit energy over a broad
range of frequencies.  It is believed that the core of NGC #1068 is
ionized by shock waves of gas moving at hundreds of miles per second,
and the ultraviolet observations by the Astro-2 instruments are
testing this hypothesis.

    The Wisconsin Ultraviolet Photo-Polarimeter Experiment (WUPPE)
team has also taken great interest in NGC 1068 and made some very
difficult indirect observations of the galaxy's core using the
electron cloud above the galaxy as a polarization mirror.  "By
observing the diffuse light reflected from the electron cloud, we are
able to take measurements of the otherwise obscure nucleus of the
galaxy," said WUPPE co-investigator Karen Bjorkman.  On Astro-1,
observations by WUPPE helped confirm that a thick torus, or
doughnut-shaped cloud, exists around the nucleus of NGC #1068, while
HUT observations showed unexpectedly high temperatures near the torus.

   Early in the morning, WUPPE scientists also took the opportunity
to view a couple of interactive binary star systems, V356 Sagittarii
and Vela X-1.  A binary star system consists of a pair of stars that
orbit each other.  In the case of an interactive binary, the stars
stay so close to each other that they actually exchange gases.

   Astronomers believe that in an X-ray binary such as Vela X-1,
a neutron star (or pulsar) gravitationally strips material off of its
companion star.  A lot of the stripped material settles into orbit to
form an oval disc shape.  Polarization measurements by WUPPE allow
scientists to measure the size and shape of this disc, and it also
provides information about the stars involved.  As WUPPE Principal
Investigator Arthur Code observed, "the unique feature of interactive
binary stars' polarization is that we can use that information to
calculate the mass exchanged between the stars."  Last night's
observations were enhanced by the fact that the Astro-2 instruments
could view both members of each binary side by side as they interact.

   The Ultraviolet Imaging Telescope (UIT) made observations of
an open cluster called NGC #3532.  This is a diffuse cluster of stars
and is believed to be less than ten million years old.  Because UIT's
field of view is well matched to the sizes of most clusters in our
Milky Way Galaxy, UIT scientists are able to perform ultraviolet
observations of many stars at the same time.  UIT observers are
searching for ultraviolet counterparts to X-ray sources as well as for
white dwarfs and other faint, hot stars.  These ultraviolet-bright
objects are of great interest for several reasons: they can be used as
probes of the interstellar medium; they can be used to provide highly
accurate distance measurements to the clusters; and they will enhance
understanding of the chemical evolution of the Milky Way Galaxy.

   UIT also imaged several ancient globular clusters in our Milky
Way galaxy as well as other nearby spiral galaxies.  The latter
observations will be used to further our understanding of
star-formation in the spiral arms of these galaxies.

 On Sunday, March 5, 1995 at 1 p.m. CST, STS-67 MCC Status Report #07
stated that there has been some indications that the crew's stationary
bicycle exercise is imparting some vibration to the shuttle that is
interfering with the Instrument Pointing System's ability to precisely
direct the Astro-2 telescopes at their targets. The crew is being
asked to schedule exercise a little earlier so that the vibration has
stopped by the time Endeavour moves into darkness and celestial
observations must resume.

 On Sunday, March 5, 1995 at 6 p.m. CST, STS-67 Payload Status Report #08 
reports: (3/17:22 MET) Both the Hopkins telescope and the
Wisconsin Ultraviolet Photo- Polarimeter Experiment (WUPPE) examined
two Seyfert galaxies, Markarian 279 and Fairall 9, in a study that
could provide insights into some of the most powerful events in the
universe.  Named for Vanderbilt University astronomer Carl Seyfert,
who identified this type of galaxy in 1943, Seyferts have extremely
bright, compact cores containing clouds of gas moving at thousands of
miles per second.  Astronomers theorize that supermassive black holes
would be the only source capable of generating the immense power given
off by these objects.

     The HUT team also practiced acquiring quasar Q 1542+54 to
refine procedures for locating it efficiently in future observations.
Their success gives them an additional illumination source to use in
their search for intergalactic helium.  Yesterday, they successfully
locked onto the quasar 1700+64, which will likely remain their primary
target for the study.

     Several observations today examined the dust and gas from which
stars form. HUT selected a reflection nebula and the star which
illuminates it.  The star, AE-Aurigae, is a very hot, massive blue
star with surface temperatures from 50,000 to 70,000 degrees
Fahrenheit (28,000 to 40,000 Kelvin).  Light from the star illuminates
a cloud of dust surrounding it, creating a bright, colorful nebula.
Observation by the Astro telescopes may help determine the composition
of the dust and the sizes and shapes of the grains.

    The first observation of the day with WUPPE as the lead instrument
was HD 50138, viewed after Mission Specialist John Grunsfeld and
Payload Specialist Ron Parise took over science crew duties.  This
pre-main-sequence star is thought to be a young object, several times
more massive than our sun, that has just formed out of the
interstellar gas and dust.  Polarization measurements should help show
the shape of the nebula which surrounds the star and indicate where it
is coming from.  The study should help astronomers learn more about
the ways in which young stars form and how their birth clouds
eventually disperse.

     The WUPPE team also observed the star HD 197770, an interstellar
polarization probe.  The star serves much like a flashlight,
illuminating the vast and normally invisible clouds of dust and gas in
the space between stars.  The materials in these swirling clouds are,
in essence, the stuff of past and future stars.  Over eons, as stars
grow old, they kick out vast amounts of very hot material -- mostly
gas and dust -- into space.  These materials form into clouds, and
over many thousands of years the clouds collapse and form new stars.
By determining how much the ultraviolet light passing through the
clouds is polarized, or vibrating in a preferred direction rather than
randomly, WUPPE can provide further clues as to the nature of this
interstellar dust.

     Phi Persei, a hot, rapidly spinning star, was another subject of
study for WUPPE.  The star exhibits an unusual ultraviolet spectrum
that may be caused by a shell of gas around the star, possibly the
remains of a layer that has been spun off the star by its rapid
rotation.  This shell is thought to be in the form of a disk around
the equator of the star, and the scattering of starlight by the disk
polarizes the light.

     Celestial objects chosen for observation by the Ultraviolet
Imaging Telescope (UIT) included M31, the famous Andromeda galaxy in
our "local group," the cluster of galaxies which includes our own
Milky Way.  UIT researchers are conducting ultraviolet studies of the
structure of local group galaxies.  They will also examine the
photographs to study the physics of star formation contained in these
galaxies.

     The UIT team also selected various kinds of open and globular
star clusters, groups of stars formed from the same basic material at
the same time.  By comparing clusters of different ages and by looking
at different types of stars of the same age, astronomers can learn a
great deal about how each type of star changes in its lifetime.

  STS-67 Flight Day 5 Highlights:

 On Monday, March 6, 1995 at 6 a.m. CST, STS-67 Payload Status Report #09 
reports: (4/5:22 MET) The Astro-2 instruments spent the fourth
night of the mission viewing spiral, radio and other types of galaxies
as well as two types of binary star systems and some individual stars.
Also, the search for intergalactic helium continued as these
telescopes observed some of the most distant objects in the known
universe.  All the Astro-2 instruments, Spacelab, and the Instrument
Pointing System continue to perform well.

     "I think we've just set a world record for acquisition,"
commented Mission Specialist John Grunsfeld upon the swift targeting
of GD394, a white dwarf star in the Cygnus constellation, for the
Hopkins Ultraviolet Telescope (HUT).  Earlier in the evening, an
edited StarView software package was uplinked to Space Shuttle
Endeavour.  This upgrade made what Alternate Payload Specialist 
Scott D. Vangen called, "a world of difference" in improving acquisition
times for the Astro-2 instruments.

     White dwarf stars, such as GD394, have magnetic fields stronger
than any that can be formed in laboratories on the earth.  They are
interesting for astronomers because they provide a laboratory for
studying the effects of strong magnetic fields on radiation.  One such
effect is that the light coming from these objects is highly
polarized, or is vibrating in a single direction.

     HUT scientists made further ultraviolet observations of the
bright quasar 1700+64 in the hope of discovering intergalactic helium.
Astronomers have been searching for evidence of intergalactic matter
left over from the formation of the universe for 30 years, and HUT was
originally designed with this goal in mind.  If ionized helium is
present in the space in front of a quasar, it should block out the
helium signature in HUT's far ultraviolet spectrum of the quasar--
thus establishing the existence of the ionized helium in the
intergalactic medium.

     Binary star systems, or pairs of mutually orbiting stars, again
became prime objects for observations selected by the HUT science
team.  Earlier in the evening, the HUTand Wisconsin Ultraviolet Photo
Polarimeter Experiment (WUPPE) instruments looked at the symbiotic
binary Z Andromedae, located in the constellation Andromeda, as part
of the joint HUT/WUPPE investigator program.  Symbiotic stars are
binary systems in which the component stars have radically different
temperature ranges.  Guest Investigator Dr. Brian R.  Espey used HUT
and WUPPE to study the ultraviolet spectrum of Z Andromedae, in order
to improve measurements of the hotter star's temperature.

     The first ever ultraviolet observations of a very spectacular
binary star system, Nova Aquilae, were made early in the morning by
members of the WUPPE science team.  This system, consisting of a white
dwarf and a more normal star, became a bright nova, or a new explosive
object, just about a week ago.  This binary's explosions occurred due
to the interactions between the two stars.  Specifically, hot gas from
the normal star was pulled by gravity toward the white dwarf star's
surface.  As this material collected on the white dwarf's surface,
thermonuclear fusion took place, resulting in sudden and extremely
bright explosions.  As WUPPE co-investigator Chris Anderson described
this process, "a week ago it was a faint, unobtrusive star....then it
suddenly became thousands of times brighter."

     Another target observation for WUPPE scientists over night
included one of the most beautiful and colorful types of objects
known.  Reflection nebula NGC7023 is the brightest of its kind, in
which starlight is scattered by dust grains, producing brilliant
illumination in its cloud.  The WUPPE team is using its observations
of this nebula to further study the nature of dust grains in
interstellar space.

     Celestial objects chosen for observation by the Ultraviolet
Imaging Telescope (UIT) last night included the spiral galaxy NGC1097
and the radio galaxy Centaurus A.  Centaurus A is the nearest active
galaxy to our own and is one of the most prominent radio sources in
the Southern Hemisphere.  UIT scientists are examining it to study
star formation processes and stellar evolution there.  Radio galaxies
like Centaurus A emit radiation a million times stronger than galaxies
like ours.  Many questions surround radio galaxies, including those
concerning the possible relationships between these galaxies, quasars
and other energetic sources.

     UIT scientists also selected a cluster in the Small Magellanic
Cloud, an irregular galaxy, as a target.  Eighteen targets within the
local group of galaxies are candidates for observation on Astro-2, and
UIT is conducting ultraviolet studies on their structures.  These
scientists are also studying the physics of star formation in
supernova remnants contained in these galaxies.  While UIT used its
large field of view to image regions of the Small Magellanic Cloud,
HUT observed the supernova remnants within it.  HUT's large
spectrograph apertures permit observations of the remnants'
temperature, density and chemical composition.

 On Monday, March 6, 1995 at 5 p.m. CST, STS-67 MCC Status Report #09
reports: The STS-67 astronauts continue to operate the ASTRO-2 payload
and also worked with several microgravity experiments and talked with
students on the ground around the world through the Shuttle Amateur
Radio Experiment.  The Blue Team -- Payload Commander Tammy Jernigan,
Mission Specialist Wendy Lawrence and Payload Specialist Sam Durrance
-- worked with the Commercial Materials Dispersion Apparatus
Instruments Technology Associates Experiments (CMIX) and checked on
the health of the Protein Crystal Growth biotechnology experiments.

   Lawrence also sent special greetings to the 19 men and women who
reported to the Johnson Space Center today representing the Astronaut
Class of 1995.  The Red Team -- Commander Steve Oswald, Pilot Bill
Gregory, Mission Specialist John Grunsfeld and Payload Specialist Ron
Parise -- went on duty about noon CST. As Grunsfeld and Parise
supported Astro-2 observations, Oswald coordinating a successful data
transfer that will help Middeck Active Control Experiment scientists
and engineers design large spacecraft. Gregory practiced for the end
of the 15 1/2 day mission on the PILOT landing simulator.

 On Monday, March 6, 1995 at 6 p.m. CST, STS-67 Payload Status Report #10 
reports:(4/17:22 MET) Two cataclysmic variables were on today's
menu of HUT targets.  These are systems of two stars, orbiting
extremely close together, where a white dwarf in the final stage of
its life cycle is paired with a more "normal" star somewhat similar to
our sun.  Occasionally their interactions create an outburst, or
sudden increase in energy emissions.  This interchange of matter
between stars, called accretion, is of great interest to the HUT and
Wisconsin Ultraviolet Photo-Polarimeter Experiment teams because it is
essential to many astrophysical situations such as the generation of
energy by quasars.

   This morning, the Astro telescopes observed VW Hydri, a cataclysmic
variable which undergoes outbursts of energy roughly every 20 days.
Though it was in a relatively low state of activity today, VW Hydri
will be monitored at intervals throughout the mission in hopes of
getting measurements in both an outburst and a non-outburst stage.
This afternoon, the teams viewed another variable, YZ Cancri, which is
located in the constellation Cancer.
	
   The telescopes made two observations of elliptical galaxy M 105 in
the constellation of Leo the Lion.  HUT studied the nature of stars
that put out an unexpected amount of ultraviolet light in this type of
galaxy.  HUT observations from Astro-1 indicate it comes from older,
low mass stars in a previously unknown stage of their evolution.

   Individual stars chosen for viewing by HUT ranged from massive
stars to compact white dwarfs.  Observations of the hot, massive
O-type star HD 94963, in the Southern Hemisphere constellation Carina,
will be added to an "atlas" of hot stars which may assist in stellar
population studies in galaxies.  The white sub-dwarf star,
Schweizer-Middleditch, was too close to the sun to be observed on
Astro-1, so Astro-2 astronomers were particularly pleased to observe
it today.  It lies behind the supernova remnant SN1006, which is the
debris of a star that exploded in 1006 A.D.  HUT scientists are
studying the star's spectrum for signs that its light is being
absorbed by iron in the supernova remnant.  Theories predict that a
large quantity of iron was ejected by the exploding star.

   Other observations in the HUT time block included observations in
two parts of the Cygnus Loop supernova remnant, the leftover gas from
a stellar explosion some 20,000 year ago.  Seyfert galaxy Markarian 3
also was studied.  Such active galaxies have unusually bright centers
that resemble the more distant and more luminous quasars, and they are
believed to harbor massive black holes.

   The Ultraviolet Imaging Telescope (UIT) took images for an
ultraviolet census of "Selected Area 57," a portion of the sky that
has been intensively mapped at many other wavelengths.  "This is one
of two parts of the sky that astronomers all over the world have
agreed to study as closely as possible with every new technology that
comes along," said UIT Team Member Dr. Steve Maran.  UIT's wide-field
images should provide new information on faint objects that have not
yet been catalogued.  The UIT team will count galaxies down to faint
ultraviolet magnitudes and search for quasars, for galaxies that are
receding very quickly as the universe expands, and for distant
clusters of star-forming galaxies.  "If we see something we don't
understand, we can go back and look at images made in other
wavelengths to help define it," said UIT Principal Investigator Ted
Stecher.  "It's something like using the Rosetta stone to decipher
something that was previously unknown .

   UIT made images for two other science programs that could shed
light on the life cycles of stars.  The instrument photographed a
globular cluster known as NGC 6752.  Ultraviolet images will pick out
hot stars, at an unusual stage of their evolution, from the tightly
grouped assembly of old stars in the cluster.  UIT also viewed the
spiral galaxy NGC 3351.  The arms of spiral galaxies, which look
something like cosmic pinwheels, are made up of interstellar matter
and bright young stars.  The images should be useful to ultraviolet
astronomers in assessing the amount of star formation in progress
within the galaxies.

   The Wisconsin Ultraviolet Photo-Polarimeter Experiment (WUPPE) team
reported that one of last night's observations seems to confirm a
surprise finding from Astro-1.  According to WUPPE Co-Investigator
Dr. Geoff Clayton, the team again saw evidence of two types of
polarized "dust" in an interstellar cloud.  An Astro-1 observation had
indicated that some parts of the dust were like grains of sand, while
others were more like soot.  Ultraviolet radiation reflected from both
types of grains was polarized, or vibrating in a preferred direction,
indicating that both were lined up to the magnetic field.  But until
last night, no other observation had detected polarization in the
"soot."  "Last night, we saw a 'bump' in our polarization measurements
just where it was on Astro 1," said Clayton.  "We hope to see more
bumps on later observations.  If we find out this is real, we'll have
to go back to the drawing board and find out why these grains are
aligned as they are."

  STS-67 Flight Day 5 Highlights:

 On Tuesday, March 7, 1995 at 9 a.m. CST, STS-67 MCC Status Report #10 
reports: Earlier this morning, flight controllers did some
troubleshooting after a circuit breaker tripped, cutting power to a
portion of the Commercial Materials Dispersion Apparatus
Instrumentation Technology Associates Experiment (CMIX). When Lawrence
reset the circuit breaker on the middeck experiment and repowered the
heater controller, ground controllers noticed a short. Lawrence
subsequently was directed to turn off the heater, which maintained a
slightly higher temperature (20 degrees Centigrade vs. 4 degrees
Centigrade) for a portion of the Commercial Refrigerator Incubator
Module (CRIM).  three of the four experiment trays already had been
chemically fixed, and scientists won't know until after landing what
affect the heater loss will have on the samples. The CMIX/CRIM
experiments which require no heat, referred to as the "cold"
experiments, were unaffected by this event.

  Other activities performed by the Blue Team include a successful
alignment of the inertial measurement units which was performed by
Lawrence, and a 12-hour water dump using the flash evaporator system
was initiated this morning.

 On Tuesday, March 7, 1995 at 6 a.m. CST, STS-67 Payload Status Report #11 
reports: (5/5:22 MET) Crew members for the second Astro
Observatory (Astro-2) mission spent a busy fifth night in space,
working with three unique ultraviolet telescopes to help scientists on
Earth learn more about the universe.  Pilot William Gregory and
Mission Specialist Wendy Lawrence maneuvered the Space Shuttle
Endeavour into different orbital positions as Payload Commander Tammy
Jernigan, Mission Specialist John Grunsfeld, and Payload Specialists
Ronald Parise and Sam Durrance aligned the telescopes nestled in
Endeavour's payload bay.

   From the Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala., the
science teams for the Hopkins Ultraviolet Telescope (HUT), 
Ultraviolet Imaging Telescope (UIT) and the 
Wisconsin Ultraviolet Photo-Polarimeter Experiment (WUPPE) watched 
video from the HUT target acquisition camera onboard the Shuttle while 
they calibrated their instruments.  During this calibration period, in 
which HUT was pointed at a hot dwarf star in the constellation Auriga, 
scientists were able to check the data from their telescopes against 
previous observations.

   Three types of galaxies were observed by the Astro-2 telescopes
overnight to help scientists understand more about the formation of
stars in a galaxy system.  UIT used both of its onboard cameras to
make images of these galaxies in both the long and short wavelength
ranges.  A prime target for UIT was a globular cluster in the
constellation Carina.  This cluster is a massive spherical
concentration of stars containing up to several hundred thousand
stars.  This group of stars, which is extremely old, provides
astronomers with information about the latter part of the evolution of
stars.

   HUT and WUPPE observed a massive blue star called Psi Persei,  a
luminous star that spins rapidly and has outer layers that show
evidence of being peeled off by their stellar winds.  Previous
observations have suggested that these gas-laden winds are strongest
near the equator of these rapidly spinning stars.  Psi Persei has an
unusual ultraviolet spectrum that may be caused by a shell of gas
around the star, possibly the remains of the layer that has been
peeled off the star.  Scientists hope to accurately determine this
type of star's temperature (in order to analyze its atmospheric
emission), search for stellar winds and study absorption in the
interstellar medium, gas and dust between these stars.

   HUT and WUPPE also used a bright star much like a flashlight to
illuminate the gas and dust between stars.  This type of observation
will help scientists understand more about the chemical composition
and physical nature of the dust and gas between stars in our Milky Way
galaxy.  During the first Astro mission, astronomers learned that some
parts of our galaxy seem to have dust grains that resemble tiny hockey
pucks, while other parts seem to have a mixture of several sizes,
shapes and kinds of dust grains.  During Astro- 2, WUPPE Principal
Investigator Dr. Arthur Code hopes to determine whether different
conditions in some parts of the galaxy affect the formation of these
dust grains.

   The science teams for HUT, UIT and WUPPE observed video from the
HUT target acquisition camera as their instruments measured a
supernova remnant known as Cygnus Loop.  This supernova remnant, in
the constellation Cygnus, the Swan, is from a star that exploded many
years ago.  Both cameras of the UIT imaged the supernova remnant in
both the short ultraviolet and long ultraviolet ranges.  Guest
Investigator Dr. John Raymond is using HUT to obtain information about
shock waves the physics of collisionless shocks, the destruction
of grains in shocked gas, instabilities behind radiative shocks and
shock wave parameters.

   The Astro-2 ultraviolet telescopes also observed a Wolf-Rayet star,
thought to represent one of the final phases in the evolution of
massive O and B stars, which have between 100,000 and 1,000,000 times
the radiance of the sun, with temperatures up to 100 times greater.
One of the most unusual features of this type of star is that it has
almost no dark, or absorption, lines in its spectrum, only bright,
broad emission lines.

   The three Astro-2 ultraviolet telescopes also gathered information
about spiral galaxies during the night.  Guest Investigator Dr. Wendy
Freedman is using the UIT to image several large, face-on (top or
bottom view) galaxies in the far- and near-ultraviolet spectrum.
Freedman will combine UIT images gathered on both the Astro-1 and
Astro-2 missions to create a digital atlas of spiral galaxies.  Data
gathered about galaxies will also be used to study the similarities
between the types of galaxies viewed by the Hubble Space Telescope in
the visible and ultraviolet spectrums.

 On Tuesday, March 7, 1995 at 4 p.m. CST, STS-67 MCC Status Report #11
reports: Commander Oswald transferred data from the ground to the
orbiting Middeck Active Control Experiment via a high-speed
air-to-ground link as Gregory took care of orienting the shuttle for
its Astro-2 observations and performed housekeeping duties.Grunsfeld
and Parise each were scheduled for some off-duty time.

 On Tuesday, March 7, 1995 at 6 p.m. CST, STS-67 Payload Status Report #12 
reports: (5/17:22 MET) The Wisconsin Ultraviolet Photo-Polarimeter
Experiment (WUPPE) and Hopkins Ultraviolet Telescope (HUT) viewed
Wolf-Rayet star HD 191765 twice this morning, completing a set of
observations begun last night.  "This is a fairly faint star, so we
are observing it four times to get all the information we need,"
explained Guest Investigator Dr. Regina Schulte-Ladbeck of the
University of Pittsburgh.  "We know this star's polarization varies
over time, so we put all the observations within a 12-hour period in
order to make them as nearly the same as possible."  Schulte-Ladbeck
noted that the first observation showed very high ultraviolet
polarization, and she feels confident that all four data sets will
yield the same result.

   Wolf-Rayet stars are thought to be a final life stage of very hot,
massive and luminous stars.  Powerful stellar winds cause matter to be
lost from them, making them less and less massive over time.
Schulte-Ladbeck is studying the mechanism of mass loss from the stars,
as mass is returned to the interstellar medium and new stars are
formed.  "Wolf-Rayets are depositing chemically processed matter
containing elements like carbon, nitrogen and oxygen for the next
generation of stars, so the new stars will be different," she
explained.

   This afternoon, WUPPE and HUT viewed EZ Canis Majoris, a much
brighter Wolf-Rayet which was observed for a briefer time during
Astro-1.  Ultraviolet polarization studies can help astronomers
determine the shape of the material being thrown out from the star, so
they can formulate a three- dimensional "map" of its structure.

   The WUPPE instrument also focused on the bright ultraviolet star HD
25090 to illuminate the interstellar medium for their polarization
study of the dust between stars.  Determining characteristics of
interstellar dust will help astronomers make allowances for the
existence of this obstructing matter when studying other objects and
to study its function as the source of new stars.

   All three telescope teams joined today's observations of two active
galaxies, thought to have supermassive black holes at their centers.
NGC 4151 is a Seyfert-1 type galaxy, which emits very bright
ultraviolet radiation.  NGC 1068 is a Seyfert-2, with ultraviolet
emissions that are not as strong.  "Astro-1 and Hubble Space Telescope
observations suggest there are opaque disks of cold gas around the
cores of these galaxies," said HUT team member Dr. Gerard Kriss.  "It
could be that there is no difference in the two Seyfert types, except
that we're viewing Seyfert-2's from the side with the gas disk
obscuring the hot core, and we see Seyfert-1's from the top with our
view of the hot gas unobstructed.  It's something like not being able
to see the hole in a donut when you look at the donut from the side."
Actually, Kriss said, NGC 4151 is in the "twilight zone" of Seyferts,
exhibiting unusual characteristics that suggest it might be tilted at
an intermediate angle to Earth.

   "NGC 4151 was five times as bright today as it was during Astro-1
observations in 1990, and there was a 10 percent increase in
brightness today over what we saw when we first observed it two days
ago," said Kriss.  The galaxy is known to be extremely variable, so
Astro-2 scientists hope to view it several more times to capture it at
various levels.  The multiple pointings should help Hopkins
astronomers learn more about the location, composition, density and
temperature of the gas.  Astro-1 observations of NGC 1068 revealed
unanticipated evidence that gas clouds were heated by shock waves
speeding from the galaxy's core.  Speaking on air-to-ground
communication loops from Spacelab Control, Kriss guided Payload
Specialist Sam Durrance in placing the telescope's view just outside
the core of NGC 1068, to look for the location of the shock-heated
gas.

   Ultraviolet Imaging Telescope (UIT) team members will search
today's photographs of irregular galaxy NGC 4449 for young stars.
Active star formation is on-going in these arms, but not in the
symmetrical distribution more common in spiral galaxies.  The Hopkins
telescope focused on a supernova remnant near the galaxy's nucleus,
which has a rich store of atomic oxygen buried in a region of ionized
hydrogen.  While the images should reveal details of star formation
regions, spectral measurements of the supernova remnant should show
the composition and temperature of the ionized gas.

   UIT also photographed an open cluster of hot stars, called N4.
These diffuse clusters of stars are thought to be young systems, less
than 10 million years old.  UIT's wide field of view allows the camera
to make ultraviolet images of many stars at a time, so the images will
be used to identify hot binary stars pulling matter from one another,
planetary nebulae, X-ray sources, white dwarfs and other faint, hot
stars.

   Other observations today included two white dwarf stars, RE 0512
and GD153; the rapid-star formation galaxy NGC 2903; and another
portion of the Cygnus Loop supernova remnant .

  STS-67 Flight Day 6 Highlights:

 On Wednesday, March 8, 1995 at 8 a.m. CST, STS-67 MCC Status Report #12 
reports: Astro-2 observations continue, including ultraviolet
views of spiral galaxies, the interstellar medium and a very luminous
and hot Wolf Rayet star.  A successful alignment of the inertial
measurement units was performed earlier this morning.  Excess water
will be dumped through the flash evaporator system today.  All
consumables are at the appropriate levels at this time in the
record-setting mission.

 On Wednesday, March 8, 1995 at 4 p.m. CST, STS-67 MCC Status Report #13
reports: Mission Specialist Wendy Lawrence beamed down a video
postcard, narrating a tour of the Space Shuttle Endeavour and showing
what life aboard is like. The tour included views of the aft flight
deck, where astronomical observations are being conducted; the forward
flight deck, where shuttle maneuvers are orchestrated; and the
middeck, where experiments are studying biotechnology and flexible
space structures and the day-to-day activities such as food
preparation and personal hygiene are taken care of.

   Oswald worked again with the Middeck Active Control Experiment as
Gregory took care of orienting the shuttle for its Astro-2
observations and performed housekeeping duties.  Grunsfeld and Parise
directed the trio of Astro-2 telescopes toward its targets.  Gregory
and Grunsfeld also conducted an interview with KFWB Radio in Los
Angeles.

 On Wednesday, March 8, 1995 at 6 a.m. CST, STS-67 Payload Status Report #13 
reports: (6/5:22 MET) Although payload controllers at
Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala., were briefly
evacuated to a safe area during severe weather conditions last night,
voice communications with the Shuttle continued from Marshall,
allowing Mission Specialist John Grunsfeld to coordinate his
activities with science teams on the ground .
	
   Grunsfeld pointed the Astro-2 telescopes at a quasi-stellar object,
a prime target for the Hopkins Ultraviolet Telescope (HUT), known as
HS1700+64.  Principal Investigator Dr. Arthur Davidsen and the HUT
science team are searching for the helium left over from the
primordial fireball that many scientists believe marked the birth of
the universe some 10 to 20 billion years ago.  To find the ash
remnants of the explosive genesis of the universe, astronomers must
use the faint glow of extremely distant objects, such as this quasar,
located behind the intergalactic gas similar to using a distant
flashlight shining through a hazy mist.  HUT was aimed at this Astro-2
target, located many billions of light years away, to help scientists
search the gas for evidence that helium is absorbing the quasar's
ultraviolet light.

   Jernigan and Durrance aligned the Wisconsin Ultraviolet Photo-
Polarimeter Experiment (WUPPE) telescope to look at two other stars
serving as background lights in the study of interstellar polarization
the orientation of ultraviolet light waves that travel through
the gas and dust between stars.  Interstellar polarization studies
enable scientists to make allowances for obscuring matter when they
study other objects in the universe as well as learn about the
obscuring matter itself.

   The Ultraviolet Imaging Telescope (UIT), WUPPE and HUT observed the
dying remains of a star a white dwarf.  This small object, which has
burned all its nuclear fuel, allowed WUPPE Principal Investigator
Dr. Arthur Code to observe the orientation of the ultraviolet light
traveling from the white dwarf to determine its geometry and density.
UIT imaged the white dwarf and the surrounding night sky to help
scientists search for more of these faint, hot stars.

   Gregory maneuvered Endeavour into position during two separate
orbits to allow all three Astro-2 ultraviolet telescopes to observe
spiral galaxies.  One of these spiral galaxies, known as NGC 2841,
contains remnants from Supernovae 1912 and 1957A.  The second spiral
galaxy, called NGC 2403, is a galaxy containing an old yellow star
population in its center region that merges into a disc with widely
scattered blue star-formation knots in its spiraling "arms."  Guest
Investigator Dr. Wendy Freedman will use UIT images of these two
galaxies in a digital atlas of spiral galaxies.

   Two other galaxies were observed by the ultraviolet telescopes
nestled in Endeavour's payload bay last night.  Guest Investigator
Dr. Claus Leitherer used HUT to observe a starburst galaxy and UIT
Principal Investigator Theodore Stecher conducted ultraviolet studies
of the structure of galaxies during an observation of elliptical
galaxy NGC 205.

   During four separate orbits, Jernigan and Durrance pointed the
three ultraviolet telescopes toward a rare type of star known as a
Wolf-Rayet star.  This type of star is thought to represent one of the
last phases in the life cycle of a massive star.  Wolf-Rayet stars
have powerful, eroding stellar winds.  These strong stellar winds have
hastened the evolution of the Wolf-Rayet stars, causing what may once
have been massive, luminous stars to become less and less massive
throughout their life.  "We are looking at the way energy coming out
of the star interacts with the atmosphere surrounding the star,"
explained WUPPE Co-Investigator Dr. Chris Anderson.

   Jernigan and Durrance also brought the Astro-2 telescopes into
alignment with two very hot, massive blue stars that emit large
amounts of ultraviolet radiation.  There is evidence that the outer
layers of these two rapidly spinning stars have been peeled off by
their stellar winds.  From the data gathered during Astro-2, HUT
scientists will strive to determine accurate temperatures of these
stars to learn more about their surrounding atmosphere, search for
stellar winds, and study absorption in the gas and dust between the
stars.

 On Wednesday, March 8, 1995 at 6 p.m. CST, STS-67 Payload Status
Report #14 reports:(6/17:22 MET) The Hopkins Ultraviolet Telescope
(HUT) team led the observation of U Geminorum and SS Cygni, two dwarf
novas which were also observed during Astro-1.  A a dwarf nova, a
particular type of cataclysmic variable star, is actually made up of
two stars -- a "normal" star like our sun in extremely close orbit
with a dense white dwarf.  Interaction of the two creates periodic
outbursts.

   This morning, U Geminorum was at a different phase than it was
during Astro-1, when it had just gone through an outburst.  "After the
outburst, the white dwarf was very hot.  Today, the white dwarf was
much cooler, since it has been a long time since U Geminorum's last
outburst," said HUT Principal Investigator Dr. Arthur Davidsen.

   Though SS Cygni was also at quiet stage today, it looked totally
different from more typical dwarf novas like U Geminorum.  "We could
tell SS Cygni is unusual based on our limited Astro-1 observation, but
today's much better data reinforces that," said Davidsen.  "Normally,
the white dwarf is obvious at the center of a cataclysmic variable,
but the spectrum from SS Cygni doesn't look like a white dwarf.
Instead of seeing light distributed across the spectrum the way we
would with a dense star, we see pronounced emission lines that suggest
something like a thin, transparent gas disk may surround the dwarf."
Davidsen said a disk of gas is created during a hot outburst, but it
generally dissipates when a variable is quiet.  HUT team members will
analyze today's data to help determine what makes SS Cygni apparently
unique.

   Members of the American Association of Variable Star Observers and
amateur astronomers all over the world are monitoring variable stars
in both hemispheres 24 hours a day.  They furnish regular reports via
electronic mail to the Astro-2 experiment teams, so exploding stars
can be added to the mission's observation schedule.

   HUT also observed V 1329 Cygni, a closely orbiting set of stars
with widely different temperatures called a symbiotic star system.
Dr. Brian Espey will use far-ultraviolet spectra obtained by the
Hopkins instrument to help determine the temperature of the hot star
component.
 
   The Ultraviolet Imaging Telescope (UIT) team chose two galaxies for
wide-field ultraviolet photography.  The first was M 49, the largest
elliptical galaxy in the Virgo cluster of galaxies.  At twice the size
of our Milky Way and ten times more mass, M 49 is one of the biggest
galaxies in the nearby universe.  "We are interested in trying to
trace the source in these galaxies of strong ultraviolet emissions,
which were first detected by Dr. Art Code [WUPPE principal
investigator] about 20 years ago," said UIT Co-Investigator Dr. Robert
O'Connell.  "We still don't understand where they are coming from."
Astro-1 observations of elliptical galaxies called into question some
previously popular theories about the source of the ultraviolet
radiation.

   UIT also obtained images of M 104, a spiral galaxy viewed edge-on
from Earth.  M 104 is sometimes called the Sombrero Galaxy because it
resembles the shape of a wide-brimmed hat.  "The regions where star
formation occurs are in the 'brim' of the hat, while the large bulge
-- the hat's 'crown' -- is made up of old stars, maybe even a black
hole," said UIT Guest Investigator Dr. Barry Madore, who operates what
may be the world's largest computerized electronic database of
galaxies for NASA at Caltech.  "Very old blue stars put out radiation
in a glowing halo that surrounds the hat shape," Madore added.  These
halos had not been imaged in the ultraviolet before Astro-1.  Studies
of 47 Tucanae, a globular cluster chosen by UIT for study, could shed
new light on stellar aging, since some stars within such closely
grouped associations seem to age differently than those found
elsewhere in our galaxy.

   The Wisconsin Ultraviolet Photo-Polarimeter Experiment (WUPPE) team
concentrated on very hot individual stars for their observation
choices today.  The instrument made spectral and polarimetric
measurements of Zeta Tauri and 28 Tauri, two Oe/Be stars in the
constellation Taurus which show bright hydrogen emission lines.  The
WUPPE team also selected supergiant stars P Cygni and AG Carinae.
Massive stars like these process helium and hydrogen into heavier
elements, and recycle material into the interstellar medium through
supernova explosions and stellar winds.
  
   Light from both types of stars is scattered by various processes in
their atmospheres, creating pronounced polarization.  However, WUPPE
observations of both star types during Astro-1 showed ultraviolet
polarization that was different from theoretical predictions.  Astro 2
observations will provide data against which to test refined theories.
The WUPPE team also completed a series of observations of Wolf-Rayet
star HD 96548, in another study of how stars deposit matter containing
processed elements like oxygen, nitrogen and carbon into the
interstellar medium.

  STS-67 Flight Day 7 Highlights:

 On Thursday, March 9, 1995 at 6 a.m. CST, STS-67 Payload Status Report #15 
reports: (7/5:22 MET) Mission Specialist Wendy Lawrence
maneuvered the Space Shuttle Endeavour into a position where Payload
Commander Tammy Jernigan could align the Ultraviolet Imaging Telescope
(UIT) with M33, a nearby spiral galaxy in the constellation
Triangulum.  This galaxy, also called the Pinwheel galaxy, is
approximately 2.4 million light years away, but is bright enough to be
seen with binoculars at night.  "We are looking at this neighboring
spiral galaxy during Astro-2 to learn more about what goes on in that
galaxy and compare this information to what we already know about the
Milky Way," said Mission Scientist Dr. John Horack.

   Payload Specialist Ron Parise aligned the three onboard telescopes,
allowing UIT to make deep, wide-field images of a globular cluster of
stars known as NGC 362.  Globular clusters, massive spherical
concentrations of extremely old stars, are generally located outside
the plane of the galaxy and form a halo around the center.  These old
stars (possibly 10 billion years old) provide astronomers with
knowledge about the latter part of stellar evolution.

   Another type of star cluster, an open cluster, was imaged by UIT
last night.  An open star cluster is moderate in size, containing from
only a few dozen to a few hundred stars.  The age of the stars in an
open cluster can range from very young stars to older stars.  UIT
scientists are particularly interested in searching the heavens for
white dwarfs and other faint, hot stars to be used as backlighting to
study interstellar medium  the gas and dust between stars.  These
data will also provide highly accurate distance measurements and add
to astronomers' understanding of the chemical evolution of galaxies.

   The Wisconsin Ultraviolet Photo-Polarimeter Experiment (WUPPE)
telescope examined a supergiant, one of the largest, most radiant
stars in the sky.  The largest of these massive stars may measure
1,000 times the radius of the sun, but their enormous size is coupled
with their voracious consumption of nuclear fuel, leading supergiant
stars through speedy evolutions and spectacular deaths in the form of
stellar explosions called supernovae.
	
   The three Astro-2 ultraviolet telescopes were pointed at Jupiter's
moon Io, the most volcanically active body in our solar system.  A
recent volcanic eruption on that moon, just before the Astro-2 mission
began, ejected material onto Io's surface and into Io's atmosphere.
Dr. Paul Feldman, co-investigator for the Hopkins Ultraviolet
Telescope (HUT) observed Io last night to detect possible changes in
the number of sulfur and oxygen ions in Io's atmosphere.  As Io orbits
Jupiter once every 42 hours, some of this material is left behind,
forming a donut-shaped torus of sulfur and oxygen plasma around Io's
orbit.  This plasma torus will be observed in a separate Jupiter
pointing during Astro-2.
	
   Parise next pointed HUT at a starburst galaxy.  While most galaxies
appear to have developed their stars billions of years ago, some are
forming new stars at an enormous rate in a process known as a
starburst.  The massive, hot young stars emit strong ultraviolet
light, detectable by the telescopes onboard the Space Shuttle
Endeavour.

   Parise also aligned HUT to observe WX Hydri, a dwarf nova in a
binary star system.  The dwarf nova for this observation, WX Hydri,
undergoes irregularly spaced outbursts, approximately once every 10
days.  Scientists for HUT and WUPPE are interested in a process
associated with binary stars called accretion, where matter is
transferred from the smaller star to the larger star, causing the
interstellar gas to heat up and create bright ultraviolet emissions.

   HUT observed a very hot, massive blue star for Guest Investigator
Dr.  Nolan Walborn.  The star known as NGC 346 #3 is located in a
cluster of stars in the Small Magellanic Cloud. This star is being
studied because of its strong stellar winds.  Data from this Astro-2
observation will be combined with observations made by the Hubble
Space Telescope and the European Southern Observatory's CASPEC
satellite, giving scientists a better understanding of this star,
which has a relatively brief life from 3 to 6 million years.
Several other stars in the NG 346 cluster will also be observed during
Astro-2.

 On Thursday, March 9, 1995 at 8 a.m. CST, STS-67 MCC Status Report #14 
reports: Looking out of the Shuttle's window, Wendy Lawrence
recorded volcanic activity on an island south of Burma and replayed
the brief video at about 5:45 a.m. CST. An alignment of the inertial
measurement units and a water dump through the flash evaporator system
were successfully performed this morning. Earlier this morning
Commander Stephen Oswald downlinked video of the Middeck Active
Control Experiment showing the effects of vibrations on spacecraft.
Through this experiment, researchers want to learn how to actively
control flexible structures in space.  Lawrence continued maneuvering
the orbiter while Jernigan and Sam Durrance continued the Astro-2
observations of the ultraviolet universe.

 On Thursday, March 9, 1995 at 5 p.m. CST, STS-67 MCC Status Report #15 
reports: Oswald worked with the Middeck Active Control Experiment
as Gregory pointed the shuttle so that the payload bay telescopes
could acquire their targets. Gregory also flew another simulation on
the PILOT landing trainer.  Grunsfeld and Parise directed the trio of
Astro-2 telescopes toward its targets.  Oswald, Grunsfeld and Gregory
were interviewed by Glen Farley of KING-TV in Seattle at 4:30 p.m.

 On Thursday, March 9, 1995 at 6 p.m. CST, STS-67 Payload Status Report #16 
reports: (7/17:22 MET) The Astro-2 observatory teamed up
with NASA's Hubble Space Telescope today for a close examination of
the planet Jupiter's "northern lights."  Though Jupiter is always in
daylight from Earth's perspective, ultraviolet photographs reveal a
glowing circle of charged particles in its upper atmosphere,
comparable to the beautiful aurora borealis visible in our far
northern latitudes.  Payload Specialist Sam Durrance, whose
astronomical specialty is Jupiter, carefully centered the Hopkins
Ultraviolet Telescope's (HUT) view on the northern region of the
planet.  The Astro telescopes made high-quality spectral and
polarimetric measurements, as well as wide-field, far- ultraviolet
images.  At the same time, Hubble's Wide Field/Planetary Camera 2
obtained high resolution, far-ultraviolet images of the auroral
region.  Dr. Paul Feldman, professor of physics at The Johns Hopkins
University, is the lead scientist for both the HUT and Hubble
observations.

   "We're very interested in whether the recent volcanic eruption on
Jupiter's moon Io produced more ions in the planet's magnetosphere and
led to a brighter aurora.  There is some debate as to whether
atmospheric ionization in the Jovian system is created primarily by
sunlight, as it is in Earth's atmosphere, or by volcanic activity on
Io," said Feldman.  "We obtained a very nice spectrum of molecular
hydrogen, the dominant component of Jupiter's upper atmosphere, which
we will analyze in correlation with the Hubble images.  By combining
the two, we will get a scientific product that is greater than the sum
of the two individual observations."

   Several of today's observations were for scientific programs
designed by Astro-2 guest investigators.  As mission planning began,
NASA invited astronomers to suggest experiments and observations that
could be conducted using one or more of the ultraviolet telescopes.  A
committee of astronomers reviewed the proposals and selected ten to be
included in the observation schedule.

    Dr. John Raymond, of the Smithsonian Institution Astrophysical
Observatory, used the Hopkins telescope to view two supernova
remnants, the Cygnus Loop and Vela F.  Both are relatively nearby,
with little foreground matter to block a clear view.  Raymond is
studying the products of supernova explosions -- outwardly moving
shock waves containing more energy than most galaxies radiate in a
year.  As the shock wave and debris from the explosion moves outward,
it heats the interstellar medium in its path and may trigger the
formation of new stars rich with the elements ejected in the
explosion.  Scattered long ago by these immense blasts, some of the
iron and other heavy elements helped form the world in which we live.

   Dr. Claus Leitherer, from the Space Telescope Science Institute,
took spectral measurements of the starburst galaxy 1050+40, one where
rapid star formation is taking place.  Leitherer's colleague,
Dr. Nolan Walborn, viewed O-type star SK-61837 in the Large Magellanic
Cloud, the nearest galaxy to our own Milky Way.  Walborn is studying O
stars, the hottest and most massive of the "normal" stars, in a
far-ultraviolet portion of the spectrum where they had not been
studies previously.  Both Leitherer and Walborn used the Hopkins
telescope for their investigations.

   Guest Investigator Dr. Gregory Bothun, of the University of Oregon,
used the Ultraviolet Imaging Telescope (UIT) to observe galaxy VCC
530, one of a recently recognized class of astronomical objects.
"They are called "low- surface-brightness" galaxies because they are
fainter than the dark night sky.  It has only been in recent years,
with improvements in telescopes, that we have been able to detect
them," said Dr. Barry Madore, another UIT guest investigator.  "The
most fascinating thing about this class of galaxies is that
ground-based observations show some of them are blue.  This could be
due to an absence of dust, or because they are made up of very
metal-poor stars, or maybe they are a new type we're not been aware of
before.  By viewing them in ultraviolet light, we can get a better
understanding of where they came from and what their properties are."

   UIT Principal Investigator Ted Stecher, of the Goddard Space Flight
Center, chose a cluster of galaxies known as Abell 1367 for
observation.  The galaxies in this cluster are primarily spirals, like
our own Milky Way.  Examining photographs of spiral-rich clusters
gives astronomers a better understanding of the spatial structure and
development of spiral galaxies.  UIT made images of Abell 1367 during
Astro 1 as well.  Stecher also selected NGC 6946, a rapid-
star-formation galaxy.  Ultraviolet radiation emphasizes the hot stars
and dust features associated with spiral arms and suppresses the cool
star background of the galactic bulge and underlying disc.

  Other observations today spanned the life cycle of stars, from
studies of the elderly Schweizer-Middleditch white dwarf star to
another search for intergalactic helium left over from the birth of
the universe.  The Astro telescopes are currently in the midst of a
nearly four-hour-long observation series to study the magnetic
cataclysmic variable binary star, AM Herculis.

  STS-67 Flight Day 8 Highlights:

 On Friday, March 10, 1995 at 6 a.m. CST, STS-67 Payload Status Report #17 
reports: (8/5:22 MET) Payload Specialist Ronald Parise pointed the
Hopkins Ultraviolet Telescope (HUT) at a binary star system called AM
Herculis.  This star system has a white dwarf and a normal low-mass
companion star, locked in a tight orbit around each other. As these
two stars move around each other, material from the low-mass star is
transferred to the white dwarf.  During this transfer, matter from the
companion star is heated as it spirals down onto the white dwarf,
generating a great deal of ultraviolet emission.  Because of these
outbursts (which may occur every couple of weeks to months or years),
binary star systems such as these are called cataclysmic variables.

   Several Astro-2 observations have been made of the AM Herculis
binary star system because of its unique characteristics.  In this
star system, the white dwarf star has a strong magnetic field.  As
material from the companion star is being transferred, the magnetic
field of the white dwarf causes the matter to assemble around its
magnetic poles.  HUT astronomers are using observations of cataclysmic
variables during this mission to learn more about how the magnetic
transfer of matter differs from the normal transfer of matter between
binary stars.  In another study of cataclysmic variables, HUT observed
EM Cygni, a dwarf nova which has no magnetic field.

   During the night portion of two separate orbits, Pilot William
Gregory maneuvered Endeavour into the proper orbital position for
Parise to align HUT for observations of quasar 1700+64.  HUT
scientists are using this quasar, located in the constellation Draco,
to search the vast region of space between distant galaxies for
evidence of helium left over from the primordial fireball that many
scientists believe marked the birth of the universe.  HUT Principal
Investigator Dr. Arthur Davidsen is using the light from this
extremely distant quasar as back lighting to shine through the
intergalactic medium.  Astronomers will use data from these Astro-2
observations to verify recent findings from the Hubble Space Telescope
as well as measure the density and ionization state of the
intergalactic helium.

  Parise also aligned HUT with two white dwarf stars for a study by
HUT Guest Investigator Dr. David Finley.  White dwarfs are one of the
extremely dense remnants of normal stars like the sun.  Those being
studied with HUT are young and extremely hot stars.  Finley is using
these HUT observations to get very accurate measurements of the
temperatures and surface gravity of white dwarf stars and determine
the properties of hydrogen under conditions of extreme temperature and
pressure.
	
   Another HUT investigation looked at a portion of a supernova
remnant called the Cygnus Loop.  Guest Investigator Dr. John Raymond
observed this "middle-aged" supernova remnant to study the physics of
collisionless shocks, the destruction of grains in shocked gas,
instabilities behind radiative shocks, and shock wave parameters.

   Parise aimed HUT at Jupiter's moon Io again last night.  A recent
volcanic eruption on Io ejected material into Io's atmosphere and onto
its surface.  HUT scientists are observing Io to detect changes in the
number of sulfur and oxygen ions in its atmosphere as a result of the
volcanic eruption.

   The Ultraviolet Imaging Telescope (UIT) imaged two globular
clusters last night a metal-poor cluster and a metal-rich
cluster.  The metal-poor globular cluster, known as NGC 2808, is made
up of relatively old stars.  The low metal content of these stars
indicates they were formed early in the life of the Milky Way galaxy.
Astronomers theorize that the metal-rich globular cluster, called 47
Tucanae, once belonged to a small metal-rich galaxy that was swallowed
up by the Milky Way in the remote past.  The UIT science team will use
images from these two types of globular clusters to search for hot
binaries that are transferring matter from the massive star to its
low-mass companion (accretion), hot white dwarfs, planetary nebulae,
and objects associated with X-ray sources in globular clusters.

   Payload Specialist Sam Durrance pointed the Wisconsin Ultraviolet
Photo-Polarimeter Experiment (WUPPE) telescope at a young stellar
object, still forming out of interstellar dust.  WUPPE astronomers
will analyze data about the polarization of the ultraviolet light in
this object to learn more about the star- formation processes taking
place there.

   WUPPE scientists also gathered data about hot stars with bright
emission lines last night.  Principal Investigator Dr. Arthur Code
will use information about the orientation of light waves traveling
through the circumstellar disk of this star, called 48 Persei, to
understand more about the material around it.  Although this type of
star was first noted because of bright emission lines, over 100 years
of study have shown stars like these to be unusual in many other
respects.  Each spectral region studied provides astronomers with
information about a different part of the material around the star.

 On Friday, March 10, 1995 at 5 p.m. CST, STS-67 MCC Status Report #17
reports: Commander Steve Oswald conducted more work with the Middeck
Active Control Experiment, the MACE device, which is collecting
engineering data about the effect of vibrations on free-floating
structures.  Pilot Bill Gregory spent some time answering questions
sent by computer users on the Internet regarding Endeavour's astronomy
mission. Hundreds of thousands of questions have been placed on the
Internet since the start of the mission, prompting the astronauts to
respond when time permits.


 On Friday, March 10, 1995 at 6 p.m. CST, STS-67 Payload Status Report #18 
reports: (8/17:22 MET) The Ultraviolet Imaging Telescope (UIT)
team selected the spiral galaxy M 31, better known as the Andromeda
galaxy, for observation.  The team is mapping groups of hot, bright
young stars, called OB associations, to learn more about star
formation within the galaxy.  Today's observation concentrated on the
northern portion of Andromeda, where its brightest OB associations are
located.  "We mapped the OB associations in the southern portion of M
31 during Astro 1, and our goal on Astro 2 is to complete the
picture," said UIT observing team member Barbara Pfarr.  At twice the
apparent size of our full moon, Andromeda is too big to be
photographed in one frame even with UIT's wide field of view.  M 31 is
roughly the same size as the Milky Way, and it is the nearest galaxy
of comparable size to our own.

   Astro scientists also observed NGC 4631, a large spiral galaxy
viewed edge-on.  The galaxy is forming stars out of material it is
pulling from the disk of a nearby, less massive elliptical galaxy, NGC
4656.  The bridge of material it is pulling from its smaller neighbor
forms a "tail" on NGC 4631.  NGC 4631 is of special interest to UIT
and Hopkins Ultraviolet Telescope team members because huge loops and
filaments of gas have been thrown above and below the galaxy's central
region.  Astronomers believe this may be a bubble of gas produced by
supernova explosions, with very strong stellar winds blowing material
out of the galaxy.  HUT will use its far-ultraviolet spectrometer to
see if there is hotter gas present -- about 200,000 degrees Fahrenheit
(100,000 degrees Celsius) or more -- than has been detected in
observations by other telescopes.

   UIT's ultraviolet images of NGC 4631 will be used to determine how
stellar populations are distributed in the galaxy.  In addition, they
will compare photographs made in different wavelengths with various
camera filters to help determine the location of the hot gas, its
temperature profile, and its distance from the galactic disk.  "We
will try to deduce processes by which the gas is heated and cooled,
then drops back into the disk," said UIT team member Dr. Andrew
M. Smith, "It is theorized that there is a circulation pattern in the
gas which is quite large and quite turbulent."

   The Hercules Cluster of galaxies, also viewed by the Astro
telescopes today, furnishes another laboratory for the study of star
formation.  Galaxy clusters are the largest gravitationally bound
groupings in the universe.  Such clusters generally contain both
elliptical galaxies, which contain few new stars, and spiral galaxies,
which contain many young, ultraviolet-bright stars.  The Hercules
cluster has a greater than average number of spirals, which makes it a
good "hunting ground" for new star formation.

   UIT also led observations of two objects near the end of the
stellar life cycle, globular clusters NGC 6752 and M 13.  Stars within
these tightly bound clusters appear to be about five billion years
older than recent evidence suggests the universe itself may be --
something like the children being older than the parents.  Ultraviolet
studies of old stars within the clusters, near the very end of their
lives, could provide better tests for the ages and life cycles of
stars.

   This morning's study of dwarf nova WX Hydri is the second
observation of this system, whose decline from outburst is being
studied.  Though these periodic increases in brightness in WX Hydri
are not as bright as they are in some cataclysmic variable systems,
they occur fairly frequently -- about once every ten days.  WX Hydri
sometimes becomes over eight times brighter during an outburst,
increasing from a magnitude of about 14.8 during quiet periods to
around 11 at its brightest.  Information about this dwarf nova and
about 10 others is being provided to Astro scientists by amateur
astronomers around the world.

   The Wisconsin Ultraviolet Photo-Polarimeter Experiment (WUPPE) team
finished up one period as prime instrument early this morning, then
began another after this afternoon's orbiter water dump.  This
morning, WUPPE looked at reflection nebula NGC 7023.  The first prime
observation for WUPPE this afternoon was HD 207198, an interstellar
polarization probe.  Both were studies clouds of gas and material from
which astronomers can learn about the interstellar medium -- the
material from which stars and other objects are created.

   Other celestial objects viewed by the Astro telescopes today
included the brightest known Seyfert galaxy, NGC 4151; the Carina
dwarf galaxy; spiral galaxy NGC 4258; and NGC 752, an open star
cluster in the constellation Andromeda.

  STS-67 Flight Day 9 Highlights:

 On Saturday, March 11, 1995 at 6 a.m. CST, STS-67 Payload Status Report #19 
reports: (9/5:22 MET) Pilot William Gregory maneuvered the
Endeavour into a position where Mission Specialist John Grunsfeld and
Payload Specialist Ronald Parise could align the Wisconsin Ultraviolet
Photo-Polarimeter Experiment (WUPPE) with Nova Centauri 1995.  "The
WUPPE instrument has given us some spectacular spectral 'signatures'
of the elements (such as carbon, nitrogen or oxygen) that may be
present in the atmosphere following this very recent explosion," said
Guest Investigator Dr. Joni Johnson of the University of Wisconsin in
Madison.  "We'll be analyzing these data for quite some time, looking
for clues about the atmospheric composition, as well as the structure,
of this new nova."

    Nova Centauri 1995, which occurred just two weeks before the
launch of Astro-2, is the result of a Red Giant, transferring material
to a compact white dwarf companion star.  After a period of time
(perhaps 1,000 years or more) the material which accreted onto this
white dwarf reached extremely high temperatures and pressure, causing
a thermonuclear explosion.  WUPPE scientists were excited to be able
to observe this rare new nova so soon after its beginning.

    Parise also pointed the WUPPE telescope to a massive star that is
known to have bright emission lines.  Scientists are studying this
type of star to learn more about the composition of material
surrounding the star and how it is effected by stellar winds.

   WUPPE scientists also got another look at a rare Wolf-Rayet star
overnight.  Wolf-Rayet stars are thought to represent one of the final
phases in the evolution of massive stars.  This type of massive star
has powerful, eroding stellar winds carrying material outward.  The
interaction between the star's light and this material causes the
radiation to be polarized (oriented in one particular direction)
rather than in all different directions.  The polarization of light
coming from this Wolf-Rayet star can tell astronomers something about
the properties of the stellar winds around it.

   Mission Specialist Wendy Lawrence maneuvered the orbiter to
different positions last night, allowing the WUPPE science team to
observe two galaxies in the Local Group.  Payload Commander Tammy
Jernigan operated the Instrument Pointing System, while Payload
Specialist Sam Durrance aimed the Astro-2 telescopes at the galaxies.
These two galaxies served as background lights for the study of
interstellar polarization, the direction that light travels between
stars.

    The Ultraviolet Imaging Telescope (UIT) imaged Holmberg 2 (a dwarf
galaxy) and a portion of the Andromeda spiral galaxy, M31, to help UIT
astronomers learn more about young stellar formations in galaxies.
One of the major science goals of the UIT is to map out our "twin
sister" galaxy, Andromeda (M31).  UIT also imaged a galaxy known as
NGC 3310, allowing investigators to study the design of spiral
galaxies and related structures, the nature of stellar populations,
and learn more about the material between stars associated with bars,
irregular, and anemic (poor in structure) galaxies.

   The Hopkins Ultraviolet Telescope (HUT) observed two Seyfert 1
galaxies, Markarian 279 and NGC 3516.  These targets are active
galaxies with bright, compact nuclei, radiating in wavelength ranges
from infrared to X- ray.  HUT Project Scientist Dr. Gerard Kriss
arranged simultaneous X-ray observations of NGC 3516 using the
Japanese X-ray satellite ASCA (the Advanced Satellite for Cosmology
and Astrophysics).  Astro-2 and ASCA will revisit NGC 3516 for another
observation in two days.  UIT scientists observed these galaxies to
better understand how energy is transferred between the nuclei and
surrounding regions.

   Parise pointed HUT at a dwarf nova called Z Camelopardalis (Z CAM).
This stellar system has two stars locked in a tight orbit around each
other, with an orbital period of seven hours.  The companion star to Z
CAM is a low mass star which transfers matter onto Z CAM, causing
outbursts of ultraviolet emissions.

    Parise aligned HUT with a portion of the supernova remnant Cygnus
Loop D.  HUT scientists are studying a very bright, radiative filament
on the western edge of the Cygnus Loop, to learn more about the shock
waves generated during the death of a star.  Astronomers will analyze
these HUT data to determine temperatures, densities, and chemical
compositions of the gaseous filaments in the interstellar medium.

 On Saturday, March 11, 1995 at 6 p.m. CST, STS-67 Payload Status Report #20 
reports: ( 9/17:22 MET) On the tenth day of the STS-67
mission, Astro-2 scientists took their first look in the extreme
ultraviolet at what may be the most massive star in the known
universe.  They also focused their observations on spiral galaxies,
elliptical galaxies, and star clusters.

   HD 269810, a faint O-class star located in the Large Magellanic
Cloud, is about 190 times as massive as Earth's sun and qualifies as a
candidate for the most massive star ever observed.  Hopkins
Ultraviolet Telescope Guest Investigator Dr. Nolan R. Walborn, of the
Space Telescope Science Institute, used the HUT instrument to study
the star's unusually powerful stellar wind, or expanding outer layer,
like it has never been seen before.  Although this star probably
possesses the most mass a star can have, its stellar wind is depleting
this mass at an accelerated rate.  These observations provide crucial
information regarding the ultimate fate of the most massive stars.

   Dr. Walborn uses the HUT to study a sample of very hot O class
stars that are currently being observed in ultraviolet wavelengths of
1200 angstroms and above by the Hubble Space Telescope.  However, only
HUT is able to take its unprecedented measurements of these stars in
the 900-1200 angstrom wavelength range.  Commenting on what he called
the "beautiful" real-time data acquired from this observation,
Dr. Walborn said, "Now we have new information about a current
candidate for the most massive star known.  This was the star I wanted
to see, and now we have it."

   Earlier this morning, Payload Specialist Sam Durrance successfully
pointed the Astro telescopes at a somewhat challenging target, the
elliptical galaxy M60, to enable the science teams to obtain an
overall average spectrum of stars in its core.  A roughly
sphere-shaped galaxy with no clearly discernible internal structure,
M60 contains older, evolved stars and therefore represents a stable
stage of development.  Due to the faintness of this galaxy and the
absence of suitable guide stars for automatic targeting, manual
acquisition of this target was necessary.

   The Wisconsin Ultraviolet Photo-Polarimeter Experiment (WUPPE) also
observed the center of the M60 giant elliptical for polarized
radiation, or radiation preferentially oriented in one direction.  M60
is part of rich cluster of galaxies in the Virgo constellation,
containing about 2500 galaxies, and has a notable ultraviolet excess.

   The Ultraviolet Imaging Telescope (UIT) viewed NGC 6791, an unusual
open cluster located 14,000 light years away in the Lyra
constellation.  Open clusters are diffuse collections of 100 to 1,000
stars and are usually thought to be young systems, less than 10
million years old.  As one of the oldest known open clusters, NGC 6791
is three billion years older than our solar system.  Because UIT's
field of view is well matched to the sizes of these clusters, UIT
scientists are able to perform ultraviolet observations of many stars
at the same time.

   Another target for UIT, M101 in the Ursa Major constellation, was a
big spiral galaxy with arms that are wide and not very tightly wound.
A perfect example, or prototype, of spiral structure, it is the
highest priority spiral galaxy for UIT.  This galaxy contains bright
regions, such as Searle 2 (named for Dr.  Leonard Searle, the
astronomer who first discovered that region), of glowing hydrogen
ionized by hot blue stars.  UIT's ultraviolet imaging offers a
powerful new tool for the study of these regions, especially since it
emphasizes these hot stars.  Ultraviolet imaging also suppresses the
cool star background of the galaxy, allowing the young hot stars to
become more evident to astronomers studying the evolution of stars.

 On Saturday, March 11 1995 at 5 p.m. CST, STS-67 MCC Status Report #19 
reports: Gregory continued work with the Portable In-Flight
Landing Operations Trainer, PILOT, a laptop computer and hand
controller designed to simulate Shuttle landings. The device helps
Shuttle Commanders and Pilots to stay sharp during long duration
flights.  

  STS-67 Flight Day 10 Highlights:

 On Sunday, March 12, 1995 at 9:30 a.m. CST, STS-67 MCC Status Report #20
reports: Tammy Jernigan, Sam Durrance and Wendy Lawrence assisted
ground controllers in Alabama with fine-pointing of the three
telescopes.  For the first time, an observation was made of the Moon
as the Shuttle passed south of Hawaii on the 161st orbit of the
mission in an effort to gather ultraviolet data to help determine the
Moon's origin.  Several additional observations of moons and asteroids
will be made throughout the mission.

 On Sunday, March 12, 1995 at 6 a.m. CST, STS-67 Payload Status Report #21 
reports: (10/5:22 MET) Mission Specialist Wendy Lawrence
maneuvered the orbiter into the required position, while Payload
Commander Tammy Jernigan aligned the Instrument Pointing System (IPS)
at the most difficult-to-acquire Astro-2 target, our moon.  Payload
Specialist Sam Durrance coordinated with science teams at Marshall
Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala., to accurately point the
Ultraviolet Imaging Telescope (UIT) at the moon.  "The entire moon has
never been imaged in the ultraviolet wavelengths, and we're looking
forward to seeing these data," said UIT Guest Investigator Dr. Chan Na
of Southwest Research Institute.  No similar data have been obtained
from either previous Shuttle missions, the Apollo program or
Clementine, and there are no operating or planned spacecraft capable
of imaging the whole moon at far ultraviolet wavelengths.

   UIT Guest Investigator Dr. Randy Gladstone, also of Southwest
Research Institute, is using UIT to make far ultraviolet maps in order
to learn more about the surface properties of the moon.  "This lunar
observation yielded 12 good, wide-field exposures of the moon," said
Gladstone.  The 70mm UIT film will developed and analyzed when
Endeavour returns to Earth.  UIT data gathered during Astro-2 will be
used to test the hypothesis that the far ultraviolet surface
brightness of an object without an atmosphere is a good indicator of
the length of time that the surface has been exposed to space.  These
data will also help scientists understand future ultraviolet images of
asteroids and other planetary satellites.

   The Wisconsin Ultraviolet Photo-Polarimeter Experiment (WUPPE)
telescope observed the moon along with UIT last night to determine how
well the WUPPE instrument could detect such features as dark seas or
bright craters on the moon.  Video from the WUPPE guide camera showed
the instrument could clearly distinguish these lunar surface features.
WUPPE scientists will now decide what observational goals they will
set for the next lunar observation, later in the mission.

   Durrance also pointed the WUPPE telescope to a cool, giant star
known as Alpha Orionis.  This star, which pulsates about every five
years, is approximately 14,000 times as radiant as our sun.  WUPPE
Principal Investigator Dr. Arthur Code will analyze the data from this
Astro-2 observation to learn more about what effect these pulsations
have on the envelope of gas and dust surrounding Alpha Orionis.

   Pilot William Gregory moved Endeavour into position, Mission
Specialist John Grunsfeld aligned the IPS and Payload Specialist
Ronald Parise again pointed the Hopkins Ultraviolet Telescope (HUT) at
the quasar known as 1700+64.  This quasar is the most distant object
the HUT team is observing during Astro-2.  HUT Principal Investigator
Dr. Arthur Davidsen, of Johns Hopkins University, is using the quasar
to provide background lighting in a search for helium in the
intergalactic medium (the gas between galaxies).  Helium is thought to
be left over from the "Big Bang," a primordial fireball that many
astronomers believe marked the birth of the universe about 10 to 20
billion years ago.

   The HUT telescope also observed a portion of the Cygnus Loop, a
"middle-aged" supernova remnant, over night.  Supernova remnants are
visible evidence of the final cycle of stellar evolution and important
sources of information for astronomers.  The Cygnus Loop is of
particular interest because it reveals details about the structure and
velocity of shock waves from the explosion of a dying star) as they
travel through the interstellar medium.  HUT's spectrographic data
will help scientists determine temperatures, densities and chemical
compositions of the gases located in the Cygnus Loop.

   HUT team members say their recent observations of the Vela
supernova remnant will allow scientists, for the first time, to
measure the same supernova remnant shockwave from two angles.  The
Vela observations seem to show the same filament of expanding gas from
the stellar explosion both edge on and face on.  "If we can compare
this filament in two positions, and verify that the models work for
this object, we can generalize that and compare it to other data we've
taken on the Cygnus Loop, the Vela supernova remnant and with other
telescopes," said HUT Co-investigator Dr. Bill Blair.  If successful,
the comparison should give researchers a much better understanding of
supernova remnants.

   Parise pointed WUPPE and HUT at a hot, massive star called 48
Librae, located in the constellation Libra.  This star spins rapidly
and has an outer layer that shows evidence of being peeled off by
stellar winds.  Previous observations of this star have suggested that
its stellar winds are strongest near the star's equator because of its
rapid rotation.  WUPPE scientists are examining the polarization of
this star's light to learn more about the scattering by electrons in
the disk surrounding it.  HUT scientists are trying to determine an
accurate temperature for this star, search for stellar winds, and
study absorption in the gas and dust between this star and nearby
stellar objects.
	
   Jernigan and Durrance aligned WUPPE and HUT to look at a supergiant
star, P Cygni.  This star, which increases in brightness like a nova,
has remained just visible to the naked eye for more than 100 years.
Scientists believe it is not a true nova, rather a variable star
surrounded by an expanding gaseous shell.  WUPPE scientists are
interested in P Cygni because it is ejecting mass at a colossal rate.
As P Cygni scatters light, it produces a pronounced polarization which
differs from theoretical models.  Data from these Astro-2 observations
will test refined theories and offer greater insight into the
mysterious variability of P Cygni.

   Throughout the next 12 hours, HUT, WUPPE and UIT will be used
to observe the planet Mars, look at young stellar populations in
galaxies, examine supernova remnants and study a reflection nebula in
a dark cloud.

 On Sunday, March 12, 1995 at 5 p.m. CST, STS-67 MCC Status Report #21
reports: Both Grunsfeld and Parise enjoyed a few hours off to relax
before heading into the final days of the mission, trading places on
the aft flight deck to operate the Instrument Pointing System and the
telescopes while the other took a break from research duties.  Gregory
used Endeavour's ham radio gear to talk to students at the J.J. Fray
Elementary School in Rustburg, Virginia and the crew continued to
respond to questions about their mission and spaceflight in general
placed on the Internet and faxed up to the Shuttle by flight
controllers.

 On Sunday, March 12, 1995 at 6 p.m. CST, STS-67 Payload Status Report #22 
reports: (10/17:22 MET) The Wisconsin Ultraviolet Photo-Polarimeter Experiment 
(WUPPE) team selected Nova Circinus 1995 for observation this morning.  This 
is the third "new" nova -- a binary star system whose first outburst was 
observed very recently -- to be studied by the Astro-2 telescopes.  
"Though all three novae went into outburst since the first of the year, 
each is at a different stage in its history," said WUPPE Principal 
Investigator Dr. Arthur Code.  "By comparing their polarization, we hope to 
determine whether gas from novae outbursts is expelled in a spherical shape 
and then becomes more asymmetrical, and if so, how quickly the asymmetry
develops."  Light is polarized when it encounters an asymmetrically
shaped object, such as a flattened gas disk, which causes the light to
vibrate in preferred directions.

   "Every day brings new surprises," said HUT Co-investigator Dr. Bill
Blair, describing the success today of two supernova remnant
observations he admits were long-shots.  HUT led a study of the
supernova remnant Puppis A, the third supernova remnant Astro-2 has
observed in our Milky Way galaxy.  HUT and WUPPE examined a filament
of gas in the remnant's eastern region, apparently an interaction
between an interstellar cloud and the blast wave speeding from the
supernova explosion. "The International Ultraviolet Explorer barely
detected this remnant, so we didn't know what to expect," said Blair.
"We thought dust in the interstellar medium might block its
ultraviolet radiation, but we got a very nice spectrum which showed
strong nitrogen emissions."  Blair said it is possible the nitrogen
could have been thrown out by the massive star thousands of years
before it exploded as a supernova, and now the shock wave from the
blast is catching up with nitrogen expelled from the star.

   Supernova 1006, whose explosion in A.D. 1006 makes it a relatively
recent supernova, provided another first.  "The shock wave from this
supernova is moving very fast, plowing through interstellar space at
about 2,000 kilometers (1,250 miles) per second, as opposed to 150 to
200 kilometers per second in remnants like Puppis A," said Blair.  "We
thought its emissions might be too faint for us to observe, but we
felt it was important enough to attempt.  This gives us a new range of
velocity that has never been observed before in the ultraviolet."
Blair said the HUT spectrum may show the primary passage of the
supernova blast wave as it first encounters interstellar gas.
Comparison with optical observations could help astronomers understand
the basic physics of supernova shock fronts.

   The Ultraviolet Imaging Telescope team led eight highly successful
observations in a row.  UIT captured the mission's first images of the
Whirlpool Galaxy (M 51) for Dr. Wendy Freedman's atlas of spiral
galaxies.  The Whirlpool Galaxy is the larger of two interacting
galaxies close enough together to disturb each other through
gravitational force.  M 51 is a large spiral galaxy with a mass 100
billion times that of our sun.  It is interacting with NGC 5195, a
much less massive galaxy.  Astronomers will study UIT photographs to
learn more about the formation of stars in that system, especially in
the bridge of matter that joins the two interacting galaxies.

   UIT also imaged CB_4, a cold cloud of interstellar gas and dust
which is sufficiently dense to obscure starlight from objects behind
it, while it reflects light from objects in front of it.  Though this
so-called dark cloud is relatively faint, Astro scientists were able
to obtain measurements to test models of dust in the interstellar
medium during a daylight observation.

   The imaging telescope also photographed a cluster of galaxies known
as the Coma Cluster.  UIT is examining the dense cluster, made up
primarily of elliptical galaxies, to obtain simultaneous information
on large samples of galaxies.  Astronomers will study the integrated
ultraviolet properties of these large samples to determine constraints
on the physics of cooling flows, as hot gas may condense into stars as
it rains down on a galaxy from the intra-cluster medium.  Scientists
also will look for the presence of dark matter, which does not emit
appreciable radiation.

   HUT and WUPPE observed NGC 4874, the central elliptical galaxy in
the Coma Cluster, to determine the ages of its stars.  Though
elliptical galaxies have comparatively few young stars, they emit more
ultraviolet radiation than would be expected from a population of old
stars.  Astro-1 observations of ellipticals suggest this radiation may
come from aging stars in a previously unknown stage of evolution.
Astro-2 is following up on the mystery.

   UIT photographed the open star cluster NGC 7789, and investigations
into new star formation included observations of elliptical galaxy NGC
185, irregular galaxy NGC 1313 and rapid star formation galaxy NGC
4631.  WUPPE led the mission's first observation of the Planet Mars,
and it observed interstellar polarization probe HD 217490 to add to
its ongoing study of the dust scattered throughout our Milky Way.
Dr. Brian Espey got excellent HUT and WUPPE data on the symbiotic star
system RR Telescopii for his study of closely orbiting stars with
radically different temperatures.

  STS-67 Flight Day 11 Highlights:
	
 On Monday, March 13, 1995 at 8 a.m. CST, STS-67 MCC Status Report #22
reports: Jernigan and Durrance were interviewed by C-SPAN earlier this
morning and discussed various aspects of the mission and space flight
in general with viewers.

 On Monday, March 13, 1995 at 6 a.m. CST, STS-67 Payload Status Report #23 
reports: ( 11/5:22 MET) Scientists with the Wisconsin Ultraviolet
Photo-Polarimeter Experiment (WUPPE) received surprising data from
their telescope last night as the second Astro Observatory (Astro-2)
mission continued aboard the Space Shuttle Endeavour.  Astronomers for
WUPPE were surprised to learn that the orientation (polarization) of
ultraviolet radiation coming from Mars is due to the planet's soil
composition, rather than elements in the Martian atmosphere.  "As we
looked at the data we received from our equipment onboard the Shuttle,
we saw similarities between the polarization of ultraviolet light
emitted by Mars and the polarization of ultraviolet light recorded
during an earlier lunar observation," explained WUPPE scientist
Dr. Geoff Fox.  "We'll continue to examine our data to learn more
about the composition of Martian soil."

   The WUPPE telescope also made observations to study the
polarization of ultraviolet light between stars in the Large
Magellanic Cloud for Guest Investigator Dr. Geoffrey Clayton.
Supergiant stars were used as background lighting, allowing WUPPE and
the Hopkins Ultraviolet Telescope (HUT) to observe dust particles
between stars in this galaxy.  WUPPE and HUT science teams expect to
see differences in interstellar polarization between the Large
Magellanic Cloud and our own Milky Way galaxy because the chemical
elements found in the interstellar dust of these galaxies are so
different.  UIT will collect images of large fields in the Magellanic
Clouds during this mission to study stellar mass and age distributions
in the galaxy.

   HUT observed two Seyfert 1 galaxies in the constellation Ursa
Major, the Big Dipper, last night NGC 3516 and NGC 4151.  These
galaxies, named for astrophysicist Carl Seyfert, are believed to be
powered by supermassive black holes at their cores.  Spectra of these
galaxies show broad emission lines, indicating clouds of gas moving at
thousands of miles per second, with the energy emitted covering a
broad range of frequencies.  HUT scientists are studying variations in
the amount of ultraviolet light in these galaxies to learn more about
the processes that affect their spectra.  The Ultraviolet Imaging
Telescope (UIT) also observed these galaxies to help astronomers
understand more about the transfer of energy between the nuclei and
surrounding regions.

   Mission Specialist John Grunsfeld pointed HUT at Venus, the planet
that most resembles Earth in size, density and composition.  Planetary
probes have shown Venus to have an atmosphere largely composed of
carbon dioxide, extremely high surface temperatures, constant high
surface winds, and atmospheric pressure 90 times that of the Earth's.
HUT scientists are searching the atmosphere of Venus for traces of
argon, neon and helium.  The presence of these gases in Venus'
atmosphere are important indicators concerning the formation of the
solar system.  WUPPE observed Venus to learn more about the
polarization properties of the atmosphere surrounding the planet and
will use these data to understand more about the polarization of light
from Jupiter during an upcoming Astro-2 observation.

   Grunsfeld also aligned HUT to observe two pulsating white dwarf
stars last night.  These two stars, one located in the constellation
Hercules and another in Ursa Minor, are believed to be in a transitory
stage in the evolution of extremely hot white dwarfs.  Astronomers
will use information from Astro-2 observations such as this one to
learn more about the evolution of stars.

   Payload Commander Tammy Jernigan moved the Instrument Pointing
System into position for Payload Specialist Sam Durrance to point UIT
at celestial objects.  The first object, galaxy NGC 4214, was imaged
by UIT to be included in an atlas of spiral galaxies being created by
Guest Investigator Dr.  Wendy Freedman.  When completed, this atlas
will be available at no cost to the astronomy community through the
on-line electronic facilities of the NASA/Infrared Processing and
Analysis Center Extragalactic Database.

   A deep survey field, known as UGC 5675, was also imaged by UIT last
night.  UIT Principal Investigator Theodore Stecher will also use
these images to learn more about the population of distant non-thermal
sources, search for high redshift blue galaxies, determine galactic
luminosities for faint magnitudes, identify distant clusters of
star-forming galaxies, and obtain counts of galaxies down to faint
ultraviolet magnitudes to complement similar data in visual and other
spectral regions.  UIT Guest Investigator Dr. Gregory Bothun will use
images of this dark area of the sky to determine if UIT can detect
very faint galaxies against a dark background and search for a bright
near-ultraviolet component that may be responsible for extremely blue
optical colors that have been observed in other galaxies with very low
star-formation rates.

 On Monday, March 13, 1995 at 5 p.m. CST, STS-67 MCC Status Report #23
reports: Commander Steve Oswald spent most of the day working in the
middeck with the MACE experiment, the Middeck Active Control
Experiment, a device rigged with sensors to measure the degree of
vibration on free-floating structures. Engineering data from the
experiment will be used by technicians in the design of spacecraft of
the future.  Oswald and Mission Specialist Wendy Lawrence, both
graduates of the Naval Academy, joined Payload Specialist Ron Parise
to discuss various aspects of the flight with Midshipmen gathered at
Annapolis. Lawrence is the first female graduate of the Naval
Academy. The in-flight interview also featured greetings to the crew
from former astronaut Charles Bolden, who currently serves as the
Deputy Commandant at Annapolis.

 On Monday, March 13, 1995 at 6 p.m. CST, STS-67 Payload Status Report #24 
reports: (11/17:22 MET) Astro-2 observations today ranged from
exotic star formations with odd- sounding names to our familiar
celestial neighbor, the Planet Venus.  Astronomers collected
additional information for a variety of investigations which have been
in progress throughout the mission.

   The Hopkins Ultraviolet Telescope (HUT) team began their block of
observations with HH 2H, an object that could be a young star just
emerging from the "cocoon" of dust around it.  Called Herbig-Haro
objects, after the astronomers who discovered them in 1946, these
small bright concentrations of dust and gas are believed to be gas
jets thrown off during the final evolutionary stages of a protostar,
an object that has not collapsed sufficiently to begin the nuclear
reactions of a mature star.

   The Wisconsin Ultraviolet Photo-Polarimeter Experiment (WUPPE) led
an observation of another infant star, AB Aurigae.  Called a pre-main
sequence star, AB Aurigae is part of a class of young stars that are
still surrounded by the dust and gas clouds from which they are
formed.  These envelopes of matter around the objects are highly
active, as evidenced by variations of polarization seen in the optical
and infrared wavelengths.  WUPPE's ultraviolet observations should
help astronomers understand how dust is processed during star
formation and how material around young stars is distributed.

   All three telescopes viewed HUT's choice of Markarian 421, a
quasar- like active galaxy nucleus known as a BL Lacertae object.
When the first object of this type was identified, in the
constellation Lacerta, it was erroneously thought to be a variable
star.  In the 1960s, astronomers discovered that BL Lac objects are
not stars in our Milky Way, but the incredibly more powerful active
cores of distant galaxies.  Massive black holes are expected to be the
power sources for objects in this class.  While BL Lac objects produce
strong radiation in all observation wavelengths, their radiation is
primarily non-thermal -- created not by heat but by the glow of
electrons moving at almost the speed of light as they pass through a
magnetic field.  NASA's Extreme Ultraviolet Explorer satellite
discovered strong ultraviolet emission lines in Markarian 421,
suggesting it is an excellent subject for HUT's far-ultraviolet
studies.  Ground-based observations show a high level of polarization
in visible light, so WUPPE ultraviolet polarization measurements
should provide revealing insights into phenomena in the centers of
such galaxies.

   The observation of Venus this morning followed up on last night's
look at Earth's "twin" planet.  HUT studied the planet's forbidding
atmosphere -- 100 times denser than Earth's and as hot as 900 degrees
Fahrenheit (480 degrees Celsius) -- looking at upper atmosphere gases
that are excited by ultraviolet solar radiation.  Scientists will
compare Astro-2 observations of Venus and Mars to see how the two
planetary atmospheres, both primarily carbon dioxide but with
radically different densities, respond to ultraviolet radiation from
the sun.

   Two HUT observations today, NGC 6090 and 0833+652, were for Guest
Investigator Dr. Claus Leitherer's study of starburst galaxies.
Leitherer hopes to determine whether ionized hydrogen is being
released from the galaxies, which put out a great deal of ultraviolet
energy due to the rapid star formation taking place within them.
"This is another attempt to view the interstellar medium," explained
HUT Principal Investigator Dr. Arthur Davidsen.  "We feel certain
there must be material left over from the formation of the universe,
just like there would be flour left on a cutting board after a loaf of
bread is kneaded.  But we have never been very successful in observing
this material."  Davidsen said the material might be highly ionized,
possibly by quasars or by starburst galaxies, making it difficult to
observe.  "If we can find out how much ionized hydrogen starburst
galaxies are putting out, we can get a good idea how much they emit
into interstellar space," Davidsen said.  "We may find that these
galaxies are an important source of ionized interstellar hydrogen, or
it may not be there at all.  Either way, we've helped answer an
intriguing question."

   HUT also led the Astro telescopes in an examination of the
planetary nebula nucleus K1-16.  Astronomers hope to better understand
the chemistry of the nebula and the evolutionary state of its central
star.  The nebula is unstable, going through periodic pulsations in
magnitude and color.  While the star's evolutionary status is not
clear, astronomers believe it could be on its way to becoming a white
dwarf.

   The Ultraviolet Imaging Telescope (UIT) team made more images of
star groupings to study the life cycles of stars.  They photographed
Abell 1795 and the Hercules Cluster, both clusters of galaxies where
star formation is taking place.  The Hercules Cluster is made up
primarily of spiral galaxies, whose pinwheel arms are stellar
nurseries.  Abell 1795 is a galaxy cluster which emits large
quantities of X-rays.  Gas in the cluster is cooling rapidly and could
be producing stars at the rate of 300 solar masses per year.  UIT's
observation of globular star cluster NGC 6752 focused on the opposite
end of stellar evolution.  The cluster is tight grouping of relatively
old stars whose low metal content indicates formation early in the
life of the Milky Way galaxy.  UIT also imaged elliptical galaxy M32.

   Late this afternoon, the WUPPE team devoted two observations to
planned calibrations of their instrument's sensitivity, with HD 161056
serving as a polarized standard and Beta Ursa Majoris as an
unpolarized standard.  

  STS-67 Flight Day 12 Highlights:

 On Tuesday, March 14, 1995 at 6 a.m. CST, STS-67 Payload Status Report #25 
reports: (12/5:22 MET) The Ultraviolet Imaging Telescope
(UIT) imaged NGC 2300, a cluster of galaxies that emits large
quantities of X-rays.  The study of clusters can provide a wealth of
information to astronomers.  Astro-2 data may provide UIT scientists
with a better understanding of the relationship between galaxies in a
cluster, the relationships between different levels of clusters and
star formation in clusters of galaxies.

   UIT also imaged a globular cluster, NGC 5272, that contains
relatively old stars.  The low metal content in this cluster of stars
indicates they were formed early in the life of the Milky Way galaxy.
The telescope, image intensifiers and cameras of the UIT instrument
are helping astronomers search for hot accreting binaries, hot white
dwarfs, planetary nebulae and objects associated with X-ray sources in
globular clusters.

   The study of young stellar populations in galaxies continued when
UIT was pointed at a galaxy field in the spiral galaxy Andromeda.
Approximately half of UIT's Astro-2 science program is devoted to the
study of star-forming galaxies such as this one.  A unique feature of
UIT is the identification of thousands of individual hot stars in
other galaxies that shine brightly in the ultraviolet.  These hot
stars may be observed later by the Hubble Space Telescope.  UIT imaged
another spiral galaxy, NGC 925, to provide images for Guest
Investigator Dr. Wendy Freedman's atlas of spiral galaxies.

   UIT and the Wisconsin Ultraviolet Photo-Polarimeter Experiment
(WUPPE) were pointed at the moon again last night.  UIT imaged the
moon to help astronomers, such as Guest Investigator Dr. Randy
Gladstone, learn more about the surface properties of the moon.
Scientists will develop and analyze the UIT film after Endeavour
returns to Earth to understand future ultraviolet images of asteroids
and other planetary satellites.  WUPPE scientists observed the moon,
looking at the reflection of ultraviolet light for distinctive
differences in the maria (dark areas of the lunar surface) and
highlands (brighter surface features of the moon).

   The Hopkins Ultraviolet Telescope (HUT) was used to observe a
radio- loud quasar in the far- and extreme-ultraviolet wavelengths.
HUT Principal Investigator Dr. Arthur Davidsen will analyze the
Astro-2 data of this quasi- stellar object (located in the
constellation Eridanus) to understand more about the shape of its
ultraviolet spectrum.  Davidsen is looking for the region of the
ultraviolet spectrum where the hydrogen becomes opaque to radiation.
He will then compare what he learns from these observations with what
astronomers already know about the disk-shaped structure of stellar
matter surrounding a black hole, testing the theory that quasars are
powered by supermassive black holes.

   Hopkins scientists also observed the Seyfert galaxy NGC 5548 with
HUT last night.  The ultraviolet absorption lines in the HUT spectrum
will be used in conjunction with earlier X-ray observations to
determine the physical conditions in the hot absorbing gas.  The
absorbing gas in this Seyfert 1 galaxy may be the "reflecting medium"
that produces the polarized reflection spectrum seen in Seyfert 2
galaxies such as NGC 1068.

   Two elliptical galaxies were also observed by HUT last night.
Elliptical galaxies, which are spherical with no clearly defined
internal structure, contain older, more evolved stars.  Galaxy M87,
the central galaxy in the Virgo cluster, shows signs that star
formation may be occurring even though elliptical galaxies do not have
enough stellar matter for new star formation.  Another galaxy, known
as M60, is being observed during this mission because it has a very
high "ultraviolet upturn" an excess of ultraviolet output for an
old star population.  The UIT team is also very interested in these
targets UIT collected ultraviolet images of both galaxies in
support of several science programs.

   The WUPPE telescope was calibrated during an observation of Beta-
Ursa Majoris, a star that remains relatively constant in luminosity.
The surrounding area of this star is virtually dust free, giving WUPPE
scientists a good, clear target to determine if there have been any
changes in the performance of their telescope during this mission.

   HUT and WUPPE scientists used their ultraviolet telescopes to study
a binary star system known as a magnetic cataclysmic variable.  This
two-star system, called AM Herculis, has a white dwarf star that pulls
material away from its companion red star.  A strong magnetic field on
the white dwarf causes stellar material from the red star to
accumulate on the white star's poles.  Information about the dynamics
of mass transfer in a binary star system is important because
accretion, or the accumulation of gas, is essential to many
astrophysical situations, such as star and planetary formation.

 On Tuesday, March 14, 1995 at 8 a.m. CST, STS-67 MCC Status Report
#24 reports: Endeavour's crew was notified of the Mir-18 launch
shortly after the Soyuz capsule reached orbit.  STS-67 Commander Steve
Oswald responded, "Okay, great news, thank you very much....Bet you
Normie's glad to be there."  Oswald and Thagard flew together on
Discovery's STS-42 mission in January 1992.

 On Tuesday, March 14, 1995 at 5 p.m. CST, STS-67 MCC Status Report #25 
reports: Before turning in for an eight-hour sleep period, the
Blue team astronauts, Wendy Lawrence, Tammy Jernigan and Sam Durrance,
joined their colleagues in the traditional in-flight Crew News
Conference, answering questions from correspondents on everything from
astronomical research to the symbolism of the launching of
U.S. astronaut Norm Thagard on a Russian rocket this morning to begin
an historic three-month stay on the Mir Space Station.

   Earlier today, NASA's Mission Management Team decided NOT to extend
Endeavour's flight beyond Friday's planned landing at the Kennedy
Space Center. Citing the wealth of scientific data already acquired by
the Shuttle's telescopes and the conservative approach being taken in
slowly building up the length of time for orbiting crews, Mission
Operations Representative Jeff Bantle said the decision to end
Endeavour's journey on time was made after weighing numerous factors
regarding a mission extension, both pro and con.

 On Tuesday, March 14, 1995 at 6 p.m. CST, STS-67 Payload Status Report #26 
reports: CST (12/17:22 MET) The majority of today's Astro-2
observations were of objects in the Large and Small Magellanic Clouds.
These irregular galaxies, in the southern hemisphere sky, are
satellites of our Milky Way galaxy.  They are gravitationally bound
with some 20 others that make up our "local group" of galaxies.

   The Ultraviolet Imaging Telescope made the mission's first
photographs of Supernova 1987A.  The February 1987 stellar explosion,
in the Large Magellanic Cloud, was the first supernova explosion
visible to the naked eye since 1604 A.D., six years before the first
telescope was used to view the heavens.  The supernova reached its
brightest visible radiation level in May 1987, but scientists believe
an intense flash of ultraviolet light occurred almost at the moment of
the explosion, when the outer layers of the supernova lifted away.
UIT is attempting to photograph the light "echo," or reflection of
this maximum ultraviolet output, as it bounces off sheets of dust in
space.  UIT's Astro 1 photographs of Supernova 1987A indicate the echo
is extremely faint, so UIT is making a number of long exposures to
capture it.  "If we see the same phenomenon in several exposures, we
can not only add them together to improve the quality of our
observations; the repeated evidence assures us that what we are seeing
is real," said UIT team member Dr. Steve Maran.

   An observation of N 79 looked at young star formation in a Large
Magellanic Cloud star grouping called an "OB Association."  Unlike
other types of star clusters, there is insufficient gravitational
attraction to hold these groups of very young, hot O and B stars
together.  Though formed at the same time, the stars are rapidly
drifting apart.

   Other targets in UIT's eight-observation time block included two
Large Magellanic Cloud open star clusters which are surrounded by
emission rings.  N 51, in the southern constellation Dorado, is an
unusual nebula which appears to be a bubble blown in the interstellar
gas by wind from a very massive hot star.  The imaging telescope made
limited observations of the area during Astro-1, and the science team
hopes to collect more extensive data on this flight.  N 70, in the
southern constellation Hydra, is a region of space where the gas has
been ionized.  The UIT team will compare images made at two different
wavelengths to help determine what caused the ionization.

   UIT also photographed the bar structure of the Large Magellanic
Cloud, an elongated linear accumulation of stars in the galaxy, as
part of its study of young star populations.  Dr. John Raymond, of the
Smithsonian Institution's Astrophysical Observatory, added to his
study of interstellar shock waves with an observation of LMC 519, an
old supernova remnant also in the Large Magellanic Cloud.  Dr. Nolan
R. Walborn got another observation of a hot O star in the open star
cluster NGC 346, for his study of the strong stellar winds produced by
these stars in the Large and Small Magellanic Clouds.

   This evening, Dr. Geoffrey Clayton began another block of
observations for his study of interstellar dust in the Large
Magellanic Cloud.  Wisconsin Ultraviolet Photo-Polarimeter Experiment
(WUPPE) Principal Investigator Dr.  Arthur Code is researching the
sizes and chemical compositions of dust grains in the Milky Way's
interstellar medium.  Clayton is extending the sample to the nearby
Large Magellanic Cloud, where interstellar chemical abundances are
known to be quite different from those in our own galaxy.

   All three telescopes participated in the third Astro-2 observation
of 47 Tucanae, a metal-rich globular cluster in the southern Milky
Way.  The Astro telescopes also viewed Centaurus A, the nearest active
galaxy to our own and one of the most prominent radio sources in the
southern hemisphere.

   Earlier today, the WUPPE science team selected NGC 3132, a young
planetary nebula in the constellation Vela, for observation.  A
planetary nebula is a bright cloud ejected by the star at its center,
believed to be a phase in the life of certain lower mass stars when
they expel large amounts of material in to space.  Sometimes called
the "Eight-Burst" Nebula because its elliptical disk looks like
several oval rings superimposed and tilted at different angles, NGC
3132 is one the few planetary nebulae known to have a binary star
system at its center.  WUPPE scientists will examine the light
scattered by dust in the cloud to study the nature of the dust, which
will eventually return to the interstellar medium.  Ultraviolet
Imaging Telescope images will test ionization and temperature levels
within the nebula.  The Hopkins Ultraviolet Telescope (HUT) took
spectra of the cloud itself and of its binary star.

   The WUPPE team led the Astro telescopes back to the Nova Aquilae
1995.  This was the mission's third look at the nova whose outburst,
or sudden increase in brightness, was first observed some three weeks
before the STS-67 launch.  Successive polarization measurements during
Astro-2 will allow WUPPE scientists to look for changes in the shape
of the gas disk and for possible clumps ejected during the outburst.

   The HUT team chose the quasar 1211+143 as one of their targets
today.  Team members will study the shape of the quasar's ultraviolet
spectrum to learn more about the intrinsic qualities of the quasar
itself.  First discovered in the 1960s, quasars are the most luminous
and energetic, as well as the most distant, objects in the universe.
They are believed to be powered by supermassive black holes at their
centers.  HUT observations will test the current understanding of
accretion disks, or disks of matter being whirlpooled and sucked into
the black hole.

   WUPPE's Large Magellanic Cloud dust study will continue into this
evening.  UIT has chosen two galaxies and an open star cluster for
imaging tonight.  The HUT team will lead observations of two quasars,
several individual stars, a planetary nebula, an elliptical galaxy,
and another supernova remnant.

  STS-67 Flight Day 13 Highlights:

 On Wednesday, March 15, 1995 at 6 a.m. CST, STS-67 Payload Status Report #27 
reports: (13/5:22 MET) STS-67 Pilot William Gregory placed
the orbiter in the proper attitudes for Mission Specialist John
Grunsfeld to align the Instrument Pointing System (IPS) to selected
areas in the sky.  Payload Specialist Ronald Parise then aligned the
Wisconsin Ultraviolet Photo-Polarimeter (WUPPE), the Hopkins
Ultraviolet Telescope (HUT) and the Ultraviolet Imaging Telescope
(UIT), allowing them to lock on to four targets in the Large
Magellanic Cloud (LMC).
	
   Guest Investigator Dr. Geoffrey Clayton of the University of
Colorado in Boulder will use WUPPE and HUT information about
ultraviolet polarization in the LMC, comparing these data to what
scientists already know about the nature of dust particles in the
interstellar medium of our own galaxy.  Using selected stars of the
LMC to back light the dust and gas, Clayton can examine the behavior
of the many dust grains found there.  In contrast, a bright, blue-hot
supergiant star, Sanduleak 67-90, was the target of one of last
night's four LMC observations to let astronomers study the dynamics of
ultraviolet emissions in an area where there was not a substantial
amount of stellar dust.  UIT takes images of all fields in the
Magellanic Clouds, and obtained excellent data in parallel with the
observations being made by HUT and WUPPE.

  In other observations over night, HUT scientists got another chance
to learn more about a halo of ultra-hot gases they believe surrounds
our Milky Way galaxy.  HUT was pointed at the brightest quasar in the
sky, 3C273, which is approximately two billion light years away.  As
ultraviolet light from the quasar shines through interstellar space,
it is absorbed by the halo that surrounds our galaxy.  Scientists at
the Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Md., will analyze these
data in the months following Astro-2, testing theories about whether
the halo actually exists, and if so, how hot the gas is and how far it
extends.

   Mission Specialist Wendy Lawrence maneuvered the orbiter into
position, Payload Commander Tammy Jernigan aligned the IPS and Payload
Specialist Sam Durrance pointed HUT to again record ultraviolet
spectrographic data of the "young" supernova remnant, SN 1006.  This
supernova remnant, first documented by Chinese astronomers in the year
1006, is giving HUT Guest Investigator Dr. John Raymond an opportunity
to study the physics of shock waves before they hit a substantial
amount of interstellar material (where the gas begins to cool off and
slow down).  Traveling at approximately 1,200 miles (2,000 kilometers)
per second, the shock waves from this young supernova remnant are
providing new insights into the characteristics of interstellar medium
surrounding the site of a supernova explosion.

   Parise also pointed HUT at elliptical galaxies called M60 and M89
last night.  These galaxies are part of the Virgo cluster, a huge
cluster of galaxies centered some 50 million light years from Earth.
Astronomers have long been interested in these galaxies because of
their very high ultraviolet upturn an excessive output of
ultraviolet light for an old star population.  HUT and UIT scientists
are interested in these targets to learn more about what is causing
the excessive amount of ultraviolet light. The theory was that younger
star- formation galaxies produce more ultraviolet emissions than older
star populations.  However, observations of galaxies such as M60 and
M89 are leading scientists to believe that some of these old low mass
star populations may be in a more advanced stage of evolution.  UIT is
making a two- dimensional map of the ultraviolet upturn across the
face of the M60 galaxy.  Near the end of the M89 observation, WUPPE's
dedicated experiment computer experienced a brief software problem.
Durrance recycled power to the computer, which reset the software.
The WUPPE science team has reactivated their telescope from the ground
and resumed operations.

   Durrance and Parise pointed HUT at several other celestial objects
during the night.  HUT observed planetary nebula NGC 1360, a cloud of
gas and matter surrounding a star.  The nebula glows because the
ultraviolet radiation from the star ionizes the material in the
surrounding cloud, which, in turn, emits energy at a variety of
wavelengths.  HUT scientists will study the ultraviolet light from the
nebula and the star to learn more about the material making up the
nebula and the star at its core.
	
   UIT imaged NGC 752, an open star cluster, searching for hot
accreting binaries, planetary nebulae and X-ray sources.  UIT
scientists are particularly interested in probing star clusters such
as this for white dwarfs and other faint, hot stars.
	
 On Wednesday, March 15, 1995 at 8 a.m. CST, STS-67 MCC Status Report #26 
reports: Mission Specialist Tammy Jernigan, a native of
Chattanooga, talked with a Tennessee radio station along with crew
mate Wendy Lawrence.  The discussion centered around the astronomical
observations being conducted throughout the mission as well as
homeowner- type questions posed to Jernigan, making her third flight
aboard the Shuttle.  Along with Sam Durrance, the three astronauts
have been choreographing orbiter maneuvers with instrument pointing to
precisely aim the ASTRO observator at the desired celestial targets
throughout the universe.

  Before Lawrence turns in, she will join Oswald and Gregory in the
routine, pre-entry checkout of Endeavour's flight control system,
which includes verifying the health of the moveable surfaces on the
wings and tail used during the atmospheric reentry portion of landing.
One of the Endeavour's three hydraulic systems is required during
portions of the checkout scheduled to begin about 12:30 this
afternoon.

 On Wednesday, March 15, 1995 at 4:30 p.m. CST, STS-67 MCC Status Report #27 
reports: Endeavour's astronauts successfully tested their
ship's flight control systems today in preparation for Friday's
scheduled landing at the Kennedy Space Center.  Commander Steve
Oswald, Pilot Bill Gregory and Mission Specialist Wendy Lawrence fired
up one of Endeavour's auxiliary power units to test the Shuttle's
aerosurfaces as part of the routine prelanding tests to insure that
Endeavour is ship-shape for its high-speed return to Earth.

  After a short break in data-gathering to accommodate the flight
control system test, Mission Specialist John Grunsfeld and Payload
Specialist Ron Parise resumed ultraviolet studies of distant celestial
objects with the trio of ASTRO-2 telescopes housed in the Shuttle's
cargo bay.  Oswald, Gregory, Grunsfeld and Parise also answered
questions from the Cable News Network as their marathon mission nears
its end. The astronauts will begin to deactivate and stow equipment
Thursday in preparation for their planned homecoming Friday.

 On Wednesday, March 15, 1995 at 6 p.m. CST, STS-67 Payload Status Report #28 
reports:(13/17:22 MET) Hopkins Ultraviolet Telescope (HUT)
Principal Investigator Dr. Arthur Davidsen said, "For all of us, the
on has been like a dream come true.  We've observed more
than 100 different HUT targets and had more than 300 pointings with
two days to go, and we're absolutely thrilled."

   "We're really pleased down here," Ultraviolet Imaging Telescope
(UIT) Principal Investigator Ted Stecher told the crew, quipping, "We
never thought we'd run out of film, but now we're a little worried
about it."  He said all the team's top priorities have been achieved,
with just a few secondary programs left to complete, and they have
photographed essentially all the objects they had originally planned
to view.

   Wisconsin Ultraviolet Photo-Polarimeter Experiment (WUPPE)
Principal Investigator Dr. Arthur Code agreed.  "We're delighted with
mission results, too.  Reality has exceeded our fondest dreams, and
we've obtained about three times as much data as we did on Astro-1 --
a whole treasure chest of goodies."

   Observations continued to stack up at a steady pace throughout the
day, interrupted only by a planned hour of orbiter flight control
system tests in preparation for Friday's landing.

   All three telescopes took ultraviolet data during a UIT-led
observation of M 87, a spectacular elliptical galaxy in the
constellation Virgo.  "We can get information for several of our
favorite scientific programs by viewing M 87," said UIT team member
Dr. Susan Neff.  The galaxy is thought to have grown to its large size
by swallowing up smaller neighbors in the Virgo galaxy cluster.  A
1994 Hubble Space Telescope observation of M 87 revealed a
spiral-shaped disk of gas swirling at an immense speed in the galaxy's
center, providing the first almost irrefutable evidence that
supermassive black holes do exist in the universe.  A fantastic jet of
material, moving at a large fraction of the speed of light, emanates
from the area of the black hole.  UIT's wide field of view allows it
to photograph some 12 to 14 Virgo cluster galaxies in the same frame.
UIT team members are studying the stellar populations in M 87 and also
the jet.  HUT concentrated on the gas around the black hole to find
out how it is stimulated by radiation from heated matter falling
toward hole.  WUPPE made ultraviolet polarization measurements to
determine the structure of the swirling gas.

   The Astro-2 telescopes made the mission's first observation of
Omega Centauri , a giant globular star cluster which is easily visible
in the southern hemisphere to the naked eye. Its brightness is due
both to its relative closeness to Earth (17,000 light years) and its
immense size (150 light years across and containing more than one
million stars).  UIT's single five-minute exposure of this star
cluster during Astro-1 was the first ever made in ultraviolet
wavelengths.  Even that brief snapshot showed an unusual number of
stars that did not conform to the theoretical pattern of stellar
evolution.  Also, since all stars in a globular cluster are formed at
the same time, it should follow that they would have the same chemical
composition, but this is not the case in Omega Centauri.  The longer
Astro-2 observation of this globular cluster, along with those of
other clusters throughout the mission, should give scientists more
clues for solving this stellar mystery.

   The telescopes also observed M 92, a much smaller globular cluster,
and UIT made photographs of the galaxies NGC 1512 and NGC 1365 for Dr.
Wendy Freedman's spiral galaxy atlas.

   The majority of WUPPE-led observations today centered on the team's
study of interstellar dust in our Milky Way and in its neighboring
galaxy, the Large Magellanic Cloud.  A lower abundance of heavy
elements in the Large Magellanic Cloud causes both the stars and dust
to be different from those in our galaxy, and that dissimilarity is
most apparent in the ultraviolet.  Comparison of the two galaxies
could help astronomers define the extent of differences and perhaps
determine the reasons for them.

   The WUPPE team also viewed the star 51 Ophiuchi, for their study of
luminous spinning "Be" stars, whose outer layers show evidence of
being pulled off by their stellar winds.  Dr. Regina Schulte-Ladbeck
used WUPPE to observe HD 51285, a star between the Earth and one of
the Wolf-Rayet stars she has been studying.  She will use results to
subtract polarization in the interstellar medium from her Wolf-Rayet
measurements.

   The HUT team revisited their prime calibration target, the white
dwarf star HZ 43, for end-of-mission instrument verification.  They
also viewed another portion of the Vela supernova remnant and made the
mission's first observation of LSV 46-21, a white dwarf at the center
of a planetary nebula.  The active galaxy NGC 4151 was observed for
the sixth time during this flight.

   Another study of Jupiter, along with its moons Io and Callisto,
begins this evening's observations.  Tonight's viewing choices are
fairly evenly divided among the three ultraviolet telescope teams,
with targets again ranging from tiny white dwarf stars to surveys of
large sky areas.

  STS-67 Flight Day 14 Highlights:

 On Thursday, March 16, 1995 at 6 a.m. CST, STS-67 Payload Status Report #29 
reports: (14/5:22 MET) All three ultraviolet telescopes
were pointed at Jupiter and one of its 16 moons, Io, as the second
Astro Observatory (Astro-2) mission continued aboard the Space Shuttle
Endeavour last night.

   The science team for the Hopkins Ultraviolet Telescope (HUT)
recorded spectrographic data about ultraviolet emissions around Io.
HUT scientists are especially interested in how Jupiter's
magnetosphere and torus, a donut-shaped field of ionized particles
that follows Io's path around Jupiter, are affected by the reddish
particles erupting from Io's volcanoes.

   Astronomers with the Wisconsin Ultraviolet Photo-Polarimeter
Experiment (WUPPE) team observed Jupiter to learn more about the
polarization properties of its atmosphere.  The Ultraviolet Imaging
Telescope (UIT) scientists used one of their two wide-field cameras to
produce ultraviolet images of Jupiter to determine the planet's
reflectiveness and cloud structure and provide ultraviolet images of
the entire Jovian system.

   HUT continued the search for helium in the intergalactic regions of
space last night, using a quasar (Q 1542+54) as background lighting.
HUT scientists are looking for evidence of helium left over from the
primordial fireball that many believe marked the birth of the
universe.  Helium reveals itself as a telltale absorption line at a
certain extreme ultraviolet wavelength.  Principal Investigator Arthur
Davidsen will use HUT's spectrograph to search for the characteristic
signature created when helium atoms absorb light from this quasar.

   HUT was also used to observe Markarian 66, a starburst galaxy, for
Guest Investigator Dr. Claus Leitherer of the Space Telescope Science
Institute in Baltimore, Md.  Leitherer is using HUT's capacity to
detect short ultraviolet wavelengths to study the ionized radiation
that escapes from bright, relatively nearby starburst galaxies.  HUT
observations of the far ultraviolet radiation from these galaxies will
be used to determine whether they could play an important role in
ionizing the intergalactic medium.

   UIT imaged NGC 6318, a relatively old cluster of stars.  This
cluster of stars has a low metal content, indicating it was formed
early in the life of the Milky Way galaxy.  Since most hot stars emit
radiation in the ultraviolet and cooler stars emit in the lower
ultraviolet range, the UIT instrument is especially suited for making
images of these types of stars.  Astronomers will analyze these
Astro-2 images, looking for hot accreting binaries, hot white dwarfs,
planetary nebula, and objects associated with X-ray sources.

   As UIT made images of a faint dwarf galaxy known as IC 2574, HUT
made spectrographic recordings and WUPPE observed the orientation of
the ultraviolet energy being emitted from the galaxy.  Because this
type of galaxy emits such a faint trace of ultraviolet radiation, very
little is known about the formation of young stars there.  Astro-2
scientists are using their sensitive telescopes to explore this
little-known region of the universe.

   UIT was also pointed at the Baades Window, an unusually clear line
of sight towards the center of our Milky Way galaxy.  Because of the
relative lack of obscuring dust in this field of view, the UIT can
image stars and star clusters in the central bulge of the galaxy,
where stars are thought to be both ancient and rich in metals.

   WUPPE and HUT observed a reflection nebula near the star Eta
Carinae.  Reflection nebulae are colorful objects.  Starlight is
scattered by dust grains, producing brilliant illumination in the
cloud.  WUPPE scientists will analyze their data to learn more about
the chemical composition, size, distribution and shape of the dust
grains.  HUT astronomers observed the nucleus and surrounding region
of this nebula, searching for effects of the shock wave that was
created when the nova exploded.

   WUPPE and HUT also jointly observed AO Cassiopeia, a close binary
star system (two stars so close that they not only orbit each other
but actually influence each other's evolution).  Astronomers have
observed that the more evolved a star is (in a close binary system),
the less massive the star becomes because it donates material to the
younger star.  WUPPE scientists are studying the effects of the
dust-scattering processes in the distorted atmospheres of close
binaries.  These data will provide new information about the evolution
of these stars and help astronomers learn more about the mass transfer
of material between close binaries.

   The WUPPE telescope also gathered data about the orientation of
dust grains between the stars last night.  To help scientists study
this polarization of interstellar medium, WUPPE was pointed at three
stars, which served as background lights to illuminate the
interstellar dust.  As astronomers learn more about the polarization
of interstellar medium, they can make allowances for this intervening
matter when studying other celestial objects.

   During the next 12 hours, the Astro-2 ultraviolet telescopes will
be pointed at the moon, two Seyfert galaxies, and single and multiple
star systems to study electron scattering.  These astronomical
instruments will also observe interstellar medium and young star
populations in a galaxy.

 On Thursday, March 16, 1995 at 8 a.m. CST, STS-67 MCC Status Report #28 
reports: Astronomical observations using the ASTRO-2 payload will
continue throughout Friday morning aboard Endeavour prior to the
transition from payload operations to the landing timeline, four hours
before the deorbit ignition of the Shuttle's orbital maneuvering
system engines.

 On Thursday, March 16, 1995 at 5 p.m. CST, STS-67 MCC Status Report #29 
reports: Commander Steve Oswald spoke with U.S. Astronaut Norm
Thagard aboard the Mir Space Station in a radio hookup between the two
spacecraft. Former shuttle crewmates, Oswald and Thagard exchanged
congratulations on their respective flights and discussed the symbolic
importance of Thagard's venture as the first American to visit the
Russian space outpost. Thagard and his Russian crewmates arrived at
Mir early this morning to begin three months of scientific and medical
research.

  The Red team astronauts -- Oswald, Pilot Bill Gregory, Mission
Specialist John Grunsfeld and Payload Specialist Ron Parise --
conducted final data takes with the ASTRO telescopes and reviewed
entry messages prepared by the flight controllers who will guide
Endeavour to its scheduled landing tomorrow afternoon at the Kennedy
Space Center.  Tonight, at 6:33 PM CST, Endeavour will eclipse the
existing endurance record for a Shuttle, breaking the mark of 14 days,
17 hours and 55 minutes in orbit. That record was set by Columbia last
year, on the STS-65 mission.

 On Thursday, March 16, 1995 at 6 a.m. CST, STS-67 Payload Status Report #30 
reports: (14/17:22 MET) The Wisconsin Ultraviolet
Photo-Polarimeter Experiment (WUPPE) team wrapped up two studies about
how stars put material back into the interstellar medium, which in
turn can build new stars.  They viewed the star Xi Persei to complete
their study of Oe/Be stars.  These rapidly spinning, hot massive stars
are found primarily in the arms of spiral galaxies.  The WUPPE
observations should help determine the shapes of the gas shells spun
off or otherwise ejected by the stars.

   WUPPE also observed Vela X-1, in the instrument's final
polarization measurement of an X-ray binary star.  It is believed that
such systems are made up of a neutron star, which may be a pulsar, in
an eccentric orbit around a more normal primary star.  At the closest
approach, the neutron star gravitationally strips material off the
primary star.  The material then flows along the neutron star's
magnetic field and crashes onto the surface to produce a sudden burst
of X-rays.  However, much of the stripped material forms a disk around
the neutron star instead of settling onto star's surface.  The WUPPE
measurements will help define the geometry and the extent of this
circumstellar disk, as well as details about the densities and
temperatures within the shells.

   Observations of the stars HD 147888 and Omicron Scorpii were for
WUPPE's study of the dust between stars in our galaxy.  The WUPPE team
will use their findings about variations in the distribution, shapes
and composition of this dust to understand more about this raw
material for star formation.  A better knowledge of how the dust
polarizes light also will allow astronomers to subtract the
interference of intervening dust from star observations.

   The Hopkins Ultraviolet Telescope (HUT) team selected two white
dwarf stars for today's observation block.  Today's study of the white
dwarf RE 1738 completed Guest Investigator Dr. David Finley's data set
for his calibration of temperature scales for these small but massive
remains of dying stars.  The mission's fourth observation of 1424+535
added more information about a transitory evolutionary stage of white
dwarf stars with powerful magnetic fields.  These pulsating white
dwarfs undergo periodic changes in brightness, but the causes of the
pulsations and the chemical composition of the stars' visible surfaces
is not well understood.

   Guest Investigator Dr. Brian Espey got one last look at a symbiotic
star system with a joint HUT and WUPPE observation of AG Draconis.
The study essentially aims to "take the temperature" of the hot,
sub-dwarf component of this two-star group, whose co-orbiting members
vary widely in temperature.  Espey also hopes to determine the size
and density of the cool material that lies in the atmosphere of the
red giant component.

   The HUT team made their last quasar observation when they viewed PG
1351, one that is relatively closer than those HUT is using in its
search for intergalactic helium.  HUT is examining "nearby" quasars to
understand better the processes taking place within these extremely
energetic objects.  Team members will also search their data to test
the widely accepted theory that quasars are powered by supermassive
black holes.

   The majority of targets chosen by the Ultraviolet Imaging Telescope
(UIT) team today were galaxies.  They selected two active galaxies
thought to have black holes at their centers. NGC 1566 is a faint,
nearby Seyfert I type galaxy, the type which radiates most strongly in
ultraviolet and X-ray wavelengths and has high gas velocities and
spectra resembling a quasar.  NGC 3226-7 is a Seyfert II galaxy, with
a lower gas velocity than the Type 1 Seyferts.  UIT astronomers are
studying both types to learn more about how energy is transferred
between the galaxies' centers and surrounding regions.

   UIT photographed two final spiral galaxies, NGC 5236 and M 63, for
the atlas of these stunning celestial objects being assembled during
this mission -- most of which had never before been photographed in
the ultraviolet.  Astronomers can use the shapes of nearby spiral
galaxies revealed in ultraviolet light to classify more distant
galaxies photographed in visible light by the Hubble Space Telescope.
The radiation from those far-away galaxies was actually emitted in
ultraviolet wavelengths, then stretched by the expansion of the
universe into the visible band by the time it reached Earth's
vicinity.

   UIT concluded its Astro-2 album of galaxies by imaging a section of
one of our nearest neighboring galaxies, the Small Magellanic Cloud.
The UIT team led the Astro observatory in viewing NGC 362, the last
globular cluster observation of the flight.  The camera's ultraviolet
images pick out hot stars from the clutter of cooler objects.  UIT
also imaged the Thumbprint Nebula in the mission's only look at that
particular dark cloud of gas and dust in interstellar space.

   This morning's planned observation of Earth's moon was
unsuccessful, due to problems with the tricky maneuver of tracking
such a nearby object with a system designed for stellar pointing.
However, the Astro-2 instruments successfully viewed the moon twice
before in the mission.

 On Thursday, March 16, 1995 at 11 p.m. CST, STS-67 Payload Status Report #31 
reports: (14/22:22 MET)  Science activities for the second Astro
observatory (Astro-2) ended shortly after 11 p.m. CST, with all three
telescopes taking ultraviolet observations of the full moon.
More than 200 separate successful observations were made of over
100 celestial objects selected by HUT investigators.  All of these
observations made up 21 separate investigations, 14 carried out by
permanent members of the HUT team and 7 by guest investigators who
joined the HUT team for Astro-2.

   One of Davidsen's primary objectives for HUT during Astro-2 was to
use two high redshift quasars as background lighting to search for
helium in the space between galaxies.  Detecting helium in
intergalactic space and determining how much of it is there could
provide answers to the questions about the "Big Bang" that is believed
to have marked the beginning of our universe.  "I can tell you that we
succeeded in getting data needed to answer these questions.  It's too
early to say what the answer might be, but it will be very exciting to
see these data," explained Davidsen.

   In other Astro-2 observations, HUT made simultaneous ultraviolet
measurements with the Hubble Space Telescope of Jupiter's aurora, or
northern lights, and its effect on the planet.  HUT scientists also
studied the atmosphere of Jupiter's moon Io and the torus
(donut-shaped cloud) of ionized gas it produces around Jupiter.  HUT
astronomers say observations such as this will lead to a greater
understanding of the processes taking place on that planet.

   Ultraviolet emissions from the atmospheres of Venus and Mars were
also targets of observations for HUT during this mission.  Detailed
analysis may reveal the presence of several interesting elements,
including argon, neon and helium.

   HUT also observed less distant quasars and Seyfert galaxies to
study details of their ultraviolet radiation.  The studies could help
confirm the theory that these objects contain supermassive black
holes, which swallow matter from their surroundings.  The observations
could shed light on the dynamics of the gas clouds in the nuclei, or
cores, of such active galaxies.

   HUT observed other celestial objects during the course of this
mission.  The telescope was used to study extragalactic objects,
numerous cataclysmic variable stars, symbiotic star systems, hot white
dwarf stars and several starburst galaxies to help astronomers learn
more about the life of stars, from "birth" to the violent explosion
marking the "death" of a star.

   Another of Astro-2's instruments, the Ultraviolet Imaging Telescope
(UIT), which was developed at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center,
Greenbelt, Md., took wide-field, electronically intensified images of
objects in ultraviolet light on film.  UIT astronomer Dr. Steve Maran
explained, "Our data say we got good exposures on all the science
programs and high-priority targets.  Now, we'll just have to wait
until we get our film developed."  Maran was referring to the many
images UIT made, including about 2 dozen large spiral galaxies to be
used in an ultraviolet atlas of such objects.  The atlas will be a
fundamental resource for astronomers for many years to come.

   UIT made for the first time ultraviolet images of the entire moon.
These images will be studied to investigate the ultraviolet
reflectivity of the moon, and to correlate changes in reflectivity
with known changes in lunar surface features.  This information can
then be used to compare with the reflectivity of other planetary
satellites in our solar system to understand more about their surfaces
and the physical processes that have been responsible for their
evolution.

   Scientists for UIT will spend the next several years analyzing
their data from Astro-2.  Some of these data include a census of rare,
hot stars (with temperatures over 15,000 degrees Kelvin) in about a
dozen star clusters.  These hot stars, very much more evolved than the
sun, have shed their outer layers so that scientists can see almost
down to their nuclear-burning cores.

   UIT imaged more than 20 elliptical galaxies during this mission.
The photographs will allow astronomers to map the still-mysterious
"ultraviolet excess" - an excessive amount of ultraviolet radiation
coming from galaxies containing large quantities of old stars, which
normally have low ultraviolet emissions.  This astronomical oddity was
first noticed by WUPPE Principal Investigator Dr. Arthur Code over 25
years ago.  In order to better understand this excess emission, UIT
scientists will combine their images of clusters and galaxies with
spectra from HUT and data from the Hubble Space Telescope.

   Observations of some of the faintest galaxies in the universe were
photographed by UIT during Astro-2.  Astronomers took advantage of the
very dark sky background, using UIT to photograph very low surface
brightness galaxies.  "This could be the UIT observation with most
potential for surprises," said UIT team member Dr. Steve Maran.
"Ground-based observations show an unexpected blue glow.  Our
ultraviolet images may tell us where it's coming from."

   UIT also made images during over 140 co-observations of objects
selected by HUT and WUPPE.  In one series of co-observations, UIT got
about 13,000 seconds of ultraviolet imaging of the quasar field
1700+64.  UIT scientists will examine these images, searching for
unusual ultraviolet-emitting objects over a vast range of distances in
the universe.

   "We obtained a treasure chest of data for all our major programs,
"said Dr.  Arthur Code, principal investigator for WUPPE.
Polarization measurements reveal the orientation of light as it is
influenced by astronomical media.  "Until this mission, the only set
of ultraviolet spectropolarimetry in existence was that obtained
during Astro-1 and a few objects obtained by the Hubble Space
Telescope.  Astro-2 observations greatly expand the data base and
present a number of tantalizing results," Code said.  He summarized
the theme of WUPPE observations as "making stars" - how material is
put back into the interstellar medium and builds new stars.

   WUPPE sampled some 20 different views for its study of the
interstellar medium, using hot stars located behind interstellar dust
clouds to measure the properties of the grains.  In addition to
examining the dust clouds in the Milky Way, WUPPE studied the
interstellar medium in a nearby galaxy, the Large Magellanic Cloud.

   The instrument also got excellent observations of four Wolf- Rayet
stars, an evolutionary stage of massive stars in which strong stellar
winds eject shells of material into the interstellar medium.

   WUPPE's study of rapidly rotating "Be" stars, which yield matter
back into space in the form of an equatorial disk and polar wind,
covered a large range of spectral temperatures and rotation rates
within the Be class.  Results will be used to test the validity of new
theories about the nature of these stars, developed after surprising
results from Astro-1.

   The Wisconsin instrument gathered more information on interstellar
dust with their observation of a reflection nebula, binaries, massive
supergiant stars, and active galaxies.  The WUPPE team benefited from
"unexpected serendipity," Code said, when observations of three
recently exploding novae gave the team a unique opportunity to follow
the early history of these stellar explosions.  "The results imply
that the shell of gas ejected from the nova is asymmetrical from very
near the beginning of the outburst," Code reported.

   A major factor in the mission's success was the smooth operation of
the Instrument Pointing System (IPS), which pointed the three
telescopes at their targets, and the Image Motion Compensation System
(IMCS), which sensed small disturbances and compensated for them in
two of the telescopes.  "The IPS and IMCS for the first time achieved
operational capacity," Astro-2 Mission Manager Robert Jayroe said.
"In my estimation, the IMCS and IPS teams have done everything but
make the hardware stand up and do a tap dance."

<end of mission>

Mission Name: STS-71 (69)
  Atlantis (14)         
  Pad 39-A (54)
  69th Shuttle Mission
  100th US Manned launch
  14th Flight OV-104
  1st MIR Docking

  Click Here for Countdown Homepage

Crew:
  Robert L. Gibson (5), Commander
  Charles J. Precourt (2), Pilot
  Ellen S. Baker (3), Mission Specialist
  Bonnie J. Dunbar (4), Mission Specialist
  Gregory J. Harbaugh (3), Mission Specialist
  Anatoly Solovyev (4), MIR-19 crew upload
  Nikolai Budarin (1), MIR-19 crew upload
 
  Norman E. Thagard (5), MIR-18 crew download
  Vladimir Dezhurov (1), MIR-18 crew download
  Gennadiy Strekalov (6), MIR-18 crew download


Milestones:
     OPF -- 11/22/94
     VAB -- 04/20/95
     PAD -- 04/26/95

Payload:
 SPACELAB/MIR, IMAX-10, SAREX-II

Mission Objectives:
  The primary objectives of this flight are to rendezvous and perform the 
1st Shuttle docking between the Space Shuttle and the Russian Space Station 
MIR.  Other prime objectives are on-orbit joint United States-Russian life 
sciences investigations abord SPACELAB/MIR, logistical resupply of the MIR, 
recovery of US astronaut -  Norman E. Thagard and the delivery of two 
cosmonauts Anatoly Solovyev and  Nikolai Budarin to MIR.

  Secondary objectives include filming with the IMAX camera and 
the Shuttle Amateur Radio Experiment-II (SAREX-II) experiment.

Launch:  
  Launch June 27, 3:32:19.044pm EDT.  Launch window was 10 min 19 sec.

 On 6/27/95 as of 9:30am EDT, launch commentator Bruce Buckingham reported
that the countdown is in progress for a launch during a 10 min window 
that opens at 3:32pm EDT.  The weather forcast is a 60% chance of favorable
weather. A launch at the opening of the window would lead to a MIR
docking on Thursday, June 29th while a launch in the last 3 minutes of
the window will lead to a MIR docking on Friday, June 30th.  At 11:21am
the crew departed the Operations and Checkout building and arrived at the 
launch complex LC-39A at 11:34am EDT. 

  On 6/24/95, at 4:00pm EDT, Shuttle Launch director Jim Harrington announced
the launch team scrubbed the launch of Atlantis due to weather.  Unfavorable 
weather conditions -- including heavy cloud cover and thunderstorms -- forced 
the decision of the shuttle Mission Management Team after the launch team 
had fully prepared Atlantis and counted down to the T-minus 9 minute mark.  Because weather conditions are not expected to improve over the weekend, the next 
available opportunity for launch will be on Tuesday, June 27, with a 10min 
window opening at 3:32.10pm EDT.

  On 6/23/95, the launch of Atlantis was postponed due to the
inability for tanking operations to commence.  Tanking Atlantis
involves loading about 500,000 gallons of super-cold liquid hydrogen
and liquid oxygen into the external tank.  Operations to tank were put
off from the original start time of 7:45 a.m. due to severe weather
and lightning within five miles of the launch pad. Managers delayed
tanking as long as possible to still make a launch attempt on 6/23/95
but they were forced to postpone the launch when it became apparent
that the weather would not clear in time to tank and launch Atlantis
during the short seven-minute window that opened at 5:08p.m.  

  The STS-71 launch was previously targeted for 5:08:37 p.m. EDT at
the opening of a seven minute window.  A launch on June 23 would have
allowed docking with Mir to take place on flight day four of the
mission at about 10:30 a.m. EDT.  Atlantis will remained docked to Mir
for almost five days during which the crews aboard both vehicles will
conduct joint life sciences research experiments.

  On 6/21/95, managers decided to further inspect a leaking reaction
control system (RCS) helium tank in the right-hand orbital maneuvering
system (OMS) pod on Atlantis.  Technicians were able to repair the 
leak.  The pressure in the tank was reduced to ambient, a fitting on 
the tank replaced and a leak check performed.

  The launch of STS-71 was originally slipped behind the launch of
STS-70 because of a delay in the launch of the Russian Spektr
laboratory module to the Russian space station MIR.  The launch of
Spektr in Russia was moved from May 10 1995 to May 21, 1995.  Russian 
space officials wanted the extra capabilites offered by the Spektr 
module before a docking by Atlantis.  

  On 6/2/95, NASA managers decided to delay the launch of Discovery
on Mission STS-70 in order to make repairs to foam insulation on the
vehicle's external fuel tank.  Earlier, technicans at Launch Pad 39-B 
discovered that woodpeckers had inflicted about six dozen small holes 
in the insulation material.  STS-71 will now launch before STS-70.

  On Thursday, May 18, 1995, engineers determined the need to remove and 
replace the High-Pressure Fuel Turbopump (HPFT) on space shuttle main 
engine (SSME) No. 3.  This work was completed and leak checks performed
on 5/25/95.


Orbit:
  Altitude:  170 nm
  Inclination:  51.6 degrees
  Orbits:  153
  Duration:   9 days,  19 hours, 22 minutes,  17 seconds 
  Distance:  4.1 million miles

Hardware:
  SRB: BI-072
  SRM: 360L044A/360L044B
  ET :  SN-70
  MLP : MLP-3
  SSME-1: SN-2028
  SSME-2: SN-2034
  SSME-3: SN-2032

Landing:  
  KSC July 7, 1995 at 10:54:34 am on Runway 15.   Nose wheel touchdown at 
10:54:44 sec. Wheels stop at 10:55:25 am EDT.

 There were two opportunities for a Florida landing-- the first
beginning with an engine firing at 9:45 a.m. EDT, leading to the 10:55
a.m EDT. touchdown.  The second landing opportunity (starting with a 11:22 
a.m. EDT engine firing, leading to a 12:31 a.m. EDT touchdown) was not
necessary.  If landing had been rescheduled 24 hours, the times would have
been 11:35 a.m and 1:12pm.

Mission Highlights:
  Atlantis lifted off on-time from the Kennedy Space Center 
Launch Complex 39-A (LC-39A) June 27, 1995 at 3:32:19.044pm EDT
on the historic 100th US Manned launch to dock with the Russian 
Space Station MIR. 

  STS-71 Flight Day 1 Highlights:

 On Tuesday, June 27, 1995, 7 p.m. CDT, STS-71 MCC Status Report #01 reports: 

  Atlantis first achieved an orbit with a high point of 158 nautical
miles by 85 nautical miles, the lowest orbital altitude ever flown by
a Space Shuttle, allowing the spacecraft to close the more than 7,000
nautical miles to Mir rapidly at first, at a rate of about 880
nautical miles per orbit. Three hours and thirty-nine minutes after
launch, Atlantis fired both Orbital Maneuvering System engines for a
little over two minutes to raise its orbit to an altitude of 210
nautical miles by 158 nautical miles, an engine firing called the NC-1
burn that has now slowed Atlantis' closing rate on the Mir.

  The shuttle is now about 5,400 nautical miles from Mir, closing on the
station by about 280 nautical miles with each one and a half-hour
orbit of Earth. The next engine firing by Atlantis was not scheduled
until early Wednesday morning, and all activities remain on target for
a docking with Mir at about 8 a.m. Thursday.

  Atlantis' crew -- Commander Hoot Gibson, Pilot Charlie Precourt,
Mission Specialists Ellen Baker, Greg Harbaugh and Bonnie Dunbar, and
Cosmonauts Anatoly Solovyev and Nikolai Budarin -- winded
down their first day in orbit. 

  STS-71 Flight Day 2 Highlights:

 On Wednesday, June 27, 1995, 5 a.m. CDT, STS-71 MCC Status Report #02 
reports: 

  The seven astronauts on board Atlantis awoke to the sounds of Sonny &
Cher's "I Got You Babe," as they began their first full day on orbit
preparing for Thursday's planned docking with the Mir Space Station.

  At 5:48 a.m. CDT, Commander Hoot Gibson will fire Atlantis' Orbital
Maneuvering Systems engines for 14 seconds, slowing Atlantis' closing
rate on the Mir and precisely aligning the orbiter's ground track with
that of the Mir. That burn will place Atlantis in a 211 x 162 nautical
mile orbit, closing on Mir at a rate of 250 nautical miles each orbit.
At 5 a.m., Atlantis was trailing the Russian Space Station by about
3200 nautical miles, closing the distance between the two spacecraft
at a rate of 275 nautical miles with each orbit of the Earth.

  Gibson, Pilot Charlie Precourt, and Mission Specialist Bonnie Dunbar
also began activating the Spacelab module located in the aft section
of Atlantis' payload bay. During the five days of docked Shuttle/Mir
operations, that module will be used to support the joint scientific
and medical investigations designed to increase our knowledge of the
human body and the microgravity environment of space.

 On Wednesday, June 28, 1995, 7:30 p.m. EDT, STS-71 MCC Status Report #02 
reports:

  During a day in which Atlantis drew 2,000 nautical miles closer to the
Russian Mir Space Station, the shuttle's seven-member crew prepared
for Thursday's docking and the ensuing medical investigations by
checking their equipment. Docking with the Mir station remains
scheduled for about 8 a.m. CDT Thursday.

  The crew fully activated the Spacelab module mounted
in the cargo bay of Atlantis, checking out the various equipment in
the laboratory that will be used for the scientific investigations to
be performed following the docking with Mir. Also, the shuttle
equipment that will be used for the rendezvous and docking was checked
and found in good order, although batteries were missing for a
handheld laser ranging device. The handheld device is not needed for
rendezvous and serves only as a supplement and backup for range
information, however, the crew may plug the unit directly into the
shuttle's power supply to circumvent the missing batteries.

  The Russian-designed docking ring that will first contact
the Mir was extended to its proper position for docking and the
mechanism was found to be in excellent condition.

As the crew began a seven-hour sleep period at 6:32 p.m. CDT, Atlantis
trailed Mir by about 1,330 nautical miles. The crew will awaken
Thursday at 1:32 a.m.

  STS-71 Flight Day 3 Highlights:

 On Thursday, June 29, 1995, 4 a.m. CDT, STS-71 MCC Status Report #04 
reports: 

Atlantis' seven astronauts awoke at 1:32 a.m. CDT to "From a
Distance," as sung by Nanci Griffith. The wake-up music was preceded
by special birthday greetings to Pilot Charlie Precourt from his wife
and daughters. Precourt is celebrating his 40th birthday today soaring
216 nautical miles above the surface of the Earth.

The STS-71 crew members almost immediately set to work preparing for
this morning's planned docking with the Mir Space Station.

Shortly before 3 a.m., Atlantis' orbital maneuvering system engines
were fired for 45 seconds. That NC4 burn raised the low end of
Atlantis' orbit and positioned the shuttle roughly eight nautical
miles behind Mir. One orbit later, at about 4:30 a.m., Commander Hoot
Gibson was scheduled to again fire the jets for the terminal
initiation burn which begins the final phase of the rendezvous. That
burn will put Atlantis in position to intercept the Mir Space Station
from a point directly below Mir, on an imaginary line called the R-Bar
or Earth radius vector.


 On Thursday, June 29, 1995, 5:30 p.m CDT, STS-71 MCC Status Report #05 
reports:

  Atlantis  station kept in that position at a distance of about 250
feet from the Mir awaiting the approval of NASA Flight Director Bob
Castle and Russian Flight Director Viktor Blagov to proceed with the
docking. Atlantis then closed to a point 30 feet from Mir at
about 7:40 a.m. before beginning its final approach toward the docking
port located on the Kristall module.

  Atlantis and MIR were successfully docked at 8 a.m..  Commander Hoot
Gibson of Atlantis flew the shuttle to a flawless docking with the Mir
station exactly on schedule while the two spacecraft were 216 nautical
miles above the Lake Baykal region of the Russian Federation. Mission
Specialist Greg Harbaugh then engaged the docking mechanism to firmly
latch the spacecraft together.  Once docking was confirmed, the
astronauts on board Atlantis and the cosmonauts on board Mir performed
leak checks of the tunnel connecting the two spacecraft. With that
complete, the hatches opened and Gibson and Mir 18 Commander Vladimir
Dezhurov shook hands as Americans and Russians met in space for the
first time in 20 years. Atlantis' crew then completed a transfer of
responsibilities for the station from the three Mir-18 crew members to
the two Mir-19 crewmen.

  Following a transfer of personal gear and a changeout of the
individual, custom-made foam seat liners in the Soyuz capsule also
docked to Mir, Mir-19 Commander Anatoly Solovyev and Flight Engineer
Nikolai Budarin officially assumed duties on the station. 

  Later, the Spacelab module in Atlantis cargo bay was reactivated by
Mission Specialist Bonnie Dunbar in preparation for a variety of
medical experiments that will be performed during the next four days.
Solovyev and Budarin will sleep aboard the Mir tonight while astronaut
Norm Thagard and cosmonauts Vladimir Dezhurov and Gennady Strekalov,
aboard Mir for the past 105 days, will sleep aboard Atlantis.

  Atlantis and Mir, now the single largest spacecraft ever in orbit with
a total mass of almost one-half million pounds, have performed as
expected in the nine and a half hours they have so far been
attached. No significant problems or surprises have been observed by
Mission Control. The crew will begin an eight-hour sleep period at
5:32 p.m. today and awaken at 1:32 a.m. Friday.

  STS-71 Flight Day 4 Highlights:

 On Friday, June 30, 1995, 6:30 a.m. CDT, STS-71 MCC Status Report #06 
reports: 

  The eight astronauts on board Atlantis received a wakeup call from
Mission Control at 1:32 a.m. CDT today, ready to begin the first full
day of joint operations on board the linked shuttle and Russian Mir
Space Station. The musical wake-up call was "Wildest Dreams" by the
Moody Blues.

  About one hour before receiving that formal wakeup call, Commander
Hoot Gibson awoke when General Purpose Computer 4 experienced a brief
"hiccup"causing a warning alarm to sound on board.  Spacecraft
Communicator Dan Bursch then called up to Atlantis advising Gibson to
turn off GPC 4 and load the system manager software on GPC 3.  There
are five general purpose computers on board Atlantis, with one
designated as the system manager to monitor various orbiter systems.
GPC 3 is now designated as the system manager. Flight controllers will
look at the possible causes of the GPC 4 alarm once the crew
officially begins its fourth flight day on orbit.

  Atlantis is now home to the five STS-71 crew members -- Gibson, Pilot
Charlie Precourt, Payload Commander Ellen Baker, and Mission
Specialists Greg Harbaugh and Bonnie Dunbar -- and the Mir 18 crew
members -- Commander Vladimir Dezhurov, Engineer Gennady Strekalov,
and Cosmonaut Researcher Norm Thagard. For the next four days, in
cooperation with their counterparts on board Mir -- Commander Anatoly
Solovyev and Engineer Nikolai Budarin -- the astronauts will support
15 separate biomedical investigations into how the human body
functions in a microgravity environment.

  Those investigations will be conducted in the Spacelab module tucked
in the aft section of Atlantis' payload bay. Seven different
disciplines are represented including cardiovascular and pulmonary
functions in weightlessnessness, human metabolism, neuroscience,
hygiene, sanitation and radiation, and behavioral performance and
biology.  The studies begun during the Mir 18/STS-71 mission will
continue for several years as part of the continuing Shuttle-Mir
Science Program.

  In addition to supporting the medical and scientific investigations,
crew members will transfer equipment, hardware and experiment
specimens from the Mir module to Atlantis for return to Earth.

  Earlier in the morning, the two crews met in the Spacelab for a
ceremonial gift exchange commemorating this flight. During the
ceremony the crew members joined a halved pewter medallion bearing the
impression of a docked shuttle and Mir, and a scale model of Atlantis
and Mir.

 On Friday, June 30, 1995, 6 p.m. CDT, STS-71 MCC Status Report #07 
reports:

  Having dropped off two crew members and picked up three new crew
members yesterday, the crew spent the day loading and unloading gear
aboard Atlantis and the Mir Space Station.

  Medical samples and other materials associated with the Mir-18 crew
members -- U.S.  Astronaut Norm Thagard and Cosmonauts Vladimir
Dezhurov and Gennady Strekalov - - were loaded into Atlantis for the
trip home. Equipment for the Mir 19 and future missions was
transferred from the shuttle to the station. Thagard and crew were
officially relieved Thursday from their responsibilities for the
station by Mir 19's Anatoly Solovyev and Nikolai Budarin. Along with
the Mir 19 equipment, Atlantis' crew also filled four Russian space
agency tanks with excess water from the shuttle and transported it to
Mir. More such water transfers are planned during upcoming days of the
flight.

  The crew completed all their work on schedule with no
problems. Flight controllers did ask Commander Hoot Gibson to reset
one of Atlantis' flight control computers, general purpose computer
number 4, which had experienced a problem early this morning, to
evaluate the computer problem. Gibson successfully reloaded computer,
and it was run for about an hour in an idle mode to evaluate its
performance.  Later, flight control software was loaded into the
computer while it was not attached functionally to the shuttle and it
was put in a standby mode for the night. Further evaluations of its
performance are planned tomorrow.

  In any event, Atlantis' four other identical flight control computers
are operating well and can perform all needed functions for the
spacecraft. In addition, a spare computer is onboard that could be
used to replace the GPC-4 machine if that is deemed necessary. The
crew began an eight-hour sleep period at 5:32 p.m. and will awaken at
1:32 a.m. central to begin their fifth day in orbit. Atlantis has been
docked with the Mir station for more than 34 hours and the spacecraft
are in an orbit with a high point of 219 nautical miles and low point
of 208 nautical miles, circling Earth every 92 minutes, 34 seconds.

  STS-71 Flight Day 5 Highlights:

 On Saturday, July 1, 1995, 6 a.m. CDT, STS-71 MCC Status Report #08 
reports: 

  The sounds of a Russian pop song, Kuca Kuca Kuca, (pronounced Keesa
Keesa Keesa) greeted the Atlantis/Mir crew members as they awoke to
begin their fifth flight day on orbit.

  Commander Hoot Gibson's sleep was briefly interrupted twice
overnight. An alarm sounded when the H2 manifold valve for hydrogen
tank 1 gave a "closed" indication.  Flight controllers asked Gibson to
verify the valve's position, and then reset it to "open." The panel
continued to show a "closed" configuration, but all tank pressures
indicated the valve was open and functioning normally. Flight
controllers looked at the data and concluded that a microswitch in the
valve was reading its position incorrectly and that the valve is
functioning normally. Gibson then returned to sleep.

  About 40 minutes before crew wake up, the temperature on one of the
forward right reaction control system jets, F5R, fell below limits
signalling an alarm on board and waking the crew. The temperature drop
was not unexpected due to the inertial attitude the Atlantis/Mir
spacecraft has been flying. An orbital maneuver, already scheduled in
to the crew's activity timeline, will put Atlantis into an attitude
that will warm the jet.

  Today, the STS-71 and Mir 18 crew members will continue transferring
medical samples, equipment and hardware from Mir to Atlantis for the
return trip to Earth. In addition, crew members also will fill four
canisters of water, generated on board Atlantis as a byproduct of its
fuel cells, and transfer it to Mir. Four similar canisters were filled
on Friday.

  Gibson, Pilot Charlie Precourt, and Mission Specialists Ellen Baker
and Bonnie Dunbar, along with Mir 18 Commander Vladimir Dezhurov and
Cosmonaut Researcher Norm Thagard will be interviewed by CNN and Conus
Communications beginning at 9:47 a.m.

 On Saturday, July 1, 1995, 3 p.m. CDT, STS-71 MCC Status Report #09 
reports:

  The astronauts and cosmonauts aboard Atlantis and the Mir Space
Station maintained a rhythm of packing and unpacking today, as well as
entering into a steady pace of medical investigations in the Shuttle's
cargo bay laboratory module.

  On his 109th day in orbit, Astronaut Norm Thagard went through a
series of medical tests ranging from analysis of his lung function to
electrocardiographs and studies of his cardiovascular system, along
with his Mir 18 mission crew mates.  Mission Specialists Ellen Baker
and Bonnie Dunbar oversaw the medical testing aboard Atlantis.

  Simultaneously, the transfer of equipment to and from Mir continued,
including providing specially designed spacewalking tools to the Mir
from Atlantis that will be used by the Mir 19 cosmonauts in mid-July
to free a jammed solar array on the station.  Other transfers included
loading a broken Salyut-5 computer onto Atlantis for the trip home and
providing excess water from the Shuttle to Mir.  So far, about 580
pounds of excess Shuttle water has been provided to Mir.

Also during the day Commander Hoot Gibson and Pilot Charlie Precourt
fired Atlantis' large steering jets in a planned test to check the
integrity of the Atlantis-Mir attachment points, finding the docking
mechanism to be very secure.  A flight control computer aboard
Atlantis that experienced a problem early yesterday has been operating

 throughout the day today without trouble, and flight controllers
believe the computer is healthy and that the earlier problem was an
isolated incident.

  Flight controllers changed the orientation of Atlantis and Mir
slightly for the sleep period today so the Shuttle's autopilot will
have to fire steering jets a bit more often, thus keeping the jets
warmer during the crew's night.


  STS-71 Flight Day 6 Highlights:

 On Sunday, July 2, 1995, 6 a.m. CDT, STS-71 MCC Status Report #10 
reports: 

  Flight Day 6 on board Atlantis/Mir began with a Caribbean flair as
the astronauts and cosmonauts awoke to Jimmy Buffet's "Changes in
Latitudes, Changes in Attitudes."  Crew members are already hard at
work as another busy day of scientific and medical investigations in
the Spacelab module gets under way. Todays investigations focus
primarily on understanding how the cardiovascular system responds to
microgravity.

  The Mir 18 crew members -- Commander Vladimir Dezhurov, Engineer
Gennady Strekalov and Cosmonaut Researcher Norm Thagard -- are using a
neck collar of sorts to mimic increasing and decreasing arterial
pressure on the baroceptor sensors located in the arteries of the
neck. These sensors constantly monitor blood pressure and send
messages to the brain to increase or decrease heart rate to compensate
for rising or dropping blood pressure. This investigation may help
researchers understand and reduce the phenomenom of orthostatic
intolerance, or lightheadedness, sometimes experienced by astronauts
upon return to Earth.

  The cosmonauts also are continuing their scheduled exercise sessions
designed to help minimize their readapation to Earths one-gravity
environment. Dezhurov, Strekalov and Thagard will walk or run on the
treadmill, ride the bicycle ergometer, or perform resistive exercise
for 1-2 hours every day as part of this countermeasures program.

  In parallel with the joint medical investigations, remaining crew
members continue the transfer, package and storing of equipment to be
returned to Earth on board Atlantis.  Transfer of excess water from
Atlantis to the Mir space station will continue throughout the day.

  Mir 18 Commander Vladimir Dezhurov spent several minutes discussing
his flight plan with flight controllers at the Russian Mission Control
Center in Kaliningrad. Dezhurov raised questions earlier today about
the volume of work he was being asked to accomplish and was reassured
that, as a member of the Atlantis crew, his flight plan was being
coordinated properly between flight controllers in Houston and flight
controllers in Russia.

  Atlantis' Pilot Charlie Precourt tested a pair of VHF radio systems
which enable Shuttle crewmembers to converse with the Mir Space
Station or the Soyuz capsule. One of the systems has apparently
experienced a malfunction but the backup system is functioning
properly and will be used on Tuesday when Atlantis undocks from the
Mir.

  Mir 19 Commander Anatoly Solovyev and Flight Engineer Nikolai
Budarin conducted leak checks to the launch and entry suits they will
wear Tuesday for Atlantis' departure from the Mir. Current plans
call for Solovyev and Budarin to undock the Soyuz 15 minutes before
Atlantis' undocking to capture still photos and video images of the
event from a stationkeeping position several hundred feet away from
Mir. Shuttle crewmembers also plan to photograph and record the
redocking of the Soyuz to the Mir after an hour and a half of
proximity operations by Atlantis, the Soyuz and the Mir.

  Several crew members took a break from morning activities to speak
with National Public Radio at 6 a.m. central time today. Commander
Hoot Gibson, Pilot Charlie Precourt, Thagard, Dezhurov and Strekalov
shared their feelings about their historic flight and docking, and
discussed the many scientific and medical investigations ongoing
aboard Atlantis.

 On Sunday, July 2, 1995, 2 p.m. CDT, STS-71 MCC Status Report #11 
reports:

  Atlantis and Mir crews spent a third day together working steadily
at medical experiments, cargo transfers, and some preparations for
Tuesday's departure, uninterrupted by any problems with the respective
spacecraft.

  During the last half of the day aboard the orbiting complex, medical
investigations using the lower body negative pressure device, called
LBNP, were performed in the Shuttle's laboratory module.  Mir 18
astronaut Norm Thagard and Flight Engineer cosmonaut Gennady
Strekalov, now on their 110th day in orbit, both underwent sessions in
the device, which decreases air pressure around the lower portion of
the body to imitate the effect of gravity in pulling fluids to the
legs.  Body fluids pool in the upper half of the body in
weightlessness.

  Simultaneously, Atlantis' Commander Hoot Gibson, Pilot Charlie
Precourt, and Flight Engineer Greg Harbaugh continued stowing gear
retrieved from Mir aboard the Shuttle for the trip home.  Also, the
offloading of supplies for the Mir continued.  Those supplies include
about 860 pounds of water, almost 108 gallons, loaded into 14 Russian
portable water tanks and two Shuttle portable water bags.

  By the time Atlantis departs Mir early Tuesday, consumable supplies
transferred to Mir are planned to include almost a half ton of water,
53 pounds of oxygen, and 80 pounds of nitrogen. The oxygen and
nitrogen are being transferred to Mir by using the Shuttle's
atmospheric system to raise the air pressure in the station.

  Gibson, Precourt and the Mir-19 cosmonauts also checked out various
communications systems today that may be used on Mir, the Soyuz
capsule and Atlantis during the undocking and flyaround
Tuesday. Precourt also gave Strekalov a televised tour of Atlantis and
the laboratory module.

  STS-71 Flight Day 7 Highlights:

 On Monday, July 3, 1995, 6 a.m. CDT, STS-71 MCC Status Report #12 
reports: 

  The Florida State University Fight Song woke up the Atlantis/Mir crew
members today in honor of former Seminole Norm Thagard, the Mir 18
cosmonaut-researchers who is in his 111th day on orbit and celebrating
his 52nd birthday today.

  Well under way on board the spacecraft are the joint U.S. and
Russian biomedical investigations being conducted in the Spacelab
module. Both the astronauts and cosmonauts will spend time on the
treadmill or cycle ergometer today, and the Mir 18 crew members will
continue to act as test subjects to see how extended exposure to a
microgravity environment affects the body's ability to absorb
medication and respond to viral infections.

  All three crews will gather in Atlantis' Spacelab module for the
traditional press conference. Media from JSC, KSC and Russia will have
the opportunity to talk with the crew members in that event, scheduled
to begin at 9:07 a.m. central time.

  The final official meeting of the three Atlantis/Mir crews takes place
at a farewell ceremony scheduled to begin at 12:32 p.m. on board
Mir. Following the official farewell, crew members will complete the
final minutes of equipment transfer, bid a personal adieu to their
friends and colleagues, then close the hatches of each spacecraft to
prepare for Tuesday's undocking.

  In the meantime, transfer of equipment and water to the Mir
continues. In addition to the continuing transfer of excess shuttle
water, the SVET root module, which provides a growth medium for plants
as part of the Mir Greenhouse experiment also will be transferred and
stowed on board Mir.

  By the time of Tuesday's undocking, more than one-half ton of water,
along with 53 pounds of oxygen, and 80 pounds of nitrogen will have
been transferred to the space station. The oxygen and nitrogen are
being transferred to Mir by using the Shuttle's atmospheric system to
raise the air pressure in the station.

 On Monday, July 3, 1995, 5:30 p.m. CDT, STS-71 MCC Status Report #13 
reports: 

  With a final hug to departing cosmonaut Gennady Strekalov, Mir 19
Commander Anatoly Solovyev bolted the door of the Mir space station
this afternoon. Atlantis' Flight Engineer Greg Harbaugh followed suit
shortly afterward, performing a final check on a docking target the
next visiting Shuttle will use and then closing the Shuttle's hatch.

  Mir's hatch was closed at 2:32 p.m. Central today, and Atlantis' hatch
was closed at 2:48 p.m. Central.  Following the hatch closing,
Harbaugh began depressurizing the tunnel that had connected Mir and
Atlantis, venting the air overboard to equalize the tunnel with the
vacuum of space in preparation for tomorrow's undocking. The air
vented overboard slower than expected, but steadily; and a leak check
showed both spacecraft hatches were securely closed.  Flight
controllers believe the slow depressurization was due to thermal
blankets that partially obstructed the vent.

  Prior to closing the hatches on the station and Shuttle, the ten
cosmonauts and astronauts held a formal farewell ceremony.  Atlantis'
crew presented flight pins, watches, fresh fruit, and tortillas to the
Mir 19 crew to wish them well as they start a two-month stay on Mir.
Also today, medical examinations continued on the Mir 18 crew members,
now Atlantis' passengers, in the Shuttle's laboratory module.  The Mir
18 cosmonauts and astronaut Norm Thagard have been in orbit for 111
days.

  STS-71 Flight Day 8 Highlights:

 On Tuesday, July 4, 1995, 5 a.m. CDT, STS-71 MCC Status Report #14 
reports: 

  As the Atlantis crew was awakened to a celebration of America's 219th
birthday and the sounds of "America the Beautiful," their colleagues
on board the Mir space station were well into procedures to deactivate
some of the station's systems. Mir will be temporarily uninhabited
following the undocking of the Soyuz capsule from the station.  With
Mir 19 Commander Anatoly Solovyev at the controls, the Soyuz was to
undock from Mir at 5:55 AM, and move to a stationkeeping position to
photograph the linked Atlantis/Mir space complex.

  Mir 19 Commander Anatoly Solovyev redocked his Soyuz capsule to the
Mir space station about 6:43 a.m. to begin a two-month stay.  With the
five-days of docked operations behind them, the STS-71 and Mir 18 crew
members will settle into a routine of continuing medical and
scientific investigations on board Atlantis.  The joint U.S./Russian
investigations are studying how the human body responds to an extended
stay in microgravity.  The Mir 18 crew members -- Commander Vladimir
Dezhurov, Flight Engineer Gennady Strekalov and Cosmonaut Researcher
Norm Thagard -- began their 112th day in orbit.

 On Tuesday, July 4, 1995, 2 p.m. CDT, STS-71 MCC Status Report #15 
reports:

  With a graceful orbital bow, Atlantis departed the Mir space station
on time this morning and is now flying solo once again while medical
examinations of the Shuttle's new, homeward-bound passengers continue.

  Atlantis Commander Hoot Gibson undocked from Mir at 6:10 a.m. Central
today, releasing hooks that held the docked spacecraft together and
allowing springs built into the docking system to gently push the
Shuttle away.  Atlantis was preceded in undocking by a Soyuz
spacecraft flown by Mir 19 Commander Anatoly Solovyev and Engineer
Gennady Strekalov that unlatched from the station at 5:55
a.m. Central.  As Atlantis slowly circled the station, the Soyuz
redocked, each spacecraft capturing final photographs and film of the
other.  Aboard Atlantis, Gibson likened the session to a "cosmic
ballet."

  Atlantis and her crew of eight are enroute to a Friday landing. The
Mir 19 cosmonauts are embarking on a months-long stay aboard Mir.
After firing Atlantis' jets for a final separation from the vicinity
of Mir, medical investigations resumed in the Shuttle's laboratory
module, with each of the three Mir 18 crew members taking turns
exercising on a treadmill.  The returning Mir 18 crewmen are on their
112th day of weightlessness, and such medical work will continue for
the next two days aboard the Shuttle.

  STS-71 Flight Day 9 Highlights:

 On Wednesday, July 5, 1995, 6 a.m. CDT, STS-71 MCC Status Report #16 
reports: 

  Flying solo and ahead of the Mir space station by about 120 nautical
miles, the crew on board Atlantis awoke to a children's song, "I Love
My Moon," a special dedication to Commander Hoot Gibson from his
26-day old daughter Emilee Louise.

  Atlantis carried seven crew members into orbit, and following the
conclusion of its joint operations with the Mir space station, is
scheduled to return to Earth on Friday morning with eight passengers
on board, equalling the largest crew (STS-61A, Oct. `85) in Shuttle
history. The Mir 19 cosmonauts-- Commander Anatoly Solovyev and Flight
Engineer Nikolai Budarin -- who reached orbit on board Atlantis, now
begin a two-month stay on board the space station while the Mir 18
crew -- Vladimir Dezhurov, Gennady Strekalov and Norm Thagard -- are
returning to Earth on board Atlantis. Solovyev and Budarin are
scheduled to take the first of three planned spacewalks during their
flight on July 14th to inspect a side docking port on the Mir and to
free a balky solar panel on the Kvant-2 science module.

  The primary activities today aboard Atlantis focus on the continuing
medical and scientific investigations being conducted in the Spacelab
science workshop in the Shuttle's cargo bay. The Mir 18 crew members,
beginning their 113th day on orbit, are the primary test subjects for
the ongoing studies into how the human body responds to extended
spaceflight.

  The investigations are designed to increase understanding of, and
countermeasures for, a phenomenon referred to as orthostatic
intolerance. This is a feeling of lightheadedness that astronauts may
experience when attempting to stand upright after returning to
Earth. Mir 18 crew members will use either the Lower Body Negative
Pressure unit -- a bag-like device that pulls fluids from the upper
portion of the body to the lower extremities -- or a baroreflex neck
cuff that mimics arterial pressure on sensors located in the arteries
of the neck, to see how autonomic control of cardiovascular
orthostatic function responds to microgravity.


  Earlier this morning, Commander Hoot Gibson, Pilot Charlie Precourt,
Dezhurov and Thagard took time from their schedules to discuss their
docking mission to the Mir Station with NBC's "Today" show.

 On Wednesday, July 5, 1995, 5 p.m. CDT, STS-71 MCC Status Report #17 
reports:

  With the Mir space station growing ever more dim behind them,
Atlantis' crew members concentrated today on biomedical research in
the Shuttle's Spacelab module.

  The Mir space station is now about 200 nautical miles behind Atlantis
and continuing to fall behind by about 9 nautical miles per orbit.
Nevertheless, Commander Hoot Gibson reported he can still clearly see
the station as a distant star with each sunrise.

  The Mir's former inhabitants--Mir 18 crewmen Vladimir Dezhurov,
Gennady Strekalov and astronaut Norm Thagard--now in orbit for 113
days, were the subjects of the scientific investigations aboard
Atlantis.  Strekalov and Thagard each spent a session in the Lower
Body Negative Pressure device--a device that simulates the effects of
gravity by using lower air pressure to pull body fluids to the legs.
Also, a series of experiments was performed dealing with the reflex
responses of the cardiovascular system.  Each crewman also exercised
on the treadmill.

  To fix a minor problem onboard, Gibson and Pilot Charlie Precourt
rigged an alternate method of supplying power to equipment that allows
the crew to send electronic still photographs to the ground.  The fix
is working well, and several new images were received by controllers
this afternoon. The crew began an 8-hour sleep period at 5:32 p.m. and
will awaken Thursday at 1:32 a.m. Central for another day of medical
work and several standard checks of equipment Atlantis will need for
its landing on Friday.

  STS-71 Flight Day 10 Highlights:

 On Thursday, July 6, 1995, 6:30 a.m. CDT, STS-71 MCC Status Report #18 
reports: 
  
  The Atlantis crew received a lighthearted wake-up as a parody of the
Beatles' "Hello, Goodbye" and Paul Anka's "Lay Your Head on My
Shoulder" greeted the eight crew members at 1:30 a.m. today.

  Thursday marked the final full day on orbit for the astronauts and
cosmonauts on board Atlantis and preparations for Friday's planned
landing occupied much of their time.  Commander Hoot Gibson, Pilot
Charlie Precourt and Mission Specialist Greg Harbaugh powered on one
of Atlantis' hydraulic systems and cycled the flight control surfaces
that will be used during reentry.  They also fired the orbiter's
reaction control system jets in the traditional preflight checkout of
the Shuttle's systems prior to Friday's scheduled homecoming.

  Even as crew members prepared to return home, the pace of biomedical
investigations in the Spacelab module continued with the Mir 18 crew
members --Vladimir Dezhurov, Gennady Strekalov and Norm Thagard.
Thagard and Strekalov once again climbed into the bag-like Lower Body
Negative Pressure device which pulls fluids from the upper body to the
lower extremities.  Sessions in the LBNP are part of the
countermeasures program to prepare the Mir 18 crew to return to Earth
following more than 100 days in orbit.

  Also in the Spacelab, Harbaugh will join Mission Specialist Ellen
Baker in setting up the special recumbent seats the Mir 18 crew
members will occupy during reentry.  Baker and Bonnie Dunbar also will
begin deactivating some of the Spacelab's systems in anticipation of
Friday's landing.  Some systems will remain powered on so that
exercise equipment in the Spacelab module is available to crew members
in the event weather precludes a landing Friday morning.

  Early, at 2:15 a.m., a voice check from the new flight control room
in Mission Control to the orbiting shuttle was successfully completed.
STS-71 is scheduled to be the last shuttle mission to use the current
mission control center for on-orbit operations.  Beginning with
STS-70, set for launch on July 13, on-orbit flight control will take
place in the new flight control room.  Wednesday night at 8:16, flight
controllers in Houston passed a milestone as communications commands
issued from the new flight control room in Mission Control were
successfully uplinked to Atlantis.  The commands were sent as Atlantis
flew 218 nautical miles above the Indian Ocean.

 On Thursday, July 6, 1995, 5 p.m. CDT, STS-71 MCC Status Report #19 
reports:

  The crew of Atlantis packed up today and double-checked equipment in
preparation for tomorrow's return home.

  Earlier in the day, Commander Hoot Gibson and Pilot Charlie Precourt
checked the equipment and instruments Atlantis will use for landing,
finding all systems working properly.  Following that checkout, they
test-fired Atlantis' 38 primary steering thrusters, finding one rear,
upward-firing jet failed and all others working well. The failed jet
has several other jets that are backups and can perform the same
function for the Shuttle and is not an issue for the landing.

  After final exercise sessions by members of the Mir 18 crew, the
Spacelab module was packed up by Payload Commander Ellen Baker and
Mission Specialist Bonnie Dunbar in preparation for entry.  Also,
reclining seats were installed in the lower deck of Atlantis for the
Mir 18 crewmen, Commander Vladimir Dezhurov, Flight Engineer Gennady
Strekalov and astronaut Norm Thagard.  The three, on their 115th day
in orbit tomorrow, will ride in the seats for the landing, allowing
them to take the forces of reentry in a reclined position.

  STS-71 Flight Day 11 Highlights:

 On Friday, July 7, 1995, 6:30 a.m. CDT, STS-71 MCC Status Report #20 
reports: 

  The crew on board Atlantis is preparing to end its historic mission
with a 9:55 a.m. central time landing today at the Kennedy Space
Center.

  With weather conditions in Florida expected to be acceptable at
landing time, Commander Hoot Gibson transitioned to the deorbit
activities timeline shortly before 5 a.m. central with work to
configure the crew cabin for reentry well under way.

  On board, the crew members have closed and secured the airlock
connecting the crew compartment to the orbiter docking mechanism and
Spacelab module housed in Atlantis' payload bay. Deactivation of the
Spacelab module is complete, as is installation of seats on the flight
deck that will be occupied by Mission Specialists Ellen Baker and Greg
Harbaugh on reentry.

  There are two opportunities for a landing at KSC this morning.  The
first opportunity begins with a deorbit burn at 8:45 a.m., with
Atlantis touching down at 9:55 a.m. The second opportunity comes one
orbit later with a 10:22 a.m. engine firing resulting in an 11:31
a.m. landing.

  The eight astronauts and cosmonauts began what should be their final
day on orbit at 1:32 a.m. with a wake-up call from Mission Control. In
recognition of their journey -- which began March 14 in Kazakhastan,
the crew awakened this morning to Supertramp's "Take the Long Way
Home."

 On Friday, July 7, 1995, 3:30 p.m. CDT, STS-71 MCC Status Report #21 
reports:

  Commander "Hoot" Gibson and Pilot Charlie Precourt guided Atlantis to
a smooth touchdown at the Kennedy Space Center at 9:55 AM Central time
this morning to wrap up the first mission to linkup a Shuttle with the
Russian Space Station Mir.

  After firing Atlantis' braking rockets at 8:45 AM, Gibson and Precourt
brought Atlantis home to runway 15 at the Kennedy Space Center's
Shuttle Landing Facility to complete the 4.1 million mile mission, the
first of seven planned docking flights to the Mir as part of the Phase
One program leading to the development and construction of the
International Space Station.

  About an hour after landing, Mir 18 cosmonauts Vladimir Dezhurov,
Gennady Strekalov and U.S. astronaut Norm Thagard were brought out of
the Shuttle into the Crew Transport Vehicle alongside Atlantis for
their ride to the Operations and Checkout Building at KSC for initial
postflight medical testing. The Mir 18 crewmembers spent 115 days in
space following their launch on a Russian Soyuz rocket from the
Baikonur Cosmodrome on March 14th.

  Dezhurov, Strekalov and Thagard will be flown back to Ellington Field
in Houston in an Air Force C-9 Medevac plane for several weeks of
medical tests and reorientation to a gravity environment after almost
four months of weightlessness. They are expected to arrive in Houston
about 9 1/2 hours after landing. The rest of the STS-71 crew is
scheduled to Houston around 9 PM.

  Atlantis was towed this afternoon to the Orbiter Processing Facility
at KSC to begin a maintenance period leading to its next launch in
late October on STS-74, the second Shuttle-Mir docking mission, in
which a Russian-built Docking Module will be permanently mated to the
Kristall science module's docking mechanism on the Mir.  That will
enable Atlantis to linkup to Mir on future flights with enough
clearance to avoid interference with the Russian Space Station's solar
arrays.

  Disassembly of the RSRM factory joint after landing (and after the 
launch of STS-70) identified that the solid rocket boster (SRB) motor 
factory joint experienced a minor o-ring problem causing some discoloration
of the o-rings due to hot gasses.  The problem warrents further
investigation.

<end of mission>

Mission Name: STS-70 (70)
  Discovery (21)         
  Pad 39-B (33) 
  70th Shuttle Mission
  21st Flight OV-103
  1st Flight Block 1 mission
  24th KSC landing
  9th Rollback

  Click Here for Countdown Homepage

Crew:
  Terence T. Henricks (3), Commander 
  Kevin R. Kregel (1), Pilot
  Nancy Jane Currie (2), Mission Specialist
  Donald A. Thomas (2), Mission Specialist
  Mary Ellen Weber (1), Mission Specialist

Milestones:
 (Flow 1)
     OPF -- 02/11/95
     VAB -- 05/03/95
     PAD -- 05/11/95

 (Flow 2- Rollback)
     VAB -- 06/08/95
     PAD -- 06/15/95

  (Reference KSC Payload Status Jun 1995) 
  (Reference KSC Shuttle Status Jun 1995)
  (Reference KSC Shuttle Status Jul 1995)

Payload:
  TDRS-G/IUS-26, MSX-01, PARE/NIH-R-02,BDS-02, CPCG-07, STL-05(B)/NIH-C, BRIC-04, BRIC-05, SAREX-II, VFT-4-02, HERCULES-03, AMOS-25, MIS-B-01, WINDEX-02, RME-III-19, MAST

Mission Objectives:
  The primary mission is the launch and deployment of the 7th 
Tracking Data and Relay Satellite (TDRS) and will be the 6th placed in
operational use.  The first TDRS was launched aboard STS-6 on 4/5/83
with a scheduled lifetime of 7 years.  The second TDRS (TDRS-2) was
lost aboard Challenger on mission 51-L .  Other TDRS satellites have
flown on STS-26 (TDRS-3), STS-29 (TDRS-4), STS-43 (TDRS-5) and STS-54
(TDRS-6).  The on-orbit TDRS network is currently being rearranged and
will include two fully operational spacecraft occupying the TDRS East
and West slots, one on-orbit fully functional spare, a nearly depleted
TDRS which has exceeded its planned lifetime, and a partially
operational TDRS devoted to supporting the Compton Gamma Ray Observatory 
(GRO).  It is also used to cover an area that can't be seen by the
other satellites known as the Zone of Exclusion.

  The TDRS system is a space-based network that provides communications, 
tracking, telemetry, data acquisition and command services essential to 
the Space Shuttle and other low-Earth orbital spacecraft such as the Hubble 
Space Telescope (HST), the Compton Gamma Ray Observatory (GRO), the 
Upper Atmosphere Research Satellite (UARS), Cosmic Background Explorer (COBE), 
Extreme Ultraviolet Explorer (EUVE), TOPEX-Poseidon, Landsat and many more.
TDRS-G will reside in geosynchronous orbit at 22,300 miles (35,888 kilometers)
at 178 degrees West longitude.  It was built by TRW and weighs about 4,900
pounds.   

  The deploy operations utilize 3 separate control centers to manage
orbit operations.  The White Sands ground station will control the
TDRS, the JSC Mission Control Center (MCC) will control the shuttle,
and the Inertial Upper Stage (IUS) control center at Onizuka Air Force
Base in Sunnyvale California will control the boster stage.  Deploy
operations will begin six hours into the mission.  Once deployed, the
TDRS satellite has a wingspan of 57 ft.  TDRSS-G will add to the
complement of satellites already in orbit.

  Secondary objectives of the mission are to fulfill the requirements 
of the Physiological and Anatomical Rodent Experiment / National Institutes 
of Health-Rodents (PARE/NIH-R); Bioreactor Demonstration System (BDS), 
Commercial Protein Crystal Growth (CPCG); Space Tissue Loss/National 
Institutes of Health-Cells (STL/NIH-C); Biological Research in Canisters 
(BRIC); Shuttle Amateur Radio Experiment-II (SAREX-II), Visual Function 
Tester-4 (VFT-4); Hand-Held, Earth Oriented, Real-Time, Cooperative, 
User-Friendly, Location-Targeting and Environmental System (HERCULES); 
Microcapsules in Space-B (MIS-B); Windows Experiment (WINDEX); 
Radiation Monitoring Equipment-III (RME-III); and the Military 
Applications of Ship Tracks (MAST).

  STS-70 will mark the maiden flight of the new Block 1 orbiter main 
engine.  Engine number 2036 features the new high-pressure liquid oxygen 
turbopump, a two-duct powerhead, baffleless main injector, single-coil 
heat exchanger and start sequence modifications.  The modifications are
designed to improve both engine performance and safety.  The Block I 
engine will fly in the number one position on Discovery.  The other two 
engines are of the existing Phase II design.

Launch:  
  Launch July 13, 1995 at 9:41:55.078 a.m. EDT.  The launch window was
2 hours 30 min.  The hatch was closed at 8:13am EDT and the count
proceeded smoothly until T-31 sec.  The count was held for 55 seconds
at T-31 sec by the Booster Range Safety Engineer (CBRS) Tod Gracom at the
LCC C-5 Console due to fluxuations seen on the external tank automatic 
gain control (AGC) ET range safety system receiver .  Launch
Commit Criteria contigency procedures were worked and the count then
proceeded on schedule.  

   STS-70 had originally moved ahead of the launch of STS-71 because
of a delay in the launch of the Russian Spektr laboratory module to
the Russian space station Mir.  However, on 5/31/95 NASA shuttle
managers assessed damage to the external tank of STS-70 caused 
by nesting Flicker Woodpeckers.  The damage consisted of about 71 holes
(ranging in size from 4 inches in diameter to 1/2 inch in diameter) in
the ETs thermal protection foam insulation. Technicians installed
safeguards against additional damage.  On 6/2/95, NASA managers decided 
to delay the launch of Discovery on Mission STS-70 in order to 
make repairs to foam insulation on the vehicle's external fuel tank.    
STS-71 was moved ahead of STS-70 and Discovery was rolled back to the 
VAB.

 (Reference KSC Payload Status 6/05/1995,  KSC Shuttle Status 6/16/1995)

Orbit:
  Altitude:  160 nm (184 statute miles)
  Inclination:  28.45 degrees
  Orbits:  143
  Duration:  8 days, 22 hours, 20 minutes, 5 seconds.
  Distance:  3.7 million miles

Hardware:
  SRB: 
  SRM:
  ET : SN-71
  MLP : 
  SSME-1: SN-2036
  SSME-2: SN-2019
  SSME-3: SN-2017

Landing:  
  KSC July 22,1995 at 8:02 a.m. EDT on Runway 33.   
Nose gear touchdown at 8:02:11am EDT (Mission Elapsed Time of 8days 22hr 
20min and 16sec) with wheels stop at 8:02:57am (MET of 8 days 22hr 21min 
and 2 sec.)

The KSC landing opportunity on 7/22/95 at 6:26 a.m. EDT was waived off due to
marginable yet improving weather conditions at KSC.   The KSC landing
opportunities at 7:54am EDT and 9:31 a.m on 7/21/95 were waived off 
due to a buildup of ground fog over the Shuttle Landing Facility.

  Two landing opportunities were available at the Kennedy Space Center
Saturday. The first called for a deorbit burn at 4:26 a.m. CDT with a
landing at 5:26 a.m. CDT. the second opportunity calls for a deorbit
burn at 6 a.m. CDT with a landing at 7:02 a.m.  If the weather didn't
cooperate at KSC, Discovery would have been directed to land at
California's Edwards Air Force Base. The one Edwards opportunity would
have started with a deorbit burn at 7:28 a.m. CDT with a landing at
8:29 a.m.  CDT.

  Flight Director Rich Jackson directed the five STS-70 astronauts to
remain aloft for another day after poor visibility prevented
Discovery's homecoming on two consecutive landing
opportunities. Landing support was not called up at the backup landing
site at California's Edwards Air Force Base for today.

  Discovery's astronauts were informed that their landing had been
waved off for the day at 7:10 AM CDT after astronaut Steve Oswald,
flying weather reconnaissance in a Shuttle Training Aircraft over the
landing strip, reported that he could not see the 3- mile long runway
from his vantage point.

  The STS-70 crew had two opportunities to land at the Kennedy Space
Center on Friday 7/21/95.  For the first opportunity, Discovery's orbital
maneuvering system engines would have fired for the deorbit burn at 6:53
a.m. EDT, resulting in a touchdown in Florida at 7:54 a.m.  EDT. 
The deorbit burn for the second opportunity would have occured at 
8:28 a.m. EDT, with landing at 9:31 a.m. EDT.  Weather forecasters 
watched the formation of scattered cloud layers and ground fog that 
prohibited a KSC landing There are two KSC landing opportunities on 
Saturday (6:26 am and 8:01 am EDT) and one Edwards Air Force Base 
opportunity (9:28am EDT).  (Reference KSC Press Release 71-95)

Mission Highlights:

  STS-70 Flight Day 1 Highlights:

 On Thursday, July 13, 1995, 5 p.m. CDT, STS-70 MCC Status Report #01
reports: 

   After a flawless launch this morning, the crew of Discovery
accomplished the main objective of their flight this afternoon with
the trouble-free deploy of a NASA communications satellite.

   Following an 8:42 a.m. launch, the Tracking and Data Relay
Satellite-G, the sixth and last such satellite to be deployed from a
space shuttle, was ejected from Discovery's cargo bay exactly on time
at 2:55 p.m. Central.  The release of the satellite was overseen by
Mission Specialists Don Thomas and Mary Ellen Weber.  About 15 minutes
later, Discovery's Commander Tom Henricks fired the shuttle's engines
to raise the orbit and move away from the vicinity of the satellite
and its Inertial Upper Stage booster.  At about 3:55 p.m., the
satellite's IUS booster fired the first of two burns that will put
TDRS-G into its proper, 22,000-mile-high geostationary orbit above the
central Pacific Ocean.  

   In Mission Control, operations are in the process of being moved to a
new facility.  Following the satellite deploy, flight controllers are
planning to vacate the current room which has been used for three
decades, since Gemini 4 in 1965, to control human space flights.
Beginning at about 6:30 p.m. Central, the overnight shift of flight
controllers will be the first to operate from the New Mission Control
Center, and all further orbit operations for STS-70 and future flights
will be performed from the new control center.

  STS-70 Flight Day 2 Highlights:

 On Friday, July 14, 1995, 6 a.m. CDT, STS-70 MCC Status Report #02
reports: 

  For the first time since June 1965, a human spaceflight mission is
being controlled from a different flight control room in the Mission
Control Center.  Before going to sleep late yesterday, Discovery's
crew was notified that operations had been transferred down the hall
to the new control room known as the "White FCR" (pronounced ficker),
or Flight Control Room.

  The remainder of the on-orbit phase of the flight will be controlled
from the new room, except the entry and landing which will be
controlled from the old Mission Control.

  The crew of STS-70 was awakened shortly after three this morning
Central time to the theme from "Woody Woodpecker," a cartoon character
adopted as the mascot for the mission when real woodpeckers plucked
holes in protective insulation on Discovery's external fuel tank last
month causing a delay in the mission.

  Overnight, controllers in Sunnyvale, California, monitored the
progress of the deployment of the communications tracking satellite
called TDRS (Tracking and Data Relay Satellite), which was the prime
objective of Discovery's mission.  Riding atop a solid rocket motor
called an Inertial Upper Stage, the satellite was placed in an orbit
high above the equator over the Pacific.  All of its appendages have
been deployed and command and checkout of the spacecraft has begun.
The satellite deployment followed launch of Discovery from the Kennedy
Space Center at 8:42 a.m. CDT 7/13/95.  

  Commander Tom Henricks, Pilot Kevin Kregel and Mission Specialists Don
Thomas, Nancy Currie, and Mary Ellen Weber came on duty about 6
a.m. for their work day in space.

 On Friday, July 14, 1995, 5 p.m. CDT, STS-70 MCC Status Report #03
reports:

  Discovery's crew began a steady pace of working with a variety of
secondary experiments aboard the shuttle today, their first full day
in orbit.

  The primary objective for Discovery -- releasing a Tracking and Data
Relay Satellite -- was accomplished on Thursday. On Friday, July 14,
the crew worked with experiments ranging from the HERCULES camera, a
camera that can imprint the latitude and longitude of areas
photographed on Earth, to the Windex, a study of the glow created as
the shuttle surfaces interact with atomic oxygen in low Earth orbit.

  Commander Tom Henricks also fired Discovery's engines to lower the
shuttle's orbit, a firing that enhanced the landing opportunities that
will be available at the end of the flight and provided a viewing
opportunity for the Windex experiment. Mission Specialist Nancy Currie
set up Windex to observe the effect of the engine firing on the
glowing phenomenon. Investigators with the experiment hope to better
characterize the glow, which occurs on all spacecraft in low orbit,
and thus better design future Earth orbiting, sensitive astronomy
satellites with which such a glow could interfere.

  Also, Henricks, Pilot Kevin Kregel and Mission Specialist Mary Ellen
Weber answered questions from the general public via the New York
Times On-Line Services. The crew will begin an eight-hour sleep period
at 6:12 p.m. They will awaken at 2:12 a.m. Saturday.

  STS-70 Flight Day 3 Highlights:

 On Saturday, July 15, 1995, 9 a.m. CDT, STS-70 MCC Status Report #04
reports: 

  Halfway through its third day in space, Discovery's crew has settled
into a routine of conducting and monitoring nearly 20 different
science experiments on the orbiter's middeck and flight deck.

  Pilot Kevin Kregel and Mission Specialist Don Thomas began the day
working with the HERCULES camera which will record pinpoint data on
the surface location of Earth observations images.  A first attempt to
align the camera's Inertial Measurement Unit was unsuccessful, but the
crew attributed this to a need for some practice with the procedure,
which involves locating two stars with the camera in different
orientations.

  Mission Specialist Mary Ellen Weber checked the Bioreactor
Demonstration System and found the cells there to be developing
well. She also participated in visual function data gathering. Weber's
test followed a report that Kregel had successfully extricated a mote
from her eye.

  The workday began shortly after two o'clock this morning with a
wakeup call from Kate Smith singing "Beautiful Ohio" in honor of four
of the five crewmembers being from that state. Kregel claims New York
as his home state.

 On Saturday, July 15, 1995, 3 p.m. CDT, STS-70 MCC Status Report #05

  With Discovery performing as flawlessly as has any spacecraft in
history, crew members completed a steady pace of experiment work
during their third day in orbit, taking a few breaks to speak with
media and other guests.

  The day's work centered on the HERCULES video camera, a camera
experiment sponsored by the Department of Defense Space Test Program
that allows the video to be automatically marked with the latitude and
longitude of its subject areas. Pilot Kevin Kregel and Mission
Specialist Nancy Currie worked with the camera, attempting to finely
align its internal navigation equipment by using star
sightings. Payload controllers are currently evaluating various
methods that may make it easier for the crew to take sights on stars
and align the camera as the flight progresses.

  Other work included operations with an experiment that gauges
astronauts' reflexes and hand-eye coordination by having a subject
respond to quick questioning from a laptop computer using a touch
screen. Another observation was made with the Windex experiment as
well, a study that observes the glowing effect created by the
shuttle's surfaces as they encounter atomic oxygen in low
orbit. Windex observed the effect of an engine firing on the glow
yesterday and today observed the effect of a waste water dump from the
shuttle.

  The crew also is maintaining a variety of biological experiments
ranging from tissue loss in space to the growth of cell cultures in
weightlessness to the effect of space flight on the early development
of animals.

  During the day, the crew spoke with World War II veteran Harland
Claussen at the Clement Zablocki Veterans Affairs Medical Center in
Milwaukee, WI, celebrating the installation of the first phone in that
VA facility for the free use of patients. Later in the day, ABC's Mike
and Maty show interviewed crew members as did the Toledo Blade
newspaper of Toledo, Ohio.

  STS-70 Flight Day 4 Highlights:

 On Sunday, July 16, 1995, 7 a.m. CDT, STS-70 MCC Status Report #06
reports: 

  As Discovery's crew began its fourth day in orbit, all of the space
shuttle' systems continued to perform exactly as designed, providing a
"no hassles" workplace for the astronauts' scientific investigations.

  The crew was awakened at 1:11 a.m. CDT to the sounds of Mission
Specialist Nancy Currie's 8-year-old daughter, Stephanie, and her
Ferguson Elementary School second- grade classmates singing "God Bless
the USA"

  Pilot Kevin Kregel is still having difficulty aligning the internal
navigation equipment on the HERCULES video camera, a payload sponsored
by the Department of Defense Space Test Program that allows the video
to be automatically marked with the latitude and longitude of its
subject areas. Payload controllers continued to investigate methods
that may make it easier for the crew to take sightings on stars and
align the camera as the flight progresses.

  Mission Specialist Mary Ellen Weber also reported that the colon
cancer tissue samples growing in the Bioreactor Development System so
far look better than those cultured on the ground. The BDS is designed
to use ground-based and space-bioreactor systems to grow individual
cells into organized tissue that is morphologically and functionally
similar to the original tissue or organ. The BDS is composed of a
rotating cylinder that suspends cells and tissues in a growth medium,
simulating some aspects of microgravity. The system has been in use
for several years for ground-based research.

  Other work today will include operations with a microbial
contamination monitor that will be used to check the purity of
drinking water samples, additional measurements of the astronauts
visual acuity with the Visual Function Tester, and continued study of
the glowing effect created by spacecraft surfaces as they encounter
atomic oxygen in low orbit.

 On Sunday, July 16, 1995, 2 p.m. CDT, STS-70 MCC Status Report #07
reports:

  With its spacecraft continuing to perform flawlessly, Discovery's crew
sailed through a third day of work with the various experiments,
ranging from biological studies to Earth-observing cameras.

  Although the crew has experienced some difficulty with aligning the
HERCULES camera using star sightings, investigators with the
Department of Defense study said they are delighted with the views
they have seen from the device so far. The crew sent Mission Control
views of Florida and the Bahamas today taken by the camera, which
automatically prints the latitude and longitude of the subject matter
on the video. The crew members also sent video of star alignments they
have performed, and investigators say the video provides excellent
insights into possible improvements to the device.

  Other experiments included observations of a series of small
steering jet firings by Discovery using the Windex experiment, an
optical device that studies the glowing phenomena created as the
shuttle encounters atomic oxygen in orbit. The crew also reported at
least 60 contacts with amateur radio operators around the world using
the Shuttle Amateur Radio Experiment. During the mission, the
astronauts will speak with students at 10 schools worldwide using the
ham radio. In another study, the Visual Function Tester, crew members
reported their eyesight is affected slightly by weightlessness, taking
somewhat longer to adjust and focus on near objects. The experiment
studies this reaction to weightlessness, which has been noted since
the early flights of the Gemini Program.

  The crew also took time out to hold a press conference this morning,
answering questions from reporters in Florida and Ohio, the home state
of four out of the five astronauts aboard Discovery.

  The crew is wrapping up their day now and preparing to begin an
eight-hour sleep period at 4:12 p.m. They will awaken for Day 5 of
STS-70 at 12:12 a.m. CDT Monday.

  STS-70 Flight Day 5 Highlights:

 On Monday, July 17, 1995, 7:30 a.m. CDT, STS-70 MCC Status Report #08
reports: 

  The Space Shuttle Discovery continues to travel smoothly around the
globe as the five men and women on board began a fourth full day of
work with biological and materials processing experiments.

  The four Ohio natives and one New Yorker were awakened shortly after
midnight CDT to the fight song for the Cleveland Indians, "Talkin'
Tribe." Mission Specialist Mary Ellen Weber responded with "Good
mornin' Houston, how `bout them Indians?"

  Mission Specialist Nancy Currie sent down video images of developing
Medaka fish eggs as part of the Space Tissue Loss experiment and
filled out responses to a human factors research project looking at
ways to optimize astronaut performance on orbit.  Weber checked on the
progress of the Bioreactor Development System, which is growing human
tissue samples better than Earth-bound methods.

  Commander Tom Henricks and Pilot Kevin Kregel continued to work with
alignment of the HERCULES camera using star sightings. So far, they
have not succeeded in accomplishing alignment, which is required to
calibrate the HERCULES geolocation equipment.

  The crew also took time to answer questions from CNN reporter John
Holliman, and to voice down answers to queries posed by Internet
surfers visiting NASA's Shuttle Web.

 On Monday, July 17, 1995, 4 p.m. CDT, STS-70 MCC Status Report #09
reports:

  Discovery's crew passed the halfway point of their mission today,
continuing to encounter minimal problems as they worked on a variety
of experiments.

  The crew again today worked with the HERCULES video camera and the
WINDEX observations of Shuttle glow.  With HERCULES, the crew
continued to have difficulty performing star alignments but have
obtained very good Earth views, gathering 95 percent of the data
planned for the investigation thus far, according to the experiment's
sponsors.  For WINDEX, Commander Tom Henricks fired Discovery's
thrusters to allow the instrument to record the effects of such
firings on the glow seen around Shuttle surfaces.

  The only problem reported by the crew today was a faulty vacuum
cleaner cord that caused a circuit breaker to trip aboard the
spacecraft.  While performing some routine cleaning onboard, the
breaker tripped and the crew found several cuts in the cleaner's
electric cord.  The crew plans to splice the cord together, removing
the nicked portions, and test it out after checking with flight
controllers tomorrow.

  STS-70 Flight Day 6 Highlights:

 On Tuesday, July 18, 1995, 7 a.m. CDT, STS-70 MCC Status Report #10
reports: 

  Discovery's crew downlinked video images of bioreactor tissue
cultures that were described as better than any seen before by
investigators who are working to qualify the machinery for use on
orbit. The video showed orange colon cancer cells coalescing into
globules, some of which were described by Mission Specialist Mary
Ellen Weber as being as large as a pea.

  Bioreactors are extensively used by researchers on Earth to grow
three-dimensional cell cultures that cannot be produced by traditional
culture methods. The Bioreactor Development System is being used to
determine how effective the equipment is for supporting tissue growth
with minimal cell damage.

  Pilot Kevin Kregel and Mission Specialist Don Thomas spoke with the
"Good Day, America" radio show out of Boston today, and answered
several questions posed by visitors to NASA's Shuttle Web site on the
Internet.

  The crew also made HERCULES and WINDEX observations. Although several
attempts to align the HERCULES Inertial Measurement Unit were
unsuccessful, a previous alignment continued to allow geolocation of
targets below with sufficient accuracy. Commander Tom Henricks twice
fired Discovery's thrusters to allow the instrument to record the
effects on the glow seen around shuttle surfaces in an effort to
identify methods for protecting sensitive instruments from the
phenomenon.

  The crew repaired a faulty vacuum cleaner cord that had tripped a
circuit breaker, although it will not be necessary to use the vacuum
again during the flight. For most flights, the vacuum is used only
three times -- early in the flight, at the midway point and just
before landing -- to clean dust and debris from air circulation
filters. The crew will use the sticky side of multipurpose gray tape
available on board to clean the filters if necessary.

 On Tuesday, July 18, 1995, 5 p.m. CDT, STS-70 MCC Status Report #11
reports:

  Discovery completed another trouble-free day on orbit as the crew
continued to tend a host of experiments ranging from optical studies
to biological investigations.
 
  Today the crew activated one study for the first time thus far, the
Microencapsulation in Space experiment, a device that will attempt to
produce a timed-release antibiotic medication in weightlessness. The
lack of gravity allows the encapsulation process to be performed with
much greater purity than can be achieved on the ground, according to
experimenters. The automated investigation will operate while the crew
sleeps.
 
  Earlier, the crew downlinked video images of bioreactor tissue
cultures that were described as better than any seen before by
investigators who are working to qualify the machinery for use on
orbit. The video showed orange colon cancer cells coalescing into
globules, some of which were described by Mission Specialist Mary
Ellen Weber as being as large as a pea. The bioreactor is a rotating
cylinder in which cells can be grown suspended in weightlessness
aboard the shuttle thus making them more perfect than ground-grown
cultures. The bioreactor experiment has now moved to its second phase,
an observation of the currents created in the fluid inside the device
that uses colored plastic beads to record the movements.
 
  Also in the morning, the crew noted a small nick on the outside of one
of the shuttle's exterior window panes apparently caused by the impact
of a micrometeorite sometime during the sleep period. The tiny crater
is estimated to be only a sixteenth of an inch in diameter and one
thirty-second of an inch deep, posing no problems for the spacecraft.
The exterior window pane alone is more than half an inch thick, and
several more window panes -- together almost two inches thick -- are
located between the exterior and the interior of the cabin.
 
  In other work, the astronauts continued observations of Earth using
the HERCULES video camera and of the shuttle itself using the Windex
experiment. Windex observed the environment around the shuttle during
a simultaneous waste and excess drinking water dump from the
spacecraft.
 
  Mission Control put the crew to bed for the day with the theme from
the movie Starman.  The eight-hour sleep period began at 2:42 p.m. CDT
today. The crew will awaken at 10:42 p.m. tonight.

  STS-70 Flight Day 7 Highlights:

 On Wednesday, July 19, 1995, 7 a.m. CDT, STS-70 MCC Status Report #12
reports: 

  Discovery began what promised to be another trouble-free day on orbit,
obtaining a successful alignment of the HERCULES geolocating camera
and evaluating the manual setup procedures for the rotating wall
bioreactor.

  Pilot Kevin Kregel downlinked both live and videotaped images from
the HERCULES camera following the successful alignment of the camera's
navigation equipment, which earlier in the flight had been
troublesome. The crew kept the camera out longer than planned in an
effort to record additional images.

  Mission Specialist Don Thomas activated and deactivated the
Microencapsulation in Space experiment, a device that will attempt to
produce a timed-release antibiotic medication in weightlessness. The
lack of gravity allows the encapsulation process to be performed with
much greater purity than can be achieved on the ground, according to
experimenters. Thomas also made contacts with ham radio operators on
the ground with the Shuttle Amateur Radio Experiment.

  Mission Specialist Nancy Currie checked on the status of the
Commercial Protein Crystal Growth Experiment, helped Commander Tom
Henricks and Kregel operate HERCULES and conducted a photo survey of a
debris impact on one of the Shuttle's windows. The film was tucked way
in a bag marked for return to Houston after the flight. The debris
impact poses no hazard for the Shuttle.

  Mission Specialist Mary Ellen Weber continued her work with the
Bioreactor Development System and reported no problems with the manual
setup procedures.

 On Wednesday, July 19, 1995, 4 p.m. CDT, STS-70 MCC Status Report #13
reports:

  The crew of Discovery, continuing a near-perfect flight, began to
wrap up their experiment work today, after a week of gathering a host
of data ranging from Earth observations to biological studies.

  After final sessions with the HERCULES camera and the WINDEX
experiment, the crew has stowed them away for the trip home Friday.
Early today, the crew successfully aligned the HERCULES camera's
navigation equipment and sent the ground both live and videotaped
images of regions from the device.  Also, Commander Tom Henricks fired
Discovery's steering thrusters several times for a final observation
by the WINDEX experiment, which shares a camera with HERCULES.  WINDEX
records the environment around the spacecraft in low orbit and the
effects of a variety of events, including water dumps and larger
engine firings earlier in the flight.

  Mission Specialist Don Thomas also reported success with the SAREX
amateur radio aboard the Shuttle, counting around 50 contacts with
ground radio operators a day for several days of the mission.  The
crew also spoke with students at 10 schools scattered around the
globe.

  Several experiments continue on Discovery--including the evaluation
phase of the Bioreactor device, a cell culture growth experiment that
already has successfully grown colon cancer cells during the early
days of the flight.  The current portion of the study characterizes
the currents and environment inside the rotating cylinder that serves
as the cell growth chamber.

  The crew began an eight-hour sleep period at 2:42 p.m. CDT and will
awaken for their eighth day in space at 10:42 p.m. CDT.  Attention
will then be turned toward the return home as the crew performs checks
of Discovery's equipment to be used during landing and starts packing
up its gear.  Discovery is scheduled to land Friday at the Kennedy
Space Center in Florida, with a touchdown at 6:54 a.m. CDT.

  STS-70 Flight Day 8 Highlights:

 On Thursday, July 20, 1995, 7 a.m. CDT, STS-70 MCC Status Report #14
reports: 

  The crew of Discovery overnight wrapped up its experiment work and
checked out the systems that will be used for landing at Kennedy Space
Center Friday.

  Discovery's orbital maneuvering system engines are currently
scheduled to be fired for the deorbit burn at 5:54 a.m. CDT Friday,
resulting in a touchdown in Florida at 6:54 a.m. CDT. The weather
forecast was favorable enough for mission managers to decide not to
call up landing support at Edwards Air Force Base in California and to
press for landing in Florida on either Friday or Saturday.

  The second half of the crew's last full day on orbit will be spent
packing up the experiments and stowing gear in preparation for
landing. Earlier, Mission Specialists Don Thomas, Nancy Currie 
and Mary Ellen Weber completed the final data takes on the middeck
experiments, and Commander Tom Henricks and Pilot Kevin Kregel
successfully checked out the flight control surfaces and hot-fired the
reaction control system steering jets they will use to pilot Discovery
to a safe touchdown.

  Flight controllers are once again working out of the old Mission
Control Center following an orderly midnight transition from the new
control center so that it can be used for a simulation. Launches and
landings are scheduled to be controlled out of the old MCC for the
next several flights until the new facility can be certified for the
most dynamic flight phases.

 On Thursday, July 20, 1995, 5 p.m. CDT, STS-70 MCC Status Report #15
reports

  With their experiments stowed and the orbiter prepared for landing,
Discovery's five crew members are ready to come home Friday and
conclude their successful eight-day mission.

  The STS-70 crew has two opportunities to land at the Kennedy Space
Center on Friday.  For the first opportunity, Discovery's orbital
maneuvering system engines would be fired for the deorbit burn at 5:53
a.m. CDT, resulting in a touchdown in Florida at 6:54 a.m.  CDT. The
deorbit burn for the second opportunity would occur at 7:28 a.m. CDT,
with landing at 8:31 a.m. CDT. The weather predictions do look
favorable, but forecasters will be watching for the formation of
scattered cloud layers and ground fog that could hinder landing
operations.

  STS-70 Flight Day 9 Highlights:

 On Friday, July 21, 1995, 8 a.m. CDT, STS-70 MCC Status Report #16
reports:

  Low clouds and fog at the Kennedy Space Center have caused mission
managers and flight controllers to postpone Discovery's landing 24
hours until early Saturday morning.

  Flight Director Rich Jackson directed the five STS-70 astronauts to
remain aloft for another day after poor visibility prevented
Discovery's homecoming on two consecutive landing
opportunities. Landing support was not called up at the backup landing
site at California's Edwards Air Force Base for today.

  Discovery's astronauts were informed that their landing had been
waved off for the day at 7:10 AM CDT after astronaut Steve Oswald,
flying weather reconnaissance in a Shuttle Training Aircraft over the
landing strip, reported that he could not see the 3- mile long runway
from his vantage point.

  Commander Tom Henricks, Pilot Kevin Kregel and Mission Specialists
Don Thomas, Nancy Currie and Mary Ellen Weber climbed out of their
launch and entry suits after the wave-off was declared and prepared to
begin another eight-hour sleep period at 1:42 p.m. CDT. They'll be
awakened at 9:42 p.m. to resume preparations for another try at coming
home tomorrow.

  Two landing opportunities are available at the Kennedy Space Center
Saturday. The first calls for a deorbit burn at 4:26 a.m. CDT with a
landing at 5:26 a.m. CDT. the second opportunity calls for a deorbit
burn at 6 a.m. CDT with a landing at 7:02 a.m.  If the weather does
not cooperate at KSC, Discovery will be directed to land at
California's Edwards Air Force Base. The one Edwards opportunity
tomorrow will start with a deorbit burn at 7:28 a.m. CDT with a
landing at 8:29 a.m. CDT.

 On Friday, July 21, 1995, 2:30 p.m. CDT, STS-70 MCC Status Report #17
reports:

  Discovery's crew spent a quiet extra day aloft after canceling efforts
toward a landing this morning due to fog and low clouds at Florida's
Kennedy Space Center shuttle runway.

  The crew began an eight-hour sleep period at 1:42 p.m. CDT and will
awaken at 9:42 p.m. to refocus landing efforts toward a Saturday
morning touchdown in either Florida or at Edwards Air Force Base,
California.

  Discovery has a total of three landing opportunities Saturday, two
to Florida and one to California. The first opportunity would have the
shuttle fire its engines at 4:25 a.m. CDT to descend to a Florida
landing at 5:26 a.m. CDT. A second opportunity would begin with an
engine firing at 6 a.m. CDT culminating in a Florida touchdown at 7:02
a.m. CDT.

  The third opportunity, to California, would begin with an engine
firing at 7:26 a.m. CDT and result in an 8:29 a.m. CDT touchdown at
Edwards.

  The forecast for Florida tomorrow morning again calls for a
possibility of fog and low clouds that could prohibit landing. The
forecast for California calls for excellent landing weather, with only
high, scattered clouds and light westerly winds.

  STS-70 Flight Day 10 Highlights:

 On Saturday, July 22, 1995, 7:30 a.m. CDT, STS-70 MCC Status Report #18
reports:

  After almost nine days in space, the STS-70 crew returned home to
Florida this morning to complete a mission that included a successful
satellite deployment and work with a variety of middeck experiments.

  STS-70 Commander Tom Henricks brought Discovery smoothly down on
Runway 33 at the Kennedy Space Center at 7:02 a.m. CDT, ending the
70th flight of the Space Shuttle system at a mission elapsed time of
eight days, 22 hours and 21 minutes. The landing occurred on the
second Florida deorbit and landing opportunity of the day. Even though
weather looked good for the first opportunity, flight controllers
opted to pass on it to allow weather conditions to improve even more.

  Discovery performed flawlessly during its descent to Earth, as has
been the case throughout its 21st flight. Discovery will now be
prepared to be transported to California for a routine inspection and
maintenance period.

  The STS-70 crew will return to Houston later today. The five
astronauts are expected to arrive at Ellington Field at about 5
p.m. today. The public is invited to attend the traditional welcoming
ceremonies at NASA's Hangar 990 at the north end of the airfield.

  Disassembly of the RSRM factory joint after landing identified that
the solid rocket boster (SRB) motor factory joint experienced an
o-ring problem similar to what was discovered on STS-71 (after STS-70 
launched).   This will impact the launch date of STS-69.

<end of mission>