Edited by Richard W. Orloff, 01/2001/Page 1 

NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND SPACE ADMINISTRATION 

SPACE SHUTTLE 

MISSION 

STS-60 

PRESS KIT 

FEBRUARY 1994 

With Errata and Updates from January, 27, 1994 

WAKE SHIELD FACILITY 

SPACEHAB-2 
Edited by Richard W. Orloff, 01/2001/Page 2 

STS-60 INSIGNIA 

STS060-S-001 -- The design of the crew insignia for NASA's STS-60 mission depicts the space shuttle 

Discovery's on-orbit configuration. The American and Russian flags symbolize the partnership of the two 

countries and their crew members taking flight into space together for the first time. The open payload bay 

contains: the Space Habitation Module (Spacehab), a commercial space laboratory for life and material 

science experiments; and a Getaway Special Bridge Assembly in the aft section carrying various 

experiments, both deployable and attached. A scientific experiment to create and measure an ultra-vacuum 

environment and perform semiconductor Material science -- the Wake Shield Facility -- is shown on the 

Remote Manipulator System (RMS) prior to deployment. 

The NASA insignia design for space shuttle flights is reserved for use by the astronauts and for other 

official use as the NASA Administrator may authorize. Public availability has been approved only in the 

form of illustrations by the various news media. When and if there is any change in this policy, which we 

do not anticipate, it will be publicly announced. 

PHOTO CREDIT: NASA or National Aeronautics and Space Administration. 
Edited by Richard W. Orloff, 01/2001/Page 3 

PUBLIC AFFAIRS CONTACTS 

For Information on the Space Shuttle 

Ed Campion 

 NASA Headquarters 

 Washington, DC 

Policy/Management 202/358-1778 

 

James Hartsfield 

 Johnson Space Center 

 Houston, TX 

Mission Operations 

Astronauts 

713/483-5111 

 

Bruce Buckingham 

 Kennedy Space Center, Fl 

Launch Processing 

KSC Landing Information 

407/867-2468 

 

June Malone 

 Marshall Space Flight Center 

 Huntsville, AL 

External Tank/SRBs/SSMEs 205/544-0034 

 

Nancy Lovato 

 Dryden Flight Research Center 

 Edwards, CA 

DFRC Landing Information 805/258-3448 

For Information on NASA-Sponsored STS-60 Experiments 

Charles Redmond 

 NASA Headquarters 

 Washington, DC 

Wake Shield Facility 

Spacehab-2 

202/358-1547 

 

Debra Rahn 

 NASA Headquarters 

 Washington, DC 

NASA/Russian Cooperation 202/358-1639 

 

Mike Braukus 

 NASA Headquarters 

 Washington, DC 

Microgravity and Life Sciences 

Experiments Aboard STS-60 

202/358-1979 

 

Terri Sindelar 

 NASA Headquarters 

 Washington, DC 

SAREX-II 202/358-1977 

Tammy Jones 

 Goddard Space Flight Center 

 Greenbelt, MD 

Get Away Special (GAS) payloads 301/286-5566 
Edited by Richard W. Orloff, 01/2001/Page 4 

CONTENTS 

GENERAL BACKGROUND 

General Release 5 

Media Services Information 6 

Quick-Look Facts 7 

Shuttle Abort Modes 9 

Summary Timeline 10 

Payload and Vehicle Weights 11 

Orbital Events Summary 12 

Crew Responsibilities 13 

CARGO BAY PAYLOADS & ACTIVITIES 

Wake Shield Facility (WSF) 14 

Spacehab-2 (SPACEHAB-2) 27 

Astroculture® 33 

IMMUNE-1 46 

Sample Return Experiment 52 

Get Away Special (GAS) Payloads 53 

Capillary Pump Loop (CAPL) Experiment 56 

Orbital Debris Radar Calibration Spheres (ODERACS) Project 57 

BREMEN Satellite (BREMSAT) 58 

IN-CABIN PAYLOADS 

Shuttle Amateur Radio Experiment-II (SAREX-II) 60 

Aurora Photography Experiment-B (APE-B) 62 

STS-60 CREW BIOGRAPHIES 63 
Edited by Richard W. Orloff, 01/2001/Page 5 

Release: 94-11 

FIRST SHUTTLE MISSION OF 1994 TO INCLUDE RUSSIAN COSMONAUT 

The first flight of the Space Shuttle in 1994, designated as STS-60, will be highlighted by the participation of a Russian 

astronaut serving as a crew member aboard Space Shuttle Discovery. The mission also will see the deployment and 

retrieval of a free-flying disk designed to generate new semiconductor films for advanced electronics and the second 

flight of a commercially developed research facility. 

Leading the six-person STS-60 crew will be Mission Commander Charlie Bolden who will be making his third space 

flight. Pilot for the mission is Ken Reightler, making his second flight. The mission specialists for STS-60 are Jan Davis, 

Mission Specialist 1 (MS1) making her second flight, Ron Sega, Mission Specialist 2 (MS2) making his first flight, 

Franklin Chang-Diaz, the Payload Commander and Mission Specialist 3 (MS3) making his fourth flight and Sergei 

Krikalev, Mission Specialist 4 (MS4) who is a veteran of two flights in space, both long-duration stays aboard the 

Russian MIR space station. 

Launch of Discovery on the STS-60 mission is currently scheduled for no earlier than February 3, 1994 at 7:10 a.m. EST. 

The planned mission duration is 8 days, 5 hours and 32 minutes. An on-time launch on February 3 would produce a 

landing at 12:42 p.m. EST on February 11 at Kennedy Space Center's Shuttle Landing Facility. 

A new era of human space flight cooperative efforts between the United States and Russia will begin with the flight of 

Russian cosmonaut Sergei Krikalev as a member of the STS-60 crew. His flight aboard the Shuttle is the beginning of a 

three-phased program. Phase one will entail up to 10 Space Shuttle-Mir missions including rendezvous, docking and crew 

transfers between 1995 and 1997. Phase two is the joint development of the core international space station program. 

Phase three is the expansion of the space station to include all of the international partners. 

The STS-60 mission will see the first flight of the Wake Shield Facility (WSF), a 12-foot diameter, stainless steel disk 

which will be deployed and retrieved using the Shuttle mechanical arm. While it flies free of the Space Shuttle, WSF will 

generate an "ultra-vacuum" environment in space within which to grow thin semiconductor films for next-generation 

advanced electronics. The commercial applications for these new semiconductors include digital cellular telephones, 

high- speed transistors and processors, fiber optics, opto-electronics and high-definition television. 

The commercially developed SPACEHAB facility will make its second flight aboard the Space Shuttle during the STS60 mission. Located in the forward end of the Shuttle cargo bay, it is accessed from the orbiter middeck through a tunnel 

and provides an 1100 cubic feet of working and storage space. Experiments being carried in SPACEHAB-2 involve 

materials processing, biotechnology and hardware and technology development payloads. 

NASA's program affords the average person a chance to perform small experiments in space through the agency's Get 

Away Special (GAS) program. This flight will mark a major milestone because Discovery will fly the 100th GAS 

payload since the program's inception in 1982. GAS experiments on STS- 60 will attempt to create a new kind of ball 

bearing, measure the vibration level during normal orbiter and crew operations and understand the boiling process in 

microgravity. 

Two GAS payloads will involve deploying objects from the cargo bay. The Orbital Debris Calibration Spheres 

(ODERACS) payload will deploy six spheres which will be observed, tracked and recorded by ground-based radars and 

optical telescopes. The German-built BREMEN Satellite (BREMSAT) payload will conduct scientific activities at 

various mission phases before and after satellite deployment. 

STS-60 crew members will take on the role of teacher as they educate students in the United States and Russia about their 

mission objectives and what it is like to live and work in space by using the Shuttle Amateur Radio Experiment-II 

(SAREX-II). Astronauts Bolden, Sega and Krikalev will operate SAREX. Operating times for school contacts are 

planned into the crew's activities. 

STS-60 will be the 18th flight of Space Shuttle Discovery and the 60th flight of the Space Shuttle system. 

(END OF GENERAL RELEASE; BACKGROUND INFORMATION FOLLOWS.) 
Edited by Richard W. Orloff, 01/2001/Page 6 

MEDIA SERVICES INFORMATION 

NASA Select Television Transmission 

NASA Select television is now available through a new satellite system. NASA programming can now be 

accessed on Spacenet-2, Transponder 5, located at 69 degrees west longitude; frequency 3880.0 MHz, 

audio 6.8 MHz. 

The schedule for television transmissions from the orbiter and for mission briefings will be available 

during the mission at Kennedy Space Center, Fla; Marshall Space Flight Center, Huntsville, Ala.; Dryden 

Flight Research Center, Edwards, Calif.; Johnson Space Center, Houston and NASA Headquarters, 

Washington, D.C. The television schedule will be updated to reflect changes dictated by mission 

operations. 

Television schedules also may be obtained by calling COMSTOR 713/483-5817. COMSTOR is a 

computer data base service requiring the use of a telephone modem. A voice update of the television 

schedule is updated daily at noon Eastern time. 

Status Reports 

Status reports on countdown and mission progress, on-orbit activities and landing operations will be 

produced by the appropriate NASA newscenter. 

Briefings 

A mission press briefing schedule will be issued prior to launch. During the mission, status briefings by a 

Flight Director or Mission Operations representative and when appropriate, representatives from the 

payload team, will occur at least once per day. The updated NASA Select television schedule will indicate 

when mission briefings are planned. 
Edited by Richard W. Orloff, 01/2001/Page 7 

STS-60 QUICK LOOK 

Launch Date/Site: Feb. 3, 1994/Kennedy Space Center - Pad 39A 

Launch Time: 7:10 a.m. EST 

Orbiter: Discovery (OV-103) - 18th Flight 

Orbit/Inclination: 190 nautical miles/57 degrees 

Mission Duration: 8 days, 5 hours, 32 minutes 

Landing Time/Date: 12:42 p.m. EST Feb. 11, 1994 

 

Primary Landing Site: Kennedy Space Center, FL. 

Abort Landing Sites: Return to Launch Site - KSC, FL 

 Trans-Atlantic Abort landing - Zaragoza, Spain 

 Ben Guerir, Morocco 

 Moron, Spain 

 Abort Once Around - Edwards AFB, CA 

 

Crew: Charlie Bolden, Commander (CDR) 

 Ken Reightler, Pilot (PLT) 

 Jan Davis, Mission Specialist 1 (MS1) 

 Ron Sega, Mission Specialist 2 (MS2) 

 Franklin Chang-Diaz, Payload Commander, (MS3) 

 Sergei Krikalev (RSA), Mission Specialist 4 (MS4) 

 

Cargo Bay Payloads: WSF-1 (Wake Shield Facility-1) 

 Spacehab-2 (Space Habitation Module-2) 

 CAPL/GAS Bridge experiments (Capillary Pumped Loop 

 Experiment/Get-Away Special canisters) 

 

Spacehab Experiments: 3-DMA (Three-Dimensional Microgravity Accelerometer) 

 ASC-3 (Astroculture Experiment) 

 BPL (Bioserve Pilot Lab) 

 CGBA (Commercial Generic Bioprocessing Apparatus) 

 CPCG (Commercial Protein Crystal Growth) 

 ECLiPSE-Hab (Equipment for Controlled Liquid Phase Sintering) 

 IMMUNE-01 (Immune Response Studies) 

 ORSEP (Organic Separations Experiment) 

 SEF (Space Experiment Facility) 

 PSB (Penn State Biomodule) 

 SAMS (Space Acceleration Measurement System) 

 SOR/F (Stirling Orbiter Refrigerator/Freezer) 

 SRE (Sample Return Experiment) 

 

Get Away Special (GAS) 

 Experiments: ODERACS (Orbital Debris Radar Calibration Spheres) 

 BREMSAT (University of Bremen Satellite) 

 G-071 (Ball Bearing Experiment) 

 G-514(Orbiter Stability Experiment and Medicines in Microgravity) 

 G-536 (Heat Flux) 

 G-557 (Capillary Pumped Loop Experiment) 
Edited by Richard W. Orloff, 01/2001/Page 8 

In-Cabin Payloads: SAREX-II (Shuttle Amateur Radio Experiment-II) 

 APE-B (Auroral Photography Experiment) 

 

Joint U.S.-Russian Investigations: 

 

DSO 200 Radiological Effects 

DSO 201: Sensory Motor Investigation 

DSO 202: Metabolic 

DSO 204: Visual Observations From Space 

 

Other DTOs/DSOs 

 

DTO 623: Cabin Air Monitoring 

DTO 656: PGSC Single Event Upset Monitoring 

DTO 664: Cabin Temperature Survey 

DTO 670: Passive Cycle Isolation System 

DTO 700-2: Laser Range and Range Rate Device 

DTO 700-7: Orbiter Data for Real-Time Navigation Evaluation 

DSO 325: Dried Blood Method for Inflight Storage 

DSO 326: Orbiter Window Inspection 

DSO 901: Documentary Television 

DSO 902: Documentary Motion Picture 

DSO 903: Documentary Still Photography 
Edited by Richard W. Orloff, 01/2001/Page 9 

SPACE SHUTTLE ABORT MODES 

Space Shuttle launch abort philosophy aims toward safe and intact recovery of the flight crew, Orbiter and 

its payload. Abort modes include: 

• Abort-To-Orbit (ATO) -- Partial loss of main engine thrust late enough to permit reaching a minimal 

105-nautical mile orbit with orbital maneuvering system engines. 

• Abort-Once-Around (AOA) -- Earlier main engine shutdown with the capability to allow one orbit 

around before landing at Edwards Air Force Base, Calif. 

• Trans-Atlantic Abort Landing (TAL) -- Loss of one or more main engines midway through powered 

flight would force a landing at either Zaragoza, Spain; Ben Guerir, Morocco; or Moron, Spain. 

• Return-To-Launch-Site (RTLS) -- Early shutdown of one or more engines, and without enough energy 

to reach Zaragoza, would result in a pitch around and thrust back toward KSC until within gliding 

distance of the Shuttle Landing Facility. 

STS-60 contingency landing sites are the Kennedy Space Center, Edwards Air Force Base, Zaragoza, Ben 

Guerir, or Moron. 
Edited by Richard W. Orloff, 01/2001/Page 10 

STS-60 SUMMARY TIMELINE 

Flight Day 1 Flight Day 6 

Ascent Vestibular experiments 

OMS-2 burn (190 n.m. x 190 n.m.) Wake Shield Facility operations 

Spacehab activation Wake Shield Facility berth 

Joint Science Operations Vestibular experiments 

CAPL activation Orbit Adjust burn (If required: 191 n.m. x 183 n.m.) 

Group B powerdown 

CPCG setup Flight Day 7 

Vestibular Experiments SAREX operations 

Spacehab operations Vestibular experiments 

 Group B powerup 

Flight Day 2 ODERACS deploy 

Metabolic investigations BREMSAT deploy 

Remote Manipulator System checkout Crew press conference 

Vestibular experiments Vestibular experiments 

SAREX setup Group B powerdown 

 

Flight Day 3 Flight Day 8 

Wake Shield Facility grapple Reaction Control System hot fire 

Wake Shield Facility unberth Flight Control Systems checkout 

Group B powerup Vestibular experiments 

Wake Shield Facility release (191 n.m. x 189 n.m.) Spacehab stow 

NC-1 burn (190 n.m. x 189 n.m.) Cabin stow 

Group B powerdown 

Vestibular Experiments 

Spacehab Operations Flight Day 9 

 Group B powerup 

Flight Day 4 Spacehab final deactivation 

SAREX operations Deorbit preparation 

Vestibular experiments Deorbit burn 

 Entry 

Flight Day 5 Landing 

Group B powerup 

NC-4 burn (195 n.m. x 191 n.m.) 

TI burn (191 n.m. x 188 n.m.) 

Wake Shield Facility Plume Impingement Test 

Wake Shield Facility grapple (191 n.m. x 189 n.m.) 

Group B powerdown 
Edited by Richard W. Orloff, 01/2001/Page 11 

STS-60 VEHICLE AND PAYLOAD WEIGHTS 

Pounds

Orbiter (Discovery) empty and 3 SSMEs 173,117 

 

Wake Shield Facility (deployable) 3,710 

Wake Shield Facility (cargo bay support equipment) 3,770 

Capillary Pumped Loop Exp./Gas Bridge Assembly 5,136 

Spacehab-2 9,452 

SAREX-II 50 

DSOs/DTOs 437 

Total Vehicle at SRB Ignition 4,507,961 

Orbiter Landing Weight 214,832 
Edited by Richard W. Orloff, 01/2001/Page 12 

STS-60 ORBITAL EVENTS SUMMARY 

Event 

Start Time 

(dd/hh:mm:ss) 

Velocity 

(fps) 

Change 

Orbit 

(n.mi.) 

OMS-2 00/00:45:00 267 191 x 189 

WSF release 02/03:50:00 n/a 191 x 189 

WSF thrust (WSF's single thruster will fire to provide separation from 

Discovery’s vicinity) 

02/03:51:00 1.5 190 x 189 

NC-1 (fired when Discovery is about 10 n.m. ahead of WSF, begins slow 

drift over next 12 orbits to a point about 40 n.m. ahead of WSF 

02/08:27:00 0.6 190 x 189 

NC-2 (if required, maintains Discovery at about 40 n.m. ahead of WSF) 03/01:14:00 TBD 190 x 189 

NPC (if required, aligns Discovery's groundtrack with WSF’s groundtrack) 03/07:00:00 TBD 190 x 189 

NC-3 (if required, maintains Discovery at about 40 n.m. ahead of WSF) 03/08:00:00 TBD 190 x 189 

NC-4 (fired at 40 n.m. ahead of WSF, begins closing in on WSF, initiates 

closing rate of about 16 n.m. per orbit to arrive at a point 8 n.m. behind 

WSF after two orbits) 

03/23:06:00 9 195 x 189 

NH-1 (if required, adjusts Discovery’s altitude as it closes on WSF) 03/23:52:00 TBD 190 x 189 

NCC (first burn calculated by onboard computers using onboard navigation 

derived from orbiter star tracker sightings of WSF; fine-tunes course while 

orbiter is closing in on a point 8 n.m. ahead WSF) 

04/01:12:00 TBD 195 x 191 

TI (fired upon arrival at a point 8 n.m. ahead WSF; begins terminal 

interception of WSF) 

04/02:09:00 12 191 x 188 

MC1-MC4 (mid-course corrections, if required; calculated by onboard 

computers, double-checked by ground; designed to fine-tune final course 

toward WSF, may or may not be required) 

TBD TBD TBD 

MANUAL (Begins about 4 hours, 40 minutes prior to WSF grapple, less 

than 1 nautical mile from WSF, passing below it. Commander takes manual 

control of orbiter flight, fires braking maneuvers to align and slow final 

approach to WSF and begins an almost four-hour long series of proximity 

operations designed to study the characteristics of Discovery’s thruster 

exhaust during rendezvous) 

04/03:20:00 TBD TBD 

PLUME MNVRS (Commander and Pilot will fire a series of thrusters at 

differing angles to WSF while flying in front of and behind WSF at ranges 

of 400, 300 and 200 feet. The thruster firings will gather information on 

how to avoid contaminating and disturbing rendezvous targets with thruster 

exhaust during close operations) 

04/03:43:00 n/a n/a 

GRAPPLE (WSF is captured using Discovery's mechanical arm) 04/08:00:00 TBD 191 x 189 

OA (If required, burn to adjust Discovery's orbit for landing opportunities 

and deploy of ODERACS and BREMSAT) 

05/07:45:00 TBD TBD 

ODERACS (ODERACS spheres are deployed) 06/02:45:00 n/a 191 x 189 

BREMSAT (University of Bremen satellite is deployed) 06/07:39:00 n/a 191 x189 

DEORBIT 08/04:28:00 335 n/a 

LANDING 08/05:32:00 n/a n/a 

NOTE: All planned burns are recalculated in real time once the flight is under way and will likely change slightly. 

Depending on the accuracy of the orbiter's navigation and course at certain times, some smaller burns listed above may 

not be required. However, the times for major burns and events are unlikely to change by more than a few minutes. 
Edited by Richard W. Orloff, 01/2001/Page 13 

STS-60 CREW RESPONSIBILITIES 

Task/Payload Primary Backups/Others 

 

Wake Shield Facility Sega Krikalev, Chang-Diaz 

Remote Manipulator System Davis Krikalev, Sega 

ODERACS Bolden Reightler 

BREMSAT Bolden Chang-Diaz 

 

Get-Away Special (GAS) Bridge experiments 

CAPL/GBA Krikalev Sega 

GAS 514 Davis Chang-Diaz 

GAS 071 Davis Chang-Diaz 

GAS 536 Davis Chang-Diaz 

GAS 557 Davis Chang-Diaz 

 

Spacehab experiments 

Spacehab systems Chang-Diaz Davis, Sega, Krikalev 

SAMS Krikalev Sega 

3-DMA Krikalev Chang-Diaz 

ORSEP Bolden Davis 

CPCG Davis Chang-Diaz 

BPL Krikalev Chang-Diaz 

CGBA Davis Reightler 

SEF Chang-Diaz Davis 

ECLiPSE Reightler Sega 

IMMUNE Krikalev Reightler 

ASC-3 Chang-Diaz Krikalev 

PSB Sega Bolden 

 

Middeck experiments 

SAREX-II Krikalev Bolden, Sega 

APE-B Chang-Diaz Krikalev 

 

Joint U.S.-Russian medical investigations 

DSO 200 (radiological) Reightler Krikalev 

DSO 201 (sensory) Sega Davis, Krikalev, Reightler 

DSO 202 (metabolic) Chang-Diaz Bolden, Reightler 

DSO 204 (visual obs) Krikalev Chang-Diaz 

 

Detailed Test Objectives (DTOs) 

DTO 623 (cabin air) Sega Bolden 

DTO 656 (PGSC upset) Sega Reightler 

DTO 664 (cabin temp) Sega Davis 

DTO 670 (passive cycle) Sega Reightler 

DTO 700-2 (laser range) Reightler Chang-Diaz, Sega 

DTO 700-7 (Orbiter Data For RealTime Navigation Evaluation) Reightler Sega, Chang-Diaz 

Other Responsibilities 

Photography/TV Chang-Diaz Davis 

Earth observations Chang-Diaz Krikalev 

In-flight maintenance Krikalev Bolden 

Medic Bolden Davis 

EVA (not planned) Chang-Diaz (EV1) Davis (EV2), Reightler (EV3) 
Edited by Richard W. Orloff, 01/2001/Page 14 

WAKE SHIELD FACILITY (WSF) 

The Wake Shield Facility (WSF) is a 12-foot diameter, stainless steel disk designed to generate an "ultravacuum" environment in space within which to grow thin semiconductor films for next-generation 

advanced electronics. This mission represents the first time, internationally, in which the vacuum of space 

will be used to process thin film materials. The STS- 60 astronaut crew will deploy and retrieve the WSF 

during the 9-day mission. The NASA Office of Advanced Concepts and Technology (OACT) is the 

sponsor of the WSF-1 flight on this mission of Space Shuttle Discovery. 

The WSF is designed, built and managed by the Space Vacuum Epitaxy Center (SVEC) -- a NASA Center 

for the Commercial Development of Space (CCDS) based at the University of Houston, Houston, Texas -- 

with its principal industry partner, Space Industries, Inc. (SII), League City, Texas. Six additional corporate 

partners support the WSF program, including: American X-tal Technology, Dublin, Calif.; AT&T Bell 

Labs, Murray Hill, N.J.; Instruments, S.A., Inc., Edison, N.J.; Ionwerks, Houston, Texas; Quantum 

Controls, Houston, Texas; and Schmidt Instruments, Inc., Houston, Texas. In addition, the University of 

Toronto, NASA Johnson Space Center, the U.S. Air Force Phillips Laboratories and the U.S. Army 

Construction Engineering Research Laboratory are members of the SVEC consortium. 

The principle objectives of the WSF-1 mission include: 

• The characterization of the "ultra-vacuum" environment generated by the WSF in low Earth orbit 

(LEO) space, and the flow field around the WSF, and 

• Molecular Beam Epitaxy (MBE) - growth of a thin film of the compound Gallium Arsenide (GaAs). 

These objectives may have a significant impact on the microelectronics industry because the use of 

improved GaAs thin film material in electronic components holds a very promising economic advantage. 

The commercial applications for high quality GaAs devices are most critical in the consumer technology 

areas of digital cellular telephones, high-speed transistors and processors, high-definition television 

(HDTV), fiber optic communications and opto-electronics. 

The majority of electronic components used today are made of the semiconductor silicon, but there are 

many other semiconductors of higher predicted performance than silicon. A current example of this 

prediction is the material Gallium Arsenide (GaAs). Devices made from GaAs could be about 8 times 

faster than silicon devices and take 1/10 the power. However, GaAs of high enough quality to reach this 

predicted performance level does not exist. If high quality GaAs could be produced, the devices made from 

it would represent nothing less than a technological revolution. 

If improved GaAs material were available, it could significantly impact the global semiconductor market. 

The 1990 worldwide semiconductor consumption was $56.8 billion. Of this amount, about 40% went for 

computers, 18% for telecommunications and 15% for military applications. The projected market for 1994 

is $109 billion. Within this giant market, GaAs currently holds only a 0.5% niche. It is predicted that the 

niche for GaAs should grow to 2% (or about $2.2 billion) by 1995, which could significantly increase with 

the availability of improved GaAs material. 

A method to generate such advanced material is by thin film growth of the material in a vacuum 

environment. This technique, known as epitaxy, is limited by the vacuum conditions in vacuum chambers 

on Earth. To improve the material, the vacuum environment where it is grown must be improved. 

Low-Earth orbit (LEO) space can be used to grow GaAs (and other materials) epitaxially, by creating a 

unique vacuum environment or "wake" ahead an object moving in orbit. There is a moderate vacuum in 

LEO space with very few atoms present. A vehicle in orbit, such as the WSF, pushes even those few atoms 
Edited by Richard W. Orloff, 01/2001/Page 15 

out of the way, leaving fewer atoms, if any, in its wake. This unique "ultra-vacuum" produced in space by 

the WSF will be 1,000-10,000 times better than the best vacuum environments in laboratory vacuum 

chambers. Using this unique "ultra-vacuum" property of space, the WSF holds the promise of spawning 

orbiting factories to produce the next generation of semiconductor materials and the devices they will make 

possible. 

Program Overview 

The space "ultra-vacuum" concept was first described within NASA more than twenty years ago, but there 

was no need identified at that time for the use of an "ultra-vacuum." Recent interest by scientists and 

corporate researchers in epitaxial thin-film growth has motivated the use of space to create the "ultravacuum" in which to grow better thin films. 

Recognizing this scientific opportunity as a new economic opportunity, in 1987 SVEC formed a 

consortium of interested industries, academic institutions and government laboratories to utilize the LEO 

vacuum environment in thin film growth. In 1989, SVEC partnered with its industry members led by Space 

Industries, Inc., and with NASA Johnson Space Center to build the WSF using a timely and cost-effective 

manner required of a commercially-oriented endeavor. 

Prior to 1989, preliminary studies indicated that the WSF would be a disk or shield about 12-14 feet in 

diameter, and would be deployed from the Shuttle payload bay on the Shuttle "arm." The WSF hardware 

development program was soon projected to be complex, time intensive and quite costly, and it was 

mutually decided by NASA and SVEC that a more cost-effective and timely approach must be identified. 

The result was the effort by SVEC, Space Industries, Inc., and the rest of the SVEC industrial partners to 

create a non-traditional, commercial approach to space hardware development, and hence space 

infrastructure development. Through this mode of operation, the WSF will fly in nearly 1/2 the time 

required under a traditional approach, and at less than 1/6 the cost for a traditional aerospace hardware 

development program. 

The primary objectives for the WSF-1 mission (listed above) remain as outlined by SVEC in March 1989. 

It should be noted that both of these primary objectives will be major "firsts" in space science and 

technology. The generation and characterization of the "ultra-vacuum" in LEO and its utilization for thinfilm growth have never been attempted before, and as a result, represent additional risk for the SVECdeveloped space thin film science and technology. These objectives, however, form the foundation of the 

SVEC principle of taking a basic science concept, identifying an application of it, developing a technology 

from the application, and identifying and producing a product from that technology. 

A major contributor to the success of the WSF program will be Discovery's crew, especially Dr. Ronald 

Sega. Dr. Sega is a Co-Principal Investigator on the WSF program, with Dr. Alex Ignatiev, SVEC 

Director. The close SVEC interaction with the crew, pre-flight, has proven extremely beneficial for 

optimizing the complex WSF operation of unberthing, cleaning, deployment, rendezvous and capture. The 

crew also has contributed to the tuning of the WSF's science and technology operations for maximized data 

return from this first mission of the WSF and will play a major role in assuring its success. 

Hardware Description 

The WSF consists of the Shuttle Cross Bay Carrier (SCBC) and the Free Flyer. The SCBC remains in the 

Shuttle and has a latch system which holds the Free Flyer to the Carrier. The Shuttle "arm" or Remote 

Manipulator System (RMS) is attached to the Free Flyer for deployment and free flight in space. The 

SCBC has an extended-range, stand-alone RF communications system that lets the WSF seem like an 

attached payload to the Shuttle's systems, even when the Free Flyer is following ahead the Shuttle at its 

stationkeeping distance of 40 nautical miles. 
Edited by Richard W. Orloff, 01/2001/Page 16 

The Free Flyer is a fully-equipped spacecraft on its own, with cold gas propulsion for separation from the 

Shuttle and a momentum bias attitude control system (ACS). Forty-five kilowatt-hours of energy, stored in 

silver-zinc batteries, are available to power the thin film growth cells, substrate heaters, process controllers, 

and a sophisticated array of characterization devices. Weighing approximately 9,000 lbs. (the Free Flyer 

alone is 4,000 lbs.), the WSF occupies one quarter of the Shuttle payload bay. Controlling electronics, 

attitude control system, batteries and solar panels, and MBE process control equipment are on the back 

(wake side) of the WSF, while the avionics and support equipment are located on the front (ram side). 

The commercial approach used to create the WSF has facilitated the development of several critical pieces 

of supporting hardware which have proven to be extremely useful and valuable in their own right. The 

development of an inexpensive carrier (the SCBC), a versatile ground link, and an innovative 

communications link between the Shuttle and the WSF have each been valuable spin-offs from the WSF 

program. 

WSF Physical Characteristics 

Free-Flyer Vacuum welded 304L SS structure, UHV finish on wake side, 12 ft. dia. x 6 ft. 

Carrier 7075-T73 aluminum alloy, dual trunnion, doubly redundant stand alone latch system 

Weight 8,000 lbs. total, 3,800 lbs. deployable 

Power Ag-Zn batteries, 45 k-watt-hr. @ 28 Vdc 

Attitude Control System Momentum bias (10 ft.-lb.-sec.), horizon scanner, 2-axis magnetometer, 3-axis 

magnetic torquer 

WSF Characterization Equipment 

Total Pressure Gauges (TPG) 2 10-5 torr-10-8 torr; 3 10-7 torr-10-10 torr 

Mass Spectrometers (TOF-MS) 2 1-150 amu, 2 10-14 torr time-of-flight, programmable data integration 

time 

Retarding Potential Analyzers 3 ram flux plasma diagnostics, 2 wake side Langmuir probe 

3-axis Accelerometers 3 1g-10-6g 

Wake side video camera Compressed video interleaved with telemetry stream 

The WSF as a Versatile Space Platform 

As a free-flying platform, the WSF's wake side -- the ultra-clean side -- is used exclusively for ultra-pure 

thin film growth. The ram side -- the relatively dirty side -- of the 12 ft.-diameter WSF, however, can be 

used to accommodate other experiments and space technology applications. The ram side has a significant 

area of high quality "real estate" in the form of the outer shield -- more than 65 sq. ft. -- which can be 

applied to the support of other space payloads. The ram side contains four payload attach points, each 

capable of accommodating 200 pounds of experiment hardware. 

In addition, since the WSF is mounted horizontally in the Shuttle payload bay, it was obvious early-on that 

the open volume of the Shuttle payload bay below the WSF could be used effectively by mounting 
Edited by Richard W. Orloff, 01/2001/Page 17 

additional payload canisters on the SCBC. The SCBC has power and data capabilities which were extended 

to the payload canisters, thus prompting their name -- "Smart Cans." The "Smart Cans," based on the 

NASA Goddard Space Flight Center Get Away Special Canisters (GAS cans), also provide the opportunity 

for other payloads to fly with the WSF (however, staying inside the Shuttle payload bay during the 

mission). 

What is Epitaxial Thin Film Growth? 

Epitaxial thin film growth is an approach to reducing the defects in semiconductor materials, such as GaAs, 

through the growth of new material on a substrate in a vacuum. In epitaxial growth, atomic or molecular 

beams of a material, such as arsenic (As) and gallium (Ga), formed in a vacuum are exposed to a prepared 

surface -- or substrate. The substrate is an atomic template, or pattern, upon which the atoms form thin 

films. The atoms grow in layers which follow the crystal structure pattern of the substrate. A thin film of 

new materials then grows on top of the substrate in an atom-by-atom layer, atomic layer-by-atomic layer 

manner to form a "wafer" with an ultra-high purity top region. This growth technique is defined as 

Molecular Beam Epitaxy (MBE), and has been used as a laboratory technique for studies in new thin film 

electronic materials for the past 20 years. It has been shown during this time that the vacuum environment 

within which the materials are grown is critical to the quality of the thin film grown. 

The WSF has the capability of growing epitaxial thin films on seven different substrate wafers. GaAs will 

be the materials system grown on the WSF-1 flight, with each specific wafer growth tuned for unique thin 

film parameters. There will be at least one "thick" GaAs film grown ( 

9 micrometers) for the characterization of ultimate defect densities. In addition, there will be several films 

grown to exhibit high electron mobility in GaAs and films grown to support the Earth- based fabrication of 

field effect transistors. Finally, there will be a GaAs film grown by Chemical Beam Epitaxy (CBE) through 

the use of arsenic (As) and an organometallic compound containing gallium (Ga). The near-infinite 

vacuum pumping speed of the WSF ultra-vacuum environment should allow for the extremely rapid 

removal of the residual organic species found during CBE growth, and hence should greatly improve the 

quality of the grown GaAs film. 

Cooperative Experiments 

The University of Toronto Institute for Aerospace Studies (UTIAS) will also be performing exposure 

experiments aboard WSF-1 as a follow-up to its Long Duration Exposure Facility (LDEF) studies. 

A NASA CCDS, the Center for Materials for Space Structure (CMSS), based at Case Western Reserve 

University, Cleveland, Ohio, is conducting an experiment to test different materials and coatings in space 

to determine how they degrade in the space environment. The experiment is known as MatLab-1, for 

Materials Laboratory-1. Industrial contributors to the MatLab- 1 experiment include WestinghouseHanford, Martin Marietta, TRW, Rosemount, 3M, Dow Corning and McDonnell Douglas. Supporting 

government organizations include NASA Lewis Research Center and the Jet Propulsion Laboratory. 

The MatLab-1 will be on the Materials Flight EXperiment (MFLEX) carrier mounted on the front of the 

WSF (ram side). Each experiment is considered "active," i.e., the material has an electronic sensor attached 

to it, which is placed into a tray connected to the electronics equipment. The MFLEX will scan the sensors 

and relay the information back to Earth via the WSF communications link. Material scientists on Earth can 

monitor the experiments in real-time and determine the performance of each material and coating 

interaction with the space environment. 

The MatLab-1 experiment will test many materials in the actual environment in which they would be used 

to ensure "expected" performance. The materials will be tested for thermal cycling, strain, micro-debris, 
Edited by Richard W. Orloff, 01/2001/Page 18 

atomic oxygen erosion and its scattering effects, and the effects of ultra-violet rays. These materials may 

then be used in the construction of products for the space environment. 

For example, the materials needed to build a rocket, satellite or space station must meet stringent 

requirements in weight and durability, given the harsh environment of space. Testing materials onboard the 

MatLab-1 experiment provides advance information to government and corporate planners about how 

some materials react in space. In order to reduce launch costs based on a spacecraft's weight, researchers 

are looking for lighter-weight materials that have the strength to survive a launch into space. Also, they are 

looking for durable, long- lasting materials that can withstand a lengthy stay in space to reduce replacement 

costs of valuable assets -- like a satellite that could orbit the Earth for 30 years instead of deteriorating 

sooner, requiring a new satellite to take its place. 

The Geophysics Directorate at the U.S. Air Force Phillips Laboratory located at Hanscom Air Force Base 

(30 miles NW of Boston, Mass.), working with SVEC, studies the flow fields of charged particles in the 

Wake Shield's vicinity. AFGL will fly the Charging Hazards and Wake Studies (CHAWS) experiment on 

the WSF Free Flyer. The general purpose of the experiment is to increase understanding of the interactions 

of the space environment with space systems and the hazards such interactions pose. The improved 

understanding of spacecraft environmental interactions derived from CHAWS results will enhance both the 

commercial and military utilization of space. For instance, CHAWS results may lead to the design and 

operation of higher powered satellites in orbit. 

The two specific goals of the CHAWS experiment are 1) to measure the ambient, low-energy population of 

positively- charged particles on both the front and back of the WSF, and 2) to study the magnitude and 

directionality of the current collected by a negatively-charged object in the plasma wake as a function of 

the ambient-charged particle density and the orientation of the WSF and the Shuttle. The CHAWS 

experiment data are crucial to achieving part of the primary mission goal of characterizing the neutral and 

charged particle wake created by WSF-1. 

The CHAWS experiment consists of two sensor units and a controller. At the heart of each sensor unit are 

a series of newly developed, state-of-the-art, compact particle detectors able to measure a wide range of 

charged particle densities down to low densities previously difficult or impossible to measure. In the spirit 

of the WSF program, the STS-60 mission will provide the first flight test of this new technology. 

The most intensive portion of the CHAWS experiment will be conducted after WSF recapture. With the 

WSF held by the Shuttle "arm," the Shuttle attitude will be varied with respect to the direction of orbital 

motion so that the full wake can be mapped by varying the sensor's location in the wake region. In 

addition, measurement will be made of any optical emissions produced near the sensor during high voltage 

activities. These measurements will be the first ever made in space of the current collected by a negativelycharged object in the wake of a space structure in low Earth orbit. 

Working with NASA Johnson Space Center (JSC) engineers, SVEC is offering the WSF as a testbed for 

the development of highly sensitive accelerometers, called the Microgravity Measurement Devices 

(MMD). Accelerometers measure low levels of acceleration by a vehicle in space. Specifically on WSF-1, 

the accelerometers will characterize the microgravity environment of the WSF Free Flyer. Given the 

largely passive thin film growth process, the WSF Free Flyer promises to be a "true" microgravity 

platform, ideal for any number of future materials processing chores. The MMD will be the linchpin for 

another joint experiment between SVEC and JSC: an ambitious Shuttle Plume Impingement Experiment 

(PIE) in support of space station development. A critical concern to space station planners is the complex 

interaction between Shuttle attitude control thruster firings and nearby space structures; however, little 

information exists in this area. The WSF Free Flyer, loaded with environmental diagnostic equipment, is 

the ideal target for this study, as a cost-effective means to multiply benefits to differing program goals. A 

complex and extensive series of thruster firings have been planned to use the WSF's response to measure 

the characteristics of the Shuttle's thruster plumes. 
Edited by Richard W. Orloff, 01/2001/Page 19 

Two "Smart Cans" will be attached to the WSF's SCBC on this flight to conduct a Containerless Coating 

Process (CONCOP-1) experiment. The United States Army Construction Engineering Research Laboratory 

(CERL) in Champaign, Ill., will be using the "Smart Cans" for an investigation of hot filament thin film 

metals deposition on a variety of materials. The results will give researchers information about applying 

reflective coatings to space structures while in space. While the Free Flyer is ahead the Shuttle, the crew 

will activate the CERL experiment for follow-on operations controlled through the payload operations 

center. 

Two student experiments will be a part of WSF-1. "Fast Plants" will be coordinated by Hartman Middle 

School, Houston, Texas, to study the effects of space radiation on plants' generation. Brassica rapa plants 

supplied by the University of Wisconsin will be exposed to the entire spectrum of radiation from space 

while Velcro-mounted to the SCBC. 

Brassica rapa's rapid growth rate of 38 days per generation will allow numerous generations to be studied 

during a single school year following the WSF-1 flight. Six Houston Independent School District middle 

schools will be involved in the experiment. 

Students will not only grow plants and gather data, but will become proficient at controlling variables 

while learning how to conduct a long-term experiment. Data will be compiled for the purpose of writing 

and submitting a paper to a scientific publication, rounding out a rich educational experience. 

Ninth grade students at the Gregory Jarvis Junior High School, Mohawk, N.Y., will be determining the 

orbital variation of the Earth's magnetic field from electron diffraction data obtained in the WSF thin film 

growth experiments. The electron beam used for in situ diffraction measurement of the atomic structure of 

the growing GaAs films is deflected by the Earth's magnetic field. This deflection can be used to define the 

magnitude and direction of the Earth's magnetic field as a function of orbital position. The junior high 

school students will work with SVEC researchers in applying elementary physical laws to directly extract 

Earth magnetic field information from the WSF data. 

Mission Scenario 

The Wake Shield Facility will be released from Discovery to fly free for about 48 hours, gathering its 

experiment information before it is retrieved by the Shuttle. Once it is retrieved, the facility will remain 

captured at the end of Discovery's remote manipulator system (RMS) mechanical arm overnight, for a total 

of about 17 hours, to gather further data before it is berthed in the cargo bay for the return to Earth. 

Release 

On Flight Day 3, the WSF will be grappled by the Shuttle "arm" and removed from the SCBC. The WSF 

will be positioned by the "arm" to be "cleaned" by the highly reactive atomic oxygen found in low Earth 

orbit and by the sun's heat. The "cleaning" will last 3 hours. Some tests will be run during this "cleaning," 

such as radio checks between the SCBC and the Free Flyer, checks of the Free Flyer batteries, and 

activation of the primary video camera on the wake side of the Free Flyer. 

Three successive approximately 45-minute long windows exist for deploying the facility on the third day 

of STS-60, as well as backup opportunities later in the mission. During the release operations, Commander 

Charlie Bolden will be at the aft flight deck controls of Discovery, Mission Specialist Jan Davis will 

operate the mechanical arm, and Mission Specialist Ron Sega will oversee the Wake Shield Facility's 

systems and experiments. Mission Specialist Franklin Chang-Diaz will use a hand-held laser range-finding 

device as well as a similar device mounted in Discovery's cargo bay to provide information on the distance 

and separation rate of the facility. The data supplement information provided by the 
Edited by Richard W. Orloff, 01/2001/Page 20 

Shuttle's rendezvous radar system. Mission Specialist Franklin Chang-Diaz will document the events with 

still photography, video and film. 

After the "cleaning" is done, the "arm" will move the WSF to a position that will allow the formation of a 

vacuum wake ahead the WSF. There will be approximately one hour of vacuum measurements and 

checkouts in this position. Then the arm will move the WSF to the release position, over the starboard 

(right) side of the Shuttle payload bay. The Free Flyer will separate from the arm and move ahead the 

Shuttle to remove it from Shuttle contamination sources (i.e., water dumps, fuel cell purges and engine 

firings). The astronauts will fire a thruster if necessary to keep the WSF safely ahead the Shuttle while they 

are sleeping. 

The WSF will stay 40 nautical miles ahead the Shuttle while growing the thin films. The WSF will be 

operated during this time from the Payload Operations Control Center (POCC) at the NASA Johnson 

Space Center. The SVEC POCC team will monitor and control all aspects of WSF operations in close 

cooperation with the astronaut crew. 

Rendezvous 

On Flight Day 5, the Shuttle will rendezvous with the Free Flyer. Every member of the STS-60 crew has a 

vital role to play during the WSF rendezvous and capture and the integral plume experiment. Charles 

Bolden, Commander, and Kenneth Reightler, Pilot, will pilot Discovery through a complex series of 

maneuvers in approaching the WSF. 

The retrieval of the Wake Shield Facility will begin with an engine firing by Discovery that will have the 

Shuttle leave its stationkeeping position 40 nautical miles ahead to close in on a point about 8 nautical 

miles behind the facility. Over the next three hours, as Discovery closes in on a point 8 nautical miles 

ahead the Wake Shield Facility, the Shuttle's navigation will be continually refined as will tracking 

information on the facility itself. The final engine firing performed will be calculated by the Shuttle's 

onboard navigation systems, rather than by ground controllers. At a distance of 8 nautical miles ahead the 

facility, Mission Specialist Sergei Krikalev will power up the mechanical arm and move it into position for 

the impending capture, and Discovery will fire its engines to perform a terminal interception (TI) burn, a 

firing that will put the Shuttle on a course directly for the facility. The Shuttle may perform four small 

course correction firings during its final approach before Bolden takes over manual control of Discovery's 

flight as the Shuttle passes less than one nautical mile below the facility. 

Shuttle Plume Impingement Tests 

Ron Sega and Sergei Krikalev will coordinate the plume experiment initiation and data acquisition. 

Franklin Chang-Diaz will track the WSF position by video and Jan Davis will prepare the Shuttle "arm" for 

WSF capture. 

Bolden and Reightler will brake Discovery's approach to the Wake Shield Facility, eventually flying to 

about 400 feet directly in front of the facility. At that point, Bolden and Reightler will begin an almost 

four-hour long series of maneuvers that will have Discovery perform precise steering jet firings at various 

angles to the Wake Shield Facility. The jet firings comprise a plume impingement test that will help 

characterize the behavior of the exhaust emitted by Discovery's jets. With its contamination-sensitive 

experiments already completed at that time, the Wake Shield's instruments can measure the makeup of the 

exhaust plume, accelerations the plumes cause, and the pressures of the exhaust. During the tests, Bolden 

will fly Discovery from in front of the facility to pass above and ahead it. The jet firings will be performed 

in front of the Wake Shield at ranges of 400 feet, 300 feet and 200 feet, and from ahead the facility at a 

range of 200 feet. Information from these tests will be valuable in planning future retrievals and dockings 
Edited by Richard W. Orloff, 01/2001/Page 21 

by the Shuttle with other spacecraft in a method that avoids contaminating or significantly disturbing those 

spacecraft with the exhaust plumes. 

Retrieval 

The final approach to within capture range of the Wake Shield Facility will be done from ahead it, with 

Bolden moving Discovery to within 35 feet of the Free-Flyer. Krikalev will then capture the Wake Shield 

using the mechanical arm. Krikalev will then place the arm in a parked position with the Wake Shield held 

above the payload bay during the astronaut sleep period for extended WSF environmental measurement. 

On Flight Day 6, the CHAWS experiment will be performed. The astronauts will position the WSF to the 

point above the overhead windows for maneuvering of the WSF to gather plasma flow data around the 

WSF. The Air Force Auroral Photography Experiment B (APE-B) camera will be used in support of the 

plasma flow studies to view the Shuttle glow phenomenon on the CHAWS plasma probe from the Shuttle's 

aft flight deck windows. Plasma flow data will be acquired for two full orbits, after which the WSF will be 

re-stowed into the SCBC for return to Earth. 

Future Plans for the WSF Program 

The WSF Program consists of four flights basically flying at one year intervals. During the four flights, the 

WSF program first will provide the "proof-of-concept" demonstration of thin film growth in space 

techniques required for industry to fully embrace the space epitaxial growth technology. Second, it will 

demonstrate the ability to grow commercial quantities of epitaxial thin films in space. To accomplish these 

goals, the WSF Program is designed to evolve with the WSF-2 flight (1995) expected to show increased 

capability in number and types of thin films grown, and in command and control of the growth process 

through ground operations from a commercial payload command and control center (POCC). WSF-3 

(1996) is expected to see the addition of solar panels, additional central processing power, and robotic 

substrate sample manipulation for extended orbital operations. WSF-4 (1997) is expected to have the 

capability of processing up to 300 epitaxial thin film wafers. 

Beyond the first "proof-of-concept" flights of WSF, full commercial use of the WSF is projected. The 

commercial phase of the program is being termed "Mark II" -- a 5-year orbiting WSF free flyer. Because 

the weight of the Free Flyer is 4,000 lb., it would not be economically realistic to launch and retrieve the 

complete WSF for every batch of thin film wafers grown (about 300 wafers per batch). It is clearly more 

suitable to launch only the raw materials and bring back only the finished wafers, leaving the WSF in 

space. Therefore, the "Mark II" would be launched into orbit and then be periodically visited by a 

dedicated service vehicle that would replenish the raw materials and bring back the finished wafers. 

Conclusion 

The accomplishment of the objectives of WSF-1 and the three subsequent WSF missions is expected to 

prove the theory that electronic materials grown in space are of higher quality. The electronics industry's 

need for high-speed optical and high frequency devices will continue to drive electronics material 

development and improvement. The ever-increasing use of electronic materials worldwide and the ability 

to grow them in thin film form in space are expected to give commercial viability to the use of the space 

"ultra-vacuum" to produce improved and advanced electronic materials. 
Edited by Richard W. Orloff, 01/2001/Page 22 
Edited by Richard W. Orloff, 01/2001/Page 23 
Edited by Richard W. Orloff, 01/2001/Page 24 
Edited by Richard W. Orloff, 01/2001/Page 25 

Wake Shield Facility-1 (WSF-1 Overview) 

Facility Sponsor Affiliates Facility Description 

Potential Commercial 

Applications 

Wake Shield Facility 

(WSF) 

Space Vacuum Epitaxy 

Center, University of 

Houston, Houston, 

Texas 

Space Industries, Inc., 

League City, Texas; 

American X-tal; 

Technology, Dublin, 

Calif.; AT&T Bell 

Labs, Murray Hill, N.J.; 

Instruments, S.A. Inc., 

Edison, N.J.; Ionwerks, 

Houston, Texas; 

Quantum Controls, 

Houston, Texas; 

Schmidt Instruments, 

Inc., Houston Texas 

Sensitive vacuum 

measurement devices 

aboard the WSDF Free 

Flyer will characterize 

the “ultra-vacuum” 

generated by the 12-

foot diameter stainless 

steel disk. 

Gallium Arsenide 

(GaAs) thin films will 

be grown using 

Molecular Beam 

Epitaxy (MBE) and 

Chemical Beam Epitaxy 

(CBE) to demonstrate 

the advantages of 

material processing in 

the space vacuum 

environment 

The use of improved 

GaAs thin film material 

in electronic 

components holds a 

very promising 

economic advantage. 

The commercial 

applications for high 

quality GaAs devices 

are most critical in the 

consumer technology 

areas of: 

• Digital cellular 

telephones 

• High-speed 

transistors and 

processors 

• High-definition 

television 

(HDTV) 

• Fiber optic 

communications 

& 

• opto-electronics 

WSF-1 Experiments 

Facility Sponsor Affiliates Facility Description 

Potential Commercial 

Applications 

Charging Hazards and 

Wake Studies 

(CHAWS) 

Space Vacuum Epitaxy 

Center, University of 

Houston, Houston, 

Texas 

United States Air Force 

Philips 

Laboratory/Geophysics 

Directorate, Hanscom 

Air Force Base, Mass. 

CHAWS will measure 

the charged particle 

environment in the 

vicinity of the WSF to 

complete analysis of the 

wake’s “ultra-vacuum” 

and investigate the 

behavior of exposed 

high potentials in a 

plasma wake. 

This experiment will 

demonstrate the 

operation of a unique 

miniaturized plasma 

detector and provide 

data to validate Air 

Force analytical model 

for spacecraft charging. 

Microgravity 

Measurement Device 

(MMD) 

SVEC, UH NASA Johnson Space 

Center (JSC) 

JSC will use the WSF 

as a testbed for the 

development of highly 

sensitive accelerometers 

(MMD) which measure 

low levels of 

acceleration by a 

vehicle in space, 

specifically the 

microgravity 

environment of the 

WSF Free Flyer. 

To support the WSF in 

commercial operations 

as a free flying space 

platform. 

Plume Impingement 

Experiment (PIE) 

SVEC, UH NASA JSC A complex and 

extensive series of 

Shuttle thruster firings 

will target the WSF 

during rendezvous, 

relying on Free Flyer 

instrumentation to 

characterize the 

Shuttle’s thruster 

plumes. 

To provide information 

to space station 

planners on the 

complex interaction 

between Shuttle thruster 

firings and space 

structures such as the 

space station). 
Edited by Richard W. Orloff, 01/2001/Page 26 

WSF-1 Collaborative Experiments 

Facility Sponsor Affiliates Facility Description 

Potential Commercial 

Applications 

Materials Laboratory-1 

-- MatLab-1 

Center for Materials for 

Space Structure 

(CMSS), Case Western 

Reserve University, 

Cleveland, OH 

Westinghouse-Hanford, 

Martin Marietta, TRW, 

Rosemount, 3M, Dow 

Corning, McDonnell 

Douglas, NASA Lewis 

Research Center, Jet 

Propulsion Laboratory 

The MFLEX (Materials 

Flight Experiment 

carrier) will carry the 

MatLab, housing 

different materials and 

coatings on the front of 

the WSF to determine 

how they hold up in the 

space environment. 

The results will help to 

determine which 

materials to use in 

construction of 

products for the space 

environment (e.g., 

rockets, satellites, space 

station), based on the 

material’s qualities (i.e., 

durable, light-weight). 

Containerless Coating 

Process (CONCOP-1) 

United States Army 

Construction 

Engineering Research 

laboratory (CERL), 

Champaign, Ill. 

 An investigation of hot 

filament thin film 

metals deposition on a 

variety of materials, 

conducted in the “Smart 

Cans” mounted on the 

Shuttle Cross Bay 

Carrier (SCBC). 

The results will give 

researchers information 

about applying metallic 

and reflective coatings 

to space structures 

while in space. 
Edited by Richard W. Orloff, 01/2001/Page 27 

SPACEHAB-2 

Evolution of the SPACEHAB Program 

The commercial development of space is a NASA objective as directed by legislation and national policy. 

Through the many facets of its commercial development of space program, NASA has developed and 

maintains a high level of commitment to this objective. To that end, NASA has actively invested in the 

continued technological leadership of the United States and its future economic growth through the direct 

promotion and support of private sector space-related activities. 

In the late 1980's, NASA's commercial development of space program identified a significant number of 

payloads to be flown to further program objectives. To viably sustain this program, the Office of Advanced 

Concepts and Technology identified a level of flight activity necessary to support the various payload 

requirements. In September 1989, the office conducted an analysis which revealed that planned Space 

Shuttle flight activity would not meet middeck-class accommodations needs. Mission experience had 

already demonstrated the middeck as a very cost-effective area to conduct "crew-tended" scientific and 

commercial microgravity research. However, the size and number of experiments that can be 

accommodated in the middeck is severely limited, has conflicting requirements from Shuttle operations and 

other NASA programs, and is being further constrained by a number of factors such as reduced flight rates. 

In order to provide the necessary support for commercial development of space payloads, the Commercial 

Middeck Augmentation Module (CMAM) procurement was initiated in February 1990, through the 

Johnson Space Center (JSC). Subsequently, in November 1990, NASA awarded a 5-year contract to 

SPACEHAB, Inc., of Arlington, Va., for the lease of their pressurized module, the SPACEHAB Space 

Research Laboratory. This unit provides additional space for "crew-tended" payloads as an extension of the 

Shuttle orbiter middeck into the Shuttle cargo bay. 

This 6-year lease arrangement covers five Shuttle flights and requires SPACEHAB, Inc., to provide for the 

physical and operational integration of the SPACEHAB Space Research Laboratory into Space Shuttle 

orbiters, including experiments and integration services, such as safety documentation and crew training. 

NASA's primary objective for leasing the SPACEHAB Space Research Laboratory is to support the 

agency's commercial development of space program by providing access to space to test, demonstrate or 

evaluate techniques or processes in the environment of space, and thereby reduce operational risks to a 

level appropriate for commercial development. 

NASA's secondary objective in leasing the SPACEHAB Laboratory is to foster the development of space 

infrastructure which can be marketed by private firms to support commercial microgravity research 

payloads. It is expected that commercial demand will result from successful demonstrations of 

SPACEHAB. 

The first, and very successful, flight of the SPACEHAB Space Research Laboratory was made on Space 

Shuttle Mission STS-57, June 21-27, 1993. All systems operated nominally and met 100% of mission 

success criteria. The 21 NASA-sponsored experiments achieved over 90% of mission success criteria and 

detailed analyses are underway. 
Edited by Richard W. Orloff, 01/2001/Page 28 

SPACEHAB Laboratory Accommodations 

The SPACEHAB Space Research Laboratory is located in the forward end of the Shuttle orbiter cargo bay 

and is accessed from the orbiter middeck through a tunnel adapter connected to the airlock. It weighs 

10,584 pounds, is 9.2 feet long, 11.2 feet high and 13.5 feet in diameter. It increases pressurized 

experiment space in the Shuttle orbiter by 1100 cubic feet, quadrupling the working and storage volume 

available. Environmental control of the laboratory's interior maintains ambient temperatures between 65 

and 80 degrees Fahrenheit. 

The laboratory has a total payload capacity of 3,000 pounds based on operational constraints and, in 

addition to facilitating crew access, provides the experiments with standard services, such as power, 

temperature control and command/data functions. Other services, such as late access/early retrieval and 

vacuum venting also are available. 

The SPACEHAB Space Research Laboratory can provide various physical accommodations to users based 

on size, weight and other user requirements. Experiments are commonly integrated into the laboratory in 

Shuttle middeck-type lockers or SPACEHAB racks. The laboratory can accommodate up to 61 lockers, 

with each locker providing a maximum capacity of 60 pounds and 2.0 cubic feet of volume. 

The laboratory can also accommodate up to two SPACEHAB racks, either of which can be a "double-rack" 

or "single-rack" configuration. A "double-rack" provides a maximum capacity of 1250 pounds and 45 

cubic feet of volume, whereas a "single-rack" provides half of that capacity. The "double- rack" is similar 

in size and design to the racks planned for use in the space station. 

The use of lockers or racks is not essential for integration into the SPACEHAB Laboratory. Payloads also 

can be accommodated by directly mounting them in the Laboratory. 

Operations Philosophy of the SPACEHAB Program 

In order to help keep development costs within levels appropriate to entrepreneurial enterprises, the Office 

of Advanced Concepts and Technology's (OACT) flight programs accept a certain level of risk in order to 

approach the payloads from the commercial standpoint, including payload development costs incurred by 

industry partners. Each of the investigators is aware of and accepts a self-established level of risk for 

mission success. However, crew and orbiter safety requirements are always fully met. 

Some of the payloads associated with this SPACELAB flight are physically located in the orbiter middeck. 

The middeck space that makes this possible is made available by accommodating in the SPACEHAB 

module other items such as supplies that are normally stowed in the middeck. This operational approach 

best provides for the late installation and early retrieval of payloads with time critical requirements such as 

perishable samples. These payloads remain in the middeck throughout the flight in order to reduce the use 

of critical on-orbit crew time in moving materials from one location to another. The actual relocation of 

payloads on- orbit would also introduce undesirable operational risks. 

The preparations for the flight of SPACEHAB-2 have included the development of a number of backup 

and contingency operations for each payload appropriate to that payload's relative design simplicity. These 

backup procedures include scenarios which might possibly affect crew or orbiter safety, and each payload 

has procedures associated with it that will deactivate and/or safe the payload. Shuttle crew members are 

trained in the use of these procedures. 
Edited by Richard W. Orloff, 01/2001/Page 29 

The SPACEHAB-2 Payload Complement 

The second voyage of the SPACEHAB Space Research Laboratory will contain 12 payloads conducted 

under the CMAM contract. Like SPACEHAB-1, SPACEHAB-2 payloads represent a wide range of space 

experimentation including 9 commercial development of space experiments in materials processing and 

biotechnology, sponsored by five NASA Centers for the Commercial Development of Space (CCDS). 

There are also three supporting hardware and technology development payloads, one from a CCDS, one 

from the Lewis Research Center, and one from the Johnson Space Center. One non-NASA experiment is 

also on this flight. It is attached to the exterior of the module and will collect cosmic dust and debris. 

SPACEHAB-2 will carry seven biotechnology experiments. These experiments range from improving 

drugs to feeding plants, from splitting cells to studying the immune system disorders. Two materials 

processing experiments use furnaces to study sintering of metals and the growth of crystals by vapor 

transport. The third concentration of experiments is in supporting hardware, with two payloads designed to 

obtain data on the low-gravity environment of this SPACEHAB flight, to support data analysis of the other 

investigations, and to further characterize SPACEHAB as a carrier for microgravity experiments. 

The 12th payload will provide a test and demonstration of technology developed by NASA to support 

space flight activities with refrigerator/freezer capability requirements such as life sciences and 

biotechnology. 

Each of the commercial development of space payloads has been screened by the NASA Office of 

Advanced Concepts and Technology (OACT) to review the viability of the commercial aspects of the 

proposed activity as well as the technical soundness. Most of the SPACEHAB-2 payloads have flown on 

the Shuttle before, with this flight representing the continuation of industry-driven research toward a new 

or improved commercial end product or process. Some of the CCDS payloads, including the CCDSsponsored accelerometer, have participated in the NASA OACT Consort series of suborbital sounding 

rocket flights to test hardware operation and gain flight worthiness. 

NASA Centers for the Commercial Development of Space 

The Centers for the Commercial Development of Space (CCDS) program is the cornerstone of NASA's 

commercial development of space activities, generating 10 of the total of 12 flight hardware packages for 

which NASA is leasing services on the flight of SPACEHAB-2. NASA's nationwide CCDS network 

represents a unique example of how government, industry and academic institutions can create partnerships 

that combine resources and talents to strengthen America's industrial competitiveness. The CCDSs are 

designed to increase private sector participation and investment in commercial space-related activities, 

while encouraging U.S. economic leadership and stimulating advances in promising areas of research and 

development. The CCDSs are based at universities and research institutions across the country and benefit 

from links with their industrial partners, each other and with NASA field centers. 

The CCDSs foster industry-driven, space-based, high- technology research in areas such as: materials 

processing, biotechnology, remote sensing, communications, automation and robotics, and space power. 

NASA OACT provides annual funding of up to $1 million to each center, with additional funding to those 

centers to cover specific programs or flight activities, as appropriate. NASA offers the CCDSs its scientific 

and technical expertise through NASA field centers, opportunities for cooperative activities and other 

forms of continuing assistance. A key facet of the CCDSs is the additional financial and in-kind 

contributions and capabilities from industry affiliates, state and other government agencies, which, on the 

average, exceed the NASA funding level. 
Edited by Richard W. Orloff, 01/2001/Page 30 

Through creative and enterprising partnerships with industry, the CCDS program helps move emerging 

technologies from the laboratory to the marketplace with speed and efficiency. The accomplishments of 

CCDS participants include significant advances in a number of scientific fields and hundreds of Earth- and 

space-based applications. As an incubator for future commercial space industries, the CCDS program, 

since its inception, has facilitated a number of new commercial space ventures and supported a wide range 

of ongoing efforts. 

The CCDS program continues to be the key facilitator for U.S. industry involvement in commercial 

development of space activities, encouraging and supporting new and ongoing space- related ventures, as 

well as spawning research and development advancements that promise enormous social and economic 

benefits for all. 

Equipment for Controlled Liquid Phase Sintering Experiments 

The Consortium for Materials Development in Space (CMDS) based at the University of Alabama in 

Huntsville (UAH) has developed the Equipment for Controlled Liquid Phase Sintering Experiments 

(ECLiPSE). Wyle Laboratories supported the development of ECLiPSE which flew successfully on STS57 SPACEHAB-01. This furnace was developed in a very rapid and cost-effective manner. ECLiPSE is 

now available as space- qualified hardware and is a key part of this nation's commercial space 

infrastructure. 

On STS-60, the SPACEHAB-2 ECLiPSE experiment investigates the Liquid Phase Sintering (LPS) of 

metallic systems. Sintering is a well-characterized process by which metallic powders are consolidated into 

a metal at temperatures only 50% of that required to melt all of the constituent phases. In LPS, a liquid 

coexists with the solid, which can produce sedimentation, thus producing materials that lack homogeneity 

and dimensional stability. To control sedimentation effects, manufacturers limit the volume of the liquid. 

The ECLiPSE experiment examines metallic composites at or above the liquid volume limit to more fully 

understand the processes taking place and to produce materials that are dimensionally stable and 

homogeneous in the absence of gravity. 

The ECLiPSE project is focused on composites of hard metals in a tough metal matrix. This composite will 

have the excellent wearing properties of the hard material and the strength of the tough material. 

Applications of such a composite include stronger, lighter, more durable metals for bearings, cutting tools, 

electrical brushes, contact points and irregularly shaped mechanical parts for high stress environments. 

Kennametal, Inc., is an industry partner of the UAH CMDS participating in the ECLiPSE experiment and 

has immediate applications for material improvements in the ceramic composites tested. Kennametal, one 

of the nation's largest cutting tool manufacturers, is developing stronger, more durable tool bits and cutting 

edges. Other industry partners on the ECLiPSE project are Wyle Laboratories, Automatic Switch 

Company, Parker Hannifin Corporation, and Machined Ceramics. 

Preparation of the ECLiPSE payload begins with the compaction of two or more metal powders under high 

pressure (11.2 tons/sq. in.) to form a composite. Once compacted, the composites are cleaned and installed 

into the ECLiPSE high temperature furnace for flight. A Wyle Laboratories-designed Universal Small 

Experiment Container (USEC) will house the furnace assembly within the SPACEHAB Space Research 

Laboratory rack. In operation, the ECLiPSE payload is first evacuated, pressurized with argon gas and 

switched on by the crew. The furnace then autonomously heats to a temperature in excess of 2000{F, 

which is above the melting point of one of the metals in the composite samples. The samples then undergo 

the rearrangement and solution re-precipitation stages of LPS. The hardware performs purge, heat-up, 

processing, quench and cool down cycles. The total time for all operations is slightly more than 10 hours. 
Edited by Richard W. Orloff, 01/2001/Page 31 

ECLiPSE is mounted in a SPACEHAB single rack. During on- orbit operations, a crew member monitors 

the indicators on the front of the payload to show the health of the hardware and progress of the experiment 

through the operating cycles. Once the unit has completed all cycles, a crew member connects a Payload 

General Support Computer (PGSC) to the ECLiPSE, downloads the data stored inside the ECLiPSE 

process control computer and then shuts down the experiment. The Shuttle flight of the ECLiPSE payload 

is building on the experience of other ECLiPSE flights on suborbital rockets. Suborbital flights have 

provided 1-3 minutes of sample processing time and now the longer flight durations possible on the Shuttle 

are required. Because the hardware was originally designed to fly in suborbital rockets, it is very 

automated, requiring little crew interaction. 

Principal Investigator for ECLiPSE is Dr. James E. Smith Jr., Associate Professor and Chairman, 

Department of Chemical and Materials Engineering, The University of Alabama in Huntsville. 

Space Experiment Furnace 

The Space Experiment Facility (SEF) is a space flight furnace system managed by the Consortium for 

Materials Development in Space (CMDS) based at the University of Alabama in Huntsville (UAH). The 

SEF was manufactured by Boeing Commercial Space Development Company, Seattle, WA, and is similar 

to Boeing's Crystals by Vapor Transport Experiment (CVTE) furnace which flew in October 1992 on STS52. 

The initial objective of the SEF project was to provide a vapor transport crystal growth furnace for use by 

the CCDSs. The SEF system has the capability to carry one, two or three separate furnaces at one time and 

has room for two samples in each furnace, for a total of up to six samples. The CVTE was designed as a 

middeck facility while the SEF has been adapted for flight in the SPACEHAB Space Research Laboratory 

and is mounted in a SPACEHAB single rack. This is the first flight of the SEF. 

The SEF has two transparent furnaces available for operations at various temperatures up to approximately 

800 degrees C, but only one of these will be flown and used aboard SPACEHAB-2. The third furnace has 

an opaque core design that allows it to reach temperatures up to 1080<C to satisfy higher temperature 

requirements. 

The SEF differs from UAH's other furnace, ECLiPSE, in several ways. First, the SEF can process different 

types of crystals, notably crystals grown from vapor. Second, the furnace will process the samples in 

transparent ampoules that can be monitored by the crew and adjusted to optimize crystal growth. Third, the 

sample ampoules can be translated within the furnace to control the applied temperature gradients. And, 

fourth, while the opaque furnace can be used for metal and alloy processes, such as liquid metal sintering, 

it can provide temperature gradients as compared to the isothermal characteristics of ECLiPSE. Thus, 

although the original CVTE furnace was designed to process crystals, SEF operations are not being 

restricted to crystal growth. For instance, on SPACEHAB-2, UAH will be using the opaque core for its 

Sintered and Alloyed Materials project. The Consortium for Commercial Crystal Growth at Clarkson 

University, another CCDS, will use a transparent furnace for growth of Cadmium Telluride crystals using 

vapor transport techniques. 

The industry affiliates involved in designing, fabricating, and integrating the SEF for SPACEHAB-2 flight 

are: Boeing Commercial Space Development Company, Seattle, WA; McDonnell Douglas Aerospace - 

Huntsville, Huntsville, AL; and Wyle Laboratories, Huntsville, AL. 

The Principal Investigator for the UAH/CMDS Sintered and Alloyed Materials project which will use the 

opaque core furnace in the SEF for SPACEHAB-2 is Dr. James E. Smith Jr., Associate Professor and 

Chairman, Department of Chemical and Materials Engineering, The University of Alabama in Huntsville. 

Dr. Smith is also the P.I. of the ECLiPSE furnace experiment which will be flying on SPACEHAB-2. The 

Principal Investigator for the Clarkson-sponsored Cadmium Telluride activity is Professor Herbert 

Wiedemeier of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. 
Edited by Richard W. Orloff, 01/2001/Page 32 
Edited by Richard W. Orloff, 01/2001/Page 33 

ASTROCULTURETM 

The ASTROCULTURETM payload is sponsored by the Wisconsin Center for Space Automation and 

Robotics (WCSAR), a NASA Center for the Commercial Development of Space (CCDS), located at the 

University of Wisconsin in Madison. 

Extended space ventures that involve human presence will require safe and reliable life support at a 

reasonable cost. Plants play a vital role in the life support system we have here on Earth. Likewise, we can 

expect that plants will be a critically important part of a life support system in space because they can be a 

source of food while providing a means of purifying air and water for humans. Currently, no satisfactory 

plant-growing unit is available to support long-term plant growth in space. Several industry affiliates 

including Automated Agriculture Assoc., Inc., Dodgeville, WI; Biotronics Technologies, Inc., Waukesha, 

WI; Orbital Technologies Corp., Madison, WI; and Quantum Devices, Inc., Barneveld, WI, together with 

WCSAR have embarked on a cooperative program to develop the technologies needed for growing plants 

in a space environment. 

The objective of the ASTROCULTURETM (ASC) series of flight experiments is to validate the 

performance of plant growth technologies in the microgravity environment of space. Each of the flight 

experiments will involve the incremental addition of important subsystems required to provide the 

necessary environmental control for plant growth. The flight hardware is based on commercially available 

components, thereby significantly reducing the cost of the hardware. The information from these flight 

experiments will become the basis for developing large scale plant growing units required in a life support 

system. In addition, these technologies will also have extensive uses on Earth, such as improved 

dehumidification/humidification units, water-efficient irrigation systems, and energy-efficient lighting 

systems for plant growth. 

The ASC-1 flight experiment, conducted during the USML-1 mission on STS-50, evaluated the WCSAR 

concept for providing water and nutrients to plants. The ASC-2 flight experiment, conducted during the 

SPACEHAB-01 mission on STS-57, provided additional data on the water and nutrient delivery concept, 

plus an evaluation of the light emitting diode (LED) based plant lighting concept. Results from both these 

flight experiments indicate that all the goals were achieved and confirmed the validity of these concepts for 

use in space-based plant growing unit. 

The ASTROCULTURETM (ASC-3) flight experiment included in the SPACEHAB-2 mission is designed 

to validate a WCSAR developed concept for controlling temperature and humidity in a closed air loop of 

the plant growth chamber. This unit is capable of both humidifying and dehumidifying the air and does not 

require a gas/liquid separator for recovery of the condensed water as do all other systems now being used 

for dehumidification in space. This condensed water can be used as a source of cooking and drinking 

water. Demonstration of the successful performance in space of this humidity and temperature control 

technology will represent a major advance in our ability to provide superior environmental control for plant 

growth in an inexpensive and reliable space flight package. 

The flight hardware for this mission is accommodated in a SPACEHAB locker located in the module and 

weighs approximately 50 pounds. The ASC-3 flight unit includes the water and nutrient delivery unit, the 

LED-based plant lighting unit, the temperature and humidity control unit, and a microprocessor unit for 

control and data acquisition functions. These subsystems, or units, provide essentially all the environmental 

regulation needed for plant growth. It is expected that the next ASC flight experiment beyond 

SPACEHAB-2 will include plants as a test of the operational effectiveness of the units to support plant 

growth. 

The Principal Investigator on ASTROCULTURETM is Dr. Raymond J. Bula, WCSAR. 
Edited by Richard W. Orloff, 01/2001/Page 34 

Penn State Biomodule 

The Penn State Biomodule (PSB) payload will test the hypothesis that exposure to near zero gravity 

(microgravity) can alter microbial gene expression in commercially useful ways. The payload was 

developed by the Center for Cell Research (CCR), a NASA CCDS based at The Pennsylvania State 

University, and its commercial partner, Novo Nordisk Entotech, Inc. Novo Nordisk Entotech, Inc., is 

located in Davis, California, and is part of Denmark-based Novo Nordisk A/S, a global company with 

diverse business anchored primarily in biotechnology, serving the health care, industrial and agricultural 

sectors. 

Novo Nordisk Entotech develops bioinsecticides, naturally occurring microbes that produce products that 

are toxic to certain insects, but are non-toxic to non-target pests, people and the environment. The company 

is interested in determining if exposure to microgravity can enhance microbial expression, altering the 

growth, toxin production and potency of these environmentally friendly pest-control agents. 

The microbes scheduled to be tested aboard STS-60, Bacillus thuringiensis var. tenebrionis, are known to 

be specifically effective against the Colorado potato beetle. They will be carried in the Penn State 

Biomodule which is being used for the first time aboard the Shuttle. The biomodule is a computercontrolled, fluid-transfer, mixing device developed by the Center for Cell Research. It was flight tested and 

developed aboard the Consort sounding rocket series. 

Eight Biomodules, each containing eight microbial samples, will be housed in a sealed containment vessel 

within a Commercial Refrigeration/Incubation Module (CRIM) located in the middeck. The containment 

vessel was also designed and developed by the Center for Cell Research in conjunction with Commercial 

Payloads, Inc., of St. Louis, MO. 

In its STS-60 configuration, the Biomodule needs no hands- on attention from the astronauts. The device 

automatically provides dynamic temperature regulation, three levels of liquid containment and the ability to 

add two different fluids to each sample at different time intervals during the spaceflight. 

To accelerate postflight data analyses, the CCR has developed a gel encapsulation procedure for bacteria 

that enables quick, efficient, automated, identification of microbes that display altered patterns of gene 

expression. In this technique, individual bacteria are trapped inside tiny (30 micron) gel beads. Using 

fluorescent markers and a flow cytometer, the researchers can quantify bacterial growth and product 

formation within each individual bead. In this way, altered bacteria that over- or under-produce insect 

toxins can be quickly identified, isolated and cultured as part of the postflight analysis. 

CCR scientific affiliates Dr. Zane Smilowitz, Penn State professor of entomology, and Dr. William 

McCarthy, Penn State associate professor of entomology, are co-principal investigators. Penn State 

graduate student Bryan Severyn, an M.S. candidate in entomology, is assisting them. Dr. Chi-Li Liu, 

Manager of Microbiology, is Entotech's representative. Dr. William W. Wilfinger is CCR Director of 

Physiological Testing and principal investigator on the gel encapsulation project. Dr. W. C. Hymer is 

Director of the Center for Cell Research. Dr. Pamela Marrone is President of Novo Nordisk Entotech, Inc. 

BioServe Pilot Laboratory 

The BioServe Pilot Laboratory (BPL) is sponsored by BioServe Space Technologies, a NASA Center for 

the Commercial Development of Space (CCDS) based at the University of Colorado in Boulder. 
Edited by Richard W. Orloff, 01/2001/Page 35 

The BPL will play an important role in providing the commercial and scientific communities affordable 

access to space for material and life sciences research. The main focus of the project is to provide a "first 

step" opportunity to companies interested in exploring materials processing and life science experiments in 

space. The notion ahead the project is to allow industry a mechanism for entry level "proof of concept" 

flights. Thus, the BPL is a crucial screening device for more complex, targeted space research and 

development activities. 

The BPL payload has been designed to support investigations in a wide variety of life sciences areas with 

primary emphasis on cellular studies. Following a successful flight on STS-57 SPACEHAB-01, this 

second BPL flight on SPACEHAB-2 consists of investigations on bacterial products and processes. 

One investigation examines Rhizobium trifolii behavior in microgravity. Rhizobia are special bacteria that 

form a symbiotic relationship with certain plants. The bacteria infect the plants early in seedling 

development to form nodules on the plant roots. The bacteria in these nodules derive nutritional support 

from the plant while in turn providing the plant with nitrogen fixed from the air. Plants that form such 

relationships with rhizobia are called legumes and include alfalfa, clover and soybean. Such plants do not 

require synthetic fertilizers to grow. In contrast, many important crop plants such as wheat and corn are 

dependent on synthetic fertilizers since they do not form symbiotic relationships with rhizobia. 

The experimental system employing Rhizobium trifolii is a model that can be used to better understand the 

multi-step process associated with rhizobia infection of legumes. Once understood, it may become possible 

to manipulate the process to cause infection of other crop plants. The potential savings in fertilizer 

production would be tremendous. 

One of the commercial goals of the BioServe Center is to determine whether microgravity might be 

exploited as a tool for rhizobial infection of significant crop plants. This BPL investigation along with 

complementary investigations in BioServe's Commercial Generic Bioprocessing Apparatus (CGBA) also 

flying in the SPACEHAB Space Research Laboratory should provide data needed to address this goal. 

Another investigation being flown in the BPL concerns bacteria. 

E. coli. These bacteria are normally found in the gastrointestinal tracts of mammals, including humans. E. 

coli have been well studied as a model system for bacterial infection and population dynamics and in 

genetics research. With regard to commercial application, the genetic material in E. coli has been 

manipulated to produce bacteria capable of secreting important pharmaceutical products. These bacteria 

also serve as a model for bacteria used in waste treatment and water reclamation. 

For STS-60, these bacteria are being studied to determine changes in growth and behavior that occur as a 

consequence of exposure to microgravity. The commercial objectives for this investigation include 

understanding and controlling bacterial infection in closed environments, exploiting bacteria and other 

micro-organisms in the development of ecological life support systems and waste management, and 

determining the opportunity for enhanced genetic engineering and enhanced pharmaceutical production 

using bacterial systems. 

Yet another BPL investigation examines a biomedical test model based on cells derived from frog kidney. 

This investigation is intended to provide insight into effects of microgravity on cell behavior -- especially 

cell division. Gravitational effects on such cell systems may be used as models of diseases or disorders that 

occur on Earth. For STS- 60, the kidney cell system is being examined to determine feasibility for use as 

such a test model. 
Edited by Richard W. Orloff, 01/2001/Page 36 

On STS-60, the BPL will consist of 40 Bioprocessing Modules (BPMs) stowed in a standard middeck 

locker. The BPMs will contain the biological sample materials. The stowage locker will also contain an 

Ambient Temperature Recorder (ATR) which will provide a temperature history of the payload throughout 

the mission. 

Each BPM consists of three syringes held together on an aluminum tray. Generally, the center syringe in 

each BPM will be loaded with the cell culture system. Adjacent syringes will contain process initiation and 

termination fluids, respectively. A three-way valve is mounted on the trays which permits fluid transfer 

from one syringe to the next. The syringes, valve tubing and fittings provide for containment of the sample 

materials. The hardware is further enclosed in heat-sealed plastic bags to provide additional levels of 

containment. 

Some of the BPMs will be fitted with a special filter at the front of the center syringe. This filter allows 

fluids, but not cells, to pass in and out of the center syringe. With these special BPMs, products secreted by 

the cells under study can be separated from the cells on orbit and preserved, without the need for a fixative 

that would damage the secreted products. 

Approximately 26 hours after reaching orbit, a crew member will initiate the various investigations within 

the BPMs. Typically, this is done by removing each BPM from stowage, turning the three-way valve and 

pushing a syringe plunger to transfer the initiation solution into the center syringe. 

The BPMs will be terminated at predetermined time points throughout the mission. Similar to initiation, the 

three-way valve is turned and the plunger on the center syringe is pushed to transfer cell materials into the 

termination solution. In some instances, only part of the contents of the center syringe will be transferred. 

This will effectively produce two samples for analysis, one that is terminated and another that continues to 

develop during the balance of operations. 

For most of the investigations, simultaneous ground controls will be run. Using similar hardware and 

identical sample fluids, ground personnel will activate and terminate BPMs in parallel with the flight crew. 

Synchronization will be accomplished based on voice downlink from the crew. Ground controls will be 

conducted at the SPACEHAB Payload Processing Facility at Cape Canaveral, Fla. 

After the orbiter has landed, the stowage locker containing the BPMs will be turned over to BioServe 

personnel for deintegration. Some sample processing will be performed at the landing site. However, most 

BPMs will be shipped or hand- carried back to the sponsoring laboratories for detailed analysis. 

Dr. Marvin Luttges, Director of the BioServe CCDS, is Program Manager. Drs. Louis Stodieck and 

Michael Robinson, also of BioServe, are responsible for mission management. 

Commercial Generic Bioprocessing Apparatus 

The Commercial Generic Bioprocessing Apparatus (CGBA) payload is sponsored by BioServe Space 

Technologies, a NASA Center for the Commercial Development of Space (CCDS), located at the 

University of Colorado, Boulder. The purpose of the CGBA is to allow a wide variety of sophisticated 

biomaterials, life sciences and biotechnology investigations to be performed in one device in the low 

gravity environment of space. 

During the STS-60 mission, the CGBA will support 32 separate commercial investigations, which can be 

classified in three application areas: biomedical testing and drug development, controlled ecological life 

support system (CELSS) development and agricultural development and manufacture of biological-based 

materials. These areas and investigations are shown in the following three tables. 
Edited by Richard W. Orloff, 01/2001/Page 37 

Biomedical Testing and Drug Development -- To collect information on how microgravity affects 

biological organisms, the CGBA will include twelve biomedical test models. Of the twelve test models, 

four are related to immune disorders: one will investigate the process in which certain cells engulf and 

destroy foreign materials (phagocytosis); another will study bone marrow cell cultures; two others will 

study the ability of the immune system to respond to infectious-type materials (lymphocyte and T-cell 

induction); and one will investigate the ability of immune cells to kill infectious cells (TNF-Mediated 

Cytotoxicity). 

The other eight test models -- Which are related to bone and developmental disorders, toxicological wound 

healing, cancer and cellular disorders -- will investigate bone tissue, miniature wasp development testing, 

brine shrimp development, inhibition of cell division processes, stimulation of cell division processes and 

the ability of protein channels to pass materials through cell membranes. 

Test model results will provide information to better understand diseases and disorders that affect human 

health, including cancer, osteoporosis and AIDS. In the future, these models may be used for the 

development and testing of new drugs to treat these diseases. 

Closed Agricultural Systems Development -- To gain knowledge on how microgravity affects microorganisms, small animal systems, algae and higher plant life, the CGBA will include 11 ecological test 

systems. One of the test systems will examine miniature wasp development. Five separate studies will 

concern seed germination and seedling processes related to CELSS development. Another four test systems 

will investigate bacterial products and processes and bacterial colonies for waste management applications. 

Finally, another system will study new materials to control build-up of unwanted bacteria and other microorganisms. 

Test system results will provide research information with many commercial applications. For example, 

evaluating higher plant growth in microgravity could lead to new commercial opportunities in controlled 

agriculture applications. Test systems that alter micro-organisms or animal cells to produce important 

pharmaceuticals could later be returned to Earth for large-scale production. Similarly, it may be possible to 

manipulate agricultural materials to produce valuable seed stocks. 

Biomaterials Products and Processes -- The CGBA also will be used to investigate nine different 

biomaterials products and processes. Two investigations will attempt to grow large protein and RNA 

crystals to yield information for use in commercial drug development. A third investigation will evaluate 

the assembly of virus shells for use in a commercially-developed drug delivery system. Two other 

investigations will use fibrin clot materials and collagen as a model of potentially implantable materials 

that could be developed commercially as replacements for skin, tendons, blood vessels and even cornea. 

Three investigations will focus on drug development. One will be using plant tissue cultures to create the 

anti-cancer drug taxol. The second will be looking at the bacteria E. coli and its resistance to drugs in 

microgravity. The third investigation will be looking at yeast reproduction as a drug production process. 

Results from the 32 investigations will be carefully considered in determining subsequent steps toward 

commercialization. STS-60 marks the fourth of six CGBA flights. Future flights will continue to focus on 

selecting and developing investigations that show the greatest commercial potential. 

The CGBA consists of 432 Fluids Processing Apparatuses (FPAs) packaged in 54 Group Activation Packs 

(GAPs). Each GAP will house eight FPAs. The FPAs will contain biological sample materials which are 

mixed on-orbit to begin and end an experiment. Individual experiments will use two to 24 FPAs each. 192 

FPAs in 24 GAPs will be stored in the SPACEHAB Space Research Laboratory in two standard stowage 

lockers; these samples are less time critical than the others with regard to installation or retrieval. 240 FPAs 

in 30 GAPs will be stored on the middeck of the orbiter in 3 standard stowage lockers or locker 

equivalents. 144 FPAs will be kept at a temperature of 37{C throughout the mission, while 288 FPAs will 

be kept at ambient temperature. Those lockers containing FPA at ambient temperature will also contain 

ambient temperature records (ATRs) which will provide a temperature history of the payload throughout 

the mission. 
Edited by Richard W. Orloff, 01/2001/Page 38 

Fluids Processing Apparatus (FPA) -- Sample materials are contained inside a glass barrel that has rubber 

stoppers to separate three chambers. For each investigation, the chambers will contain precursor, initiation 

and termination fluids, respectively. The loaded glass barrel will be assembled into a plastic sheath that 

protects the glass from breakage and serves as a second level of sample fluid containment. 

The FPAs are operated by a plunger mechanism that will be depressed on-orbit, causing the chambers of 

precursor fluid and the stoppers to move forward inside the glass barrel. When a specific stopper reaches 

an indentation in the glass barrel, initiation fluid from the second chamber is injected into the first chamber, 

activating the biological process. 

Once processing is complete, the plunger will again be depressed until the termination fluid in the third 

chamber is injected across the bypass in the glass barrel into the first chamber. 

Group Activation Packs (GAP) -- The GAP consists of a 4- inch diameter plastic cylinder and two 

aluminum endcaps. Eight FPAs will be contained around the inside circumference of the GAP cylinder. A 

crank mechanism extends into one end of the GAP and attaches to a metal pressure plate. By rotating the 

crank, the plate will advance and depress the eight FPA plungers simultaneously, significantly facilitating 

crew handling of the FPAs. 

Upon reaching orbit, the crew will initiate the various investigations by attaching a crank handle to each 

GAP. Turning the crank will cause an internal plate to advance and push the plungers on the contained 

FPAs. This action, in turn, causes the fluids in the forward chambers of each FPA to mix. Most of the 

GAPs will be activated on the second flight day. 

The crew will terminate the investigations in a manner similar to activation. Attaching and turning the GAP 

crank will cause further depression of the FPA plungers which will cause the fluid in the rear chamber to 

mix with the processed biological materials. This fluid will typically stop the process or "fix" the sample 

for return to Earth in a preserved state. Each of the 54 GAPs will be terminated at different time points 

during the mission. In this manner, sample materials can be processed from as little as one hour to nearly 

the whole mission duration. 

For most of the investigations, simultaneous ground controls will be run. Using identical hardware and 

samples fluids and materials, ground personnel will activate and terminate FPAs in parallel with the flight 

crew. Synchronization will be accomplished based on indications from the crew as to when specific GAPs 

are operated. A temperature- controlled environment at the SPACEHAB Payload Processing Facility 

(SPPF), Cape Canaveral, Fla., will be used to duplicate flight conditions. 

After the orbiter has landed, the stowage lockers will be retrieved and turned over to BioServe personnel 

for deintegration. Some sample processing will be performed at the SPPF; however, most FPAs will be 

shipped or hand-carried back to the sponsoring laboratories for detailed analysis. 

Dr. Marvin Luttges, Director of the BioServe CCDS, is program manager for CGBA. Drs. Louis Stodieck 

and Michael Robinson, also of BioServe, are responsible for mission management. 
Edited by Richard W. Orloff, 01/2001/Page 39 

SPACEHAB-2 COMMERCIAL GENERIC BIOPROCESSING APPARATUS INVESTIGATIONS 

Biomedical Testing and Drug Development 

These investigations will provide information to develop a better understanding of diseases and disorders 

that affect human health including cancer, osteoporosis and AIDS. These models may be used for the 

development and testing of new drugs to treat these diseases. 

Commercial 

Opportunity PI Affiliation 

Process/Product 

Development 

Experiment 

Description 

University of Alabama, 

Huntsville 

Lymphocyte Induction 

Process 

Examines immune 

system’s ability to 

respond to infectioustype materials. 

T-Cell Induction Test Examines immune 

system’s ability to 

respond to infectioustype materials. 

TNF-Mediated 

Cytotoxicity Test Model 

Examines immune cell’s 

ability to kill infectious 

cells. 

Immune Disorders 

Kansas State University 

Bone Marrow Cell 

Culture Test System 

Studies bone marrow 

cultures in microgravity. 

Bone Disorders Kansas State University Bone Organ Culture 

Test Model 

Studies the effects of 

microgravity on bone 

development. 

Pancreas and Lung 

Development Tests 

Examines organ 

development in 

microgravity. 

Development Disorders Kansas State University 

Brine Shrimp Test 

System 

Examines brine shrimp 

development in 

microgravity. 

Cancer Kansas State University Inhibitor Protein Test 

Model 

Studies inhibition of cell 

division processes. 

Kansas State University Gap Junction Processes Investigates ability of 

protein channels to pass 

materials through cell 

membranes. 

Cellular Disorders 

University of Colorado Cell Division Processes Studies stimulation of 

cell division processes 

Kansas State University Brine Shrimp test 

System Model 

Examines ability of 

brine shrimp to be used 

for toxicity tests. 

Toxicological Testing 

University of Colorado Miniature Wasp Test 

System Model 

Examines ability of 

miniature wasps to be 

used for toxicity tests 
Edited by Richard W. Orloff, 01/2001/Page 40 

ECOLOGICAL TEST SYSTEMS 

These investigations could lead to new commercial opportunities in controlled agriculture applications, 

large scale production on Earth of important pharmaceuticals, and production of valuable seed stocks by 

manipulation of agricultural materials. 

Commercial 

Opportunity PI Affiliation 

Process/Product 

Development 

Experiment 

Description 

University of Colorado Seed Germination 

Products 

Studies seed 

germination in 

microgravity 

Kansas State University Seedling Processes Examines seeding 

processes in 

microgravity. 

University of Colorado Miniature Wasp Test 

System 

Investigates miniature 

wasp development in 

microgravity. 

Kansas State University Bacterial Nitrogen 

Fixation Model 

Studies important 

symbiotic relationships 

between bacteria and 

plants. 

University of Colorado Plant Tissue Culture 

Processes 

Studies secondary 

metabolic production 

during spaceflight. 

Closed Agriculture 

Systems 

University of Colorado Plant Bacterial Infection 

Processes 

Studies important 

symbiotic relationships 

between bacteria and 

plants 

University of Colorado Bacterial products and 

Processes 

Studies bacterial 

products and processes 

in microgravity. 

Kansas State University Bacterial Products and 

Processes 

 Studies bacterial 

products and process I 

microgravity. 

Kansas State University Bacterial Products and 

Processes 

Studies important 

symbiotic relationships 

between bacteria and 

plants. 

Waste Management 

University of Colorado Bacterial Colony Test 

System 

Studies bacterial colony 

products and processes 

in microgravity. 

Microbial Controls Kansas State University Zirconium Peroxide 

product Testing 

Examines effectiveness 

of Zirconium Peroxide 

as a decontaminant. 
Edited by Richard W. Orloff, 01/2001/Page 41 

BIOMATERIALS PRODUCTS AND PROCESSES 

Potential applications of these investigations include commercial drug development and a drug delivery 

system, and the development of potentially implantable materials used commercially as replacements for 

skin, tendons, blood vessels and cornea. 

Commercial 

Opportunity PI Affiliation 

Process/Product 

Development 

Experiment 

Description 

Drug Delivery System Kansas State University Virus Capsid Product Evaluates assembly of 

virus shells. 

Protein Crystal 

Morphology Products 

Growth of large protein 

crystals. 

Drug Development University of Colorado 

RNA Crystal Growth 

Products 

Growth of large RNA 

crystals. 

Data mass Storage Syracuse University Bacteriorhodopsin 

Biomatrix Products 

Formation of more 

homogeneous 

bacteriorhodopsin gels 

for use as mass data 

storage devices. 

Fibrin Clot Materials Use of fibran clot 

materials as a model of 

potentially implantable 

materials. 

Synthetic Implants University of Colorado 

Collagen Materials Use of collagen as a 

model of potentially 

implantable materials. 

Pharmaceutical 

Development 

University of Colorado Taxol Culture Model Investigates the 

production of taxol in 

microgravity. 

Bacterial Drug 

Resistance 

Investigates the effects 

of microgravity on drug 

resistance. 

Drug Development University of Colorado 

Yeast Reproduction Investigates the use of 

yeast as drug producers. 
Edited by Richard W. Orloff, 01/2001/Page 42 

SPACEHAB-2 COMMERCIAL BIOTECHNOLOGY EXPERIMENTS OVERVIEW 

Experiment Sponsor Affiliates 

Experiment 

Description 

Potential 

Commercial 

Applications 

ASTROCULTURE TM Wisconsin Center for 

Space Automation and 

Robotics, Madison, Wis. 

(CCDS) 

Automated Agriculture 

Asssoc., Inc.; Biotronics 

Technologies, Inc.; 

Quantum Devices, Inc.; 

Orbital Technologies Corp. 

Validates technologies for 

supplying water and 

nutrients to plants growing 

in microgravity and 

providing a controlled 

environment. 

Development of an 

enclosed environmental 

system with earth-based 

and space-based uses, 

including improved 

dehumidification/humidific

ation and energy efficient 

lighting. 

Penn State Biomodule Center for Cell Research 

(CCR), St. College, Pa. 

(CCDSW) 

Novo Nordisk Entotech, 

Inc. 

The Biomodule is a 

computer-controlled, fluidtransfer, mixing device. 

The microbes studied in 

the Biomodule are 

specifically effective on 

the Colorado Potato Beetle. 

Improvement of 

environmentally friendly 

pest-control agents. 

BioServe Pilot Laboratory 

(BPL) 

BioServe space 

Technologies, Boulder 

Colorado (CCDS) 

Abbott Labs, Alza, Aquatic 

Products, Chiron, Martin 

Marietta, Spaceport Florida 

Authority, Synchrocell 

Determines the response of 

cells to various hormones 

and stimulating agents in 

microgravity. 

Development of nextgeneration drugs and 

space-grown polymers. 

Commercial Generic 

Bioprocessing Apparatus 

(CGBA) 

BioServe space 

Technologies, Boulder 

Colorado (CCDS) 

Abbott Labs, Alza, Aquatic 

Products, Chiron, Martin 

Marietta, OmniData, 

Spaceport Florida 

Authority, Synchrocell, 

Water Technologies 

Processes biological fluids 

by mixing components in 

a microgravity 

environment. 

Improvement of bioimplantable products, 

immune disease research 

and water management 

systems. 

IMMUNE BioServe Space 

Technologies, Boulder, 

Colorado (CCDS) 

Chiron Corporation The IMMUNE-1 

experiment is a study of 12 

rats. The drug PEG-IL2 

will be used in an attempt 

to alleviate the 

immunosuppression 

induced by the 

environment. 

The experiment may 

provide a new therapy to 

treat the effects of 

spaceflight on the human 

immune system, as well as 

on physiological systems 

effected by the immune 

system. 

Organic Separation 

(ORSEP) 

Consortium for Materials 

Development in Space, 

Huntsville, Ala. (CCDS) 

Interfacial Dynamics 

Corp., Space Hardware 

Optimization Technology, 

Inc. 

Explores the use of phase 

separation techniques in 

microgravity conditions to 

separate cells, cell 

fragments and heavy 

molecules. 

Improvement of techniques 

for processing 

pharmaceutical and 

biotechnology products. 

Commercial Protein 

Crystal Growth (CPCG) 

Center for Macromolecular 

Crystallography, 

Birmingham, Ala. (CCDS) 

Medical Foundation of 

Buffalo 

Growth of high quality 

protein crystals in 

microgravity using 

temperature as the primary 

controlling factor in 

crystallization; one of the 

two systems flying uses 

laser light scattering 

techniques to monitor 

crystallization for 

enhanced control 

Acceleration or enabling of 

drug research and 

development using or 

requiring crystallography 

to determine molecular 

structure. 
Edited by Richard W. Orloff, 01/2001/Page 43 

SPACEHAB-2 SUPPORTING HARDWARE OVERVIEW 

Hardware Sponsor Hardware Operation Potential Applications 

3-Dimensional 

Microgravity 

Accelerometer (3-DMA) 

Consortium for 

Materials Development 

in Space, Huntsville, 

Ala. (CCDS) 

Space Acceleration 

Measurement System 

(SAMS 

NASA Lewis Research 

Center, Cleveland, OH 

Measures accelerations 

in three axes within the 

SPACEHAB to record 

the microgravity levels 

experienced during the 

flight. 

Characterization of lowgravity environment of 

the SPACEHAB Space 

Research Laboratory, 

and the acquisition of 

acceleration data to 

support experiment data 

analysis. 

Two different systems 

are flown to satisfy 

different program 

objectives and to 

correlate the data 

obtained by the two 

systems. This also 

allows the comparison 

of such data with that 

gathered on other flights 

where only one or the 

other system has flown. 
Edited by Richard W. Orloff, 01/2001/Page 44 

SPACEHAB-2 TECHNOLOGY DEVELOPMENT OVERVIEW 

Hardware Sponsor Hardware Operation Potential Applications 

Stirling Orbiter 

Refrigerator Freezer 

(SOR/F) 

NASA Johnson Space 

Center, Houston, Tex. 

Flight test and 

characterization of 

advanced refrigerator 

freezer technology in 

microgravity. 

Enhanced 

refrigerator/freezer 

capability to support 

biotechnology, life 

sciences, and other 

investigation on orbit. 
Edited by Richard W. Orloff, 01/2001/Page 45 

SPACEHAB-2 COMMERCIAL MATERIALS PROCESSING EXPERIMENTS OVERVIEW 

Experiment Sponsor Affiliates 

Experiment 

Description 

Potential 

Commercial 

Applications 

Equipment for Controlled 

Liquid Phase Sintering 

Experiment (ECLiPSE) 

Consortium for Materials 

Development in Space, 

Huntsville, Ala. (CCDS) 

Wyle Laboratories 

Kennametal, Inc. 

Uses a rack-mounted, 

enclosed furnace assembly 

to investigate controlled 

liquid phase of sintering of 

metallic systems in 

microgravity. 

Development of stronger, 

lighter and more durable 

bearings, cutting tools, 

electrical contract points, 

and irregularly shaped 

parts for high stress 

environments 

Space Experiment Furnace 

(SEF) 

Consortium for Materials 

Development in Space, 

Huntsville, Ala. (CCDS) 

Boeing Commercial Space 

Development Company; 

McDonnell Douglas 

Aerospace 

The SEF allows up to three 

separate furnaces in one 

unit. This flight will carry 

one transparent furnace 

and one opaque core 

furnace. 

The opaque furnace will be 

used for a Sintered and 

Alloyed materials project. 

The transparent furnaces 

will be used by the 

Clarkson CCDS for 

CadiumTelluride crystal 

growth. 
Edited by Richard W. Orloff, 01/2001/Page 46 

IMMUNE-1 

The IMMUNE-1 experiment is a middeck payload sponsored by BioServe Space Technologies. BioServe 

is a NASA Center for the Commercial Development of Space (CCDS) at the University of Colorado, 

Boulder, and Kansas State University, Manhattan. The corporate affiliate leading the IMMUNE-1 

investigation is Chiron Corporation, Emeryville, Calif., with NASA's Ames Research Center, Mountain 

View, Calif., providing payload and mission integration support. 

The goal of IMMUNE-1 is to reduce or prevent the changes seen in the immune system of rats after space 

flight. The experiment may provide a new therapy to treat the effects of space flight on the human immune 

system, as well as on physiological systems affected by the immune system. 

Hardware for the IMMUNE-1 experiment consists of two Commercial Animal Enclosure Modules 

(CAEMs). The CAEM is a copy of the Animal Enclosure Module (AEM) developed by the Ames Research 

Center. The CAEM provides life support for the rats. 

IMMUNE-1 is the second experiment to use the CAEM in support of activities to develop the commercial 

uses of space. (The first was the Physiological Systems Experiment, conducted with the Center for Cell 

Research, another NASA CCDS.) The AEM has a considerable successful flight history in support of other 

NASA investigations. 

Each of the two CAEMs in the Shuttle's middeck area will hold six rats. Six of the rats will be treated preflight with a prescribed dosage of a compound similar to the commercially available recombinant 

Interleukin-2, which is known to stimulate the immune system. The compound used in IMMUNE-1 -- 

polyethylene glycol-modified recombinant human Interleukin-2 (PEG-IL-2) -- is longer-lasting than 

recombinant Interleukin-2. It will be used in an attempt to reduce or prevent the suppression of the immune 

system seen in rats flown in space. The other six rats will receive a placebo. 

The rats will live in an environment similar to that of the astronauts in terms of launch stress, length of 

exposure to microgravity, and the forces of Shuttle re-entry and recovery. These conditions are known to 

result in a suppression of the immune system similar to "shipping fever" in cattle. The utility of PEG-IL-2 

in preventing spaceflight-induced effects on the immune system may lead to its use as a therapeutic 

treatment for shipping fever in animals on Earth. 

The longer-lasting PEG-IL-2 probably will be useful in clinical settings in which patients could receive 

less frequent injections, perhaps once a week instead of up to three times a day, as is necessary with 

recombinant IL-2. The development of recombinant IL-2 for treatment of some human cancers is still being 

investigated, although it is licensed for high-dose therapy of kidney cancer in humans. 

Based on recent experimental findings, PEG-IL-2 (and recombinant IL-2) appears to have potential as an 

antiviral, as well as an antibacterial, agent. As such, PEG-IL-2 may become a part of a therapy used to treat 

various opportunistic infections associated with AIDS and other non-AIDS related infectious diseases. 

It also may become part of a standard treatment for the nation's aging population, because aging 

individuals demonstrate decreased levels of Interleukin-2. The PEG-IL-2 treatment could accompany flu 

shots to bolster the immune system of the elderly. These important applications present exciting 

commercial opportunities for Chiron Corp. 

The science team will be led by principal investigator Dr. Robert Zimmerman of Chiron Corp. Co-principal 

investigators are Drs. Marvin Luttges and Keith Chapes of BioServe and Dr. Gerald Sonnenfield of the 

Carolinas Medical Center, Charlotte, N.C. Other investigators include Drs. Richard Gerren, Steven Simske 

and Louis Stodieck, BioServe; Ed Miller, Harrington Cancer Center/Texas Tech University, Amarillo, 

Texas; and Jason Armstrong and Mary Fleet, BioServe. 
Edited by Richard W. Orloff, 01/2001/Page 47 

Organic Separations 

The Consortium for Materials Development in Space (CMDS) based at the University of Alabama in 

Huntsville has developed the Organic Separations (ORSEP) payload for flight on STS-60. 

ORSEP offers the commercial and scientific communities the opportunity to separate cells and particles 

based on their surface properties using a process known as counter current phase partitioning. Such 

separations cannot be carried to equilibrium on Earth because sedimentation influences the separation 

before partitioning equilibrium can be established. It is hoped that equilibrium separations will produce 

subpopulations with nearly identical surface properties rather than with some contamination of surface and 

density that is presently the case with Earth-based users. The potential commercial value of separations 

includes the opportunity to identify subpopulations, to study the purified samples and to culture cell 

subpopulations for cell product. 

The ORSEP hardware was built by Space Hardware Optimization Technology (SHOT), Inc. Floyd Knobs, 

Ind. It is considerably lower cost than existing phase partitioning devices, and SHOT may be able to 

capture a good portion of the commercial market on Earth. The hardware is a modular design which can be 

configured for use with Shuttle middeck, Spacelab, the SPACEHAB Space Research Laboratory, and 

sounding rockets. On this flight, ORSEP will be accommodated in a standard-sized locker located in the 

module. 

It is a multi-sample, multi-step, fully automated device that separates non-biological particles, as well as 

biological cells, particles, macromolecular assemblies and organelles in low gravity via partitioning in 

liquid polymer two-phase systems. The hardware has been designed to perform partitioning in 

microgravity for a long duration because two to three hours are required for each separation step. 

Commercial interests were factored into the hardware design in its multi- sample capability that offers 

temperature control and sterility. On STS-60, the SPACEHAB Space Research Laboratory makes available 

continuous power, which allows for constant heating/cooling for the experiment while the vacuum of space 

provides thermal insulation. As a result of these design features, four samples can be processed through 12 

steps while being held at selected temperatures in a sterile environment. 

The samples that will be processed on STS-60 in the ORSEP apparatus include growth hormone vesicles 

supplied by the Penn State Center for Cell Research along with inert particles for equilibration and 

diagnostics. On STS-60, a new use for the ORSEP hardware as a low-gravity cell culturing facility will be 

demonstrated. The ability of the ORSEP hardware to mix a culture medium with various activators and 

fixture agents in a controlled manner offers several unique advantages over other flight-qualified cell 

culturing hardware. Lymphocytes and bone-marrow cells will be provided by Dr. Marian Lewis at UAH. 

ORSEP has flown on 9 prior Shuttle missions and two suborbital flights as a part of its development. The 

UAH CMDS plans to continue development of ORSEP on additional suborbital rocket flights and 

SPACEHAB missions. 

ORSEP is designed to be capable of fully-automated operations but it relies on crew interaction to 

maximize its results. Full function digital display and interaction controls allow the crew to monitor and 

control the vacuum which will modify the temperature of the experiment. The crew can also control both 

the initiation and operation of the four experiments which provide for potential variations in mission 

operations. The next planned generation of ORSEP is to be designed for use on space station. New samples 

in sterile cassette devices will be launched in the Shuttle. 

The principal investigator of ORSEP is Dr. Robert J. Naumann, University of Alabama in Huntsville. 
Edited by Richard W. Orloff, 01/2001/Page 48 

Commercial Protein Crystal Growth 

The Center for Macromolecular Crystallography (CMC), based at the University of Alabama in 

Birmingham (UAB), is sponsoring Commercial Protein Crystal Growth (CPCG) experiments on STS-60. 

The CMC is a NASA Center for the Commercial Development of Space (CCDS), which forms a bridge 

between NASA and private industry to stimulate biotechnology research for growing protein crystals in 

space and offers other protein crystallography services to a wide range of pharmaceutical, chemical and 

biotechnology companies. 

The objective of space-based protein crystal growth experiments on STS-60 SPACEHAB-2 is to produce 

large, well- ordered crystals of various proteins. These crystals are to be used in ground-based studies to 

determine the three-dimensional structures of the proteins. These experiments also continue to investigate 

how to control and optimize protein crystal growth in order to reduce uncertainties or risks associated with 

using this space-based process as a vital and enabling technology for many critical areas. The 

SPACEHAB-01 protein crystal growth experiments were extremely successful. Three of the seven proteins 

flown produced superior data when compared to the very best crystals ever obtained by Earth-grown 

methods using any other method of crystallization. 

The technique most-widely used to determine a protein's three-dimensional structure is X-Ray 

crystallography, which requires large, well-ordered crystals for analysis. Crystals produced on Earth often 

are large enough to study, but they usually have numerous gravity-induced flaws. However, spaceproduced crystals tend to have more highly-ordered structures that significantly facilitate X-Ray diffraction 

studies. 

Since proteins play an important role in everyday life -- from providing nourishment to fighting diseases -- 

research in this area is quickly becoming a viable commercial industry. Scientists need large, well-ordered 

crystals to study the structure of a protein and to learn how its structure determines a protein's functions. 

Studies of such crystals not only can provide information on basic biological processes, but they may lead 

to the development of food with higher protein content, the production of highly resistant crops and, of 

great importance, the development of more effective drugs. By studying the growth rates of crystals under 

different conditions, scientists can find ways to improve crystal growth in microgravity, thus providing 

higher-quality crystals for study and the ability to produce satisfactory protein crystals that are hard or 

impossible to grow on Earth. For these reasons, the CMC will have conducted protein crystal growth 

experiments on 19 Shuttle missions after completion of STS-60. 

The CPCG experiments are contained in two thermal control enclosures called Commercial 

Refrigerator/Incubator Modules (CRIM) both located in the middeck. Each CRIM contains a Protein 

Crystallization Facility (PCF), and one has been modified with a light scattering (LS) system and is called 

PCFLS. 

The PCF has been successful in inducing crystallization of human insulin by lowering the temperature of 

one end of a cylindrical crystallization chamber from 40{C to 22{C over a period of 24 hours. Since the 

rest of the chamber takes time to match the temperature of the controlled end, the crystals are formed 

within a temperature gradient. 

The light scattering system is designed to detect crystals at the nucleation stage, before they would be 

visible by ordinary microscopy. The information is to be used to alert the astronauts of initial crystal 

formation. After they know that crystals have formed they will decrease the rate at which the temperature 

of the controlled end is changing. This will allow the crystals that have formed to grow more slowly and 

more perfectly in the weightlessness of space. 
Edited by Richard W. Orloff, 01/2001/Page 49 

The light scattering system consists of a laser beam from a laser diode delivered into the sample chamber 

and a photo detector viewing the beam from an angle of 30{. As the protein molecules begin to collect into 

small nuclei, they become larger, hence more efficient, scattering particles, and the laser beam becomes 

brighter. This principle is demonstrated when large dust particles appear brighter than small ones in a 

sunbeam shining through a household window. The increased brightness is seen by the detector, and the 

information is sent to a Macintosh Powerbook computer. This information is graphed on the screen of the 

Powerbook for the astronauts to view and react to. 

The computer evaluates the scattering information and has an alarm that alerts the astronauts of crystal 

formation, but the astronauts must still evaluate the scattering curve to confirm that nucleation has actually 

occurred before modifying the rate of temperature change. Human insulin is the protein to be crystallized 

in this flight of the PCFLS system. 

Due to each protein's short lifetime and the crystals' resulting instability, the protein crystal growth 

experiments will be retrieved within 3 hours of the Shuttle landing and will be returned to the CMC for 

post-flight analyses. This early retrieval is made possible by the quick access to the SPACEHAB 

laboratory after landing. 

The CMC has flown over 50 different types of proteins in space, seeking protein structure data and 

techniques for predictable enhancement by growth in microgravity. Crystallographic analysis has revealed 

that on average 20% of proteins grown in space are superior to their Earth-grown counterparts. As a result 

of advances made by the CMC in its microgravity crystallographic technologies, 40% of the proteins flown 

on the first United States Microgravity Laboratory (USML- 1) mission in July 1992, yielded diffraction 

size crystals, several of which were superior to any previously grown on Earth. 

With continued research, the commercial applications developed using protein crystal growth have 

phenomenal potential, and the number of proteins that need study exceeds tens of thousands. Current 

research with the aid of pharmaceutical companies may lead to a whole new generation of drugs, which 

could be able to help treat diseases such as cancer, rheumatoid arthritis, periodontal disease, influenza, 

septic shock, emphysema, aging and AIDS. These possibilities plus drugs and other products for 

agriculture, proteins for bioprocessing in manufacturing processes and waste management, and other 

biotechnical applications, represent critical capabilities for dealing with the future of our world. 

A number of companies are participating in the CMC's protein crystal growth projects including: BioCryst 

Pharmaceuticals, Inc., Eli Lilly & Co., Schering-Plough Research, Du Pont Merck Pharmaceuticals, 

Sterling Winthrop Inc., Eastman Kodak Co., The Upjohn Co., Smith Kline Beecham Pharmaceuticals, and 

Vertex Pharmaceuticals, Inc. Principal Investigator for the STS-60 protein crystal growth experiments is 

Dr. Charles E. Bugg, Director of the CMC. 

Three-Dimensional Microgravity Accelerometer 

The Consortium for Materials Development in Space (CMDS), is sponsoring the Three-Dimensional 

Microgravity Accelerometer (3-DMA) on the STS-60 mission. The CMDS is a NASA Center for the 

Commercial Development of Space (CCDS) based at the University of Alabama in Huntsville (UAH). 

The acceleration measurements system will help chart the effects of deviations of zero gravity on the 

experiments conducted in space. The microgravity environment inside the SPACEHAB Space Research 

Laboratory will be measured in three dimensions by the 3-DMA at different locations, allowing researchers 

to review experiment results against deviations from zero gravity. This information will be used to 

determine the degree of microgravity achieved inside the SPACEHAB Space Research Laboratory. 3-

DMA will measure disturbances caused by operating various experiments in SPACEHAB and the residual 

microgravity resulting from orbiter rotational motions and by the resistance of extreme upper atmosphere 

fringes. The 3-DMA experiment was successful on the SPACEHAB-01 STS-57 flight; all 
Edited by Richard W. Orloff, 01/2001/Page 50 

twelve accelerometers situated at four different locations worked well and continuously generated data. All 

data desired for the technology development were obtained. 

The 3-DMA hardware consists of four accelerometer assemblies to be located in different parts of the 

SPACEHAB Space Research Laboratory. The accelerometer package is comprised of three remotely 

located standard three-dimensional systems and three new invertible accelerometers in the central unit. The 

signal processing system and the new, unique invertible feature permit measurements of absolute 

microgravity and low-level, quasi-steady, residual accelerations. Those extremely low frequency 

disturbances are particularly detrimental to space processes such as crystal growth and have proven 

difficult to measure in the past. The accelerometers provide the acceleration data to a central control unit 

located in a single locker. The data are recorded in flight on three two-gigabyte magnetic hard drive 

devices. 

A potential application of 3-DMA would be to characterize the microgravity environment of space station 

in support of experiments, research and commercialization activities. Principal Investigator for 3-DMA is 

Jan Bijvoet of the UAH CMDS. 

Space Acceleration Measurement System 

NASA's Microgravity Science and Applications Division at the Lewis Research Center is sponsoring the 

Space Acceleration Measurement System (SAMS) on the STS-60 mission. The SAMS is designed to 

measure and record low-level accelerations during experiment operations. The signals from these sensors 

are amplified, filtered and converted to digital data before being stored on optical disks and sent via 

downlink to the ground control center. SAMS has flown successfully on seven previous Shuttle flights and 

acquired nearly 15 gigabytes of data which represents 50 days of operation. Approximately two gigabytes 

of data will be acquired on the SPACEHAB-2 mission. 

The capacity of SAMS' double-sided optical disk used on Shuttle missions is 400 megabytes. This 

compares to approximately 400 high density floppy disks, or forty standard boxes of ten disks. All the data 

will fit on one optical disk measuring about 5 inches square. 

Three sensors will be flown. One sensor will measure the disturbances near an Environmental Control 

Support System. Another sensor will be located on the support structure of the SPACEHAB Space 

Research Laboratory. The third sensor will be attached to a locker door to determine the level of 

disturbances experienced by experiments in the locker and nearby. Data from all three sensors will be used 

to further characterize the SPACEHAB Space Research Laboratory microgravity environment. SAMS data 

will be compared with data from the Three-Dimensional Microgravity Accelerometer (3-DMA.) 

Scientists may use the SAMS data in different ways, depending on the nature of the science experiment 

and the principal investigators' experience and ground-based testing results. The principal investigators will 

typically look for acceleration events or conditions that exceed a threshold where the experiment results 

could be affected. This may be, for example, a frequency versus amplitude condition, an energy content 

condition or simply an acceleration magnitude threshold. Data from previous missions were used to 

characterize the Shuttle middeck and Spacelab microgravity environment, including disturbances caused 

by thruster firings and crew exercise with the treadmill and bicycle ergometer. 

SAMS flight hardware was designed and developed in-house by the NASA Lewis Research Center. 

Ronald Sicker is the SAMS Project Manager and Richard Delombard is responsible for analyzing SAMS 

data. 
Edited by Richard W. Orloff, 01/2001/Page 51 

Stirling Orbiter Refrigerator/Freezer 

The flight of the Stirling Orbiter Refrigerator/Freezer (SOR/F) on SPACEHAB-2 is a demonstration to 

obtain necessary information and characterization about the operation of Stirling refrigerator/freezer 

technology in microgravity. If proven successful, this technology will be targeted to replace the current 

vapor compression systems, which historically have had marginal reliability and lower theoretical 

efficiencies. 

The Stirling system in the SOR/F uses environmentally benign helium as a working fluid, has an easily 

variable capacity, a quick chill capacity, long life gas bearings, and a motor hermetically sealed within the 

fluid loop, thus avoiding leakage. 

Refrigerator/freezer technology for support of on-orbit investigations has been identified by the NASA 

Office of Life and Microgravity Sciences and Applications, the SOR/F sponsor, as one of its highest 

priority technologies for development. Since microgravity operation of the SOR/F Stirling unit has not 

been proven on orbit, this flight test requirement was established as a requirement before the unit can 

become operational. 

SOR/F is a system the size of two standard lockers and was developed under the auspices of the Life 

Sciences Project Division at the Johnson Space Center. It weighs a total of nearly 100 pounds (97.8 

kilograms) and consumes 50 watts of electricity at refrigerator conditions and 70 watts at freezer 

conditions, with cold set points ranging from -22<C to +10<C. The volume within the refrigerator/freezer 

unit is slightly less than one cubic foot. 
Edited by Richard W. Orloff, 01/2001/Page 52 

SAMPLE RETURN EXPERIMENT 

Principal Investigator: Peter Tsou, Jet Propulsion Laboratory Co-investigator: Donald E. Brownie, 

University of Washington 

The Sample Return Experiment sits on top of the Spacehab Module poised to capture intact cosmic dust 

particles as they come in contact with the 160 capture cells. The capture cells consist of transparent silica 

aerogel with a density of 0.02/ g/cm3

. Silica aerogel is the lowest density known solid material and has 

extremely fine structure, about 50A. 

Cosmic dust particles come from other planetary bodies, remnants of the formation of our solar system, or 

materials of other stellar systems. Capturing them allows detailed laboratory studies needed to gain 

understanding of their composition, type of cosmic processing and even the age. The information will 

contribute to answering the questions pertaining to the origin and development of our solar system and life 

itself. Along with the cosmic dust, space debris and other hypervelocity materials will be captured to 

provide detailed tracing of the sources of these other particles as well. 
Edited by Richard W. Orloff, 01/2001/Page 53 

GET AWAY SPECIAL (GAS) PAYLOADS 

STS-60 is especially significant to the Get Away Special (GAS) program because Discovery will fly the 

100th GAS payload since the program's inception. NASA began flying small self- contained payloads in 

1982. The program, managed by the Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC), Greenbelt, Md., fully utilizes 

the Shuttle's capacity not used by major payloads. It affords the average person a chance to perform small 

experiments in space. The program enhances education with hands-on space research opportunities and 

generates new activities unique to space. Customers also are able to inexpensively test ideas that could later 

grow into major space experiments. The first GAS payload reservation was purchased by R. Gilbert 

Moore. Moore enthusiastically advocated the GAS program throughout aerospace circles. Soon, others 

began depositing money for GAS payload reservations. When Moore, a Martin Thiokol Corporation 

executive, donated the first GAS payload to Utah State University (USU), he presented USU students with 

a new world of hands-on space research. 

USU's first payload was very ambitious. Students put ten experiments into a 5 cubic-foot (.14 cubic-meter) 

GAS container. One experiment grew successive generations of fruit flies to see if microgravity would 

affect their genetic structure. Other tests examined the effects of microgravity on epoxy resin-graphite 

composite curing, brine shrimp genetics, duckweed root growth, soldering, homogeneous alloy formation, 

surface tension, growth rate of algae, and thermal conductivity of a water and oil mixture. 

From this first payload a scholarship program emerged in which undergraduate students could design and 

build experiments to be flown in GAS payloads. Students have since generated payloads totaling numerous 

experiments, while assisting other universities and institutions with their GAS projects. 

Since the program's early days, the GAS team at Goddard have relied on numerous NASA and contractor 

personnel at the Johnson and Kennedy Space Centers. Without their active support, GAS payloads never 

would have left the ground. GAS team members at Johnson helped establish simplified integration, 

operational, and safety documentation procedures. Personnel at Kennedy streamlined techniques and 

procedures for processing payloads from arrival at Kennedy to installation in the orbiters and from their 

postflight removal to their shipment back to the experimenters. As well, Kennedy team members found a 

home for the GAS program on Cape Canaveral. 

An unusual feature of the GAS program is that experimenters are not required to furnish postflight reports 

to NASA. NASA feels that GAS customers can best speak for their own experiments. The payloads results 

can be reviewed in detail by obtaining papers presented by the experimenters at NASA's Get Away Special 

Experimenter's Symposiums. 

To date, 97 payloads have flown on 19 Shuttle missions. STS-60 will fly four GAS experiments as well as 

three other payloads on the GAS bridge. Clarke Prouty is GAS Mission Manager and Lawrence R. Thomas 

is Customer Support Manager for the Shuttle Small Payloads Project at Goddard. The following is a brief 

description of the payloads that will fly on Discovery: 

G-071 The Orbiter Ball Bearing Experiment 

Customer: California State University, Northridge 

Customer Manager: Joan Yazejian 

NASA Technical Manager: Dave Peters 

A team of researchers from California State University, Northridge, have built an experiment apparatus 

called the OBBEX (Orbital Ball Bearing Experiment), to test the effects of melting cylindrical metal pellets 

in microgravity. If successful, this experiment may produce a new kind of ball bearing, which has never 

before been built. 
Edited by Richard W. Orloff, 01/2001/Page 54 

One of the goals of the OBBEX experiment is to create the world's first seamless, hollow ball bearing. The 

hollow characteristic of the ball can improve the service-life rating of a ball bearing. This permits higher 

speeds and higher load applications, and may reduce the friction encountered in normal operation. 

The OBBEX is a self-contained package that provides its own energy needs and is controlled by an onboard computer. The system will be activated by one of the Space Shuttle's crew members at a predetermined time during the flight, starting with a 90-minute process to melt several metal alloy pellets. 

G-514 The Orbiter Stability Experiment 

Customer: Dr. Werner Neupert 

Customer Manager: James Houston 

NASA Technical Manager: Charlie Knapp 

The primary scientific objective of this experiment is to measure the vibration spectrum of the orbiter 

structure that is present during normal orbiter and crew operations. The information received as a result of 

this measurement is valuable for any fine-pointed optical instrument mounted in the orbiter bay, as even 

small orbiter disturbances, such as those that may result from normal crew activity, could have an impact 

on the line-of-sight stability of sensitive optical systems. The net effect is that the vibration spectrum acts 

as a low level acceleration spectrum that may influence experiments requiring a low gravity environment. 

This primary experiment consists of rapid and accurate measurements of the direction of the Sun while the 

orbiter is oriented with the bay (-Z axis) pointed to the center of the Sun with a nominal deadband. It also 

measures the effects of exposure to space environment on over-the-counter medicines and plant seeds. 

Piggy-backing on this experiment are: Morgan State University, Baltimore, Md., Howard University, 

Washington, D.C., and native-American high school students from South Dakota. They are participants in 

the Scientific Knowledge for Indian Learning and Leadership (SKILL) program. 

G-536 The Pool Boiling Experiment 

Customer: NASA Headquarters, Office of Space Science and Applications, 

 Microgravity Sciences Division, Washington, D.C. 

Customer Manager: Warren Hodges 

NASA Technical Manager: Tom Dixon, GSFC 

The Pool Boiling Experiment marks the 100th GAS payload to fly since the program's inception. The 

objective of this experiment is to improve the understanding of the boiling process in microgravity. This 

involves putting a pool of liquid in contact with a surface that can supply heat to the liquid. The experiment 

will observe heating and vapor bubble dynamics associated with bubble growth/collapse and subsequent 

bubble motion. The lack of gravity driven motion makes the boiling process easier to study in 

microgravity. 

This will be the third flight of this payload. The two previous flights have been extremely successful. The 

data in each flight have been used to improve the science return on the next flight. 
Edited by Richard W. Orloff, 01/2001/Page 55 

G-557 The Capillary Pumped Loop Experiment 

Customer: The European Space Agency, The Netherlands 

Customer Manager: Dr. G. Reibaldi 

NASA Technical Manager: Rich Hoffman 

This experiment gives an in-orbit demonstration of the working principle and performances of a two-phase 

Capillary Pumped Loop (CPL), a two-phase Vapor Quality Sensor, and a two- phase multi-channel 

Condenser Profile. It also compares data on CPL behavior in a low-gravity environment with analytical 

predictions resulting from modeling and on-Earth performance. 
Edited by Richard W. Orloff, 01/2001/Page 56 

THE CAPILLARY PUMPED LOOP (CAPL) 

The CAPL payload is sponsored by the Goddard Space Flight Center Earth Observing System project and 

will fly as a Hitchhiker payload on the Space Shuttle. The CAPL experiment will provide a microgravity 

test of a full sized prototype for a capillary pumped thermal control system. This two-phase system utilizes 

an ammonia working fluid to transfer large amounts of heat over long distances at nearly constant 

temperature. Capillary pumped systems will be used for thermal control on Earth Observing System 

satellites and other future missions. 
Edited by Richard W. Orloff, 01/2001/Page 57 

ORBITAL DEBRIS RADAR CALIBRATION SPHERES (ODERACS) 

ODERACS is a project of the Space Sciences Branch of the Solar System Exploration Division at the 

Johnson Space Center, Houston, Texas and NASA Headquarters, Washington, D.C. This experiment 

deploys six spheres of three different sizes from the orbiter payload bay. The spheres range in size from 

two to six inches in diameter (five to 15.2 centimeters). The spheres will be observed, tracked, and 

recorded by ground-based radars and optical telescopes. ODERACS enables end-to-end calibration of the 

radar facilities and data analysis systems. This calibration is particularly geared toward the small debris 

size range. Additionally, ODERACS enables the correlation of controlled empirical optical and radar 

debris signatures to the spheres which have physical dimensions, compositions, albedos, and 

electromagnetic scattering properties. 
Edited by Richard W. Orloff, 01/2001/Page 58 

THE UNIVERSITY OF BREMEN SATELLITE (BREMSAT) 

BREMSAT is a 140 lb. (63 kilogram) small satellite built by the University of Bremen's Center of Applied 

Space Technology and Microgravity (ZARM) under sponsorship of the German Space Agency (DARA). 

This 480 mm (19 inch) deployable satellite is contained in a GAS canister with a Standard Door Assembly 

and a modified GAS Carrier Ejection System. BREMSAT performs the following scientific activities at 

various mission phases before and after satellite deployment: 

• Measures heat conductivity. 

• Measures residual acceleration forces by acceleration sensors to estimate the in-orbit microgravity 

quality onboard BREMSAT. 

• Investigates the density distribution and dynamics of micrometeorites and dust particles in low-Earth 

orbit. 

• Maps atomic oxygen. 

• Measures the exchange of momentum and energy between the molecular flow and the rotating 

satellite. 

• Measures pressure and temperature during satellite re-entry. 
Edited by Richard W. Orloff, 01/2001/Page 59 
Edited by Richard W. Orloff, 01/2001/Page 60 

SHUTTLE AMATEUR RADIO EXPERIMENT (SAREX) 

Students in the U.S. and Russia will have a chance to speak via amateur radio with astronauts aboard the 

Space Shuttle Discovery during STS-60. Ground-based amateur radio operators ("hams") will be able to 

contact the Shuttle through automated computer-to-computer amateur (packet) radio link. There also will 

be voice contacts with the general ham community as time permits. 

Shuttle commander Charles Bolden (license pending) and mission specialists Ronald Sega (license 

pending) and Sergei K. Krikalev (call sign U5MIR) will talk with students in 5 schools in the U.S. and 

Russia using "ham radio." 

Students in the following schools will have the opportunity to talk directly with orbiting astronauts for 

approximately 4 to 8 minutes: 

• Boise Senior High School, Boise, Idaho (WA7QKD) 

• Chariton High School, Chariton, Iowa (KB0IWE) 

• James Bean School, Sidney, Maine (N1IFP) 

• Mars Area Middle School, Mars, Penn (N3HKN 

• House of Science and Technology for Youth, Central Moscow, Russia (UA3CR) 

The radio contacts are part of the SAREX (Shuttle Amateur Radio EXperiment) project, a joint effort by 

NASA, the American Radio Relay League (ARRL), and the Radio Amateur Satellite Corporation 

(AMSAT) 

The project, which has flown on 11 previous Shuttle missions, is designed to encourage public 

participation in the space program and support the conduct of educational initiatives through a program to 

demonstrate the effectiveness of communications between the Shuttle and low-cost ground stations using 

amateur radio voice and digital techniques. 

Information about orbital elements, contact times, frequencies and crew operating schedules will be 

available during the mission from NASA, ARRL (Steve Mansfield, 203/666- 1541) and AMSAT (Frank 

Bauer, 301/ 286-8496). AMSAT will provide information bulletins for interested parties on INTERNET 

and amateur packet radio. 

The ham radio club at the Johnson Space Center, (W5RRR), will be operating on amateur short wave 

frequencies, and the ARRL station (W1AW) will include SAREX information in its regular voice and 

teletype bulletins. 

There will be a SAREX information desk during the mission in the Johnson Space Center newsroom. 

Mission information will be available on the computer bulletin board (BBS). To reach the bulletin board, 

use JSC BBS (8 N 1 1200 baud): dial 713- 483-2500, then type 62511. 

The amateur radio station at the Goddard Space Flight Center, (WA3NAN), will operate around the clock 

during the mission, providing SAREX information and retransmitting live Shuttle air-to-ground audio. 
Edited by Richard W. Orloff, 01/2001/Page 61 

STS-60 SAREX Frequencies 

Routine SAREX transmissions from the Space Shuttle may be monitored on a worldwide downlink 

frequency of 145.55 MHz. 

The voice uplink frequencies are (except Europe): 

 144.91 MHz 

144.93 

144.95 

144.97 

144.99 

The voice uplink frequencies for Europe only are: 

144.70 

144.75 

144.80 

Note: The astronauts will not favor any one of the above frequencies. Therefore, the ability to talk with an 

astronaut depends on selecting one of the above frequencies chosen by the astronaut. 

The worldwide amateur packet frequencies are: 

Packet downlink 145.55 MHz 

Packet uplink 144.49 MHz 

The Goddard Space Flight Center amateur radio club planned HF operating frequencies: 

3.860 MHz 7.185 4.295 21.395 28.650 
Edited by Richard W. Orloff, 01/2001/Page 62 

AURORAL PHOTOGRAPHY EXPERIMENT (APE-B) 

The objectives of the Auroral Photography Experiment-B (APE-B) is to obtain spectral images of orbiter 

thruster emissions, Shuttle glow, air glow and auroral glow. This will be accomplished by photographing 

these phenomena with the on board CCTV cameras and recording the information on two video cassettes. 

Still photos will be taken with a spectrometer assembly consisting of a 35 mm camera, intensifier 

assembly, 55 mm lens, clamp and spectrometer section. The experiment will be operated by the flight crew 

at pre-determined times throughout the mission. 
Edited by Richard W. Orloff, 01/2001/Page 63 

STS-60 CREWMEMBERS 

STS060-S-002 -- Five NASA astronauts and a Russian cosmonaut take a break from training for their 

scheduled flight in space to pose for the traditional crew portrait. In the front (left to right) are astronauts 

Kenneth S. Reightler Jr. and Charles F. Bolden Jr., pilot and commander, respectively. In the middle row 

are astronauts Franklin r. Chang-Diaz and N. Jan Davis, mission specialists. In the back row are 

astronaut Ronald M. Sega (left) and Russia cosmonaut Sergei K. Krikalev, both mission specialists. 

No copyright is asserted fort his photograph. If a recognizable person appears in the photo, use for 

commercial purposes may infringe a right of privacy or publicity. It may not be used to state or imply the 

endorsement by NASA or by any NASA employee of a commercial product, process or service, or used in 

any other manner that might mislead. Accordingly, it is requested that if this photograph is used in 

advertising and other commercial promotion, layout and copy be submitted to NASA prior to release. 

PHOTO CREDIT: NASA or National Aeronautics and Space Administration. 
Edited by Richard W. Orloff, 01/2001/Page 64 

BIOGRAPHICAL DATA 

CHARLES F. BOLDEN, 47, Col., USMC, is the commander (CDR) of STS-60. A native of Columbia, S.C., Bolden 

was selected as an astronaut in 1980 and will be making his fourth Space Shuttle flight. 

Bolden graduated from C.A. Johnson High School in Columbia in 1964; received a bachelor's degree in electrical 

science from the Naval Academy in 1968; and received a master's in systems management from the University of 

Southern California in 1977. 

After flying more than 100 sorties in Vietnam as a Marine Corps aviator, Bolden graduated from the Naval Test Pilot 

School in 1979. Following his selection by NASA, Bolden's first flight was as pilot of Shuttle mission STS-61C in 

January 1986. His second flight was as pilot of Shuttle mission STS-31 in April 1990, and his third flight was as 

commander of STS-45 in March 1992. His technical assignments with NASA have included service as a Special 

Assistant to the Johnson Space Center Director in Houston and as an Assistant Deputy Administrator at NASA 

Headquarters in Washington, D.C. 

Bolden has logged more than 481 hours in space. 

KENNETH S. REIGHTLER Jr., 42, Capt., USN, is the pilot (PLT) of STS-60. Selected as an astronaut in 1987, 

Reightler considers Virginia Beach, Va., his hometown and will be making his second space flight. 

Reightler graduated from Bayside High School in Virginia Beach in 1969; received a bachelor's degree in aerospace 

engineering from the Naval Academy in 1973; received a master's in aeronautical engineering from the Naval 

Postgraduate School in 1984; and received a master's in systems management from the University of Southern 

California in 1984. 

As a Naval aviator, Reightler attended the Naval Test Pilot School in 1978, and, following service as a test pilot for a 

variety of Naval aircraft, later was serving as chief instructor at the test pilot school when selected by NASA. His first 

Shuttle flight was as pilot of STS-48 in September 1991. Reightler has logged more than 128 hours in space and 4,500 

hours flying time in over 60 different types of aircraft. 

DR. N. JAN DAVIS, Ph.D., 40, is mission specialist 1 (MS1) on STS-60. Selected as an astronaut in 1987, Davis 

considers Huntsville, Al., her hometown and will be making her second space flight. 

Davis graduated from Huntsville High School in 1971; received bachelors' degrees in applied biology from the Georgia 

Institute of Technology and in mechanical engineering from Auburn University in 1975 and 1977, respectively; and 

received a master's and a doctorate in mechanical engineering from the University of Alabama in Huntsville in 1983 

and 1985, respectively. 

Davis joined NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in 1979 as an aerospace engineer, where, in 1986, she was named 

team leader in the Structural Analysis Division. Projects with which Davis was involved during her tenure at Marshall 

included structural analysis of the Hubble Space Telescope, the Advanced X-Ray Astrophysics Facility and the 

redesign of the Shuttle solid rocket booster external tank attach ring. After her selection as an astronaut, she first flew 

aboard Endeavour in September 1992 on Shuttle mission STS-47. 

Davis has logged more than 188 hours in space. 
Edited by Richard W. Orloff, 01/2001/Page 65 

BIOGRAPHICAL DATA 

DR. RONALD M. SEGA, Ph.D., 41, is mission specialist 2 (MS2) on STS-60. Selected as an astronaut in 1991, Sega 

considers Northfield, Ohio, and Colorado Springs, Co., his hometowns, and he will be making his first space flight. 

Sega graduated from Nordonia High School, Macedonia, Ohio, in 1970; received a bachelor's degree in mathematics 

and physics from the Air Force Academy in 1974; received a master's in physics from Ohio State University 1975; and 

received a doctorate in electrical engineering from the University of Colorado in 1982. 

Sega completed Air Force pilot training in 1974 and served as an instructor pilot in the Air Force from 1976-1979. 

From 1979-1982, he was on the faculty of the Air Force Academy's Dept. of Physics, and, from 1982 through 1990 

was actively on the faculty of the University of Colorado in Colorado Springs, from which he is currently on a leave of 

absence. From 1989- 1990, while on leave from the University of Colorado, Sega served as research associate 

professor of physics at the University of Houston and is a co-principal investigator of the Wake Shield Facility. 

Sega has logged more than 4,000 hours flying time in aircraft as of Jan. 27, 1994. 

DR. FRANKLIN R. CHANG-DIAZ, Ph.D., 43, is payload commander and mission specialist 3 (MS3) on STS-60. A 

native of San Jose, Costa Rica, Chang-Diaz was selected as an astronaut in 1980 and will be making his fourth space 

flight. 

Chang-Diaz graduated from Colegio De La Salle in San Jose in 1967 and from Hartford High School, Hartford, CT., in 

1969. He received a bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering from the University of Connecticut in 1973; and 

received a doctorate in applied plasma physics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1977. 

Chang-Diaz has been a visiting scientist with the MIT Plasma Fusion Center since 1983, working with the institute to 

develop a future propulsion system for spacecraft based on magnetically confined high temperature plasmas. As an 

astronaut, his non-flight assignments have included starting the Astronaut Science Colloquium Program and the 

Astronaut Science Support Group, implementing closer ties between the astronaut corps and the scientific community. 

Chang-Diaz first flew on STS-61C in January 1986 as a mission specialist. His second flight was on STS-34 in October 

1989, and his third Shuttle flight was on STS-46 in August 1992. 

Chang-Diaz has logged more than 457 hours in space. 

SERGEI KONSTANTINOVICH KRIKALEV, 35, a Russian Space Agency cosmonaut, is mission specialist 4 

(MS4) on STS-60. A native of St. Petersburg, Russia, Krikalev is one of two candidates named by the Russian Space 

Agency to fly on the Space Shuttle. Krikalev is a veteran of two flights in space, both long-duration stays aboard the 

Russian Mir Space Station. 

Krikalev graduated from high school in 1975 and received a mechanical engineering degree from the Leningrad 

Mechanical Institute, now renamed the St. Petersburg Technical University, in 1981. 

Krikalev joined NPO Energia, the Russian industrial organization responsible for manned space flight activities in 

1981, and his duties included testing space flight equipment, developing space operations methods, and ground control 

operations. He worked with the rescue team for the Salyut 7 space station failure in 1985, developing methods for 

docking with the uncontrolled station and for repair of the station. 

Krikalev was selected as a cosmonaut in 1985 and first flew aboard Soyuz TM-7 as a flight engineer. The Soyuz TM-7 

mission was launched Nov. 26, 1988, and the crew stayed aboard the Mir space station until their return on April 27, 

1989. 

His next flight was as flight engineer aboard Soyuz TM-12, the ninth Mir mission, launched on May 19, 1991. 

Krikalev remained aboard the Mir station, performing seven spacewalks during his stay, until his return on March 25, 

1992. 

Krikalev has logged a total of more than 1 year and three months in space. 
Edited by Richard W. Orloff, 01/2001/Page 66 

SHUTTLE FLIGHTS AS OF FEBRUARY 1994 

59 TOTAL FLIGHTS OF THE SHUTTLE SYSTEM -- 34 SINCE RETURN TO FLIGHT 

STS-51 

09/12/93 - 09/22/93 

STS-56 

04/08/83 - 04/17/93 

STS-58 

10/18/93 - 11/01/93 

STS-53 

12/02/92 - 12/09/92 

STS-55 

04/26/93 - 05/06/93 

STS-42 

01/22/92 - 01/30/92 

STS-52 

10/22/92 - 11/01/92 

STS-48 

09/12/91 - 09/18/91 

STS-50 

06/25/92 - 07/09/92 

STS-39 

04/28/91 - 05/06/91 

STS-46 

07/31/92 - 08/08/92 

STS-40 

06/05/91 - 06/14/91 

STS-41 

10/06/90 - 10/10/90 

STS-45 

03/24/92 - 04/02/92 

STS-35 

12/02/90 - 12/10/90 

STS-51L 

01/28/86 

STS-31 

04/24/90 - 04/29/90 

STS-44 

11/24/91 - 12/01/91 

STS-32 

01/09/90 - 01/20/90 

STS-61A 

10/30/85 - 11/06/85 

STS-33 

11/22/89 - 11/27/89 

STS-43 

08/02/91 - 08/11/91 

STS-28 

08/08/89 - 08/13/89 

STS-51F 

07/29/85 - 08/06/85 

STS-29 

03/13/89 - 03/18/89 

STS-37 

04/05/91 - 04/11/91 

STS-61C 

01/12/86 - 01/18/86 

STS-51B 

04/29/85 - 05/06/85 

STS-26 

09/29/88 - 10/03/88 

STS-38 

11/15/90 - 11/20/90 

STS-9 

11/28/83 - 12/08/83 

STS-41G 

10/05/84 - 10/13/84 

STS-51-I 

08/27/85 - 09/03/85 

STS-36 

02/28/90 - 03/04/90 

STS-5 

11/11/82 - 11/16/82 

STS-41C 

04/06/84 - 04/13/84 

STS-51G 

06/17/85 - 06/24/85 

STS-34 

10/18/89 - 10/23/89 

STS-61 

12/02/93 - 12/13/93 

STS-4 

06/27/82 - 07/04/82 

STS-41B 

02/03/84 - 02/11/84 

STS-51D 

04/12/85 - 04/19/85 

STS-30 

05/04/89 - 05/08/89 

STS-57 

06/21/93 - 07/01/93 

STS-3 

03/22/82 - 03/30/82 

STS-8 

08/30/83 - 09/05/83 

STS-51C 

01/24/85 - 01/27/85 

STS-27 

12/02/88 - 12/06/88 

STS-54 

01/13/93 - 01/19/93 

STS-2 

11/12/81 - 11/14/81 

STS-7 

06/18/83 - 06/24/83 

STS-51A 

11/08/84 - 11/16/84 

STS-61B 

11/26/85 - 12/03/85 

STS-47 

09/12/92 - 09/20/92 

STS-1 

04/12/81 - 04/14/81 

STS-6 

04/04/83 - 04/09/83 

STS-41D 

08/30/84 - 09/05/84 

STS-51J 

10/03/85 - 10/07/85 

STS-49 

05/07/92 - 05/16/92 

 

OV-102 

Columbia 

(15 flights) 

OV-099 

Challenger 

(10 flights) 

OV-103 

Discovery 

(17 flights) 

OV-104 

Atlantis 

(12 flights) 

OV-105 

Endeavour 

(5 flights)