Brown maintained a distance from six to 10 statute miles from the satellite for about nine hours while several tests of an experimental communications system on Spartan were conducted, using the Shuttle as a relay station. After a couple of minor problems early on, the communications link has worked well. Spartan normally requires no communications for its studies, and it is capable of performing all of its observations automatically and recording the data gathered onboard without any interaction with the ground. Just before the crew goes to bed this evening, Brown will fire Discovery's jets to further separate from Spartan, slowly moving out to a distance of more than 30 miles from the satellite. Following the satellite release this afternoon, Brown and astronaut John Glenn took time out to speak with reporters at the Johnson Space Center, fielding questions about all aspects of the historic flight during a 40-minute press conference.
Discovery remains in excellent condition.
The crew is scheduled to begin a sleep period at 10 p.m. Central tonight and awaken at 6 a.m. on Monday. During the night, Glenn and fellow Payload Specialist Chiaki Mukai will wear a host of sensors recording their movements and other information as part of the sleep research being conducted during the flight. Discovery is in a 348 by 338 statute mile orbit. The next status report will be issued at 6 a.m. Central time Monday.