- Columbia (17)
- Pad 39-A (51)
- 63rd Shuttle Mission
- 17th Flight OV-102
- Night Launch (9)
- EDO mission
- Spacelab mission
- Longest STS mission to date
- KSC Landing (21)
- Robert D. Cabana (3), Commander
- James D. Halsell (1), Pilot
- Richard J. Hieb (3), Payload Commander
- Carl E. Walz (2), Mission specialist 2
- Leroy Chiao (1), Mission Specialist 3
- Donald A. Thomas (1), Mission Specialist 4
- Chiaki Naito-Mukai (1), Payload Specialist 1
- Jean-Jacques Favier (0), Alternate Payload Specialist (CNES)
- OPF 2 -- 3/18/94
- VAB HB1 -- 6/8/94 6:48pm EDT (Rollover began at 6:07pm)
- IVT -- 6/13/94
- PAD 39A -- 6/15/94 5:42am EDT (Rollout began at 11:26pm)
- TCDT -- 6/21/94 to 6/22/94
- IML-2, APCF, CPCG, AMOS, OARE, MAST, SAREX-II, EDO
Click here for Press Kit
Click here for Additional Info on STS-65
- The International Microgravity Laboratory (IML-2) is the second in a series
of Spacelab (SL) flights designed to conduct research in a microgravity
environment. The IML concept enables a scientist to apply results from one
mission to the next and to broaden the scope and variety of investigations
between missions. Data from the IML missions contributes to the research
base for the space station.
- As the name implies, IML-2 is an international mission. Scientists from the
European Space Agency (ESA), Canada, France, Germany and Japan are all
collaborating with NASA on the IML-2 mission to provide the worldwide science
community with a variety of complementary facilities and experiments. These
facilities and experiments are mounted in twenty 19" racks in the IML 2 Module.
- Research on IML-2 is dedicated to microgravity and life sciences.
Microgravity science covers a broad range of activities from
undestanding the fundamental physics involved in material behavior to
using those effects to generate materials that cannot otherwise be
made in the gravitational environment of the Earth. In life sciences
research, a reduction of gravitation's effect allows certain
characteristics of cells and organisms to be studied in isolation.
These reduced gravitational effects also pose poorly understood
occupational health problems for space crews ranging from space
adaptation syndrome to long-term hormonal changes. On IML-2, the
microgravity science and life sciences experiments are complementary
in their use of SL resources. Microgravity science tends to draw
heavily on spacecraft power while life sciences places the greatest
demand on crew time.
- Life Sciences Experiments and facilities on IML-2 include: Aquatic
Animal Experiment Unit (AAEU) in Rack 3, Biorack (BR) in Rack 5,
Biostack (BSK) in Rack 9, Extended Duration Orbiter Medical Program
(EDOMP) and Spinal Changes in Microgravity (SCM) in the Center Isle,
Lower Body Negative Pressure Device (LBNPD), Microbial Air Sampler
(MAS), Performance Assessment Workstation (PAWS) in the middeck, Slow
Rotating Centrifuge Microscope (NIZEMI) in Rack 7, Real Time Radiation
Monitoring Device (RRMD) and the Thermoelectric Incubator (TEI) both
in Rack 3.
- Microgravity experiments and facilities on IML-2 include: Applied
Research on Separation Methods (RAMSES) in Rack 6, Bubble, Drop and
Particle Unit (BDPU) in Rack 8, Critical Point Facility (CPF) in Rack 9,
Electromagnetic Containerless Processing Facility (TEMPUS) in Rack 10,
Free Flow Electrophoresis Unit (FFEU) in Rack 3, Large Isothermal
Furnace (LIF) in Rack 7, Quasi Steady Acceleration Measurement (QSAM) in
Rack 3, Space Acceleration Measurement System (SAMS) in the Center
Isle, and Vibration Isolation Box Experiment System (VIBES) in Rack 3.
- Other payloads on this mission are: Advanced Protein Crystalization
Facility (APCF) , Commercial Protein Crystal Growth (CPCG), Air Force
Maui Optical Site (AMOS) Calibration Test, Orbital Acceleration Research
Experiment (OARE), Military Application of Ship Tracks (MAST), Shuttle
Amateur Radio Experiment-II (SAREX-II). Columbia is also flying with
an Extended Duration Orbiter (ED0) pallet and no RMS Arm was installed.
This is also the 1st flight of the payload bay door torque box modification
on Columbia and the 1st flight of new OI-6 main engine software.
- Friday, July 8, 1994 at 12:43:00.069am EDT. The launch occured
exactly on time at the beginning of a 2.5 hour launch window. The
countdown progressed smoothly but was held at the T-9 min mark due to
a Return to Launch Site (RTLS) weather constraint. The count was
restarted with the intent to hold again at the T-5 min mark if there
were still constraints. The low pressure heated ground purge in the
SRB aft skirt was not required to maintain the case/nozzle joint
temperatures within the required LCC ranges. The purge was activated
at T-26 minutes for the high flow rate inerting of the SRB aft skirt.
- The weather constraint was cleared at 12:36am leading to an ontime
liftoff. Transatlantic Abort Landing (TAL) sites were Banjul, Gambia
(Prime), Ben Guerir, Morocco (Alternate). Preliminary data indicates
that the flight performance of both RSRMs was well within the
allowable performance envelopes, and was typical of the performance
observed on previous flights. The RSRM propellant mean bulk
temperature (PMBT) was 81 degrees F at liftoff.
Onorbit APU shutdown commenced at 12:58 EDT while Columbia was in an initial
transfer orbit of 78nm over the Atlantic.
- Personnel aboard the solid rocket booster retrieval ships
spotted the boosters soon after splashdown and were on station at
about 1:15 p.m. EDT to begin recovery operations.
- Altitude: 160 nm (184 sm)
- Inclination: 28.45 degrees
- Orbits: 235
- Duration: 14 days, 17 hours, 55 minutes, 00 seconds.
- Distance: 6,143,000 miles
- SRB: BI-066
- SRM-L: 360P039A
- SRM-R: 360W039B
- ET : ET-64
- MLP: 3
- SSME-1: SN-2019 (30 starts, 11,216 sec)
- SSME-2: SN-2030 (30 starts, 9,453 secs)
- SSME-3: SN-2017 (18 starts, 6,639 secs)
- KSC, July 23 at 6:38:01 am EDT on Kennedy Space Center.
- Shuttle Landing Facility Runway 33. Columbia landed on the 1st of two
landing opportunities (6:38 EDT or 8:13 am EDT). Backup landing opportunity
would have been at Edwards at 8:39am EDT. Nose Wheel touchdown was
at 6:38:18 am EDT and wheel stop at 6:39:09 EDT. This gives the crew
of Columbia the distinction of being the longest Shuttle mission to date
(surpassing Columbias SLS-2 launch aboard STS-58 on 10/18/93) and the
longest duration US space mission since the 84 day Skylab SL-4 mission
by Gerald P. Carr, William R. Pogue and Edward G. Gibson on 2/8/74.
- The two landing opportunities for Columbia at the KSC Shuttle Landing
Facility on 7/22/94 (at 6:47 a.m. EDT and 8:23 a.m. EDT) were waived
due to cloud cover east of the runway that was expected to drift over
the SLF. Weather at Edwards was favorable but flight controllers
decided to keep Columbia in orbit one extra day and try for a KSC
landing on 7/23/94.
- On Friday, July 8, 1994 at 6 p.m., STS-65 MCC Status Report # 1
reports: Carrying IML-2, Columbia is now in a 163 by 160 nautical mile
orbit. Onboard, the Red Team crew members -- Commander Robert D. Cabana,
Pilot James D. Halsell, Payload Commander Richard J. Hieb and Japanese
Payload Specialist Chiaki Naito-Mukai -- are in the last half of their
first work shift of the two-week mission. Their crew mates -- Blue Team
members Donald A. Thomas, Leroy Chiao and Carl E. Walz -- are in the midst
of a six- hour sleep period and will take over duties aboard at 10:28 p.m.
for a 12-hour shift. Late in the afternoon, commander Robert D. Cabana
played a videotape of Columbia's cockpit recorded during the liftoff and
climb to orbit for flight controllers in Mission Control, describing the
ascent as the tape played.
- On Friday, July 8, 1994 at 7 p.m., STS-65 Payload Status Report # 1 reports:
One of the most complex science missions in the 11-year history of the
Spacelab program got underway this afternoon as the seven-member STS-65 crew
powered up the second International Microgravity Laboratory (IML-2) payload.
The 14-day flight schedule is packed with more than 80 experiments, to be
performed in 19 life-science and microgravity-science facilities. The
ambitious research agenda builds on experience gained from previous Spacelab
missions, with approximately twice the number of experiments and facilities as
its predecessor, IML-1, which flew in January 1992.
- More than 200 scientists representing six space agencies from around
the world contributed to IML-2. Their investigations will cover scientific
questions that can best be answered away from gravity's influence. Experiments
studying human physiology, aquatic animals or cultured cells will help reveal
the role gravity plays in shaping life on Earth. Investigations of fluids and
materials will uncover more about basic mechanisms which affect nearly every
- Payload Specialist Chiaki Naito-Mukai of Japan began the first IML-2
experiment operations at 2:35 p.m. CDT, when she activated the European Space
Agency's Advanced Protein Crystallization Facility. Housed in two orbiter
middeck lockers, it will operate automatically throughout the mission. The
versatile space facility is the first to use three different crystal growth
methods, allowing scientists to choose the best conditions for their
experiments. Scientists from the U.S. and seven European countries are growing
biologically important protein crystals which are difficult to produce on
Earth. Some 5,000 video images of the crystals made during flight will help
them determine the physical mechanisms which govern protein crystal growth.
- Post-flight analysis of the space-grown crystals will help determine
their structure and function, important for a better understanding of living
systems and the development of advanced medicines. For instance, the
pharmaceutical industry uses structural information to design a drug which
binds to a specific protein, blocking a chemically active site. Such a drug
fits a protein like a key in a lock to "turn off" the protein's activities,
thus possibly regulating metabolic processes.
- Payload Commander Rick Hieb, Pilot Jim Halsell and Mukai floated into
the Spacelab module at 3:21 p.m. Hieb and Halsell had the lab up and running
ahead of schedule, just minutes after 4 p.m. Payload operations control from
the Marshall Space Flight Center's Spacelab Mission Operations Control facility
in Huntsville began about a half hour later.
- Chiaki Naito-Mukai activated the IML-2 payload, then checked out
the European Space Agency's Biorack facility in preparation for
loading its many sample containers. The perishable biological
specimens were stored on the orbiter middeck shortly before launch.
Various containers holding samples for the facility's 19 life science
investigations will be relocated for experiment processing more than
2,000 times during the mission.
- Operation of most of the remaining IML-2 facilities will begin over the
next 12 hours. Crew members will continue activating Biorack experiments, look
in on the fish and newts in Japan's Aquatic Animal Experiment Unit, and take a
mental performance test on a laptop computer for comparison with tests made
later in the mission. They will start up radiation and motion detectors to
monitor the Spacelab environment. The first experiments will begin in the
European Space Agency's Critical Point Facility and Germany's Slow-Rotating
- On Saturday, July 9, 1994 at 6 a.m., STS-65 MCC Status Report # 2 reports:
The Blue Team astronauts -- Mission Specialists Carl Walz, Don Thomas and Leroy
Chiao -- began the first shift of operational research after the Red Team --
Commander Bob Cabana, Pilot Jim Halsell, Payload Commander Rick Hieb and
Japanese Payload Specialist Chiaki Mukai -- powered up International
Microgravity Lab-2 and checked out the lab's equipment. As the Blue Team
works, the Red team is awakening after an 8-hour sleep shift.
- While Chiao and Thomas worked in the Spacelab module tucked in Columbia's
payload bay, Walz took care of orbiter housekeeping chores, and performed the
first run on the Performance Assessment Workstation, or PAWS. Using graphic
input devices that coincide with targets on a computer screen, crew members
will record the effects of microgravity on the cognitive skills required for
successful performance of many tasks during the mission. The laptop computer
will record the speed and accuracy of the cursor movements, and the time
required to interpret the displayed instruction throughout the flight.
On Saturday July 9, 1994 at 6 p.m., STS-65 MCC Status Report # 3 reports:
Commander Bob Cabana and Pilot Jim Halsell managed activities in the crew
compartment of the orbiter while the rest of the Red Team, consisting of
Mission Specialist Rick Hieb and Payload Specialist Chiaki Mukai, spent
their first full day in space working in the laboratory.
- Other than a short-lived problem with the bathroom aboard Columbia,
all vehicle systems are performing well, with no problems being tracked
by flight controllers in Mission Control. The Waste Containment
System, or WCS, experienced a problem with the solid waste compactor
piston when the unit became stuck briefly. Halsell worked a procedure
to check the unit and it has functioned fine since. Inside the
Spacelab module, the astronaut team is working on a system that relays
Japanese life-sciences experiment data to scientists on the ground. One
data channel on the radiation monitoring experiment was not functioning
- Cabana hooked up the onboard ham radio, called SAREX for Shuttle Amateur
Radio Experiment and talked with middle school students at the Bair Middle
School in Sunrise, Florida.
- On Sunday, July 10, 1994 at 6 a.m., STS-65 MCC Status Report # 4 reported:
The Red Team of astronauts aboard Columbia began its third duty shift of the
14-day mission this morning as near continuous operations in the pressurized
Spacelab module gather more and more data for scientists participating in the
International Microgravity Laboratory-2 mission.
- Commander Bob Cabana and Pilot Jim Halsell took take care of activities in
the crew compartment while Mission Specialist Rick Hieb and Payload Specialist
Chiaki Mukai spent their second day working in the laboratory. The Blue
Team of Mission Specialists Carl Walz, Leroy Chiao and Don Thomas began its
sleep shift about 9:30 a.m. CDT after a smooth shift. Neither the crew nor
flight controllers in Houston reported any significant problems overnight.
- One highlight was a television interview with Cleveland natives Walz and
Thomas by a hometown television station. Displaying Cleveland penants,
stickers and shirts, the pair discussed how important the STS-65 experiments
are to long-duration space flight, how their academic studies helped them to
become astronauts and how the Apollo 11 lunar landing motivated them 25
- On Sunday, July 10, 1994 at 6 p.m., STS-65 MCC Status Report # 5 reported:
Routine housekeeping was the order of business today as Columbia
circles the Earth virtually trouble free continuing to provide a
stable platform for the around the clock science work ongoing in the
Spacelab module. Commander Bob Cabana and Pilot Jim Halsell are in
charge of Orbiter upkeep while Mission Specialist Rick Hieb and
Payload Specialist Chiaki Mukai continue science work in the
laboratory in support of the second International Microgravity
- Both Hieb and Mukai spent time in a device designed to help
astronauts counter the effects of microgravity on the human body. The
lower body negative pressure device, or LBNP, is used to create a
vacuum that pulls fluids back into the lower portions of the body as
it is on Earth.
- While Halsell reviewed his landing skills on the portable in-flight
landing trainer, called PILOT, Cabana conducted a tour of the Orbiter
watching over the shoulders of crew members as they performed various
experiments throughout the spacecraft. He ended the tour with views
of the Earth from the operating altitude of 163 nautical miles.
- Mission manager Lanny Upton reported that Columbia astronaut Richard
J. Hieb reseated an electrical connector on a cable used to transmit
data to the Payload Operations Control Center (POCC) in Huntsville.
Data is now flowing between the medical experiments that use this
connection and the shuttles onboard recorder and downlink antenna
system. Previous to the fix, astronauts were manually reading out
some important data and sending it down to scientists on the ground.
They were also making use of an onboard camcorder to videotape some
experiment data and send it in lew of using a camera built into the
- On Monday, July 11, 1994 at 6 a.m., STS-65 MCC Status Report # 6 reported:
The STS-65 astronauts remain focused on the work at hand as Columbia
continues to provide a trouble-free environment for microgravity
research. The only difficulty reported during the Blue Team's shift was the
early termination of an excess supply water dump. The dump was stopped
when nozzle temperatures were seen to be dropping too fast. Mission
Specialist Carl Walz walked through a series of test procedures
designed to determine whether ice had formed on the nozzle.
- On Monday, July 11, 1994 at 6 p.m., STS-65 MCC Status Report # 7 reported:
From an orbiter standpoint, no problems are being tracked by
the flight control teams in the Mission Control Center monitoring
systems along with the crew. The only item of interest seen early
this morning was a drop in temperature on the supply water nozzle that
is kept heated to prevent possible formation of ice during routine
dumps of excess water overboard throughout the flight. Flight Flight
controllers are evaluating the data to determine what may have caused
the drop in temperature, and will dump excess water by evaporating it
through an alternate system called the flash evaporator system, or
- On Monday, July 11, 1994 at 7 a.m., STS-65 Payload Status Report # 6
reports: Payload Specialist Chiaki Mukai spent time in the Lower Body
Negative Pressure device, part of NASA's Extended Duration Orbiter
Medical Project. For this experiment, Mukai's lower body was encased
in a fabric bag, which seals around the waist of the crew member and
provides negative pressure to draw body fluids back into the lower
extremities. This experiment is designed to help counteract effects of
space on the heart and to help crew members stay comfortable and
healthy, especially upon their return to Earth. Mukai had difficulty
obtaining a good seal around her waist and the experiment was
concluded early. This 45-minute "ramp" test, scheduled to be performed
again later in the mission for both Mukai and Payload Commander
Richard J. Hieb, will include measures to ensure a good seal around
the crew member's waist.
- Mission Specialist Leroy Chiao placed samples of a unicellular
organism, Loxodes striatus, into the Slow Rotating Centrifuge Microscope
facility, called NIZEMI for its German name. Dr. Ruth Hemmersbach-Krause's
experiment uses the various levels of gravity provided by the NIZEMI
facility to study the orientation, velocities and swimming tracks of this
organism to determine the point at which they begin to perceive
gravitational forces. Since scientists believe these cells may function
similarly to the inner ear of vertebrates, this information can provide
a better understanding of the underlying mechanisms by which living
creatures sense gravity.
- Dr. Augusto Cogoli of Zurich, Switzerland, watched video from
Spacelab of his Motion experiment as it was subjected to varying levels
of gravity in the NIZEMI facility overnight. Chiao performed routine
microscope refocusing steps to provide a clear view of the cells'
activities during the experiment run. The Motion experiment is designed
to determine whether or not immune system T- and B- cells can contact
each other in a weightless environment. Observing these cells in
microgravity will help scientists gain a better understanding of how
the immune system works.
- Dr. Antonius Michels, of the University of Amsterdam in The
Netherlands, watched downlink video of his experiment that measures the
propagation, or wave motion, of heat within the fluid sulfur hexafluoride
as it neared the condition where a precise combination of temperature and
pressure compel the liquid and gas phases to become identical and form
one phase, the critical point. Since the properties of a fluid can be
altered dramatically in this one-phase state, studies such as this one,
being conducted in the European Space Agency's Critical Point Facility,
can provide insight into a variety of physics problems ranging from phase
changes in fluids to changes in the composition and magnetic properties
- In an investigation to study the effect of disturbances caused by
the onboard crew and equipment operations on extremely sensitive
experiments, Chiao installed a container of diluted salt water that
included an indicator dye into the Vibration Isolation Box Experiment
System (VIBES). Dr. Hisao Azuma, principal investigator from Chohu-shi,
Japan, watched a live video transmission as Chiao intentionally
disturbed the facility to determine how well the VIBES equipment
prevented disturbances in the liquid-dye solution.
- Mission Specialist Don Thomas reported that Dr. Akira Takabayashi's
goldfish continued to appear healthy. These goldfish are being studied
to clarify causes of space motion sickness, and video downlink gave
Takabayashi a good view of the goldfish as they reacted to the
stimulation of light inside their container. Thomas then moved on
to another Aquatic Animal Experiment Unit investigation where he
injected female newts with a hormone to induce them to lay eggs in
their water tank. Principal Investigator Dr. Masamichi Yamashita will
examine these space-born newt eggs after the Shuttle's landing to
determine the effects of gravity on cells during the early stages of
- Throughout their shift, Chiao and Thomas returned to the European
Space Agency's Biorack, transferring containers of biological samples
to various locations within the facility. Chiao worked with samples from
two investigations, which are designed to help scientists understand
more about the effects of gravity on skeletal system cells, as well as
one which will examine the way that mouse cells multiply after exposure
to retinoic acid in microgravity. As scheduled, Thomas terminated the
growth of several samples of rapeseed roots that were genetically
altered before launch. He then placed samples of cress seedlings in
the Biorack photobox to complete planned activities for an experiment
which has studied the growth patterns of these seeds in microgravity.
- Materials sciences in the Electromagnetic Containerless Processing
Facility, which began late in this shift, will continue into the next
shift. Also during the next 12 hours, crew members will continue life
sciences experiments in the Biorack, NIZEMI and Aquatic Animal
Experiment Unit facilities.
- On Tuesday, July 12, 1994 at 6 a.m., STS-65 MCC Status Report # 8 reported:
Mission Specialists Leroy Chiao and Don Thomas stayed busy tending the
Spacelab module's International Microgravity Laboratory-2 experiments
as Mission Specialist Carl Walz took care of shuttle housekeeping. The
Blue Team is scheduled to begin its sleep shift about 9:30 a.m.
- From an orbiter standpoint, no significant problems are being tracked
by the flight control teams in the Mission Control Center. The only
item of interest is continuing analysis of a drop in temperature on the
supply water nozzle. That nozzle is kept heated to prevent possible
formation of ice during routine dumps of excess water overboard
throughout the flight. Flight controllers are evaluating the data to
determine what may have caused the drop in temperature, and postponed
this morning's planned dump of waste water through an identical nozzle
immediately next to the supply dump nozzle. Excess supply water
continues to be dumped by evaporating it through the flash evaporator
system, or FES.
- On Tuesday, July 12, 1994 at 6 p.m., STS-65 MCC Status Report # 9
reported: With a few nuisances, rather than problems, aboard the
Orbiter, the crew pressed on through a timeline packed with
experiments representing more than 12 countries. A couple of the video
tape recorders in the Spacelab module have been erratic, but four are
available to record necessary experiment data. Erratic signatures
seen yesterday during a supply water dump overboard were not seen
today when the waste tank aboard Columbia was emptied. Possible ice
in the supply water line or nozzle could explain the signatures seen
- Cabana took time out of his scheduled activities to show a tape of work
ongoing aboard the spacecraft during the last 24 hours, including daily
exercise, experiment work in the Spacelab and Earth observation.
- On Wednesday, July 13, 1994 at 6 a.m., STS-65 MCC Status Report # 10 reports:
No new difficulties were reported overnight. Two videotape recorders remained
out of commission in the Spacelab module, but there are a total of four are
available to record necessary experiment data.
- On Wednesday, July 13, 1994 at 6 a.m., STS-65 Payload Status Report # 10
reports: After Mission Specialist Leroy Chiao checked in on the
Japanese goldfish and reported that they continue to appear healthy,
he got busy with biological samples in the European Space Agency's
Biorack facility. Chiao completed scheduled activities on an
experiment designed to study the loss of calcium in bones. This
investigation, which has been going on in the Biorack facility since
shortly after Spacelab activation, will help scientists understand
more about what happens to the bones of astronauts when they travel in
space. Results from this experiment, flown on IML-1 in 1992, showed
that bones did not suffer a significant loss of calcium if exposed to
periods of compression (such as exercise periods) during space flight,
but more research is necessary to know how much exercise is needed to
counteract the effect of spaceflight on the skeletal system.
- In another experiment involving bone cells, Payload Commander Rick
Hieb and Payload Specialist Chiaki Mukai extracted and refrigerated
samples of bone- derived cells that have been kept in the
Japanese-provided Thermoelectric Incubator at body temperature. These
bone cells will help Principal Investigator Dr. Yasuhiro Kumei of
Tokyo, Japan, and other reseachers study the differences in the rate
of bone cell production during spaceflights as compared to Earth.
- Another Biorack experiment was concluded last night when Mission
Specialist Don Thomas completed scheduled activities for the Norwegian
experiment to examine the growth pattern of genetically altered plant
roots in space. Dr. Tor-Henning Iversen will examine these plant
roots after the mission to determine whether the growth pattern of
plants that grow in any direction, apparently unaffected by gravity,
on Earth is similar to normal roots grown in space.
- In the Slow Rotating Centrifuge Microscope (NIZEMI) facility,
Thomas completed the last run of a type of green algae, chara. This
experiment will help Dr. Andreas Sievers, the principal investigator
from Bonn, Germany, understand how sensitive these single plant cells
are to gravity and how they adjust to various levels of gravity.
Scientists must learn more about how plants grow in microgravity
before they can be considered as part of the ecological system for
longer stays in space.
- Thomas conducted the first run of a materials science experiment
which will use the NIZEMI facility to learn more about how the
solidification of metals is influenced by microgravity. Chiao talked
to Principal Investigator Dr. Klaus Leonartz to perform the setup and
adjustment procedures for this experiment. Results of melting and
solidifying a mixture such as Leonartz's succinonitrile- acetone
sample will help scientists improve the way metals are produced in the
- In the fluids science area, Dr. Antonius Michels, principal
investigator from The Netherlands successfully completed his
experiment. "The Critical Point Facility functioned flawlessly,
especially in providing stability to our sample," said Michels, after
his sulfur hexafluoride fluid finished its scheduled run last night.
Dr. Michels' experiment was flown on IML-1 and again on this mission
to study the point where a liquid behaves as both a liquid and a gas.
- Thomas later installed another container into the European Space
Agency's Critical Point Facility to begin Dr. Richard Ferrell's study
of how energy is transported in a fluid once it reaches its critical
- Chiao performed activities in preparation for the first-time
activation of the French-provided facility called Applied Research on
Separation Methods Using Space Electrophoresis (called RAMSES, the
acronym for its French name). In the RAMSES facility, scientists will
conduct experiments to gain a better understanding of the basic
mechanisms that govern electrophoresis, the separation of biological
samples according to their electrical properties. Away from the
influence of Earth's gravity, molecules of biological samples can
separate according to their electrical charges, producing an
- In the Bubble, Drop and Particle Unit (BDPU) facility, an
experiment to study the behavior that occurs between layers of fluids
that do not mix, such as oil and water, was terminated when a layer of
silicon fluid moved into the center of the container. Dr. Jean
Koster, principal investigator from the University of Colorado,
attributed to the problem of basic physics phenomena.
- Later, Thomas placed a sealed container filled with freon into the
BDPU to begin calibrations of the experiment for Dr. Johannes Straub
of Munich, Germany. This investigation, designed to study physical
changes during evaporation and condensation at the point where a
bubble contacts the liquid, will be performed later in the mission.
- The Massachusetts Institute of Technology science team watched
video from the Spacelab as they talked to Thomas during his
adjustments to the Electromagnetic Containerless Processing Facility
called TEMPUS, the acronym for its German name. Principal
Investigator Dr. Julian Szekely's experiment, which involved a 10mm
(approximately 3/8 inch) sample of copper, was terminated when the
sphere made contact with its containment cage. This investigation is
designed to study viscosity, internal friction, and surface tension,
the force that keeps liquid together in a drop.
- During the next 12 hours, crew members will tend to the biological samples
in the NIZEMI and Biorack facilities and conduct fluids science investigations
in the Critical Point Facility.
- On Wednesday, July 13, 1994 at 6 p.m., STS-65 MCC Status Report # 11 reports:
Other than juggling various tape recorders aboard the Orbiter to support
science requirements, the crew has spent the day fulfilling routine
housekeeping chores and monitoring secondary experiments.
Commander Bob Cabana and Pilot Jim Halsell are handling Orbiter duty
while Mission Specialist Rick Hieb worked in the pressurized Spacelab
module. Japanese Payload Specialist Chiaki Mukai was given the first
half of her day off. After lunch, Hieb took the rest of the day off
and Mukai took over duty in the Spacelab. The other three astronauts,
Carl Walz, Leroy Chiao and Don Thomas, working primarily overnight,
woke up about an hour ago and will begin their work day about 8 p.m.
- On Wednesday, July 13, 1994 at 6 p.m., STS-65 Payload Status Report # 11
reports: IML-2 Payload Specialist Chiaki Mukai and Payload
Commander Rick Hieb both got four hours off today, but a full slate of
experiment activities continued in orbit and at Spacelab Mission
Operations Control in Huntsville.
- Several IML-2 experiment facilities are being controlled extensively from
the ground. This remote commanding capability, called "telescience,"
multiplies valuable time in orbit because it frees the crew for experiment
operations where their hands and eyes are indispensable. "With this amount of
science squeezed into a 14-day mission, it is critical to have both the
telescience and the remote operations," said Mission Scientist Dr. Bob Snyder,
referring to science experiment teams at the Huntsville facility and user
support groups at remote sites in Europe and Japan.
- Critical Point Facility team members in Huntsville examined live video of
an experiment that studies how energy is transported within a single-component
fluid. Near the critical point - the precise combination of temperature and
pressure where liquid and vapor phases coexist - fluids exhibit unusual
properties. For instance, energy transport by heat diffusion slows down, while
transport driven by changes in pressure speeds up. Dr. Richard Ferrell of the
University of Maryland is using two test cells during IML-2 to study the
different forces. Today's experiment focuses on pressure changes. Tiny
temperature changes are being induced both by external heaters and by heat from
a pulse of current passing through a resistance wire inside the cell. An
experiment to study heat diffusion is scheduled for Friday.
- In addition to enhancing fundamental knowledge of fluid physics, Ferrell's
experiments should aid the design of other low-gravity, critical point
investigations. To plan accurate timelines for their experiments, space
researchers need to know how quickly their samples will reach thermal
equilibrium after temperature step changes near the critical point.
- Close cooperation between ground controllers and the crew has
become a routine part of operations in the TEMPUS electromagnetic
containerless processing facility. Hieb kept a close eye on a
zirconium-cobalt alloy as the TEMPUS team sent commands to levitate,
then melt, the small metal sphere inside the TEMPUS processing
chamber. "The sample looks extremely stable today," the astronaut
reported. The TEMPUS team used remote commands to skillfully control
their sample, reflecting the experience they have gained over several
days of operating the new space facility. They applied short,
repetitive bursts of heat to the alloy, causing its temperature to
rise and fall. Dr. Hans J. Fecht of the Technical University of
Berlin, Germany, will study the length of time it took for the
addition or subtraction of heat to be reflected in the sample
temperature. He will then factor the results into a new mathematical
model to determine the alloy's specific heat capacity. Fecht and
Dr. William L. Johnson of California Institute of Technology are using
several zirconium alloys during this mission to study the formation of
metallic glasses. With their unique mechanical and physical
properties, metallic glasses have promising applications in many
- After transferring numerous Biorack sample containers between storage and
coolers, Hieb changed out food trays for the fruit flies in Dr. Roberto Marco's
experiment. He reported the flies were "buzzing around with excellent
vitality." Along with the other Biorack principal investigators, Marco is
conducting his experiment at Kennedy Space Center.in parallel with operations
in space. Project Scientist Dr. Enno Brinckmann, the Biorack team's
representative at Spacelab Control in Huntsville, said, "Dr. Marco tells us
the flies in space have been more mobile than their counterparts on the ground
at Kennedy." Marco's study tests his theory that premature aging of flies in
previous space experiments is due to increased activity as they attempt to move
- Thus far, 10 of the 19 Biorack experiments are complete. Mukai began her
work this afternoon with a run of the NIZEMI Slow-Rotating Centrifuge
Microscope's cress root experiment. "All of the seeds have germinated," she
told Principal Investigator Dr. Dieter Volkmann of the University of Bonn.
Scientists have studied the cress plant intensively over the last 20 years
to determine in detail how it can perceive and react to gravity. Previous
experiments indicate it can respond to gravity changes very quickly.
Volkmann hopes to pinpoint the minimum amount of gravity to which it will
respond and how long it to takes to respond. Before plants can be
considered as possible sources of food or oxygen in space, scientists must
thoroughly understand how changes in gravity affect plant growth.
- When Hieb brought the Free Flow Electrophoresis experiment up for its first
operations of the mission this morning, readouts indicated that the inner
cooling system line was not functioning correctly. The Japanese life sciences
team postponed the electrophoresis experiment Mukai had been scheduled to run
this afternoon until the source of the problem can be isolated and corrected.
In the meantime, Mukai began operations of Japan's Large Isothermal Furnace,
originally scheduled for Saturday afternoon. After powering up the facility,
she inserted an experiment by Dr. Randall M. German of Pennsylvania State for
several hours of automatic processing. The experiment will study how gravity
changes heavy alloys during liquid phase sintering. Sintering is a process for
combining dissimilar metals, using heat and pressure to join them without
reaching the melting point of one or both metals.
- On Thursday, July 14, 1994 at 6 a.m., STS-65 MCC Status Report # 12 reports:
Columbia's astronauts beamed down three explanations of International
Microgravity Laboratory-2 experiments overnight as virtually trouble-free
operations continued on the 14-day mission to study how plants, animals and
materials react to space flight. Blue Team member Carl Walz, who continued to
keep watch over the shuttle's systems, explained the operation of the
Performance Asses sment Workshop being used to study astronaut performance on
long-duration space missions in hopes of developing techniques to forest all
any loss of productivity.
- Fellow Mission Specialist Don Thomas gave explanations of both the Quasi-Steady
Acceleration Measurement equipment that is measuring the microgravity
environment in the Spacelab module, and the Applied Research on Separation
Methods experiment, which is studying e lectrophoresis methods in
microgravity. Thomas and Mission Specialist Leroy Chiao took turns working in
the Spacelab module and enjoying half-day vacations. Commander Bob Cabana,
Pilot Jim Halsell, Payload Commander Rick Hieb and Japanese Payload Specialist
Chiaki Mukai were awakened abo ut 4:45 a.m. CDT, and will take over the duty
shift about 6:45 a.m. The Blue Team is scheduled to begin its sleep shift
about 8:30 a .m.
- On Thursday, July 14, 1994 at 6 a.m., STS-65 Payload Status Report
#12 Even though the Space Shuttle's payload crew members took some
scheduled time off to relax and enjoy their sixth day in space, life
and materials sciences continued in support of the second
International Microgravity Laboratory (IML-2) mission overnight.
- Members of the National Space Development Agency of Japan science
team here discovered last night that another newt egg had hatched,
bringing the total to two baby newts to be born in space.
- Later, Mission Specialist Don Thomas found that one of Dr. Michael
Wiederhold's adult female Japanese red-bellied newts had died since
its last observation period yesterday. Wiederhold said there was
always a chance that one of the newts might not make it through the
flight. However, he does not expect significant impact to the results
of his research. "We launched three containers of newts in order to
gather science, even with an unfortunate occurrence such as this," he
said. The cassette containing the dead newt was removed from the
Aquatic Animal Experiment Unit (AAEU) to prevent contamination to the
facility's water system. The Japanese red-bellied newts are part of
an experiment studying how microgravity affects early cell
- Researchers report that the other newts, as well as the Medaka and
goldfish, continue to be appear healthy. During the first part of his
shift, Thomas opened the window to the goldfish tank, allowing them to
experience a period of daylight as they would on Earth.
- Mission Specialist Leroy Chiao transferred chemically prepared
samples of cress plant roots from the incubator to the staging area of
the Slow Rotating Centrifuge Microscope (called NIZEMI). Video
downlink gave Dr. Dieter Volkmann of Bonn, Germany, a good view of how
his seedlings of cress are reacting to varying levels of gravity.
Studies such as this one must be conducted before plants can be
considered as part of a controlled ecological environment for extended
stays in space.
- In another IML-2 life sciences experiment, Chiao placed containers
of Dr. Dorothy Spangenberg's jellyfish into the NIZEMI facility to
further observe the effects of microgravity of varying levels of
gravity on their development. This experiment is intended to improve
scientists' understanding of the effects of microgravity on the
developmental processes of animals and the role that gravity plays in
the development of organisms on Earth.
- Thomas installed a test container into the European Space Agency's
Bubble, Drop and Particle Unit (BDPU) for Dr. Shankar Subramanian of
Potsdam, New York. His experiment, which is now underway, examines
the movement and shape of gas bubbles and liquid drops in silicone oil
when a temperature gradient is established within a container.
- Dr. Richard Ferrell, of the University of Maryland, watched both
live and recorded images of his experiment in the European Space
Agency's Critical Point Facility. Ferrell's experiment is studying the
properties of a pure, single- component fluid composed of identical
molecules at the critical point. The critical point is the state of a
fluid at which liquid and vapor exhibit the same properties.
- An experiment to separate and collect ultra-pure components of
biological samples was conducted in the Applied Research on Separation
Methods Using Space Electrophoresis (called RAMSES, the acronym for
its French name). Chiao initiated and monitored an experiment in the
RAMSES facility during the first part of his shift. For this
investigation, a sample of hemoglobin and bovine serum albumin (which
was colored to trace its movements) was used to evaluate the degree of
protein purification that is possible in microgravity. At one point
in the experiment, Chiao reported seeing a bubble in the container,
near the entry point for the separated molecules. Mission Specialist
Carl Walz held a camera up to the experiment window to give Principal
Investigator Dr. Victor Sanchez of Toulouse, France, a good view of
the flow of the sample. When Sanchez determined that the proteins
were separating and moving around the bubble, he decided to continue
the experiment run to completion as planned.
- Thomas talked to the ground operations team at the Spacelab
Mission Operations Control center in Huntsville to make adjustments to
the Electromagnetic Containerless Processing Facility (called TEMPUS)
in preparation for Dr. William Johnson's niobium-nickel experiment
run. Johnson, from the California Institute of Technology, watched
video from the Spacelab as his metallic glass sample enjoyed a
complete cycle of melting, levitating and undercooling. This
materials science experiment took advantage of this new facility and
the unique environment of space to learn more about the physical
properties of metallic glasses and undercooled alloys when heat is
introduced into the equation.
- On Thursday, July 14, 1994 at 6 p.m., STS-65 MCC Status Report # 13
reports: Columbia's astronauts continued around-the-clock science work
in the Spacelab module housed in the payload bay, taking time to
provide details of the STS-65 mission during an interview earlier
today. Commander Bob Cabana and Pilot Jim Halsell took time out of
their schedules to talk with NBC's Today Show, Weekend edition, about
the mission objectives and how they relate to future work on the
International Space Station. They also discussed and compared their
work as test pilots to being pilot astronauts. The interview is
expected to air Sunday morning. Mission Specialist Rick Hieb and
Payload Specialist Chiaki Mukai each worked a full day in support of
the second International Microgravity Laboratory mission, following a
half day off each yesterday.
- On Friday, July 15, 1994 at 6 a.m., STS-65 MCC Status Report # 14 reports:
Walz beamed down television pictures of Chiao working with the Ramses
electrophoresis experiment and provided a tour of the laptop computers used by
- On Friday, July 15, 1994 at 6 p.m., STS-65 MCC Status Report # 15
reports: While the science work continued, Cabana demonstrated some of
the crew's daily activities aboard the Space Shuttle, including food
preparation, housekeeping and Earth observation. The commander of the
mission also spent some time recovering the use of one of the still
cameras on board that malfunctioned yesterday. He discovered a bent
pin inside the body of the camera and straightened it using a pair of
needle-nose pliers. Using the ham radio equipment on board, Halsell
talked about the mission with students at the West Monroe High School
in his hometown as Columbia flew overhead.
- Cabana, Halsell and Hieb discussed mission objectives and life in
space with about a dozen children during a special event with the TBS
show "Feed Your Mind." The children queried the crew about what it's
like to be an astronaut, what crew members did for fun in their spare
time, and whether their feelings about Earth have changed since they
have been in space. Cabana said, that from space, the Earth is a
beautiful blue planet surrounded by a thin, delicate looking layer of
atmosphere that protects it from the harsh ultraviolet rays of the
sun. He said the sight reinforces the knowledge that
humanity must take care of the planet.
- On Saturday, July 16, 1994 at 6 p.m., STS-65 MCC Status Report # 17
reports: Routine business was the order of the day aboard Space
Shuttle Columbia as Mission Control continues to track no problems
aboard the spacecraft. Commander Bob Cabana, Pilot Jim Halsell and
Payload Specialist Chiaki Mukai discussed life in space with children
during an interview with the Nickelodeon channel. Questions ranged
from the experiments on board, to personal hygiene to the Earth's
environment. Mission Specialist Rick Hieb continued to work in the
Spacelab module throughout the day.
- Spacecraft communicator Mario Runco in Mission Control earlier
relayed a message to the crew of STS-65 at the exact moment the Saturn
V was launched 25 years ago from the Kennedy Space Center.to begin the
Apollo 11 mission to the Moon. At 8:32 a.m., Runco said, "On this day,
at this moment 25 years ago, three of your predecessors began an epic
journey that would change the way we viewed our world. Columbia's
journey today, as her namesake did back then, is pushing the frontiers
of knowledge and science for all mankind. Thank you, Columbia."
- Runco then told the crew a fictitious engine burn was on board for
them to look at to leave low Earth orbit and travel to the Moon.
Commander Bob Cabana responded, "Don't we wish."
- On Saturday, July 16, 1994 at 6 p.m., STS-65 Payload Status Report # 17
reports: IML-2 experiment scientists continued using the
microgravity laboratory of space to explore the properties of fluids
and metals today. The Spacelab crew concentrated on a Lower Body
Negative Pressure experiment to monitor their own adaptation to that
- Early this morning, STS-65 Commander Bob Cabana exchanged
experiment containers in the European Space Agency's Critical Point
Facility, beginning a 77-hour experiment run to determine how various
perturbations, such as heating or a pressure change, affect a fluid
near its critical point - the special state where there is no
difference between liquid and vapor at a specific temperature and
pressure. This is the second part of a United States experiment which
looks at how long it takes a fluid at the critical point to stabilize,
or reach equilibrium, after it has been disturbed. Scientists will
heat a portion of the cell's exterior, then observe how the heat
transfers through the fluid.
- In the first segment of the experiment, the Critical Point
Facility team charged a wire inside the test cell to 500 volts,
simulating approximately the pressure created by gravity on Earth.
"The effect of the charging was something like turning the gravity on
and off," explained Principal Investigator Dr. Richard Ferrell. "The
electric field caused the fluid to be drawn toward the wire. We could
see changes in the amount of fluid in the vicinity of the wire, which
agreed with our theory of fluid behavior." Ferrell and his team of 10
U.S. physicists will analyze their data to see how long it took for
the fluid to relax when the charges were turned off. They will
compare the two experiment segments to determine how pressure changes
and heat diffusion interact to transfer energy.
- The Bubble, Drop and Particle Unit (BDPU) appears to have confirmed a
theory proposed by Dr. Antonio Viviani of the Second University of
Naples, Italy. Vapor bubbles were injected into a test cell filled
with an alcohol-water solution, then alternate sides of the cell were
heated and cooled. As Viviani had predicted, the bubbles did not
always move toward the warmer side as they would in most materials.
He explained, "This demonstrates for the first time that, in some
fluids of high technology interest, bubbles can go toward the colder
part of the fluid or stop in the middle, due to the particular
interaction between temperature and surface tension" (the tension on
the surface where the liquid and bubble meet). Insights into these
mechanical properties could be applied to manufacturing new or better
glasses, ceramics, composite materials and alloys in space and on
- Early this morning, Dr. William Johnson of the TEMPUS
electromagnetic containerless processing reported another "first" -
the detection of an unknown metastable phase in their nickel-niobium
sample material. In a metastable phase, a material can be quite
different than it is in a stable phase. For instance, a diamond is a
metastable phase of carbon. "People have been wondering for a long
time about the special behavior of this alloy, but there was no
explanation for it," said TEMPUS team member Dr. Knut Urban. "The
excellent quality of the space images allowed us to detect a phase
which had been masked by other forces on Earth." The undercooled
nickel-niobium sample was solidified and will be brought back to the
ground for microstructural analysis.
- This afternoon, TEMPUS team members got another short look at a
nickel- silicon alloy they had studied yesterday. The observation was
halted when the molten alloy contacted the experiment cage.
- Dr. John Charles of Johnson Space Center says his team got the
information they needed during the mission's third set of Lower Body
Negative Pressure measurements on Payload Specialist Chiaki Mukai and
Payload Commander Rick Hieb. Crew members wrapped some padding around
Mukai's waist before her turn in the negative pressure bag, resulting
in a tighter vacuum seal. The procedure incrementally reduced, then
raised, pressure on the crew members' lower bodies to draw fluids back
into their legs. Their condition was monitored by ultrasound heart
images and blood pressure readings during the experiment.
- Mukai reported the aquatic animals onboard are doing fine, then
recorded some video of the Medaka fish. She counted around 20 baby
Medaka fish in the IML-2 aquariums.
- Mission Manager Lanny Upton said another repair procedure for the
Free-Flow Electrophoresis Unit is being formulated. It will be
similar to those attempted yesterday, where additional water was
forced into the unit's fluid cooling loop to remove a suspected air
bubble. However, a time slot for the maintenance procedure has not
yet been designated in the crew schedule. Approximately one-half of
FFEU's allocated crew time is still available to accomplish the
in-flight maintenance procedure.
- Eighteen of the 19 IML-2 experiment facilities are up and running
well. Twenty-four of the 82 experiments are completed, and scientists
have obtained quite a bit of data on most of the others.
- On Sunday, July 17, 1994 at 6 a.m., STS-65 MCC Status Report # 18
reports: As business continues to be routine aboard Columbia, the Red
Team is beginning its 10th day of work on International Microgravity
Laboratory-2 experiments. Commander Bob Cabana, Pilot Jim Halsell,
Payload Commander Rick Hieb and Payload Specialist Chiaki Mukai began
their workday at 4:45 a.m. CDT as the crew continues to shift its
schedule to be ready for Friday's planned landing.
- On Sunday, July 17, 1994 at 6 a.m., STS-65 Payload Status Report # 18
reports: During their ninth day in space, Mission Specialists Don Thomas
and Leroy Chiao took a few minutes out of their busy schedule to pay
tribute to two NASA centers. On the 25th anniversary of the launch of
Apollo 11, Thomas talked about some memorabilia he had onboard from
those days and honored the people of Marshall Space Flight Center and
Kennedy Space Center, "Who got the Apollo 11 mission off to a great
start." Following their live broadcast, Thomas and Chiao got back to
the business at hand, conducting life, materials and fluid science
experiments in support of the second International Microgravity
Laboratory (IML-2) mission.
- Dr. Antonio Viviani of Aversa, Italy, received a round of
congratulations from science teams at the Spacelab Mission Operations
Control center in Huntsville at the end of his last scheduled
experiment run in the Bubble, Drop and Particle Unit (BDPU) last
night. Chiao placed a test container into the BDPU and performed
various activities during the experiment while Viviani controlled the
behavior of air bubbles in the alcohol-water solution by sending
ground commands to the BDPU from Huntsville. The results of Viviani's
IML-2 experiment fully confirmed over two years of his on-ground
research and computer modeling. "Because of gravity, this experiment
can not be done on Earth," explained Viviani. "And it could not be
done in space without a good theory, a good facility and test
container, outstanding support from the science team and a great
crew." Fluid science investigations will help researchers develop
better methods of producing stronger metal alloys and glass in space.
- Chiao conducted a second fluid science experiment in the BDPU
overnight, using a three-layer liquid solution (consisting of
fluorinert-silicone- fluorinert). Principal Investigator Dr.
Jean-Claude Legros of Brussels, Belgium, wants to learn more about how
to control fluid flows within the middle layer of a tri-layer
solution. After Chiao agitated the test container to stir up the
tracer particles inside, he installed the container into the BDPU
facility, where the solution was heated. Two stainless steel curtains
separating the three layers of fluid were rolled up, allowing the
layers to touch. Next, the sides of the container were heated,
creating a thermal gradient from one side of the container to the
other. This type of research is of particular interest to scientists
in the field of developing crystalline metals and semiconductors.
- Chiao also performed newly defined start-up procedures for the
Applied Research on Separation Methods Using Space Electrophoresis
(called RAMSES) last night. During the first flight for this
facility, science and engineering teams have revised their pre-launch
activation procedures to include a waiting period before the actual
experiment runs. Once RAMSES was ready, Chiao began the
electrophoresis process to separate proteins into a pure solution,
research that is being conducted for a French pharmaceutical company.
- In another materials science experiment, Thomas monitored an 8mm
sample of nickel and tin as the science team in Huntsville sent
computer commands to the Electromagnetic Containerless Processing
Facility (called TEMPUS) to melt, levitate and solidify the metal
alloy. Dr. Merton Flemings, of the Massachusetts Institute of
Technology, studied the undercooling process of the nickel-tin alloy
to determine how the properties of metals change in an unstable
fast-frozen, supersaturated state. Flemings will share the data from
his experiment with other science teams who are studying heat capacity
of molten alloys, as well as the viscosity (internal friction) and
surface tension (the force that keeps the liquid together in a drop).
- In life sciences studies, 12 of 19 scheduled experiments have been
completed for the European Space Agency's Biorack investigations, and
others will be conducted throughout the mission. Last night, Thomas
activated cultures of human skin fibroblast and bacterial cells that
were exposed to ionized radiation before launch. He placed the cells
into the Biorack incubator where they were allowed to repair
themselves. After various incubation periods, Thomas transferred the
cell containers to the Spacelab freezer, completing this Biorack
investigation, designed to help Principal Investigator Dr. Gerda
Horneck of Cologne, Germany, understand more about how
radiation-damaged cells repair themselves in microgravity.
- Thomas withdrew samples from two containers of baker's yeast and
preserved them for a Biorack experiment which studies the effect of
stirring and mixing on the growth of cells in microgravity. Dr.
Augusto Cogoli of Zurich, Switzerland, will make postflight analyses
of these yeast cells that were preserved at various stages of growth
to help determine the best method of cultivating cells in space.
- Both Chiao and Thomas worked with samples of cress roots during
their shift. They removed containers of chemically prepared cress
roots from the Slow Rotating Centrifuge Microscope (called NIZEMI)
static rack, activated them with water and returned them to the
incubator where they will grow in microgravity for a couple of days
before being exposed to varying levels of gravity. Dr. Dieter
Volkmann of Bonn, Germany, is the principal investigator for this
experiment, designed to determine the lowest level at which roots
become sensitive to changes in microgravity.
- Thomas mounted a camera on the Aquatic Animal Experiment Unit
(AAEU) and turned on a light in the goldfish tank, allowing Principal
Investigator Dr. Akira Takabayashi of Toyoake, Japan, to see how the
goldfish react to light stimulation in microgravity. Takabayashi's
experiment further explores the hypothesis that space motion sickness
is caused by conflicting messages sent from the eyes and the
gravity-sensing mechanism, the otolith.
- Thomas also reported that the newts continue to appear healthy.
He also said that of the eggs that were produced on Earth, 18 have
hatched and are active, swimming around in their individual chambers.
- During the next 12 hour shift, STS-65 crew members will perform an
inflight maintenance procedure on the Free Flow Electrophoresis Unit,
and continue life and materials science experiments.
- On Sunday, July 17, 1994 at 6 p.m., STS-65 Payload Status Report # 19
reports: Today, IML-2 crew members assisted science teams with
ground-commanded materials experiments, attempted to repair the Free
Flow Electrophoresis Unit, and got a few well-deserved hours of rest.
NASA Administrator Dan Goldin surprised the crew with a telephone call
from Mission Control in Houston. He praised their hard work, saying it
would help lay the groundwork for future space exploration.
- Payload Commander Rick Hieb volunteered two blocks of his free
time today to perform maintenance procedures on the Japanese space
agency's Free Flow Electrophoresis Unit. Assisted by Pilot Jim Halsell
this morning, Hieb twice replaced all the distilled water in the
unit's fluid cooling system to flush out air bubbles in the line. The
unit reached its normal activation state and ran well for an hour and
20 minutes, then automatically shut off. Not willing to give up, Hieb
tried the procedure for a third time just before his pre-sleep period.
Thus far, the unit continues to operate within specifications. If
this remains to be the case, the blue shift crew will prepare for a
chromosome DNA separation experiment in the unit.
- Payload Specialist Chiaki Mukai worked closely with ground
controllers to perform a run of Dr. Klaus Leonartz' solidification
study in the NIZEMI slow- rotating centrifuge. A transparent,
two-component material which mimics the behavior of metal alloys was
melted, then slowly resolidified, as the centrifuge turned to simulate
various levels of gravity. The NIZEMI microscope gave Mukai and
experiment scientists a clear view of the point where the liquid was
turning into a solid, called the solidification front. "Using the
NIZEMI, we can observe fluid flows and detect the gravity levels at
which they begin," explained Leonartz. "We can also determine the
effect of the fluid flow on the solid. If we can learn how to make
semiconductors or metals more homogenous, we can improve their
properties. By determining gravity thresholds, we can learn how to
use other methods, such as electromagnetic forces, to surpress fluid
flows during processing on Earth."
- Another fluid-flow experiment was conducted in the Bubble, Drop
and Particle Unit this morning. An experiment container holding three
layers of immiscible (non-mixing) fluids was heated from the top and
the bottom. Dr. Jean-Claude Legros of Brussels, Belgium, watched
downlinked video as resulting tension differences where the fluids
contacted one another began to create flows within the layers. The
team will use the observations to verify numerical calculations they
had made to predict the velocity and direction of the fluid flows in
the middle layer. "The rough data we received from our remote support
center in Belgium seems to match our predictions," said Legros. The
calculations could help researchers develop methods for controlling
fluid flows during the manufacture of sophisticated materials, such as
silicon and metal alloys for the electronics industry.
- The current Bubble, Drop and Particle Unit experiment, which
continues until late tonight, uses vapor bubbles in a liquid
refrigerant to study the process of evaporation and condensation where
the liquid and vapor form common surfaces. It should provide a better
understanding of boiling processes and the behavior of fluids at a
liquid-vapor interface. Principal investigator for the experiment is
Dr. Johannes Straub of the Technical University of Munich, Germany.
- The TEMPUS electromagnetic containerless processing facility
levitated, melted and solidified an aluminum-copper-cobalt alloy this
morning. After the mission, investigators will study the preserved
sample to determine its atomic arrangement. They will be looking for
"quasicrystals," a recently discovered atomic structure that can give
materials a high degree of hardness, as well as novel electrical and
physical properties. The study aims for a better understanding of how
and why quasicrystals form.
- The flight crew suspended orbiter thruster firings for a short
period this afternoon, providing the most stable environment possible
as the TEMPUS facility melted a sphere of pure zirconium. The strong,
ductile metal was heated to more than 3,600 degrees Fahrenheit (2,000
degrees Celsius), several hundred degrees higher than any for any
previous melt in space. The sample was levitated for about 10
seconds, then cooled down and solidified.
- The Japanese space agency's Large Isothermal Furnace processed two
cartridges of tungsten-nickel-iron alloys for Dr. Randall German's
liquid phase sintering experiment. The material was heated so the
iron and nickel formed a liquid, surrounding the uniformly dispersed
powered tungsten. The method is used extensively on Earth to combine
dissimilar materials, but researchers suspect gravity plays a role in
distorting the microstructure of such alloys. German, of Pennsylvania
State University, will compare seven different compositions of the
space-processed alloy, heated for different periods of time, with
similar alloys processed on Earth. He will look for differences in
shape, texture, density and high-temperature strength.
- On Monday, July 18, 1994 at 6 a.m., STS-65 MCC Status Report # 20
STS-65 Astronauts Leroy Chiao, Don Thomas and Carl Walz discussed their work on
the second International Microgravity Laboratory mission in a live television
interview overnight. Columbia's Blue Team members told CBS' "Up to the
Minute" program that they are enjoying their flight and looking forward to
doing similar work on the International Space Station when it becomes
operational. They also said they would like to follow in the footsteps of
the Apollo 11 astronauts who landed on the Moon 25 years ago this week.
- Commander Bob Cabana, Pilot Jim Halsell, Payload Commander Rick Hieb, and
Payload Specialist Chiaki Mukai began their 11th workday on orbit at 4:45 a.m.
CDT after awakening at 2:45 a.m. On this shift, Cabana and Halsell will test
their thinking skills on the Performance Awareness Workstation. Halsell also
will pract ice on the Portable In-flight Landing Operations Trainer. Hieb
will start the day as a subject for the Lower Body Negative Pressure device,
being tested as a possible countermeasure against the detrimental effects of
space flight, with Mukai assisting. Mukai will climb into the sack-like
device that pulls bodily fluids back into the legs and feet as the subject
of a second LBNP run.
- On Monday, July 18, 1994 at 6 a.m., STS-65 Payload Status Report # 20
While performing a scheduled examination of the Japanese newts container in
the Aquatic Animal Experiment Unit (AAEU), Thomas reported that a second female
adult newt had died. This Japanese red-bellied newt produced eggs earlier in
the mission as part of an experiment for Dr. Masamichi Yamashita of Kanagawa,
Japan, who is studying the effects of gravity on cells during the early stages
- Principal Investigator Dr. Ken-Ichi Ijiri of Tokyo, Japan, received video
from the Spacelab of his Medaka fish. Ijiri observed the swimming behavior of
the Medaka and watched the Medaka fry (that were fertilized on Earth and
recently hatched on this flight) as they swam in their own separate containers
within the AAEU aquarium. Also at the AAEU facility, Chiao opened the window
on the goldfish tank and closed it before his shift ended, giving the goldfish
a daylight period.
- In the European Space Agency's Bubble, Drop and Particle Unit, Chiao
initiated an investigation to study evaporation and condensation processes in
fluids. More specifically, Dr. Johannes Straub, of Munich Germany, examined
the boiling process of a liquid refrigerant. "For the first time, while
watching video from space, we have seen that when two large bubbles join
together, or coalesce, their movements produce new bubbles," explained Straub.
"We are very excited about seeing this phenomenon since we can not do this
experiment on Earth due to the buoyancy of bubbles. We are extremely pleased
about the way the facility has performed and we appreciate the good job the
crew has done to help us get this science." Knowledge gained from this
investigation could influence future chemical engineering and manufacturing
- Thomas installed a sample container of indium-gallium-antimony into the
Japanese space agency's Large Isothermal Furnace. This experiment is designed
to help Principal Investigator Dr. Akira Hirata of Tokyo, Japan, develop new
techniques to uniformly mix semiconductor alloys with different densities to
produce materials that will transmit electrons more efficiently.
Semiconductors are widely used in computers and other electronic devices.
- In an experiment to separate chromosome DNA from a nematode worm, Thomas
injected concentrated suspensions of the DNA into the Japanese-provided Free
Flow Electrophoresis Unit (FFEU), along with a special buffer solution designed
to test isoelectric focusing. The FFEU appears to be operating well following
a third inflight maintenance procedure, which was performed by the Red Team
Sunday. Principal Investigator Dr. Hidesaburo Kobayashi of Saitama, Japan, is
testing this method of chromosome separation in space to help solve problems in
genetic mapping and molecular biology.
- Chiao monitored the start up of two separate experiments in the
Electromagnetic Containerless Processing Facility (called TEMPUS) last night.
In the first TEMPUS investigation, Principal Investigator Dr. Dieter Herlach
studied a sphere of nickel and carbon alloy, which was undercooled, or
solidified at a temperature below normal for this alloy.
- In the second TEMPUS experiment run, Chiao reported on the progress of a
sample of iron and nickel alloy as it was melted, levitated and undercooled for
Principal Investigator Dr. Ivan Egry of Cologne, Germany. Egry is studying
internal friction (viscosity) and the force that keeps a liquid together in a
drop (surface tension). Although both of these samples made contact with their
cage while processing in the TEMPUS facility last night, ground commanding
allowed them to be successfully retracted from the heating chamber.
- Chiao also conducted life science experiments in the Slow Rotating
Centrifuge Microscope facility (called NIZEMI). He placed sample containers of
slime mold (Physarum polycephalum) into the NIZEMI, where they were exposed to
varying levels of gravity. This investigation will help Dr. Ingrid Block of
Cologne, Germany, understand more about how single-cell organisms sense and
respond to gravity.
- In an experiment for Dr. Dieter Volkmann of Bonn, Germany, Chiao placed
seedlings of cress roots into the NIZEMI facility. Later, Thomas talked to
Volkmann about the growth status of the cress roots. Volkmann is studying
these chemically prepared cress roots to determine the lowest level at which
the roots become sensitive to changes in gravity.
- Thomas placed samples of Loxodes striatus cells into the NIZEMI facility
for an experiment to study the orientation, velocities and swimming tracks of
these unicellular organisms. Since these cells may work similarly to the inner
ear of vertebrates, Principal Investigator Dr. Ruth Hemmersbach-Krause of
Cologne, Germany, wants to learn more about the underlying mechanisms that
allow living creatures to sense gravity.
- In a technology experiment for Principal Investigator Dr. Augusto Cogoli of
Zurich, Switzerland, Thomas took samples of baker's yeast from their containers
and preserved them for post-flight analyses. This investigation, which studies
the effect of stirring and mixing on the growth of baker's yeast, may influence
the way life science experiments are performed in the future.
- While all these activities were going on in space, the Critical Point
Facility science team in the Spacelab Mission Operations Control center in
Huntsville watched video downlink of the sulfur hexafluoride sample as it was
heated to reach its critical point (the state of a fluid at which liquid and
vapor exhibit the same properties).
- On Monday, July 18, 1994 at 6 p.m., STS-65 MCC Status Report # 21
A small thruster jet failed early this morning, but was recovered after flight
controllers determined the problem was a clogged transducer. Called a vernier
engine, the thruster is one of six used to fine-tune the position of the
spacecraft to keep it stable. STS-65 Commander Bob Cabana, Pilot Jim
Halsell, Payload Commander Rick Hieb, and Payload Specialist Chiaki Mukai
took time out to talk with Larry King for the Cable News Network show
airing Tuesday at 8 p.m.
- As has been the case for most of the flight, Cabana and Halsell tested their
proficiency skills on the Performance Awareness Worksta tion and the Portable
In-flight Landing Operations Trainer. Hieb and Mukai took turns in the
Lower Body Negative Pressure device, a possible countermeasure against the
detrimental effects of space flight. Carl Walz, Leroy Chiao and Don Thomas
woke up just before three this afternoon and took over for their co-workers
at about 5 p.m.
- On Monday, July 18, 1994 at 6 p.m., STS-65 Payload Status Report # 21
Payload Specialist Chiaki Mukai and Payload Commander Rick Hieb finished
their fourth Lower Body Negative Pressure test today. As part of their natural
adaptation to microgravity, space travelers experience a shift of fluid into
their upper body. This experiment reduces pressure around a crew member's
lower body to force fluids back to the legs. Echocardiograph and blood
pressure tests made during various steps of lowered pressure show scientists
how the crew member's cardiovascular system has adapted to microgravity. The
experiment is part of the Johnson Space Center.s Extended Duration Orbiter
Medical Program, designed to protect the health and safety of the crew during
12- to 17-day missions aboard the Space Shuttle.
- Dr. Dieter Volkmann of Bonn, Germany, continued using the NIZEMI Slow
Rotating Centrifuge Microscope to compare cress roots grown in microgravity
with those grown in the Biorack centrifuge. The samples are being exposed to
one-tenth of Earth's gravity on the NIZEMI centrifuge. "Thus far, we have
observed a difference in gravity sensitivity between the microgravity samples
and the one-gravity samples. That's a first," said Volkmann. "The microgravity
roots responded in six minutes, while samples grown in the one- gravity
centrifuge took 10 minutes." Volkmann will study the preserved roots after
landing to pinpoint the structures within them that perceive low-level gravity.
- IML-2 controllers adjusted today's planned schedule to allow Mukai to
perform the mission's second experiment in the Free Flow Electrophoresis
Unit. The Japanese space agency experiment team says the facility has been
"doing great" since Payload Commander Rick Hieb completed a successful
maintenance procedure yesterday afternoon. The FFEU experiment, developed
by Principal Investigator Dr. Wes Hymer, of Pennsylvania State University,
examines rat pituitary cells. "Previous space flights have shown that the
'factory' which leads to the production of growth hormone is modified in
space," said Hymer. "We are trying to find out whether the change occurs
on the surface of the cell itself or on the surface of an individual
growth-hormone-containing particle within the cell."
- When Mukai removed the cell culture kit from the incubator, she reported
that a majority of the cells had come loose from the bottom of the container
and were clumping together. She went ahead with the planned procedure for
separating the sample into individual cells, but they remained clumped. Since
unattached cells are required for electrophoresis, she returned the culture
kits to storage. "The same procedures were done on identical cell cultures at
Kennedy Space Center, and this did not happen," said Hymer. "It will take some
time to determine whether flight factors caused the unexpected clumping." The
second part of Hymer's experiment, which studies cells broken down into their
individual sub-cellular components, will be conducted if a time slot becomes
available on the next shift.
- Dr. Shankar Subramanian of Clarkson University in Potsdam, New York,
expanded his study of the interactions and migration of liquid drops in the
Bubble, Drop and Particle Unit. For this experiment run, multiple drops are
being injected into a container of silicone oil. Subramanian and his team are
studying the drops' size, shape and speed of motion. The team will compare the
observations with their calculations predicting the motion of drops in
microgravity. This afternoon's Large Isothermal Furnace experiment evaluates a
technique for improving the quality of alloys used in high-tech aircraft and
spacecraft. Hieb placed a cartridge containing four titanium-aluminum alloys
into the furnace to be melted and solidified. Two of the samples have ceramic
particles added. The particles should increase the high-temperature strength
of the material, improving its microstructure and thus its mechanical
properties. On Earth, differences in density between the ceramic particles and
the metal alloy keep the particles from distributing uniformly, but in space
they should remain spread evenly within the samples. Dr. Masao Takeyama of
Japan's Research Institute of Metals will compare the processed alloys to
determine whether addition of ceramic particles is an effective method for
controlling alloy structure.
- Hieb provided additional video of the fruit flies in Dr. Roberto Marco's
Biorack experiment. Marco, who is conducting parallel experiments at Kennedy
Space Center, reports the IML-2 flies appear to be adapting to microgravity.
After greatly accelerated activity near the beginning of the mission, their
current behavior is about the same as flies in Biorack's simulated gravity
centrifuge in space and in his control experiment on the ground. This confirms
a similar observation aboard the Russian BION-10 satellite in 1993. Mukai
reported that the Animal Aquatic Experiment Unit seems to be working well, and
the Medaka fish all appear to be healthy. A procedure has been designed to
remove the newt which died last night from one of the four aquarium cassettes,
so decomposition products will not get into the system's water loops. It will
be carried out tonight, and the newt will be frozen to preserve it for analysis
after landing. Newt eggs which were launched inside the cassette will remain
to continue development.
- The eight principal investigators for the TEMPUS electromagnetic
containerless processing facility shared brief observations of a one-quarter-
inch sphere of pure nickel. They commanded operations from the ground, in
order to give the crew more time for other experiment activities. The thermal
equilibration experiment in the Critical Point Facility, which began Saturday,
will continue throughout the night. The crew will work with Biorack, RAMSES
electrophoresis separation facility, and Bubble, Drop and Particle Unit
- On Tuesday, July 19, 1994 at 7 a.m., STS-65 MCC Status Report # 22
STS-65 Commander Bob Cabana and Payload Specialist Chiaki Mukai started their
twelfth day in space with a television interview that involved questions from
Japan, Brazil and Australia. Topics included several of the experiments on
the International Microgravity Laboratory-2 flight, the beauty of the Earth
from orbit and the need to protect Earth's diminishing resources. Among the
interviewers was Dr. Mamoru Mohri, who became the first Japanese payload
specialist to fly aboard a space shuttle on the STS-47 Spacelab-J mission of
September 1992. Mukai is the first female Japanese payload specialist to
fly in space.
- Columbia's systems continue to perform almost flawlessly. One recent item of
interest has been a continuing series of error messages from one of the
shuttle's three inertial measurement units, which provide guidance information
for the on-board computers. Flight controllers are studying the messages
carefully, but have determined that the IMU is still functioning well and
capable of providing data needed to land the shuttle. The orbiter remains in a
163 by 158 nautical mile orbit, circling the Earth every 90 minutes.
- On Tuesday, July 19, 1994 at 6 a.m., STS-65 Payload Status Report # 22
Mission Specialists Carl Walz, Don Thomas and Leroy Chiao took a break
during their eleventh day in space to thank the French Space Agency's Jean-
Jacques Favier, STS-65 alternate payload specialist at the Spacelab Mission
Operations Control center in Huntsville. The crew then went back to work,
conducting investigations in the weightless environment of space for the second
International Microgravity Laboratory (IML-2) mission.
- During the first part of his shift, Thomas performed an inflight
maintenance procedure to remove the dead newt from its container in the Aquatic
Animal Experiment Unit. He then placed the newt into the Spacelab freezer to
preserve it for post-mission analyses. Later, Thomas reported that the
remaining adult newts and the recently hatched newt larvae continue to appear
healthy. He also injected the newt tank with dye, which acts as a tracer, to
help Principal Investigator Dr. Michael Wiederhold of San Antonio, Texas, study
development of the gravity-sensing organs in the newts that hatched during the
- The Japanese goldfish in the aquarium facility experienced their daylight
period when Chiao opened the window to their tank at the beginning of his shift
and closed the window before his shift ended.
- Thomas initiated an experiment in the French Space Agency's Applied
Research on Separation Methods Using Space Electrophoresis (called RAMSES)
facility. For this experiment, Thomas installed the sample bag of a highly
concentrated protein extract into a buffer solution, which helped the proteins
flow through an electrical field. This process, known as electrophoresis,
caused the proteins to separate according to their individual electrical
charges. The separated proteins will be returned to Earth for analysis by a
French pharmaceutical company. Bernard Schoot of Romainville, France, co-
investigator and Principal Investigator Dr. Victor Sanchez of Toulouse, France,
were excited by the way the proteins separated last night. "This investigation
went better than expected and we are extremely pleased," said Schoot. "Because
of the high concentration of protein in this sample, we can not do this
investigation on Earth."
- Chiao also conducted an experiment in the Japanese space agency's Free Flow
Electrophoresis Unit (FFEU). This experiment run was the second part of an
investigation for Dr. Wes Hymer of Pennsylvania State University. After Chiao
injected a sample of rat pituitary cells with a solution that caused them to
separate into growth hormones and prolactins, the cells (granules) were
separated in the FFEU's electrophoresis chamber. Once the sample containers
are returned to Earth, Hymer will analyze these separated cells to determine
how they were affected by spaceflight.
- All pre-mission objectives for two experiments in the German-provided Slow
Rotating Centrifuge Microscope (called NIZEMI) were completed last night. For
the first experiment, Chiao placed a small container of succinonitrile-acetone
into the NIZEMI facility. Dr. Klaus Leonartz of Aachen, Germany, watched video
from the Spacelab as the two-component mixture solidified in microgravity.
This type of low-gravity experiment will help improve materials in the future
as scientists begin to understand more about the solidification process.
- Chiao also placed additional seedlings of cress roots into the NIZEMI
centrifuge, exposing them to varying levels of gravity. Dr. Dieter Volkmann of
Bonn, Germany is studying these chemically prepared samples of roots to
understand more about how changes in gravity affect plant growth. This
information is important as we consider raising plants for food and oxygen
during extended stays in space.
- In the European Space Agency's Biorack facility, Chiao withdrew samples of
baker's yeast to determine if it has been expanding during the flight.
Researcher Dr. Augusto Cogoli of Zurich, Switzerland, is studying another way
of stimulating growth in the yeast - stirring and mixing. There are two
containers of baker's yeast involved in this experiment. One container has a
stirring mechanism to mix the yeast culture. The second container, which
serves as a control sample, does not have a stirring mechanism. Results from
Cogoli's experiment may influence the way life science experiments in space are
conducted in the future.
- Chiao added a culture medium to Bacillus subtilis bacteria that were
exposed to radiation before launch. Dr. Gerda Horneck of Cologne, Germany, is
the principal investigator for this experiment to test the hypothesis that
gravity affects the ability of biological systems to repair themselves after
radiation damage. Scientists must understand more about radiation-damaged
cells and their ability to recover from the effects of radiation - an
environmental factor in space - before humans can plan for much longer
- Chiao deactivated the Japanese-provided Large Isothermal Furnace last night
after all five of the scheduled experiment operations had been completed.
After this IML-2 mission, scientists will analyze their alloy samples to better
understand and improve production techniques on Earth.
- During the next 12 hours, the Red Team will be performing activities in
support of the Spinal Changes in Microgravity experiment and conducting life
science investigations in the Biorack and NIZEMI facilities. They also will
transfer containers into the Free Flow Electrophoresis Unit and deactivate the
Electromagnetic Containerless Processing Facility since all pre-mission
objectives have been met.
- On Tuesday, July 19, 1994 at 6 p.m., STS-65 MCC Status Report # 23
The only issue of any significance is with a backup stabilizing unit
on one of the three navigation platforms in the nose of the Orbiter.
Called an Inertial Measurement Unit, or IMU, the device is used to
provide navigation data to the spacecraft's onboard computers. The
backup rate gyroscope has experienced transient spikes periodically,
but none have interfered with the operation of the navigation
platform. Flight controllers have compared the IMU with one of its
sister units to ensure that it is healthy.
- Earlier today, the crew downlinked video of Japanese Payload
Specialist Chiaki Naito-Mukai working in the Spacelab module with the
Aquatic Animal Enclosure Unit and the Japanese Medaka fish. Payload
Commander Rick Hieb and Mukai also participated in a Canadian
experiment that measures changes to the astronauts' spinal columns.
The astronauts also shared Earth views as the Orbiter passed over the
South American continent.
- On Wednesday, July 20, 1994 at 6 a.m., STS-65 MCC Status Report # 24
STS-65 Commander Bob Cabana told reporters on the ground early
Wednesday that the crew of Columbia is proud have the Apollo 11 lunar
landing as part of its heritage, that today's space program is made up
of people who are equally talented and hard working, and that they are
ready to take on the challenge of an International Space Station.
- Cabana's comments came at the start of the in-flight news
conference, which also covered the crew's ability to recover the
operations of five experiment mechanisms during the course of the
flight, the importance of America's space program as an inspiration
for the country's young people, and the willingness of many members of
NASA's astronaut corps to return to the Moon. Cabana also said the
close coordination seen on the STS-65 International microgravity
Laboratory-2 mission will serve as a model for space station
operations, especially in the area of telescience, which has been
exploited heavily on this flight with some 25,000 remote commands
having been sent to the Spacelab experiments so far.
- Payload Specialist Chiaki Mukai, the first Japanese female to fly
in space, fielded a variety of questions in both Japanese and English,
including inquiries as what she felt was the most impressive view from
orbit (The Earth's limb at sunrise and sunset), and what she would
most like to do when she returns to Earth (see the people who worked
so hard on this mission happy with the results).
- Flight controllers continue to monitor one of Columbia's three
Inertial measurement Units, which has experienced a series of
transient error messages, but remain convinced that the navigation
instrument is healthy and could support landing.
- On Wednesday, July 20, 1994 at 6 p.m., STS-65 MCC Status Report # 25
STS-65 Commander Bob Cabana observed the 25th anniversary of the first
landing on the