ejbehr@rs6000.cmp.ilstu.edu (Eric Behr) (06/12/91)
MISSION CONTROL CENTER Status Report #10
Flight Day 6
Monday, 5:30 a.m. CDT -- June 10, 1991
Columbia continues to perform extremely well, and flight
controllers are not tracking any major systems anomalies at this
time.
Last night two members of the Space Shuttle Columbia's crew took
a few minutes before going to sleep to perform a magic trick for
flight controllers. Mission Specialist Jim Bagian, who does
magic as a hobby, and his assistant Pilot Sid Gutierrez conducted
the on orbit card trick while Orbit 2 CAPCOM Marsha Ivins and
Orbit 2 Flight Director Al Pennington participated in the trick
from the ground. Bagian asked Pennington to select a card from a
new deck. Bagian also had a deck of cards and said pre-flight he
had selected a card and turned it opposite to the other cards.
Bagian predicted that the card he had selected pre-flight would
match the card Pennington selected on the ground. Pennington
selected the four of spades as did Bagian.
Yesterday crew members conducted body mass measurement
operations, pulmonary function testing, echocardiograph
operations, cardiovascular operations, videotaped jellyfish
activity, and checked on the 29 rodents on board.
Planning shift flight controllers spent their shift monitoring
systems, working on flight plan adjustments and preparing
messages for the crew. Additionally, flight controllers worked on
plans for deactivating the Spacelab module late so that a crew
member can videotape the closing of the payload bay doors from
the Spacelab module.
Columbia's crew was awakened at 4:20 a.m. CDT to "Cow Patty," a
humorous western ballad that is a favorite of mission specialist
Tammy Jernigan. The crew continues taking medical science data
today. Among their planned activities are more cardiovascular
and neurovestibular experiments to help scientists understand the
human body's response to microgravity.
MCC STATUS REPORT #11 -- FLIGHT DAY SIX
11:30 a.m. CDT -- Monday, June 10, 1991
Gathering together in one place -- a rarity for the seven
astronauts -- Columbia's crew participated in an interview
with CBS "This Morning" shortly after waking up to begin
their sixth flight day in orbit.
Each crewmember responded to questions ranging from the
loose environmental seal on the orbiter's aft bulkhead to
science activities and results gathered in the Spacelab
module.
Following the interview, the crew went their separate ways to
begin another day of data collecting in support of the
Spacelab Life Sciences-1 mission. The activities conducted
included collecting body mass measurements; investigating the
interaction between visual, vestibular and tactile
information; obtaining echocardiograph data; and checking on
the jellyfish.
During Spacelab work, Commander Bryan O'Connor toured the
crew cabin and module taking sound level measurements in
support of the Detailed Supplementary Objective or DSO designed
to analyze noise levels at various locations.
Scheduled deactivation of the cabin air cleaner test was
delayed when the crew reported noticeably cleaner air. The
air cleaner was to remain powered for the remainder of the
day.
A procedure to determine if the orbiter refrigerator/freezer
is working properly was terminated when Mission Specialist
Jim Bagian powered the unit on and "within a minute" detected
the same odor observed previously. The ORF was immediately
powered off and will remain off until further evaluation.
Columbia's systems continue to perform well with consumables
capable of supporting three additional flight days beyond the
scheduled landing on Friday. Latest estimated landing time
would occur on orbit 146 between 10:43 and 10:44 a.m. central
on the concrete runway at Edwards Air Force Base, Calif.
SLS-1 experimenters desire a landing between 10:30 and 11:00
a.m. CDT for optimum life sciences research.
--
Eric Behr, Illinois State University, Mathematics Department
Internet: ejbehr@rs6000.cmp.ilstu.edu Bitnet: ebehr@ilstu