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STS-107
Report #14
Tuesday, January 28, 2003 -- 5 p.m. CST
Mission Control Center, Houston, Texas
The Red team of astronauts aboard the Space Shuttle Columbia accomplished repairs
on the third and final combustion experiment of STS-107 this afternoon, and support
scientists on the ground were looking forward to working with the Blue team on the
first scientific runs.
Mission Specialist Kalpana Chawla reported a good leak check of the Combustion
Module-2 Facility about 4 p.m. after five hours of work. She and Commander Rick
Husband sent down video of the recovery procedures for the Water Mist Fire Suppression
Experiment (MIST) around 2 p.m. to give engineers on the ground an opportunity to
visually inspect the equipment. The combustion facility, which provides control,
containment, diagnostics and communications for fire-related experiments, worked
flawlessly in support of the two previous combustion experiments, but failed its
initial leak checks when MIST was installed Monday.
Payload Commander Michael Anderson of the Blue team is scheduled to begin work
with the MIST experiment overnight. Designed by the Center for Commercial Applications
of Combustion in Space at the Colorado School of Mines, Golden, Colo., the
experiment will investigate how water mist inhibits the spread of flames.
Scientists hope to apply what they learn to designs for improved, lighter-weight
fire suppression systems on Earth, as well as for spacecraft-based systems that
won't require ozone-damaging chemicals such as Halons.
Husband, Chawla and Red team colleagues Lauren Clark and Ilan Ramon enjoyed some
time off for the first half of their day, then moved ahead with other experiments
in the Spacehab Research Double Module. Clark retrieved samples associated with
the Bioreactor Demonstration System, which Project Scientist Tom Goodwin reported
today has grown a bone and prostate cancer tumor tissue sample as large as a golf
ball, the largest grown in space to date. She also collected blood and urine samples
from her crewmates for the Physiology and Biochemistry (PhAB4) suite of experiments.
Ramon also conducted observations of dust off the African coast for the Mediterranean
Israeli Dust Experiment (MEIDEX).
After a 2:39 p.m. CST wake-up to the Beach Boys singing "I Get Around," the Blue
team of Anderson, Pilot Willie McCool and Mission Specialist Dave Brown resumed
work with the tests of their breathing, hearts and muscle associated with Advanced
Respiratory Monitoring System. Anderson was scheduled to check on the condition of
the animals on board, which has continued to be good.
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