STS-107 MCC Status Report #07; Tuesday, January 21, 2003 - 6
p.m. CST
The seven astronauts aboard Columbia continued to conduct
scientific studies 24-7 today, concentrating their efforts on
combustion in weightlessness, the growth of cell cultures, and
measurements of the ozone layer.
The Blue Team was awakened at 3:39 p.m. CDT to the
sounds of "The Wedding Song" by Paul Stookey, uplinked from Mission
Control especially for Pilot Willie McCool. McCool and Blue Team
Astronauts Dave Brown and Michael Anderson (right) will begin
work after a handover at 5:24 p.m. The Red Team of Rick Husband,
Kalpana Chawla, Laurel Clark (below) and Ilan Ramon begins its
sleep shift at 7:39 p.m.
Israel Space Agency Payload Specialist Ilan Ramon took a break
from observations of thunderstorms today to speak with Israeli
Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and other dignitaries in Jerusalem.
Ramon captured never-before-photographed lightning phenomena, known
as "sprites" and "elves," in the extreme upper atmosphere using
Middle Eastern Dust Experiment (MEIDEX) cameras. The experiment's
primary objective is to study dust storms in the Middle East, but
clouds in the region have delayed those observations thus far.
Work continued with a study of combustion in space, focusing on
understanding the nature of soot. The Laminar Soot Processes
experiment was operated by Ramon to burn various fuels in
weightlessness and study production of soot. Weightlessness alllows
the process to be studied without the interference caused by
gravity-induced convection.
Other experiments run today included continued growth of
prostate cancer cells in the Bioreactor Demonstration System (BDS),
a device that has been shown on previous flights to grow cultures
of much greater fidelity than can be produced in ground labs. The
space-grown cultures may help scientists unlock lethal secrets of
prostate cancer that allow it to spread through the bones and other
body tissues. Mission Specialist Laurel Clark, a medical doctor,
worked with the culture device today, checking its operation and
photographing the tissues that have grown.
For other experiments, Commander Rick Husband
steered Columbia to aim payload-bay mounted instruments to study
ozone in the upper atmosphere and another experiment that studies
the solar constant. The Shuttle Ozone Limb Sounding Experiment-2
(SOLSE-2) uses observations of sunlight scattering by the
atmosphere to measure ozone. The Solar Constant Experiment (SOLCON)
measures solar irradiance above the atmosphere.
The Blue Team will continue observations of "sprites" with the
MEIDEX cameras, studies of soot with the Laminar Soot Process
apparatus and examinations of bone cell activity in microgravity
using the Osteoporosis Experiment in Orbit. The second half of its
day will include off-duty time to help stay fresh for the
extended-duration mission.
Cooling and humidity control of the Spacehab module is being
managed through minor adjustments to systems aboard Columbia and
the science module. The Spacehab's dehumidifiers remain off due to
problems experienced in the last few days. The cooling glitch is
not expected to interrupt any of the mission's ongoing research.
Flight controllers are continuing to investigate options for
reactivating the dehumidifiers.
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