STS-62 Status #25 

Mission Control Center
STS-62 Status Report #25

Wednesday, March 16, 1994
7:30 a.m. CST

Columbia's Commander John Casper and Pilot Andy Allen started out their 13th
day in orbit with an eye toward the trip home, performing a standard check of
the systems Columbia will use for entry and landing.

For the first part of the morning's flight control systems checkout, the crew
used auxiliary power unit 3, one of three units that supply power for the
spacecraft's hydraulic systems during launch and landing.  APU 3, which had
been the subject of scrutiny early in the mission due to high pressure readings
in a fuel line, operated normally.

Following the checkout, the crew fired Columbia's orbital maneuvering system
engines for 38 seconds, dropping one side of the Shuttle's orbit by about 35
nautical miles to the lowest orbital altitude of any Shuttle flight to date.
Columbia is now in an elliptical orbit with a high point of 140 nautical miles
and a low point of 105 nautical miles.  The lower orbit is required for
continuing observations of the glowing effect created as the Shuttle interacts
with atomic oxygen and other gases in low orbit.

During the first shuttle glow observations in the new orbit, Mission Specialist
Pierre Thuot reported the glowing effect was much more pronounced at the lower
altitude.  The crew also activated the Limited Duration Candidate Materials
Exposure, or LDCE, experiment, exposing materials to the low-orbit environment
that are under study for use on future spacecraft.

The crew also began another series of evaluations of the Dexterous End Effector
equipment using the shuttle's mechanical arm, testing the technology's magnetic
grapple system, alignment system and force sensor.

The crew was awakened last night by the song "Traveling Prayer" performed by
Billy Joel. Columbia remains scheduled for a landing Friday morning.

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  Via FTL BBS (404-292-8761) and NASA Spacelink (205-895-0028)
