STS-62 Status #26 

Mission Control Center
STS-62 Status Report #26

Wednesday, March 16, 1994, 4 p.m. CST

Columbia's crew wrapped up a busy 13th day in orbit with a homemade package of
videotaped highlights that showed how much a fifth orbital maneuver could be
felt inside the crew cabin and how well the Earth could be seen from an
altitude of just 105 nautical miles.

In support of instruments measuring the amount of spacecraft glow, Commander
John Casper and Pilot Andy Allen manuevered Columbia into an eliptical orbit
with a low point of 105 nautical miles and a high point of 140 nautical miles.
The crew noted that the sensation of "speed" is much greater when the Shuttle's
orbit is at its low point.

Mission Specialist Pierre Thuot called Mission Control's attention to a
brownish tint he had noticed on insulation blankets in the payload bay, and
speculated that this may have been caused by the amount of time the payload bay
has been facing into the direction of travel on this mission.

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

The crew also worked through another series of evaluations of the Dexterous End
Effector equipment and complimented its designers on how precisely they were
able to position the arm using its new tracking and alignment system and force
torque sensor.

A standard check of the systems that will be used for entry and landing showed
that the flight control surfaces are working normally.  The test used Auxiliary
Power Unit (APU) 3, one of three units that supply hydraulic pressure for
steering systems during 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.

Columbia remains scheduled for a landing Friday morning, and forecasters are
predicting favorable weather conditions at Kennedy Space Center.

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