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Goddard MACH-1 Payloads Operations Underway Following their
launch from Kennedy Space Center late Wednesday afternoon, the seven
astronauts aboard Space Shuttle Endeavour are scheduled to dock
to the International Space Station later today at 3:04 p.m. EST.
The STS-108 mission is delivering a fresh crew to the International
Space Station and returning home a crew that has spent four months
in space. In addition
to a new station crew and supplies, Endeavour is carrying MACH-1,
a Goddard managed payload with a host of scientific investigations,
including experiments from space agencies, schools and universities
across the United States, Europe and South America. The Starshine
satellite alone involves more than 25,000 students in 26 countries.
The Capillary Pumped Loop Experiment (CAPL-3) was activated just
before midnight on launch day. By twelve hours into the flight,
the CAPL-3 and the Prototype Synchrotron Radiation Detector (PSRD)
had completed 20% and 25% of their mission objectives. By mid-morning
Thursday, PSRD had completed the first segment of its operations.
All Hitchhiker and payload avionics subsystem are performing nominally.
Thursday also saw the activation of several Get Away Special Payloads
GAS-064 (Plant Chamber Growth) and GAS-775 (Microgravity Smolder
Experiment). CAPL-3 operations and the second segment of PSRD operations
also took place on Thursday. For more updates on the MACH-1 payload
and experiments, go to: http://sspp.gsfc.nasa Endeavour will bring home the Expedition Three station crew, Commander Frank Culbertson, Pilot Vladimir Dezhurov and Flight Engineer Mikhail Tyurin, who have been aboard the station since their arrival in mid-August. The planned dates and times for key STS-108 mission events are listed below:
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