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STS-95
PAYLOADS
Space Shuttle
Discovery will carry a SPACEHAB module to orbit. Inside SPACEHAB,
almost 30 experiments ranging from materials science, to plant growth
and developing new techniques for delivering vital anti-tumor medications,
will be conducted by the crew. Sponsored by NASA, the Canadian Space
Agency, the European Space Agency and the Japanese Space Agency
NASDA, these studies take the best advantage of the unique environment
of space to conduct these diverse studies.
Read more
about these experiments:
Three multidisciplinary
space science payloads will share Discovery's cargo bay with the
pressurized SPACEHAB module:
- The Hubble
Space Telescope Orbiting Systems Test will validate components
planned for installation during the upcoming Hubble Space Telescope
servicing mission and evaluate new technologies in an Earth-orbiting
environment.
- The SPARTAN
201 free-flyer is designed to investigate physical conditions
and processes of the hot outer layer of the Sun's atmosphere.
- The International
Extreme Ultraviolet Hitchhiker involves six different ultraviolet
astronomy experiments mounted on a support structure.
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SPARTAN
201-05 leaves the cargo bay of the Space Shuttle Discovery
to remain in free-flight for several days while it records
data on the solar wind and the Sun's corona. Watch
a video (500 Kb .mpg, no audio) of the shuttle's robotic
arm capturing SPARTAN.
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STS-95 objectives
include a number of secondary investigations called Detailed Supplementary
Objectives, or DSOs and Development Test Objectives, or DTOs.
These DSOs and DTOs will be conducted before, during and after
the October mission. Consisting of experiments and technology
demonstrations, these investigations will supplement knowledge
gained from the primary mission payloads.
Biological
Research in Canisters:
The Biological Research in Canisters, or BRIC investigation will
contribute to researchers' understanding of how the weightlessness
of space affects the development of plants. The implications are
important for the crews of future long-duration space flights because
they will depend on plants grown in space for food, water and oxygen.
Better understanding of embryo formation and cell division also
could result in advances in medical technology and better pharmaceutical
products.
Cryogenic
Thermal Storage Unit:
The Cryogenic Thermal Storage Unit, or CRYOTSU, will provide aerospace
designers with a "toolbox" of thermal control elements that they
can select from to determine ways of reliably solving complex
spacecraft thermal design problems with minimum expenditures of
power, weight and cost.
Electronic
Nose:
Early detection of contaminants aboard spacecraft is vital to
crew health. The problems with current air quality monitoring
equipment may be solved by the extremely compact and unobtrusive
design of the Electronic Nose, or E-Nose, which can detect, identify
and quantify a wide range of air constituents. This comprehensive
measurement of spacecraft air quality by a miniature, distributed
device also has potential application for environmental monitoring
and control on Earth.
Getaway
Special Program:
Four Getaway
Special payloads will be aboard the STS-95 mission.
The G-467
GAS payload will demonstrate in space the working principle and
performance of a two-phase capillary pumped loop with two advanced
evaporators, a two-phase vapor quality sensor with two condensers
in parallel, and a control reservoir.
G-779, or
Hearts in Space, was developed by researchers at Bellarmine College
in Louisville, Ky. The purpose of the payload is to study why
astronauts' hearts become smaller while in space.
The other
two GAS experiments, G-238 and G-764, are part of the International
Extreme Ultraviolet Hitchhiker-03 payload.
Protein
Crystal Growth:
Proteins are important, complex biochemicals that serve a variety
of purposes in living organisms. Structural information gained
from protein crystal growth activities can provide a better understanding
of the body's immune system and aid in the design of safe and
effective treatments for disease and infections.
Space
Experiment Module-4:
Some of the specific objectives and benefits of the Space Experiment
Module, or SEM, program are to:
- Provide
economical access to space for students from kindergarten to
the university level.
- Tie SEM
program to NASA and U.S. educational goals and standards.
- Ensure
that student participation is not limited by geographical location.
HST
Orbital Systems Test Platform, or HOST:
The Hubble Space Telescope Orbital Systems Test, or HOST, platform
is an on-orbit test bed for hardware that will be installed on the
orbiting telescope during the third Hubble servicing mission. The
primary objective of the HOST mission is to demonstrate that electronic
and thermodynamic equipment slated for installation on the Hubble
Telescope in 1999 works in the radiation and microgravity environment.
SPARTAN
201-5:
Discoveries about the unknown source of the energy that heats
the solar corona and accelerates the solar wind may help scientists
understand the winds that carry mass and momentum away from other
stars and why the Sun's rotation has slowed. The results may also
help them to explain how the Earth's magnetism and, ultimately,
its climate and weather are affected by variations in the radiation
and particles emitted by the Sun.
International
Extreme Ultraviolet Hitchhiker:
Since extreme ultraviolet flux, or radiation, cannot penetrate
the Earth's atmosphere, scientists who want to learn more about
this important energy source from the Sun must conduct their experiments
in space. Scientists hope that these experiments will provide
data that will help them improve their global solar atmospheric
models, which will lead to a better understanding of solar variability.
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