The crew reported good photography opportunities over Manitoba,
Canada, saying the lakes appear more "bluish" than anticipated. They
also reported their first opportunity to photograph Chickasha, Okla.,
one of the 19 supersites that is of special interest to hydrologists
studying the globe's water cycle.
Gutierrez was interviewed by CNBC Television's Tom Snyder and Clifford
will answer questions from Mutual Radio network listeners during an
interview for the Jim Bohannan show at 11:15 p.m. central.
On Thursday, April 14, 1994, 3:30 a.m. CDT, Mission Specialist Rich
Clifford answered listeners' questions about space flight, the SRL-1
mission objectives, and the quality of life aboard the Space Shuttle
Endeavour during a 20-minute interview on Mutual Radio Wednesday
night.
At 12:13 a.m. central time, six minutes of real-time radar images
were televised for scientists as Endeavour flew across Europe. The
Otztal, Austrian Alps, hydrology super site is important to scientists
studying how the snow cover influences runoff in the area and the
amount of water available to surrounding areas from the melted snow.
Recent heavy snows in Bavaria will contribute even more information to
researchers. The new images from the Spaceborne Imaging Radar-C
(SIR-C) and the X-Band
Synthetic Aperture Radar (X-SAR) will be
compared to previous radar images obtained from radar systems mounted
in aircraft.
The SIR-C and X-SAR instruments have recorded
images for ecological
studies at Baikal Forest, Russia, Mabira, Uganda, and Western
Sayani,
Siberia; for oceanography research at the East Australian coast, the
North Atlantic, and the Gulf Stream; for studies of Earth's water
cycle at Mammoth Mountain, California, Chickasha, Oklahoma, and
Bebedouro, Brazil. Images were gathered for geologists at Cerro
Laukaru, Chile, Altai, China, and Mount Pinatubo, Philippines; along
with calibration of the systems' radar beams at the Amazon River in
South America, and at the Flevoland, Netherlands, super site.
The Blue Team reported good photography of a gigantic fire-scarred
area in China that burned in 1987. This region is of special interest
to the Measurement of Atmospheric Pollution experiment for studies of
forest regrowth after a fire event. The MAPS experiment
measures the
carbon monoxide in Earth's lower atmosphere to help investigators
determine how well the atmosphere can clean itself of "greenhouse
gases," chemicals that can increase the atmosphere's temperature.
Jay
Apt had off-duty time for the first half of the Blue Team's
sixth work day in space. During his off-duty time, Apt exercised on
the bicycle ergometer and recorded his heart rate and perceived
exertion for biomedical investigators. Apt was back on duty at 1 a.m.
central time until 7 a.m. when the Blue Team will hand over to the Red
Team of Sid Gutierrez, Kevin Chilton and Linda Godwin.
On Thursday, April 14, 1994, 6 p.m. CDT the Spaceborne Imaging
Radar-C and X-Band Synthetic Aperture Radar observations included
passes over the Northeast Pacific Ocean, the Gulf of Mexico, the Sea
of Okhotsk and the Southern Ocean for oceanographers; Ruiz, Colombia,
Kliuchevskoi, Kamchatka, Stovepipe Wells, Calif., and the Galapagos
Islands for geologists; Sena Madureira, Brazil, for ecologists; and
Bebedouro, Brazil, and Chickasha, Okla., for hydrologists.
The X-SAR science
team's quick-look data processor produced moving
video images of the Chickasha site, starting just north of the
Oklahoma border in Kansas and ending just south of the Oklahoma River
in Texas. Hydrologists will study the data to learn how well the
radar is able to determine the soil moisture content as it fluctuates
from day to day and week to week, taking advantage of recent storms
that have brought rain to the area. Dr. Ted Engman of Goddard Space
Flight Center is working with a team of 15 students from Ninnekah
(Okla.) High School to take ground measurements that will tell
scientists exactly how deep the radar is measuring the soil moisture.
On Friday, April 15, 1994, 3 a.m. CDT (per STS-59 Status Report #17)
The STS-59 Blue Team -- Jay Apt, Rich Clifford and Tom Jones -- are
monitoring, along with ground-based Payload scientists, 26 separate
data takes on their shift. Fifteen of those radar imagery sessions
are for oceanographers studying wave patterns, how the ocean
temperatures affect atmospheric heating and cooling, and the surface
features of ocean and sea floors. Geology sites imaged today include
Ruiz, Colombia, Merv, Iran, and Siberia. The radar antennae were
calibrated on the flight day seven Blue Shift at Mount Fugendake,
Japan, and Oberpfaffenhofen, Germany. Researchers studying the water
cycles of Earth at the Bebedouro, Brazil, super site; the Khumba,
Himalayan, site; and the Orgeval Watershed, France, site will get
radar data from today's orbits to compare with flyovers on other
mission days. Ecology targets recorded overnight include Baikal
Forest in Russia, Thetford,
England, and Gujarat, India.
Tom Jones commented that the pollution cloud noted over Manilla Bay
in the Philippines on flight day six was almost invisible today. At
about 1:50 a.m. central time, Jones reported that the astronauts had
seen fires along the west coast of Burma and smoke over Tasmania.
These visual observations supplement data being gathered on the
Measurement of Air Pollution by Satellite (MAPS) experiment, which
measures how well Earth's lower atmosphere can cleanse itself of
"greenhouse gases" that affect atmospheric temperatures.
Payload investigators watched a live downlink of X-Band Synthetic
Aperture Radar (X-SAR)
images from the coast of Spain over the
Oberpfaffenhofen, Germany, calibration super site. While the X-SAR
and the Spaceborne Imaging Radar-C (SIR-C) recorded the images aboard
Endeavour, students on the ground simultaneously took agricultural
biomass measurements and soil moisture samples. The radar image
investigators will include the students' data in the postflight
analysis of the Mission to Planet Earth studies.
As of Friday, April 15, 1994, 11:30 a.m. CDT, on Endeavour's seventh
day of around-the-clock observations of Earth winds down, scientists
on the ground are elated with the view already afforded them by the
radar observations completed.
One of the instruments aboard, the Measure of Atmospheric Pollution
from Satelllites, or MAPS, has exhausted
its supply of infrared film,
and a preliminary composite of the distribution of carbon monoxide in
Earth's atmosphere it measured is being developed. MAPS' information
may assist scientists as they study the amounts of "greenhouse gases"
in the atmosphere, gases that could lead to a general warming of the
planet.
Other notable images in work on the ground include views of the Mt.
Pinatubo volcano in the Phillipines and a composite image of Hawaii's
Kilauea volcano using all three radar frequencies aboard Endeavour.
In addition, views of the Galapagos
Islands and a stereo view of the
Kamchatka Peninsula, Russia, are
being prepared. Still, the vast
majority of information obtained by the Space Radar Lab remains stored
on data-recording tapes aboard Endeavour and will not be available for
processing until after landing.
The Red Team -- Sid Gutierrez, Kevin Chilton and Linda Godwin -- are
now in their seventh 12-hour work shift onboard, continuing to
supplement the radar data with still photography as Endeavour crosses
above the various sites. More than 14,000 still photographs are
expected by the end of the flight as a bonus to the radar information.
On Friday, April 15, 1994, 6 p.m. CDT, Chilton explained to the
public how a vast network of ground scientists and students camped in
the field at many of the worldwide sites assist with the radar
observations, and Godwin answered questions supplied by Cable News
Network viewers around the world.
The crew is continuing to work on a nuisance with it galley, the
presence of bubbles in the water used for drinking and rehydrating
food. Engineers on the ground developed the in-flight maintenance
procedure in an effort to provide some relief for the crew and to
fully understand the problem so that it can be eliminated on future
flights.
On Saturday, April 16, 1994, 3 a.m. CDT (from STS-59 MCC Status
Report #20), At about 11:30 p.m. and again at 1:15 a.m. central time,
Jay Apt used Endeavour's Shuttle Amateur Radio to talk with fellow
astronauts Norm Thagard and Bonnie Dunbar and two Russian cosmonauts
at the Star City training center outside Moscow, Russia. At the Star
City facility, Thagard is training as the prime U.S. crew member and
Dunbar as a backup for a 1995 joint U.S./Russian mission aboard the
Russian MIR space station.
The Blue Team -- Jay Apt, Rich
Clifford and Tom Jones -- reported
several visual observations including fires burning in Africa and a
line of thunderstorms over northeastern Brazil. Payloads scientists
asked the crew to add the Rugen Island, off Germany's northern
coastline in the Baltic Sea, to their list of Earth observations
photography.
Among the numerous radar images recorded on the Blue shift were
views for oceanographers over the North Sea and the Labrador Sea; for
ecologists over sites at Chulchaca, Yucatan, Mexico, Duke
Forest,
North Carolina, and Manaus Cabaliana, Brazil; and for geologists at
Fort Zinder in the Sahara Desert, the Karakax Valley, China, and
Zhamanshin, Russia.
On Saturday, April 16, 1994, 12:30 p.m.CDT, (from STS-59 MCC
Status Report #21), the Space Radar Lab-1 instruments also are
continuing to operate well, and all observations are being made on
schedule. Although the majority of information that has been gathered
is stored aboard the shuttle, scientists remain intrigued by data that
has been transmitted to the ground. Recent images processed on the
ground include a composite map of the ancient riverbeds detected
beneath the sands of the Sahara desert. The map will help scientists
study what the region looked like in ancient times and how
once-productive areas can become desert.
The crew was sent a preliminary composite map of carbon moxide
distribution in Earth's atmosphere derived from measurements made the
the MAPS
instrument aboard Endeavour, an instrument that studies air
pollution.
The sites being observed today include areas of Japan and Italy.
All of the observation sites have been recorded at least once at this
point in the flight, and remaining observations are to supplement the
data already obtained.
On Saturday, April 16, 1994, 7 p.m.CDT (from STS-59 MCC Status
Report #22), the Space Radar Lab-1 instruments are continuing to
record their observations of the Earth below according to schedule.
The sites being observed today included areas of Japan, Italy, Russia,
Chile, China, Uganda and Saudia Arabia. All of the observation sites
have been recorded at least once, and remaining observations are to
supplement the data already obtained.
One annoyance that has been worked since the first day of the
flight has been laid to rest with the successful in-flight maintenance
procedure to get rid of air bubbles in the crew's water supply, and
the crew has worked with experts on the ground to pinpoint how those
bubbles were getting into food and water containers.
Godwin spent 15 minutes being interviewed by television reporters
in Atlanta and Nashville.
On Sunday, April 17, 3 a.m. CDT (from STS-59 MCC Status Report
#23) the Blue Team --Jay Apt, Rich Clifford and Tom Jones -- is
recording radar images for scientists studying how elements of Earth's
land surfaces, water resources, and plant and animal life work
together to create Earth's livable environment. Geology sites covered
on the Blue shift include Puerto Aisen, Chile, Charana, Bolivia, and
Bangladesh; ecology sites at Les Landes, France, Western Sayani,
Siberia, and Chimalapas, Mexico; and oceanography sites over the North
Sea and, later this morning, the Equatorial Pacific Ocean.
Two televised downlinks of moving radar images from the X-Band
Synthetic Aperture Radar system fed through the X-SAR quick-look
processor at JSC allowed
mission scientists to view regions from the
Sahara Desert to Russia, with a
calibration data take at Matera,
Italy. The Payload Operations
Control Center later told the Blue Team
that the Matera calibration "was perfect." Another moving image
downlink covered an ecology site at Les Landes, France, south of
Bordeaux, followed by another calibration at the Oberpfaffenhofen
super site. There students from the University of Munich gathered
agricultural crop biomass measurements and soil moisture readings at
the same time aircraft-mounted radar systems, sponsored by the
European Space Agency, also measured the radar beams emitted by the
SIR-C and X-SAR instruments.
On Sunday, April 17, 12:30 p.m. CDT (from STS-59 MCC Status Report
# 24), Endeavour's flight control surfaces and thruster jets were
checked out today to ensure they are in good working order for
Tuesday's planned landing at the Kennedy Space Center at 10:53
a.m.
CDT. The latest weather forecast at landing time shows scattered
clouds and only a slight chance of rain offshore.
systems checks, the payload community continued to gather data using
the Space Radar Laboratory equipment located in the payload bay. The
round-the-clock observations with two types of radar and an air
pollution monitoring system is monitored by two teams of astronauts
aboard the Orbiter and three teams of scientists in the payload
control room adjacent to the primary flight control room.
The STS-59 mission's six astronauts held their traditional in-flight
news conference answering questions about the significance of the
mission. Following the news conference, Commander Sid Gutierrez, Pilot
Kevin Chilton and Flight Engineer Rich Clifford checked the orbiter
systems while the payload crew of Mission Specialists Linda Godwin,
Jay Apt and Tom Jones documented activity with the payload.
On Monday, April 18, 1994, 2 p.m. CDT, (from STS-59 MCC Status
Report # 26), Endeavour's crew is starting to pack up while final
radar observations of Earth are being made and Shuttle mission STS-59
winds down, aiming toward a 10:52 a.m. central landing Tuesday at
Florida's Kennedy Space
Center.
Aboard Endeavour, the Red Team crew members -- Commander Sid
Gutierrez, Pilot Kevin Chilton and Payload Commander Linda Godwin --
are in the last half of their 10th 12-hour work shift of the flight.
Early in the shift, Gutierrez and Chilton performed a standard
checkout of the systems Endeavour will use for tomorrow's return home
and found them in excellent shape. Meanwhile, observations with the
Space Radar Lab-1 instruments have continued without interruption.
The radar lab will continue observations until just after
midnight central time, when it will be powered off for the landing.
The instruments have taken advantage of one extra day in orbit, added
to the flight because of abundant supplies, to gain observations of
several unscheduled areas around the globe. Some of the unplanned
observations made include glaciers in Alaska, flooding in the midwest,
areas of Cambodia in Southeast Asia, and Almaz, Russia.
The weather forecast is favorable for a landing in Florida
tomorrow, although flight controllers will be watching a possibility
of low clouds and a slight chance of showers in the area. Endeavour's
first opportunity for landing Tuesday, and the time at which all
activities are aiming toward, would begin with an engine firing at
9:58 a.m. central, on Endeavour's 165th orbit, to begin a descent to a
touchdown on KSC's runway 33 at 10:52 a.m. central. A second
opportunity exists on Endeavour's166th orbit beginning with a deorbit
burn at 11:28 a.m. central leading to a touchdown in Florida at 12:23
p.m. central. Two opportunities also exist tomorrow for a landing at
Edwards Air Force Base, California, but shuttle managers do not plan
to use them, and would stay in orbit for an extra day for more
attempts at a Florida
landing before landing in California.
On Monday, April 18, 1994, 5 p.m. CDT (from STS-59 MCC Status
Report #27) Endeavour's Red Team -- Commander Sid Gutierrez, Pilot Kevin
Chilton and Payload Commander Linda Godwin -- is in the last hours of
its 10th shift of the STS-59 mission. Early in the shift, Gutierrez
and Chilton performed a standard checkout of the systems Endeavour
will use for Tuesday's return home and found them in excellent shape.
Gutierrez and Chilton also maneuvered the the shuttle to a new
attitude and calibrated the Heads-Up Display they will use for
landing.
Observations with the Space Radar Laboratory-1 (SRL-1)
instruments continued without interruption. SRL-1 also
switched to
its backup electronics package. Scientists switched from the primary
electronics systems -- which have worked flawlessly throughout the
flight -- to verify that the redundant system functions as well.
SRL-1
will continue observations until just after midnight, when it
will be powered off for the landing. The instruments have taken
advantage of one extra day in orbit, added to the flight because of
abundant supplies, to gain observations over targets of opportunity.
On Tuesday, April 19, 1994, 11:30 a.m. CDT STS-59 MCC Status Report # 31
reports: Endeavour and its six astronauts will remain in
space an additional day. Clouds and high winds in the vicinity of the
runway precluded a return to the Kennedy Space Center today.
Four landing opportunities are available Wednesday -- two in
Florida and two at Edwards Air Force
Base in California. KSC remains
the prime landing site with Edwards serving as the backup. The
Florida landing times are 10:29 a.m. and 12:01 p.m. central. The
California landing times are 11:54 a.m. and 1:26 p.m. central. The
deorbit burn designed to drop Endeavour out of orbit for the landing
phase will occur about 50 minutes prior to touchdown.
Mission Control's entry team will evaluate weather conditions and
make a final decision on the landing site after taking over control of
the mission about 4:30 Wednesday morning.
Following today's wave off, the crew reconfigured the orbiter
systems for the added day on orbit and reactivated a portion of the
Space Radar Laboratory payload in the cargo bay. The Space Imaging
Radar system (SIR-C) was the
only part of the payload to be
reactivated.
The data recorded during the STS-59 mission would fill the
equivalent of 20,000 encyclopedia volumes. Payload managers reported
late Monday night that more than 70 million square kilometers of the
Earth's surface, including land and sea, have been mapped on this
flight. This figure represents about 12 percent of Earth's total
surface. The Space Radar Laboratory obtained radar images of
approximately 25 percent of the planet's land surfaces.
The full complement of payloads will fly again on the STS-68
mission aboard Endeavour in August. The spacecraft remains in a
stable 116 nautical mile orbit.
