Once in orbit, the crew will enter the 40-foot (13-meter) pressurized Spacelab module to begin the 22 LMS life science and microgravity experiments in the laboratory and in lockers in the middeck area of the orbiter's crew cabin. Thirteen of the life sciences experiments will be devoted to the study of the effects of microgravity on human physiology, while six microgravity experiments will be conducted to produce metallic alloys and protein crystals and study the behavior of fluids and materials processing in the near-weightless environment of space.
The STS-78 mission is scheduled to end with Columbia's touchdown at the KSC Shuttle Landing Facility.
The seven-member STS-78 crew includes astronauts representing the French Space Agency and the Canadian Space Agency, as well as two medical doctors and a veterinarian.
Mission Commander Terence T. "Tom" Henricks (Col. USAF) is on his fourth space flight, having served as the Commander of STS-70 and the pilot of both the STS-55 and STS-44 missions. He has more than 5,000 hours of flight time in over 30 types of aircraft and holds a commercial pilot rating.
Pilot Kevin R. Kregel first flew as the pilot of STS-70. A former Air Force pilot, he joined NASA in 1990 as an aerospace engineer and instructor pilot. He became an astronaut in 1992.
Payload Commander Susan J. Helms (Lt. Col., USAF) has flown on STS-64 and STS-54. She holds a master's degree in aeronautics/astronautics and has flown as a flight test engineer in 30 different types of aircraft. Helms will also serve as flight engineer on this mission.
Mission Specialist Richard M. Linnehan (DVM) is on his first Shuttle mission. He received his doctor of veterinary medicine degree from Ohio State University in 1985. Before becoming an astronaut in 1992, he was a chief clinical veterinarian for the U.S. Navy.
Mission Specialist Charles E. Brady, Jr. (Cdr., USN) received his doctorate in medicine from Duke University in 1975. He then became a flight surgeon at the Naval Aerospace Medical Institute. Brady was named as a astronaut in 1992.
Payload Specialist Jean-Jacques Favier (Ph.D.) became a French Space Agency astronaut in 1985. He holds a doctorate degree in metallurgy and physics from the University of Grenoble. He has been the principal investigator for several materials experiments in space.
Payload Specialist Robert Brent Thirsk (M.D.) has served as chief astronaut for the Canadian Space Agency. He is a co-leader of an international team investigating the effect of microgravity on the body's venous system.
Throughout the mission, the STS-78 flight crew will be working with scientists from the European Space Agency (ESA), Canadian Space Agency (CSA), French Space Agency, Italian Space Agency (ASI) and NASA in the Payload Operations Control Center at the Marshall Space Flight Center and six remote sites. Three of these sites will be at NASA centers, including Hangar L at KSC. The other three locations will be at ESA-affiliated facilities in Europe. All will receive downlink data from the orbiter to access real-time science data and to make changes to the science plan if required during the flight.
The 13 human physiology experiments are designed to provide additional information on how the body adapts to the near-zero gravity conditions found in orbit. Some of the major changes experienced by Space Shuttle crews have been shifts in body fluids, muscle atrophy and decalcification of bone tissue. These changes seem to be reversible after short-duration flights, but the effects of long-duration missions such as those on the space station are not known. A comprehensive understanding of physiological changes in space is essential to the development of more effective countermeasures to these adaptations for both short and long-duration missions. The knowledge gained through the STS-78 experiments will also contribute to the basic understanding of human physiology on Earth.
These investigations will include specific studies on bone tissue loss; muscle performance and adaptation; caloric intake and energy expenditure; pulmonary function; neurovestibular adjustment and behavior. General studies on the effects of human spaceflight on human performance and on daily sleep and biological (circadian) rhythms will be performed as well. Columbia's 39-degree inclination will place the orbiter over Florida at approximately the same time every morning, allowing the crew to maintain the same sleep/wake rhythms they are accustomed to on Earth and precluding the need for them be awakened early for landing.
Two middeck space biology experiments -- the Animal Enclosure Module (AEM) and the Plant Growth Facility (PGF) -- will also be on board to study how microgravity affects the basic mechanisms of both animal and plant physiology. Twelve laboratory rodents will be housed in the two AEM units, while pine and Douglas fir seedlings will be in six PGF chambers. A third biology experiment, the Space Tissue Loss-Configuration B (STL-B) in the Spacelab module, will be used to study Medaka fish embryo development.
The STS-78 crew will conduct six microgravity experiments to continue space-borne research that could lead to advances in fluid physics, materials processing and biotechnology. In the near-zero gravity of space, processes that are normally obscured by one-g forces on Earth can be studied to obtain a better understanding of them. Biological and metal crystals can also be grown distortion-free to provide the clues that can lead to the manufacture of stronger metal alloys and new and improved medicines.
The Advanced Gradient Heating Facility (AGHF) is a furnace that will be used in two experiments that will investigate the physical phenomena involved in the directional solidification of semiconductor materials.
The Advanced Protein Crystallization Facility (APCF) will host 11 investigations that will study three different methods of protein crystal growth. Scientists are particularly interested in why and how crystals nucleate to begin crystal formation. More than 5,000 video images will be made of crystals grown in space to study the history of their development. By using the larger, more highly ordered crystals that can be grown in microgravity, scientists may be able to expand our understanding of biological processes on the molecular level.
The Bubble Drop and Particle Unit (BDPU) will be used to conduct six investigations that could lead to a better understanding of fluid processes that play a role in the production of most materials. During the mission, cameras and sensors will observe and record bubbles and drops in liquid-filled test cells to determine how they react in liquids with varying temperatures and concentrations, how they affect the process of solidification, how convection affects liquid layers and how evaporation and condensation affect bubble creation and growth.
The Microgravity Measurement Assembly (MMA), the Orbital Acceleration Research Experiment (OARE) and the Space Acceleration Measurement System (SAMS) will be on board Columbia to measure low-level accelerations and vibrations. These systems collect data about small disturbances in the microgravity environment of space.
Integration work on the LMS module began in May 1995 in the Operations and Checkout (O&C) building and final checkout work was completed in April 1996. The module was then transported to Orbiter Processing Facility (OPF) 2 for integration into Columbia's payload bay on April 23. Columbia was rolled out to Pad 39B on May 30.