STS-69

Endeavour:  Wake Shield Facility-2/Spartan-201-3
KSC Release No. 68-95
July 1995

Primary objectives of the mission are the deployment, retrieval and operation of the Wake Shield Facility (WSF) satellite on its second flight and the Spartan-201 spacecraft which is making its third flight. The crew also will conduct and oversee a wide variety of secondary experiments, including solar and stellar observations, commercial materials processing and biotechnology investigations.

Two members also will carry out a nearly 6 1/2- hour extravehicular activity (EVA) or spacewalk to test assembly techniques and tools for the international space station and to evaluate thermal design modifications to space suits worn during spacewalks.

Endeavour will ascend at a 28.45-degree inclination to the equator for direct insertion to a 200- nautical-mile (370-kilometer/230-statute-mile) orbit. The orbiter’s altitude will be raised to 215 nautical miles (398 kilometers/247 statute miles) on Flight Day 4 for WSF-2 operations, and then lowered to 185 nautical miles (343 kilometers/213 statute miles) on Flight Day 8 for the Shuttle Glow Experiment (GLO-3).

The 71st Space Shuttle mission, and the ninth flight of Endeavour (OV-105), will begin with liftoff from Pad A, Launch Complex 39. The 11-day flight is scheduled to end at KSC’s Shuttle Landing Facility.

Four experienced space flyers and one rookie comprise the STS-69 crew.

The mission commander is David M. Walker (Capt., USN), who will be making his fourth flight. He was pilot of STS 51-A in 1984, and commander of STS-30 in 1989 and STS-53 in 1992.

He will be assisted at the flight controls by Pilot Kenneth D. Cockrell, who previously flew as a mission specialist on STS-56 in 1993.

James S. Voss (Lt. Col., USA), a mission specialist, will oversee the many planned experiment activities as payload commander. He flew twice before as a mission specialist -- on STS-44 in 1991 and with Walker on STS-53 in 1992.

The other mission specialists are James H. Newman and Michael L. Gernhardt, who hold doctoral degrees, in physics and bioengineering, respectively. Newman flew once before, as a mission specialist on STS-51 in 1993. Gernhardt is a first-time space flyer.

Wake Shield Facility (WSF-2)
From inside the orbiter, Mission Specialist Newman will operate the controls of Endeavour’s Remote Manipulator System (RMS) robotic arm which will grapple the WSF from its berth in the payload bay on Flight Day 4. The following day, the arm will release the free-flying 12- foot-in-diameter (3.8-meter) stainless steel disc after checkout and oxygen scrubbing of the scientific instrument side, or wake side, of WSF to prevent contamination from the orbiter. WSF will fire its cold gas thruster to position itself approximately 35 nautical miles (65 kilometers/40 statute miles) behind Endeavour. It will mark the first time a payload has performed its own burn to separate itself from the orbiter. The spacecraft will fly free of the orbiter about 56 hours, creating a base vacuum in the wake estimated to be 10,000 to 100,000 times better under operating conditions than can be achieved on Earth. Retrieval with the RMS arm is planned on Flight Day 7. When WSF is in close proximity to Endeavour, a plume impingement experiment using the orbiter’s thrusters will be performed. After retrieval, the Charge Hazards and Wake Studies (CHAWS) will be conducted.

The "proof-of-concept" WSF payload is designed to generate an "ultra vacuum" in space in which to grow and process up to seven high-purity epitaxial thin films of advanced semiconductor material for electronic circuits, photonic devices, and digital, analog, microwave and optical devices. High-performance computers, cellular phones, radar and high-definition television are among the potential applications of the semiconductor growth technology.

During its first flight on STS-60 in 1994, the WSF was not deployed because of an attitude sensor malfunction. But five of the seven planned thin films were grown on the platform held by the RMS arm. The WSF still achieved about 80 percent of its mission objectives on that first flight.

Scientists hope that the free-flying disc on this flight will produce thin film growths of the highest possible purity, without contamination from the orbiter.

The Wake Shield Facility was developed and built by the Space Vacuum Epitaxy Center at the University of Houston, one of 11 NASA Centers for the Commercial Development of Space.

Two more WSF flights are planned, in 1996 and 1998, with eventual integration of the facility in the international space station program.

Spartan-201
On Flight Day 2, Mission Specialist Gernhardt will operate the RMS controls to deploy the Spartan-201 platform. During up to 47 hours of free-flying operations, Spartan-201 will investigate the physical conditions of the solar corona, particularly that part of the sun’s atmosphere where the solar wind is generated. Electronically charged particles stream from the sun as the solar wind, traveling as fast as 1,000 kilometers (621 statute miles) per second. The observations are timed to coincide with the passes of NASA’s Ulysses spacecraft over the north polar region of the sun. The satellite will be grappled by the RMS arm on Flight Day 4.

The platform will contain the same two instruments -- the White Light Coronograph and the Ultraviolet Coronal Spectrometer -- used on the first two Spartan-201 missions, STS-56 in 1993 and STS-64 in 1994.

All data gathered by Spartan-201 will be stored on an onboard tape recorder for analysis after landing.

One more flight of Spartan-201 is scheduled, in 1997.

Spacewalk
Mission Specialists Voss and Gernhardt will perform the EVA or spacewalk on Flight Day 10. This is the second in a series of six EVA development flight tests to prepare for assembly and maintenance of the international space station beginning in 1997.

The objectives of the EVA are to evaluate space station tasks and tools, thermal design modifications to the Extravehicular Mobility Unit (EMU) space suit, and the electronic cuff checklist device worn on the wrist.

Among the EMU modifications which will be tested are gloves with heat added for the first time, and improved adjustable thermal mittens. Astronauts who conducted a spacewalk on STS-63 earlier this year experienced cold fingertips. As a result of their comments, additional thermal protection will be provided for the hands as well as other parts of the body on this flight.

Other Payloads
STS-69 will be the first mission to include two separate payloads in the Hitchhiker Program managed by the Shuttle Small Payloads Project at Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC) in Greenbelt, Md. Hitchhiker is designed for customers who wish to fly quick-reaction and relatively low-cost experiments on the Shuttle. Payloads receive power and data handling through Hitchhiker avionics, and experimenters can communicate with their experiments through the Payload Operations Control Center at GFSC. Both Hitchhiker payloads are in Endeavour’s cargo bay.

The International Extreme Ultraviolet Hitchhiker (IEH)-1 includes four experiments mounted on a bridge assembly in the payload bay. They are: Solar Extreme Ultraviolet Hitchhiker (SEH); Ultraviolet Spectrograph Telescope for Astronomical Research (UVSTAR); Shuttle Glow Experiment (GLO-3); and Consortium for Materials Development of Space Complex Autonomous Payload (CONCAP IV-03) non-linear optics experiments.

The Capillary Pumped Loop-2/Gas Bridge Assembly (CAPL-2/GBA) includes a prototype of the thermal control system planned for use on the Earth Observing System (EOS) platform. The Gas Bridge Assembly holds four Get Away Special (GAS) canisters of self-contained experiments, and the Thermal Energy Storage investigation to enhance performance of solar- dynamic power system heat receivers.

Middeck experiments include:
Space Tissue Loss/National Institutes of Health-Cells (STL/NIH-C) to evaluate, among other things, muscle and bone loss in microgravity.

Commercial Materials Dispersion Apparatus Instruments Technology Associates Experiment (CMIX) will collect data on scientific methods and the commercial potential of biomedical and fluid science applications.

Commercial Generic Bioprocessing Apparatus (CGBA) processes biological fluid samples in microgravity.

Electrolysis Performance Improvement Concept Study (EPICS) investigates the electrolysis of water in the microgravity environment.

Biological Research in Canister (BRIC) studies the effects of spaceflight on arthropod animals and plants.

Midcourse Space Experiment (MSX), a payload of opportunity, will use orbiter thruster firings as a sensor calibration and evaluation target for the orbiting MSX satellite.

INTERNET ADDRESS -- KSC MISSION HOME PAGE: http://www.ksc.nasa.gov/shuttle/countdown