The STS-87 mission aboard Columbia will feature the fourth flight for the U.S. Microgravity Payload (USMP-04) as well as deployment and retrieval of the Spartan-201 satellite to investigate the mechanisms causing the heating of the solar corona and the acceleration of the solar wind which originates in the corona. Also, an extravehicular activity (EVA) spacewalk demonstrating International Space Station assembly and maintenance operations will round out the 16-day mission. Another objective of the flight is to perform the Collaborative Ukraine Experiment (CUE), a middeck payload designed to study the effects of microgravity on plant growth. Other payloads on STS-87 include Getaway Specials (GAS), a special NASA program that offers individuals or groups opportunities to fly small experiments aboard the Space Shuttle.

The 87th Shuttle launch and 24th flight of Columbia (OV-102) is scheduled to begin with an afternoon liftoff from Launch Pad 39B at the opening of a 2-hour, 30-minute launch window. The orbiter will circle the Earth at an altitude of 172 statute miles at an inclination of 28.45 degrees to the equator. Once in orbit, the six-member crew will oversee 11 experiments in Columbia's payload bay and conduct four in-cabin scientific investigations. The mission is scheduled to conclude with an early morning touchdown at Kennedy Space Center's Shuttle Landing Facility.

As mission commander, two-time space flier Kevin R. Kregel will lead the crew of one other veteran space flyer and four rookies on mission STS-87 aboard the Shuttle Columbia. Kregel, who became an astronaut in 1992, previously flew on STS-70 and -78 and has logged more than 618 hours in space.

Pilot Steven W. Lindsey (Major, USAF) became an astronaut in May 1996. This is his first flight on the Space Shuttle, but he previously has logged more than 2,700 hours of flying time in 49 different types of aircraft.

Mission specialists for STS-87 include Winston Scott, Kalpana Chawla, Ph.D., and Takao Doi, Ph.D. Scott, a captain in the Navy, served as a mission specialist on STS-72, during which he conducted two spacewalks to demonstrate and evaluate techniques to be used in the assembly of the International Space Station. Scott will again perform spacewalks on STS-87, along with Dr. Doi, who joined the National Space Development Agency (NASDA) of Japan in 1985 and has been working in the Japanese manned space program since then. Doi served as a back-up payload specialist for the Spacelab Japan mission (STS-47) and also worked as a project scientist on the International Microgravity Laboratory-2 mission (STS-65). During the STS-87 mission, Dr. Doi will become the first Japanese astronaut to conduct a spacewalk from a Space Shuttle.

First-time Shuttle flier Dr. Chawla reported for training as an astronaut at Johnson Space Center in 1995. She has a doctorate in aerospace engineering from the University of Colorado.

The fourth United States Microgravity Payload (USMP-4) is one of a series of missions designed to conduct scientific research aboard the Shuttle in the unique microgravity environment for extended periods of time. In the past, USMP missions have provided invaluable experience in the design of instruments needed for the International Space Station (ISS) and microgravity programs to follow in the 21st century. USMP research also has provided the foundation for advanced scientific joint investigations in laboratories on the Russian Space Station Mir and the ISS. The USMP-4 mission consists of six major experiments mounted on two support structures bridging Columbia's payload bay. The USMP-4 scientific experiments are concentrated in the two major areas of materials science and fundamental physics.

Materials Science

Fundamental Physics

Another highlight of the STS-87 mission is the deployment and retrieval of Spartan-201, a small satellite involved in research to study the interaction between the Sun and its wind of charged particles. Observations made from Spartan-201 may have important practical implications for studies of how the variations in radiation and particle outputs of the Sun affect terrestrial magnetism, climate and weather.

Other payload bay experiments include the Shuttle Ozone Limb Sounding Experiment (SOLSE) to determine the altitude distribution of ozone in an attempt to better understand its behavior. The Loop Heat Pipe (LHP) test will advance thermal energy management technology and validating technology readiness for upcoming commercial spacecraft applications, and the Sodium Sulfur Battery Experiment (NaSBE) will characterize the performance of four 40-amp-hour sodium-sulfur battery cells.

STS-87 also will provide a platform for Getaway Special (GAS) 744 from Sierra College in Rocklin, Calif. The object of this experiment is to take ozone measurements of the Earth's upper atmosphere. The Turbulent Gas Jet Diffusion Flames (TGDF) payload is another payload using the GAS carrier. Its purpose is to gain an understanding of the characteristics of transitional and turbulent gas jet diffusion flames.

The Collaborative Ukraine Experiment (CUE), a middeck payload, will study the effects of microgravity on plant growth.

Cosmonaut Leonid Kadenyuk will perform the CUE experiments, a collection of 10 plant space biology experiments that will fly in Columbia's middeck. CUE also features an educational component that involves evaluating the effects of microgravity on the pollinating Brassica rapa seedlings. Ukrainian and American students will participate in the same experiment on the ground and have several live opportunities to discuss the experiment with Kadenyuk in Space.

The Microgravity Glove Box (MGBX) facility was designed for conducting experiments requiring crew participation and which may contain substances that are could be hazardous or involve operations impractical in the cabin environment. The MGBX was developed to be used in the Shuttle Middeck, the Mir Space Station, and International Space Station. It has flown during STS-75 (USMP-3) and several Shuttle/Mir docking missions.

The three experiments in the MGBX are the Particle Engulfment and Pushing by a Solid Liquid Interface (PEP) which will seek to understand how to process superior composite materials, the Wetting Characteristics of Immiscibles (WCI), or materials incapable of mixing, that seeks to learn more about controlling immiscibles to produce more desirable structures, and the Enclosed Laminar Flames experiment, or (ELF) which will study combustion to learn more about important hidden processes during ignition, flame spreading and flame extinction.

One scheduled extravehicular activity (EVA) spacewalk will be performed during STS-87 to demonstrate International Space Station assembly and maintenance operations. The spacewalk also will expand the EVA experience base for ground and flight crews. Mission Specialists Scott and Doi are scheduled to perform the EVA on Flight Day 6.

Columbia's last spaceflight was STS-94, the reflight of the Microgravity Science Laboratory-1. Launch took place July 1, beginning the 16-day MSL-1 mission, which ended on July 17 with a landing at KSC. The orbiter was then moved to Orbiter Processing Facility Bay 2. After final checkout, Columbia rolled out to Launch Pad 39B on Oct. 29. The United States Microgravity Payload-4 was processed in KSC's Space Station Processing Facility, while the Spartan-201 deployable satellite was prepared at KSC's Vertical Processing Facility. The Microgravity Glovebox was processed at the Marshall Space Flight Center; and CUE was processed at the Life Sciences Support Facility at Hangar L at Cape Canaveral Air Station.