MISSION: STS-87 -- U.S. MICROGRAVITY PAYLOAD-4

STS-87 images

• VEHICLE: Columbia/OV-102
• LOCATION: On orbit
• OFFICIAL KSC LAUNCH DATE/TIME: Nov. 19 at 2:46 p.m.
• TARGET KSC LANDING DATE/TIME: Dec. 5 at about 7:20 a.m.
• MISSION DURATION: 15 days, 16 hours, 34 minutes
• CREW: Kregel, Lindsey, Scott, Chawla, Doi, Kadenyuk
• ORBITAL ALTITUDE and INCLINATION: 150 nautical miles/28.45 degrees

NOTE: The Space Shuttle Columbia launched on time from Kennedy Space Center's Pad 39B today at 2:46 p.m. EST on mission STS-87. The eighth and final Space Shuttle launch of 1997, Columbia's timely liftoff punctuated a year of successful, on-time Shuttle launches. KSC launch managers worked no major technical issues throughout the day's countdown activities.

Columbia's crew of six will carryout the United States Microgravity Payload objectives, deploy and retrieve the Spartan satellite and complete the goals of the Collaborative Ukrainian Experiment. A six-hour spacewalk is planned for Monday night, during which Mission Specialists Winston Scott and Takao Doi will demonstrate assembly techniques to be used on the International Space Station.

The solid rocket booster (SRB) recovery ships were deployed yesterday afternoon and are expected to return to Hangar AF at Cape Canaveral Air Station on Friday morning with SRBs in tow.

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