- 4/17/98 -- The mission is underway. Read the current status reports from Mission Control Center in Houston for the latest.
- 4/16/98 -- Columbia launch delayed 24 hours
On Thursday, 4/16/98, at 8:30am, the launch was scrubbed due to a problem with Columbias Network Signal Processors (NSP) #2 located in the Middeck Avionics Bay. There are two NSP's onboard connected redundantly and they are responsible for processing and routing commands, telemetry and voice between the orbiter and the ground. Launch has been postponed for 24 hours to give the launch team time to replace the unit. Middeck animal holding lockers containing 18 mice, crickets and a biotechnology technology locker will be removed to provide access for NSP removal. In the event the launch cannot be done on 4/17/98, the Neurolab payload will require a 96 hour scrub turn around to reinstall and resupply experiments. (from NASA press release)
- 3/25/98 -- STS-90 to carry "astroturf"!
Among PS2 Jim Pawelczyk's items will be an assortment of turf grass seeds from the Pennsylvania State University's agronomy department. After circling the globe, the seeds will be planted at the university's 24 campuses.
For more information visit www.cas.psu.edu/docs/casdept/agronomy/sts90.htm.
- 3/4/98 -- Astronaut packs stuffed companion for flight
Southern New Mexico elementary school students asked MS2 Kay Hire to
make a teddy bear part of her contribution to the Official Flight Kit. The
to-be-named bear is used by workers at NASA's White Sands Test Facility to
teach students about astronaut training and preparing payloads for spaceflight.
Learn more about the bear at: www.wstf.nasa.gov/bear/.
- 2/1/98 -- Cajal "joins" the mission!
Neurolab carries a piece of neuroscience history. Stored
in the Spacelab are a series of original slides from the famous Spanish
neuroanatomist, Santiago Ramón y Cajal. In the late 19th century
Cajal was principal in developing the Neuron Doctrine, which established
individual neurons as the building blocks of the central nervous system.
For this work he shared the 1906 Nobel Prize in Physiology and Medicine.
Learn More about Cajal, and see his
slides.
- 12/29/97 -- L-13 weeks: The STS-90 crew is on break. Happy New Year!
- 12/22/97 -- L-14 weeks: The STS-90 crew is on break. Happy Holidays!
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