MISSION CONTROL CENTER
STS-68 Status Report #9

Wednesday, October 5, 1994, 8 a.m. CDT

Observations using Endeavour’s radar instruments continued uninterrupted
throughout the night and morning as the crew continued working around the
clock on two shifts. 

Space Radar Laboratory scientists received some images of Japan, near the
location of Monday night’s earthquake, but any evidence of the natural
disaster was not immediately noticeable.  Other radar observations during
the night included studies of other volcanoes including Mt. Pinatubo in
the Phillipines, Cotopaxi in Ecuador, and Teide in the Canary Islands. 

Radar images recently processed on the ground were images of Pasadena,
Ca., with ample clarity to allow the the Rose Bowl to be distinguishable,
and images of Washington State and Yellowstone National Park, both showing
scars from forest fires. 

During the night, the crew reported a missing thermal tile around one of
the overhead windows of the orbiter.  The tile apparently came off
recently since crew members look out the window often to perform the
visual observations that accompany radar operations.  Flight controllers
report that, while the tile is missing, the underlying thermal blanket is
still intact. 

Astronaut Linda Godwin, who served as the payload commander on the first
Space Radar Laboratory mission in April, briefed the crew from the payload
control room about 4:30 a.m. Wednesday, commemorating the tenth
anniversary of Challenger’s 41-G mission, which carried the Spaceborne
Imaging Radar (SIR-B) and the Measurement of Air Pollution by Satellite
(MAPS).  She also noted the first flight aboard a Shuttle of that
radar-imaging equipment on Columbia in November 1981. 

Endeavour remains in excellent health with no mechanical problems
interrupting the planned radar observations. 

The STS-68 mission remains scheduled to end on Monday with a landing at
the Kennedy Space Center.  Mission managers will assess the orbiter's
consumables and decide later this week if Endeavour can stay in space an
additional day. 

Endeavour is in a 117 by 115 nautical mile orbit, circling the earth every
one hour 29 minutes. 

***