NOTICE: NASA DAILY WILL NOT PUBLISH ON JULY 3, WE WILL RESUME ON JULY 6. Daily News Thursday, July 2, 1992 24-hour audio service at 202/755-1788 % Orbiting Spacelab crew continues to provide fundamental new data; % University of Wisconsin plant growth unit activated by crew; % Orbiter regenerative carbon dioxide scrubber remains functional; % Commander Richards puts Columbia through redundant systems test; % STS-50 mission passes half-way point P Crew and vehicle in excellent shape; % Orbiter Atlantis assigned to Palmdale following next flight for rebuild work. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * The orbiting team of microgravity experimenters aboard Columbia continued yesterday and throughout the night to press forward through the mission's multiple investigations -- all being performed with visual and voice links to their ground-based principal investigator teams. Payload specialist Gene Trinh spent eight hours during his last shift performing the second set of experiments in the Surface Tension Driven Convection experiment. These experiments are aimed at determining the effects of internal and surface heating on fluid motion. In order to trace the motions, the silicon oil samples being heated have aluminum oxide tracer particles imbedded in them and are being illuminated by a laser in order to highlight the fluid motion. The team for this set of experiments is from Case Western Reserve University and the Lewis Research Center. Following the mission, the team expects to be able to correlate the observed fluid motion with their computer models and to then refine the model of thermocapillary flow. In another set of fundamental physics experiments, mission specialist Carl Meade performed a set of Wire Insulation Flammability experiments which Lewis investigator Greenberg described as being potentially very useful in allowing for better detection, control and abatement of fire. The experiment is one of several aimed at determining the fundamental physics and chemistry associated with combustion. While the Spacelab module crew was performing their materials and physics experiments, mission specialist Ellen Baker was activating the Astroculture plant nutrient device in Columbia's mid-deck. This experiment is the first in a series of on-orbit tests to evaluate a set of subsystems which can maintain plants in a microgravity environment. This first unit will test only the water-delivery aspect of plant growth units. On subsequent flights, lighting and atmospheric control aspects of a plant growth system will also be tested. Investigator Robert Morrow, University of Wisconsin, said his team wants to make sure each element of the developmental system is tested independently and shown to work in microgravity so they can separate gravitational effects from other plant-growth variables such as temperature and light levels. The Wisconsin team's ultimate aim is to design and deliver a technology base for a sophisticated plant growth facility which could act as a life support system. Although the Astroculture experiment has long-term implications for possible use on a space station or planetary base, the newly-repaired Regenerative Carbon Dioxide Removal System has a possible shorter-term advantage in weight and stowage space savings for use on future shuttle flights and possibly incorporation into atmospheric subsystems aboard Space Station Freedom. Ever since pilot Ken Bowersox rewired the faulty sensor logic unit on Tuesday, the unit has been performing properly and is continuing in its function to scrub Columbia's cabin air. The STS-50 mission passed the half-way point in the mission's planned 13-day duration shortly before midnight last night . With 104 orbits behind them, flight crew commander Dick Richards put Columbia through a planned redundant component checkout test and confirmed the operability of the orbiter's onboard functional elements. Houston flight controllers report that from their perspective Columbia is performing superbly and the vehicle and crew remain in excellent condition. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * The shuttle Atlantis, Orbiter Vehicle 104, will be returned to the Rockwell International Space Division facility at Palmdale, Calif., following the upcoming STS-46 Tethered Satellite System mission. Atlantis will undergo a series of planned equipment upgrades and systems inspections which is performed on each of the orbiters every three years. Discovery, OV-103, is currently undergoing just such maintenance activity in one of the Orbiter Processing Facilities at the Kennedy Space Center. Shuttle Director Tom Utsman said the decision to send Atlantis back to Palmdale will enable the KSC work flow to be more focused on preparing shuttles for flight. The decision to keep Palmdale active also allows NASA to maintain a skilled and highly effective work force at Rockwell's Palmdale facility. Utsman said that keeping Palmdale active will also allow the agency to integrate a Russian automated rendezvous and docking mechanism should the ongoing U.S.-Russian space activity negotiations prove fruitful. The decision to perform the Atlantis work in California will not cause any jobs to be lost in Florida, Utsman noted. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Here's the broadcast schedule for Public Affairs events on NASA Select TV. Note that all events and times may change without notice, and that all times listed are Eastern. Live indicates a program is transmitted live. Thursday, July 2, 1992 Live Throughout the day, live experiment video and crew activity from crew cabin and Spacelab module aboard Columbia. Live 2:00 pm Today in Space report on the progress of the USML-1 mission. Live 3:00 pm Mission status briefing on crew, orbiter and Spacelab systems. Live Throughout the day, live experiment video and crew activity from crew cabin and Spacelab module aboard Columbia. 9:00 pm Replay of Today in Space program from earlier. Friday, July 3, 1992 Live Throughout the day, live experiment video and crew activity from crew cabin and Spacelab module aboard Columbia. Live 10:00 am Live coverage of the SAMPEX launch aboard a multi-stage Scout vehicle from Vandenberg Air Force Base, Calif., begins. Live 10:19 am Scheduled launch of the Solar Anomalous and Magnetospheric Particle Explorer on a Scout rocket from LSC-5 at VAFB. Live 2:00 pm Today in Space report on the progress of the USML-1 mission. Live 3:00 pm Mission status briefing on crew, orbiter and Spacelab systems. Live Throughout the day, live experiment video and crew activity from crew cabin and Spacelab module aboard Columbia. 9:00 pm Replay of Today in Space program from earlier. Saturday, July 4, 1992 Live Throughout the day, live experiment video and crew activity from crew cabin and Spacelab module aboard Columbia. Live 2:00 pm Today in Space report on the progress of the USML-1 mission. Live 3:00 pm Mission status briefing on crew, orbiter and Spacelab systems. Live Throughout the day, live experiment video and crew activity from crew cabin and Spacelab module aboard Columbia. 9:00 pm Replay of Today in Space program from earlier. Sunday, July 5, 1992 Live Throughout the day, live experiment video and crew activity from crew cabin and Spacelab module aboard Columbia. Live 2:00 pm Today in Space report on the progress of the USML-1 mission. Live 3:00 pm Mission status briefing on crew, orbiter and Spacelab systems. Live Throughout the day, live experiment video and crew activity from crew cabin and Spacelab module aboard Columbia. 9:00 pm Replay of Today in Space program from earlier. Monday, July 6, 1992 Live Throughout the day, live experiment video and crew activity from crew cabin and Spacelab module aboard Columbia. Live 2:00 pm Today in Space report on the progress of the USML-1 mission. Live 3:00 pm Mission status briefing on crew, orbiter and Spacelab systems. Live Throughout the day, live experiment video and crew activity from crew cabin and Spacelab module aboard Columbia. 9:00 pm Replay of Today in Space program from earlier. Tuesday, July 7, 1992 Live Throughout the day, live experiment video and crew activity from crew cabin and Spacelab module aboard Columbia. Live 6:57 am STS-50 flight crew in-flight press conference from Spacelab module aboard Columbia. Live 2:00 pm Today in Space report on the progress of the USML-1 mission. Live 3:00 pm Mission status briefing on crew, orbiter and Spacelab systems. Live Throughout the day, live experiment video and crew activity from crew cabin and Spacelab module aboard Columbia. 9:00 pm Replay of Today in Space program from earlier. Wednesday, July 8, 1992 Live 1:27 am Deactivation activities to place Spacelab module and experiments in stowed position for end of mission. Live 3:39 am Preparations for deorbit maneuver of Columbia. Live 7:35 am Deorbit maneuver to place Columbia in proper trajectory for landing at Edwards Air Force Base. Live 8:35 am Landing of Columbia at Edwards Air Force Base, California. TBD Replay of landing scenes. Live TBD Post-landing press conference from Multi-use Facility at Dryden Flight Research Facility, Edwards, Calif. This report is filed daily at noon, Monday through Friday. It is a service of NASA's Office of Public Affairs. The editor is Charles Redmond, 202/453-8425 or CREDMOND on NASAmail. NASA Select TV is carried on GE Satcom F2R, transponder 13, C-Band, 72 degrees West Longitude, transponder frequency is 3960 MegaHertz, audio subcarrier is 6.8 MHz, polarization is vertical.