11.22.96

Friday, November 22, 1996 5 p.m. CSTSTATUS REPORT: STS-80-07

STS-80 MISSION CONTROL CENTER STATUS REPORT # 7



Columbia’s crew is poised to release the second satellite of 
shuttle mission STS-80 -- the Wake Shield Facility -- at 7:06 p.m. 
CST.



Astronaut Tom Jones unberthed the WSF satellite from its latched 
position in the shuttle cargo bay on schedule today at 2:56 p.m. 
Jones positioned the satellite over the left-hand edge of the cargo 
bay with the WSF underside facing into the direction of travel. This 
position allows atomic oxygen to "cleanse" the satellite’s 
underside in preparation for its experiment operations. WSF will 
investigate using the ultra-pure vacuum of space to create advanced 
semiconductor materials.



The atomic oxygen cleaning is scheduled to last about two and a half 
hours. At about 5:45 p.m. CST, Jones will maneuver Columbia’s 
mechanical arm to position the satellite over the opposite side of 
the shuttle cargo bay, facing in the same direction it will during 
its free flight. In this position, controllers will verify and 
calibrate the operation of the WSF’s attitude control system. 
For release, Jones will position the satellite high above 
Columbia’s payload bay, with the underside of the WSF facing 
away from the direction of travel. The release window that opens at 
7:06 p.m. will be 41 minutes long. Two backup opportunities to 
release the satellite exist this evening as well.



At the time WSF is released, the first satellite deployed by Columbia, 
the ORFEUS-SPAS astronomy satellite, will be about 58 miles behind 
the shuttle. During the time both satellites are flying free of the 
shuttle, WSF will remain about 28 miles from ORFEUS-SPAS and about 23 
miles from Columbia.

	
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