STS-89
Report # 16 
Friday, January 30, 1998, 7 a.m. CST 
 
  Thirteen humans are circling the globe simultaneously in three
separate space vehicles today after a busy Thursday in which two of
the ships parted company after four days of flying in tandem and was
launched from the steppes of Khazakstan.

  After a good night's sleep, the crew of Endeavour awakened at 6:48
a.m. today to the sounds of George Thorougood's."Bad to the Bone," a
favorite of Pilot Joe Edwards, and began strapping down the last of
the equipment and experiment samples transferred from Mir for the
return to Earth. One of the key transfer items, Mission Specialist
Dave Wolf, began preparing himself for the return to Earth after what
will have been 128 days in orbit.

  Aboard Mir, U.S. Astronaut Andy Thomas began settling in to his new
home as his new crew mates, Mir 25 Commander Talgat Musabayev, Flight
Engineer Nikolai Budarin and French researcher Leopold Eyharts began
their journey from the planet's surface. About 6:50 a.m., Mir 24
Commander Anatoly Solovyev and Flight Engineer Pavel Vinogradov
undocked a Progress resupply vessel to make room for the advancing
Soyuz TM-27 capsule, scheduled to arrive at 12:13 p.m. CST
Saturday. Solovyev, Vinogradov and Eyharts are scheduled to return to
Earth on Feb. 19.

  Interviewers from the Associated Press and ABC Radio will interview
the entire Endeavour crew at 2:13 p.m. CST today.

  The weather forecast for Saturday's scheduled 4:35 p.m. CST landing
at the Kennedy Space Center continues to call for clear skies and
favorable winds. Mission managers have elected not to call up landing
support at Edwards Air Force Base, California.

  Endeavour is orbiting the Earth every 90 minutes at an altitude of
about 240 miles with all of its systems working well.

###

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