STS-95 Payload: SPACEHAB

Payloads

SPACEHAB

Payload Bay

11,876

Prime: Chiaki Mukai		Principal Investigator: see individual experiments
Backup: Pedro Duque		Project Scientist: see individual experiments

Overview

Much of the mission research will be performed in the SPACEHAB module, a 10-foot by 13.5-foot pressurized laboratory located in the shuttle's cargo that is connected to the middeck area of the orbiter. Crew access is through a tunnel system located between the orbiter middeck and the SPACEHAB module.

Designed to augment the shuttle orbiter's middeck, SPACEHAB provides a total cargo capacity of up to 4,800 pounds and contains systems necessary to support the habitat for the astronauts, such as ventilation, lighting, and limited power. The STS-95 SPACEHAB payload consists of rack-mounted experiments, soft stowage bags, lockers, and supporting subsystems.

Generally, two crew members are required for SPACEHAB operations. The SPACEHAB environmental control system is designed to nominally accommodate two crew members on a continuous basis. An additional crew member is accommodated for brief periods at the expense of reduced cabin air heat rejection capability.

MICROGRAVITY RESEARCH PROGRAM

Working in partnership with the scientific community and commercial industry, NASA's Microgravity Research Program strives to increase understanding of the effects of gravity on biological, chemical, and physical systems.

Using both space flight- and ground-based experiments, researchers throughout the nation, as well as international partners, are working together to benefit economic, social, and industrial aspects of life for the United States and the entire Earth. U.S. universities, designated by NASA as "Commercial Space Centers," share these space advancements with U.S. industry to create new commercial products, applications, and processes.

Under the NASA Headquarters' Office of Life and Microgravity Sciences and Application, the Microgravity Research Program supports NASA's strategic plan in the Human Exploration and Development of Space Enterprise.

Microgravity research has been performed by NASA for more than 25 years. The term "microgravity" literally means a state of very little gravity. The prefix "micro" comes from the Greek word mikros, meaning "small." In metric terms, the prefix means "one part in a million" (0.000001).

Gravity dominates everything on Earth, from the way life has developed to the way materials interact. But aboard a spacecraft orbiting the Earth, the effects of gravity are barely felt. In this "microgravity environment," scientists can conduct experiments that are all but impossible to perform on Earth. In this virtual absence of gravity as we know it, space flight gives scientists a unique opportunity to study the states of matter (solids, liquids, and gases), and the forces and processes that affect them.

Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala. is the lead center for NASA's Microgravity Research Program. The program manages Microgravity Science and Applications Project Offices at the Lewis Research Center in Cleveland, Ohio, the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif., and also project offices at the Marshall Center.

Under the project offices, the Microgravity Research Program is divided into nine major areas: five science disciplines, three research infrastructure programs, and the Space Product Development Office.

The science disciplines include biotechnology, fluid physics, materials science, combustion science and fundamental physics. The infrastructure activities include acceleration measurement, advanced technology, and the Glovebox Flight Programs.

Marshall Center manages the Biotechnology Program and Material Science Program, as well as the Glovebox Flight Program and the Space Products Development office. Lewis Research Center manages the Fluid Physics, Combustion Science and Acceleration Measurement programs, while the Jet Propulsion Laboratory manages the Fundamental Physics and the Advanced Technology Development Program. As an element of the Biotechnology Program, Johnson Space Center manages bioreactor research in cell tissue growth.

STS-95 will feature eight microgravity experiments sponsored by the Space Product Development Office of the Microgravity Research Program. The mission also includes five microgravity science experiments, as well as the Space Acceleration Measurement System and the Microgravity Science Glovebox facility sponsored by the Microgravity Research Program.

Detailed information about the individual experiments may be found in the Experiments section of this STS-95 Space Shuttle Press Kit.

History/Background

Early in the shuttle program, it became evident that the orbiter middeck is the best place to conduct crew-tended experiments in space. Each shuttle orbiter has 42 middeck lockers but most are used to stow crew gear for a typical seven-day mission, leaving only seven or eight for scientific studies. But SPACEHAB, the first crew-tended commercial payload carrier, has initiated a new era of space experimentation.

The basic SPACEHAB module, which takes up a quarter of the orbiter's payload bay, is like a second middeck. The 10-foot-long pressurized module adds 1,100 cubic feet of pressurized work space that can hold 61 lockers or experiment racks or a combination of the two. The lockers are sized and equipped like those in the shuttle middeck so that experiments can be moved from one location to the other. The lockers accommodate up to 60 pounds of experiment hardware in about 2 cubic feet. A rack, which can be single or double, takes the space of ten lockers. Double racks are similar in size and design to those planned for the space station so that they can serve as test beds for future projects. A single rack can carry 655 pounds of hardware in 22.5 cubic feet.

A new module, developed specifically for shuttle missions to Mir, doubles the size of the pressurized laboratory and can accommodate nearly 10,000 pounds of cargo. The new double module was created by joining two single modules. A single module will be used on STS-95.

The astronauts enter the module through a modified Spacelab tunnel adapter. SPACEHAB can accommodate two crew members on a continuous basis, but additional crew members can work in the module for brief periods. Power, command and data services, cooling, vacuum, and other utilities are supplied by orbiter crew cabin and payload bay resources.

SPACEHAB was privately developed and is privately operated by SPACEHAB, Inc., of Arlington, Va. STS-95 is the 12th flight of SPACEHAB.

The first flight of the SPACEHAB research laboratory was on STS-57 in June 1993. All systems operated as expected, and the 21 NASA-sponsored experiments met more than 90% of the criteria for mission success. SPACEHAB 2 was flown on STS-60 in February 1994 and carried 13 experiments. More than 20 experiments were performed as part of SPACEHAB 3 on STS-63 in February 1995.

On STS-76, in March 1996, SPACEHAB carried 37 materials processing, microgravity, Earth sciences, biology, life sciences, and ISS risk mitigation experiments and logistics to Mir. Ten commercial space product development payloads in the areas of biotechnology, electronic materials, polymers, and agriculture were part of the SPACEHAB mission on STS-77 in May 1996. SPACEHAB carried additional stowage bags, experiments, and other logistics to Mir on STS-79 in September 1996, STS-81 in January 1997, STS-84 in May 1997, STS-86 in September 1997, STS-89 in January 1998, and STS-91 in June 1998.

A variety of experiments sponsored by NASA, the Japanese Space Agency (NASDA), and the European Space Agency (ESA) will focus on life sciences, microgravity sciences, and advanced technology during the STS-95 mission.

Benefits

Using both space flight- and ground-based experiments, researchers throughout the nation, as well as international partners, are working together to benefit economic, social, and industrial aspects of life for the United States and the entire Earth. U.S. universities, designated by NASA as "Commercial Space Centers," share these space advancements with U.S. industry to create new commercial products, applications, and processes.