Scientists on the ground continued the activation procedures for their experiments aboard Discovery overnight as the six crew members slept.

Commander Curt Brown, Pilot Kent Rominger, Mission Specialists Jan Davis, Bob Curbeam and Steve Robinson and Payload Specialist Bjarni Tryggvason were awakened at 5:11 a.m. CDT to the sounds of "To the Moon and Back" by Savage Garden.

The Cryogenic Infrared Spectrometers and Telescopes for the Atmosphere-Shuttle Pallet Satellite-2 (CRISTA-SPAS-2) payload, deployed some 8 hours after launch, continues to trail Discovery by about 40 miles with the distance widening by 4 miles each orbit, using its three telescopes and four spectrometers to gather data about the composition of the stratosphere and the movement of ozone and chemical compounds that affect its distribution. Initial check-out of CRISTA-SPAS-2 has determined that all satellite systems are nominal, the satellite is at the proper altitude, and all small payloads have collected first data. The German-built satellite is to be retrieved Aug. 16.

Astronauts activated instruments of the Technology Applications and Science (TAS), including the Shuttle Laser Altimeter, the Infrared Spectral Imaging Radiometer (ISIR), the Cryogenic On-Orbit Long Life Active Refrigerator (COOLAR), Two Phase Flow (TPF), Critical Viscosity of Xeonon (CVX) and were initializing the Solar Constant Experiment (SOLCON) and preparing for its first observation about 10 a.m. CDT.

The International Extreme Ultraviolet Hitchhiker (IEH) payloads were all successfully activated, including GLO-5 and GLO-6, which will measure Earth’s atmospheric emissions. Canister doors were opened for observations by the Solar Extreme Ultraviolet Hitchhiker (SEH), which will accurately measure the solar flux in the extreme ultraviolet wavelengths; and the Disribution and Automation Technology Advancement-Colorado Hitchhiker and Student Experiment of Solar Radiation (DATA-CHASER), which will measure the full-disk solar ultraviolet and soft X-ray irradiance. The Ultraviolet Spectrograph Telescope for Astronomical Research (UVSTAR), which will study the planets in the extreme ultraviolet bands, is in the midst of its checkouts.

Work with the Japanese-built Manipulator Flight Demonstration (MFD) experiment will begin about 8:30 a.m., when Davis begins checkout of its Small Fine Arm, destined for use outside the International Space Station’s Japanese Experiment Module.

Scientists reported a "fantastic" first day for the Microgravity Vibration Isolation Mount (MIM), designed to isolate small experiments from disturbances on the International Space Station.

Brown is scheduled to talk with interviewers from WBTV-TV, Charlotte, N.C., and WTVD-TV, Raleigh-Durham, N.C., at 12:36 p.m.

The next STS-85 status report will be issued later today.

- end -

text-only version of this release