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This is a mission of the United States Space Shuttle
| Space Shuttle program | |
|---|---|
| Mission Insignia | |
| Mission Statistics | |
| Mission: | STS-90 |
| Shuttle: | Columbia |
| Launch Pad: | 39-B |
| Launch: | April 17, 1998 2:19 p.m. EDT. |
| Landing: | KSC May 3, 1998 12:09 p.m. EDT Runway 33. |
| Duration: | 15 days, 21 hours, 50 minutes, 58 seconds. |
| Orbit Altitude: | 150 nautical miles (278 km) |
| Orbit Inclination: | 39 degrees |
| Distance Traveled: | 10 million km |
| Crew photo | |
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| Previous Mission: STS-89 |
Next Mission: STS-91 |
Alternate Payload Specialists
Neurolab is a Spacelab module mission focusing on the effects of microgravity on the nervous system. The goals of Neurolab are to study basic research questions and to increase the understanding of the mechanisms responsible for neurological and behavioral changes in space. Specifically, experiments will study the adaptation of the vestibular system and space adaptation syndrome, the adaptation of the central nervous system and the pathways which control the ability to sense location in the absence of gravity, and the effect of microgravity on a developing nervous system.
The mission is a joint venture of six space agencies and seven U.S. research agencies. Investigator teams from nine countries will conduct 31 studies in the microgravity environment of space. Other agencies participating in this mission include six institutes of the National Institutes of Health, the National Science Foundation, and the Office of Naval Research, as well as the space agencies of Canada, France, Germany, and Japan, and the European Space Agency.
Neurolab?s 26 experiments targeted one of the most complex and least understood parts of the human body - the nervous system. Primary goals were to conduct basic research in neurosciences and expand understanding of how the nervous system develops and functions in space. Test subjects were crew members and rats, mice, crickets, snails and two kinds of fish. Cooperative effort of NASA, several domestic partners and the space agencies of Canada (CSA), France (CNES) and Germany (DARA), as well as the European Space Agency (ESA) and the National Space Development Agency of Japan (NASDA). Most experiments conducted in pressurized Spacelab long module located in Columbia?s payload bay. This was 16th and last scheduled flight of the ESA-developed Spacelab module although Spacelab pallets will continue to be used on the International Space Station.
Research conducted as planned, with the exception of the Mammalian Development Team, which had to reprioritize science activities because of the unexpected high mortality rate of neonatal rats on board.
Other payloads included the Shuttle Vibration Forces experiment, the Bioreactor Demonstration System-04, and three Get-Away Special (GAS) canister investigations.
Working with engineers on the ground a week into the flight, the on-orbit crew used aluminum tape to bypass a suspect valve in the Regenerative Carbon Dioxide Removal System that had threatened to cut short the mission.
Mission Management Team considered, but decided against, extending the mission one day because the science community indicated an extended flight was not necessary and weather conditions were expected to deteriorate after planned landing on Sunday, May 3.
STS-90 Mission Specialist Kay Hire was Kennedy Space Center?s first employee to be chosen as an astronaut candidate.
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