Missions: STS-79 Introduces New Logistics Double Module

Return to Past Missions

STS-79 is the second Shuttle-Mir mission to carry a SPACEHAB module on board, and the first to carry a double module. The forward portion of the double module carried experiments while the aft portion of the module held logistics equipment to be transferred to Mir.

CREW:
John H. Casper, Commander; Curtis L. Brown Jr., Pilot; Daniel W. Bursch, Mission Specialist; Mario Runco, Jr., Mission Specialist; Marc Garneau, Mission Specialist (CSA); Andrew S. W. Thomas, Mission Specialist

LAUNCH INFO:
Date: Sept. 16, 1996
Time: 4:54 a.m. EDT
Site: Kennedy Space Center, FL

SHUTTLE FLIGHT:
Orbiter: Atlantis (OV-104)
Orbit Altitude: 196–245 nautical miles
Orbit Inclination: 51.6°
Mission Duration: 10 Days, 3 hours, 19 minutes

MIR DOCKING:
Docking: 4th Mir Docking
Dock Date: Sept. 17, 1996
Dock Time: 10:13 p.m. CDT
Undock Date: Sept. 23, 1996
Undock Time: 8:31 p.m. CDT

LANDING INFO:
Date: Sept. 26, 1996
Time: 8:14 a.m. EDT
Site: Kennedy Space Center, FL

PAYLOAD(S):
SPACEHAB-LDM Logistics Double Module* (FU2/FU3)
*Maiden voyage of the LDM

The new SPACEHAB Logistic Double Module (LDM) debuted on STS-79, providing commercial logistics resupply services for Phase I of the International Space Station Program.

The 7,100 pounds of cargo carried in the LDM included Russian logistics items, Risk Mitigation Experiments (RMEs), science experiments and resupply hardware, unique hardware in support of Phase I requirements, and crew supplies, such as food and clothing. The mission's cargo was accommodated in three double racks and one single rack in the LDM, including the first soft stowage double rack, a double rack housing the gyrodyne and Individual Equipment and Seat Liner, the first International Space Station Payload Rack (ISPR) to fly in space housing the Active Rack Isolation System (ARIS), and one single rack housing the Extreme Temperature Translation Furnace (ETTF) and Real-Time Radiation Monitoring and Detection Device (RRMD). SPACEHAB developed a unique structure to accommodate the ISPR, an ISPR Structural Adapter or ISA.

The logistics items carried in the SPACEHAB Modules during the Shuttle-Mir missions included vital equipment and supplies required by astronauts to live and work in space for extended periods. Specific items included a Russian gyrodyne, which is a device used to stabilize Mir, power sources such as the large storage batteries carried up three at a time, and the individual equipment and seat liner for the U.S. astronaut in case of the need for an emergency return to Earth in a Russian Soyuz capsule. A vast array of daily-use items also were carried as logistics, such as laptop computers and associated cables and disk drives, flashlights, digital timers, mission schedule reference documents, food packages, personal hygiene equipment, and clothing and sleeping garments.

The LDM is composed of two SPACEHAB flight units. A science-equipped Single Module is the forward half of the structure, with a cargo-equipped Single Module as the aft half. A new intermediate adapter ring mates the two flight units. There is limited science carried in the aft half of the LDM, so a full floor is not necessary. Two roof-top viewports are available for rendezvous and docking operations, as well as for mission documentation photography. The LDM has a total cargo capacity of nearly 10,000 pounds.

Most of the logistics items that are stowed inside the LDM are housed inside a soft stowage system. The system is a series of canvas-like bags, similar to backpacks or duffel bags, in various sizes that attach to the interior surfaces of the Module. The primary size bag is equivalent to a middeck locker to facilitate loading into the Module. Most bags are secured to the interior surface of the Module with a strap and buckle, similar to an automobile seat belt.

To secure the contents inside the bags, foam is specially cut at SPACEHAB Payload Processing Facility in Cape Canaveral, Florida, to form fit around the logistics items inside or a foam pillow is fitted to the contents. The bags weigh less than standard middeck lockers which typically house science experiments, allowing mission managers to manifest more and varied cargo to be carried in SPACEHAB Modules.

The system allows for an average of up to 20% more cargo than standard lockers. A unique double rack structure was added to the aft half of the LDM to stow 16 soft stowage system bags. Because the aft half of the LDM did not have a floor in this place on this mission, seven soft bags were mounted directly to the Module's subfloor.

To facilitate the astronauts transfer of the bags to and from the LDM and Mir, a system was developed using a visual cue of color coded cards in red, white and blue. The contents of the bags marked with a red card are transferred to Mir and remain there, the contents of the bags marked with a white card may transfer out of the Module for use on-orbit, but are carried back to Earth in the Module, and the bags marked with a blue card remain in the Module and are filled with contents transferred from Mir.

Return to Past Missions