STS-107 MCC Status Report #11<br />Saturday, January 25, 2003 - 5:00 p.m. CST<br />Mission Control Center, Houston, Texas<br /><br />Space shuttle Columbia's astronauts completed an experiment studying the<br />activity of bone cells in microgravity and began final tests with a<br />technology demonstration designed to investigate the behavior of<br />capillary-pumped loops in space as the 16-day international science mission<br />completed Flight Day 10.<br /><br />Toward the end of their workday at 1 a.m. CST this morning, Pilot Willie<br />McCool and Mission Specialists Dave Brown and Michael Anderson of the Blue<br />Team took time out from their experiment schedule for interviews with<br />reporters from Black Entertainment TV, WTKR-TV in Norfolk, Va., and KNSD-TV<br />in San Diego. Following handover talks, Commander Rick Husband, Mission<br />Specialists Kalpana Chawla and Laurel Clark, and Payload Specialist Ilan<br />Ramon of the Red Team began their workday.<br /><br />Clark completed operations with the OSTEO (Osteoporosis Experiment in Orbit)<br />investigation for STS-107. The experiment studied the activity of bone cells<br />in microgravity by looking at normal activity and activity under the<br />influence of various drugs. Clark also continued work on the Bioreactor<br />Demonstration System, which is using the NASA-developed bioreactor to grow<br />prostate cancer tissues. The objective is to learn how the cancer spreads<br />into bones and aid in the development of future treatment methods. She also<br />worked on a study of how bacteria and yeast develop in space and how<br />microgravity affects their response to antibiotics.<br /><br />Investigations with the Combined Two-Phase Loop Experiment were begun using<br />a third cooling loop. Testing of this loop will continue for about 48 hours.<br />The testing is performed to learn about the behavior of the loop in<br />microgravity. The investigation examines three different two-phase thermal<br />loops by transporting different amounts of heat from an evaporator to a<br />condenser and then radiating the heat into space.<br /><br />The Facility for Adsorption and Surface Tension, known as FAST, has<br />completed the last pre-planned sequence of experiments. It is designed to<br />measure the response of surface tension to carefully controlled changes in<br />the surface areas of bubbles or droplets.<br /><br />Ramon continued investigations with the SOFBALL (Structures of Flame Balls)<br />experiment. The experiment studies lean combustion to help engineers design<br />engines with better fuel efficiency and reduced emissions of pollution.<br /><br />Television from the crew, narrated by Ramon, was downlinked around 11:30<br />a.m. showing various aspects of experiment operations conducted by both<br />teams. Husband maneuvered Columbia today as required for any scientific<br />activities.<br /><br />McCool, Brown and Anderson were awakened at 2:39 p.m. to the sounds of "I<br />Say a Little Prayer for You" sung by Dionne Warwick. The song was played for<br />Anderson from his wife.<br /><br />Husband ended his 10th day in space by calibrating two Israeli cameras that<br />will be used to continue photographing dust particles, sprites and other<br />electrical phenomena in the upper atmosphere. The crew hope to use the<br />camera to observe a substantial plume of dust and smoke that extends from<br />the Nigerian coast westward toward the Atlantic and an additional plume off<br />the coast of Mauritania and Mali. Sprites in storms over Western Australia<br />near Perth also will be observed. Sprites are electrical discharges that<br />shoot up from the tops of thunderstorms into the Earth's ionosphere.<br /><br />All of Columbia's systems continue to operate in excellent shape.<br /><br />It was a quiet day on board the International Space Station, meanwhile, as<br />Expedition 6 Commander Ken Bowersox, Flight Engineer Nikolai Budarin and ISS<br />Science Officer Don Pettit enjoyed a light workday. They will also partake<br />in an off-duty day tomorrow before resuming normal scientific research and<br />routine station maintenance activities on Monday.<br /><br />The next STS-107 status report will be issued Sunday afternoon, or le="ier,<br />if events warrant.