The CMRS experiment tested a method of restraining and transporting a sick or injured crewmember on board the International Space Station.

During the docked phase of the flight, the CMRS was deployed and attached to the internal SPACEHAB structure. A "patient" was secured to the CMRS surface by two "care providers," the Crew Medical Officer (CMO) and an aide. One care provider was also secured to the CMRS. The CMRS was used to transport the patient to the Shuttle middeck, where the crew members exchange roles and transported the new "patient" back to the SPACEHAB Module. The session was videotaped.

The quality of water used for human consumption is always of great importance. Our water supplies on earth are constantly monitored for any characteristics which could prove harmful to humans, animals, and plants.

This is no different in space. The quality of the water used in space must meet various standards (set by NASA, the Russian Space Agency, and other government agencies) which are imposed to ensure the health of the crew. Therefore the water supplies, whether originating from recycled humidity condensate or supplied from the ground via a Russian or U.S. spacecraft, need to be regularly monitored and analyzed for these harmful characteristics.

This investigation used the Water Quality Monitor (WQM) to measure the levels of Total Organic Carbon (TOC), Total Inorganic Carbon (TIC), Total Carbon (TC), conductivity, and pH in the Mir space station's water supply. The WQM provided the on-orbit capability to monitor the quality of the water available to the crew by analyzing water samples. This provided real-time or near real-time feedback on the quality of water, instead of having to return samples to earth for analysis.

The WQM hardware consists of a water sampling kit, a stowage kit, and a TOC Analyzer. The sampling kit contains all the supplies needed to collect water from the Mir water ports, plastic bags, 25ml water sample syringes (which are used to insert samples into the TOC Analyzer), pens for labeling the samples, and disinfectant wipes. The stowage kit contains items needed to support the analysis of water samples in the TOC Analyzer such as data and power cables, test sample syringes, and data cards.

The TOC Analyzer is a portable electronic box. Samples are inserted into a sample access door using a water sample syringe. The analysis takes place automatically within the analyzer with the push of a button on the instrument's front panel.

Water samples were also archived for return to earth aboard the SPACEHAB Module for analysis. The results of this analysis were compared to on-orbit analysis. This helps to evaluate the performance of the TOC Analyzer in a microgravity environment.

The stability of materials used in the construction of spacecraft continues to pose limitations for further development of space technology. Designing materials which will withstand the rigors of the space environment is a major challenge for many NASA researchers.

Mir is currently the only opportunity to study the environment around a large orbiting space platform for an extended period, as well as the effects this environment has on materials and systems. Therefore, critical materials required to operate in the environment around a large space platform were exposed to the external Mir environment. The effects were measured by preflight, in-situ, and postflight tests.

The Optical Properties Monitor (OPM) provides real-time measurements of the long term degradation of materials in the space environment. Previously, a performance assessment of materials exposed to the space environment could only be accomplished by returning those materials to specialized laboratories on earth for analysis. OPM exposes test samples to the space environment and periodically measures the effects of this exposure using on-board optical instruments.

The OPM is a multifunctional, reusable inflight laboratory for the in-situ study of materials. The OPM flight hardware system is a fully integrated package consisting of a test sample array, optical measurement instruments, environmental monitors, and support systems. The flight hardware consists of three optical measuring instruments positioned around the periphery of a circular sample carousel.

During an Extravehicular Activity (EVA), the OPM was mounted on the external surface of the Mir to collect data for about 9 months, then retrieved. The data collected were stored on diskettes for analyses on earth.

The OPM experiment was one of the first attempts to measure the long-term degradation of various materials employing in-space optical instruments. It offered streamlined approaches for gathering data on material properties and provided a comprehensive space research capability for studying the effects -- both natural and induced -- of the space environment on spacecraft optical and thermal control materials, as well as on operational systems and payloads.

In order for the OPM to be transported on STS-81 to the Mir station, where it remained, SPACEHAB, Inc. arranged for a special rack to house the hardware on its ascent. The OPM returned to earth, in the same rack, on Shuttle Mission STS-86.