CREW:
Charles G. Precourt, Commander; Eileen M. Collins, Pilot; Carlos I. Noriega, Mission Specialist; Edward T. Lu, Mission Specialist; Jean-Francois Clervoy, Mission Specialist, ESA; Elena V. Kondakova, Mission Specialist, RSA; C. Michael Foale, Mission Specialist, (up); Jerry M. Linenger, Mission Specialist (down)

LAUNCH INFO:
Date: May 15, 1997
Time: 4:07 a.m. EDT
Site: Kennedy Space Center, FL

SHUTTLE FLIGHT:
Orbiter: Atlantis (OV-104)
Orbit Altitude: 184 statute miles
Orbit Inclination: 51.6°
Mission Duration: 9 Days, 5 hours, 20 minutes

MIR DOCKING:
Docking: 6th Mir Docking
Dock Date: May 16, 1997
Dock Time: 9:34 p.m. CDT
Undock Date: May 22, 1997
Undock Time: 6:30 p.m. CDT

LANDING INFO:
Date: May 24, 1997
Time: 9:27 a.m. EDT
Site: Kennedy Space Center, FL

PAYLOAD(S):
SPACEHAB-LDM Logistics Double Module (FU2/FU3)
European Space Agency (ESA) experiment
Japanese Space Agency (NASDA) experiment

[View Experiment Details]

[Download Mission Patch]

The SPACEHAB Logistics Double Module (LDM) was the primary payload aboard the Space Shuttle Atlantis which launched on May 15, 1997 from NASA's Kennedy Space Center on mission STS-84. The third of seven planned SPACEHAB missions to the Russian Space Station Mir, STS-84 provided commercial logistics resupply services as part of Phase I of the International Space Station Program. The 7,500 pounds of cargo carried in the Logistics Double Module included Russian logistics items, food, clothing, resupply hardware, a replacement oxygen generator for Mir, and scientific experiments including one for the European Space Agency (ESA) and one for the Japanese Space Agency (NASDA).

SPACEHAB Modules are aluminum cylinders with truncated tops and flat-end caps and are connected to the Shuttle middeck by a short tunnel. The Logistics Double Module, composed of two Single Module units, has a total cargo capacity of nearly 10,000 pounds.

The items carried in SPACEHAB Modules during Shuttle-Mir Missions include vital equipment and supplies required by astronauts to live and work in space for extended periods. Specific items for STS-84 included the Individual Equipment and Seat Liner specifically designed for astronaut Michael Foale who is scheduled to remain on Mir until September. The seat liner would be used in case of an emergency return to Earth in a Russian Soyuz capsule. Also stowed in the SPACEHAB were a vast array of daily-use items such as computers and cables, batteries, mission schedule reference documents, food, clothing and personal "care" packages from the astronauts' and cosmonauts' families here on Earth.

The oxygen generator, which was installed in the floor of the aft half of the Double Module, was transferred upon docking to Mir to replace a dysfunctional back-up unit on the Space Station. SPACEHAB and NASA made last minute alterations to the flight manifest in order to accommodate the replacement generator, which arrived in Florida from Russia in mid-April. When the decision was made to carry the oxygen generator to Mir on STS-84, SPACEHAB purchased special equipment and designed and built a cradle to hold it. SPACEHAB made the accommodations and alterations in about three weeks, resulting in the successful installation of the generator.

A soft stowage system houses most of the logistics items that are carried in the LDM. Soft stowage is a series of canvas-like bags, similar to back packs or duffel bags, in various sizes that attach to the interior surfaces of the Module. The primary bag size is equivalent to a standard mid-deck locker to facilitate loading into the Module. Most bags are secured to the interior of the Module using a strap and buckle, similar to an automobile seat belt. Soft stowage allows mission managers to transport, on average, 20% more cargo in the Module because the bags weigh less than the standard lockers which house the science experiments.

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