May 21 1985
From The Space Library
Marshall Space Flight Center announced that experiment teams for the Spacelab 3 mission had begun analysis of the 250 billion bits of data obtained during the mission, and preliminary results were excellent.
In the area of materials science, two of the three experiment teams had begun to examine crystals grown during Spacelab 3. In one experiment, a mercury iodide crystal the size of a sugar cube grew from a seed crystal in the vapor crystal growth system; via the vapor transport technique, the crystal grew at a carefully controlled rate over a 104-hour period. Researchers would remove the crystal from the glass ampoule within the next few weeks for analysis to determine its quality and properties as an X-ray and gamma-ray detector for applications in scientific research, medicine, and industry.
Two fluid mechanics experiments ended successfully; the geophysical fluid flow cell experiment completed more than 102 hours of experiments designed to provide information for the first time on convention in spherical rotating shells with a radial gravity field. Co-investigator Dr. Fred Leslie said of the experiment, "The films of one of the Jovian (Jupiter) scenarios indicated the formation of a 'Red Spot' similar to that present on Jupiter. This data should be useful to meteorologists and astrophysicists in modeling the large-scale circulations of fluids under the influence of rotation, gravity, and convection." Three atmospheric and astronomical observations were completed during the Spacelab 3 flight. The atmospheric trace molecules spectroscopy experiment operated for 50 hours providing 19 sequences of more than 150 independent atmospheric spectrally resolved measurements. Researchers would use these to analyze the earth's atmospheric composition chemically and physically for the stratosphere and mesosphere between 10 and 150 km. The information also would provide extremely detailed measurements of the minor and trace components of the atmosphere, which was crucial to understanding the evolution of earth's climate, and would aid in the analysis of pollution causes and effects. The experiment also provided the first high-resolution infrared spectrum of the sun, which indicated some surprising evidence about its molecular constituents.
Four of the six life sciences experiments completed successfully were part of the Ames Research Center's life sciences payload. The research animal holding facilities proved a suitable animal habitat in which the two squirrel monkeys and 24 rats adjusted to spaceflight and demonstrated their suitability for research in orbit. One primate apparently developed symptoms of space adaptation syndrome but recovered in a manner analogous to human experience.
"In addition to the successful results from each of these experiments," said Dr. George Fichtl, Spacelab 3 mission scientist at Marshall Space Flight Center, "the overall success of the mission has proven the importance of the Spacelab concept. During this mission, we have proven that a microgravity environment is an important environment for the growth of crystals, the study of fluid mechanics, and measurement of the effect man is having on this environment. We have also proven the need for man's presence in performing these tasks." (MSFC Release 85-28)
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