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STS-107
Report #14 
Tuesday, January 28, 2003 -- 5 p.m. CST 
Mission Control Center, Houston, Texas 

The Red team of astronauts aboard the Space Shuttle Columbia
accomplished repairs on the third and final combustion experiment of
STS-107 this afternoon, and support scientists on the ground were
looking forward to working with the Blue team on the first scientific
runs. 

Mission Specialist Kalpana Chawla reported a good leak check of the
Combustion Module-2 Facility about 4 p.m. after five hours of work.
She and Commander Rick Husband sent down video of the recovery
procedures for the Water Mist Fire Suppression Experiment (MIST)
around 2 p.m. to give engineers on the ground an opportunity to
visually inspect the equipment. The combustion facility, which
provides control, containment, diagnostics and communications for
fire-related experiments, worked flawlessly in support of the two
previous combustion experiments, but failed its initial leak checks
when MIST was installed Monday. 

Payload Commander Michael Anderson of the Blue team is scheduled to
begin work with the MIST experiment overnight.  Designed by the Center 
for Commercial Applications of Combustion in Space at the Colorado 
School of Mines, Golden, Colo., the experiment will investigate how 
water mist inhibits the spread of flames. Scientists hope to apply 
what they learn to designs for improved, lighter-weight fire 
suppression systems on Earth, as well as for spacecraft-based systems 
that won't require ozone-damaging chemicals such as Halons.

Husband, Chawla and Red team colleagues Lauren Clark and Ilan Ramon
enjoyed some time off for the first half of their day, then moved
ahead with other experiments in the Spacehab Research Double Module.
Clark retrieved samples associated with the Bioreactor Demonstration
System, which Project Scientist Tom Goodwin reported today has grown a 
bone and prostate cancer tumor tissue sample as large as a golf ball, 
the largest grown in space to date. She also collected blood and urine 
samples from her crewmates for the Physiology and Biochemistry (PhAB4) 
suite of experiments. Ramon also conducted observations of dust off 
the African coast for the Mediterranean Israeli Dust Experiment 
(MEIDEX). 

After a 2:39 p.m. CST wake-up to the Beach Boys singing "I Get
Around," the Blue team of Anderson, Pilot Willie McCool and Mission
Specialist Dave Brown resumed work with the tests of their breathing,
hearts and muscle associated with Advanced Respiratory Monitoring
System. Anderson was scheduled to check on the condition of the
animals on board, which has continued to be good. 

The next STS-107 status report will be issued Wednesday, or as events
warrant. 

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