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Dolores Beasley
Headquarters, Washington                     Feb. 19, 2003
(Phone: 202/358-1753)

RELEASE: 03-074

UPDATE: ASSESSMENT OF SCIENCE DATA GAINED DURING COLUMBIA'S MISSION

     NASA scientists are continuing to assess the status of the data 
received by the experiments onboard Space Shuttle Columbia (STS-107) 
during its final mission. Columbia carried more than 80 experiments, 
science, commercial and student, on a 16-day mission devoted to 
research, entrepreneurship and education.

"For those experiments that received down-linked data during the 
mission, we estimate that anywhere between 50-90 percent of the data 
was acquired," said David Liskowsky, STS-107 Program Scientist for 
NASA's Office of Biological and Physical Research (OBPR). Most of 
these experiments were in the physical science disciplines of 
combustion research, material sciences, and fluid physics. For most of 
the life sciences experiments, data and specimens were to be recovered
on landing, so no data is available.

The OBPR science project teams report the overall performance of the 
experimental hardware and equipment employed on the mission was highly 
successful, with 100 percent operational success being achieved for 
virtually all of the experiments. "In addition to the scientific data 
that was collected from the mission, this operational success provides 
a measure of the robustness and capability of conducting high quality
research on the Shuttle," Liskowsky said.

During the past week, researchers determined:

?	The Mechanics of Granular Materials (MGM) investigators 
estimate that careful analysis of the downlinked data should result in 
achieving 50 to 60 percent of their science goals. The MGM experiment 
used the microgravity of orbit to test sand columns under conditions 
that cannot be obtained from experiments on Earth. The knowledge 
gained from this will be applied to improving foundations for 
buildings and increasing understanding of how earthquakes and other 
forces disturb grains of soil and sand.

?       Almost all of the data from Critical Viscosity of Xenon, an 
experiment sponsored by the National Institute of Standards and 
Technology, was acquired before the end of the mission. This 
experiment measured the changes in viscosity (resistance to flow) of 
xenon, a pure fluid with a very simple structure and a critical 
temperature just below room temperature. The data may help scientists 
better understand shear thinning in complex fluids such as paints and 
foods (e.g., whipped cream), which need to flow easily during 
application and stand firm afterwards.

?       STARNAV, a star tracker navigation system from Texas A&M 
University accomplished all of its objectives. This educational 
experiment was designed to determine precise spacecraft attitude 
without prior knowledge of position.

?       SPACEHAB's Space Media commercial payload, STARS, saw many 
amazing results on this mission. As part of an education program with 
experiments designed by students, the STARS payload 
(www.starsprogram.com) received daily downlink of video, photos, 
humidity and temperature readings. Students from Australia, China,
Israel, Japan, Liechtenstein, and the United States designed these six 
experiments. They were able to achieve approximately 70 percent of 
their scientific objectives, providing unique insight into the low
gravity impact on the behavior and development of ants, bees, 
silkworms, and fish eggs, the random crystal growth of cobalt and 
calcium, and the web spinning ability of spiders.

?       The Solar Constant Experiment (SOLCON), managed by the Royal 
Meteorological Institute of Belgium and sponsored by NASA, was 
designed to measure the solar constant and identify variations in the 
value during a solar cycle. This experiment was a 100 percent success. 
The data will ensure continuity of the solar constant level obtained 
by instruments mounted on free flyers, over climate time scale 
duration.

?       The Low Power Transceiver (LPT) experiments were completed and 
100 percent of the data collected. These experiments demonstrated 
LPT's ability to do simultaneous communications and on-board 
navigation in space. The data from this experiment may provide more
cost-effective space operations in future satellites

?       The Mediterranean Israeli Dust Experiment (MEIDEX) acquired an 
image of a pall of gray smoke hanging above the Amazon rainforest 
illustrating how complex interactions between smoke and the atmosphere 
can influence weather and climate.

The final results from these and other experiments will be determined 
in the coming months as the acquired data are analyzed. More 
information about the research performed by the Columbia crew is 
available on the Internet at:

http://spaceresearch.nasa.gov

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