Columbia Crew Repairs Furnace, Takes Treatment

Columbia’s astronauts fixed a crystal growth furnace that lost power Monday and endured another round of depressurization in a vacuum sack that forces blood into the legs.

It was the fifth day of NASA’s longest scheduled shuttle flight, with more than a week to go, and the crew showed no signs of slowing down.

Bonnie Dunbar and Lawrence DeLucas, among the four astronauts pulling 12-hour shifts inside Spacelab, were so busy they had to take a late and quick lunch Monday. Carl Meade was especially oblivious to the fringe benefits of orbital work.

When Mission Control told Meade that ground controllers were enjoying the beautiful video beamed down by Columbia, Meade asked in surprise: “Of what?”

“Our Earth,” was the amused response.

“Glad you’re enjoying it,” Meade replied from inside the windowless laboratory. “Kind of all looks the same from in here.”

Part of Meade’s day was spent fixing the crystal growth furnace, which lost power when a circuit breaker tripped. The furnace was off for two hours, interrupting growth of a semiconductor crystal.

The astronauts replaced the half-baked sample with an infrared detector’s crystal, which requires 92 hours of heating time. The cylindrical furnace can be heated to more than 1,800 degrees Fahrenheit.

Mission scientist Donald Frazier said the astronauts may be able to salvage the interrupted crystal experiment.

Flight directors took advantage of the furnace shutdown. They instructed the crew to turn Columbia so the sun could warm all surfaces of the shuttle.

Columbia has been flying in the same position--tail pointed down toward Earth with the cargo bay facing the direction of travel--since reaching orbit Thursday. The National Aeronautics and Space Administration opted for that position because of the stability provided for the crystal growth furnace; specimens inside the furnace could be ruined by any rattling.