QUESTION:
What happens to an experiment if something needed gets left behind? Will
they still do part of it, or is it lost altogether?

ANSWER from Louis Ostrach on November 19, l997
The simple answer is: our staff have a great deal of experience
identifying each and every item that will be needed to prepare the
experiment on the ground at the launch site, to perform the experiment on
board the shuttle, and to complete the experiment processing at the
landing site. Even so, we rehearse, just as the actors and stagehands, and
musicians would for a play. We perform a number of tests to be sure that
the people, facilities, and procedures are all in place and ready to be
used at the right time. The first of these is called the Experiment
Verification Test which runs through the entire preflight, inflight, and
postflight timeline with every scientist and every experiment procedure
performed on the ground. For this test, we pretend that we have a spacelab
but we do go through all the procedures. Then we perform a series of tests
called Mission Integrated Simulations and Joint Integrated Simulations
where the shuttle crew performs the inflight experiment procedures inside
an exact replica of the spacelab with replicas of all the experiment
equipment and supplies. Finally, we also perform a Facility Trial Run
where we assemble all the scientists, their staff, and our staff at the
launch site (Kennedy Space Center) to test the facilities - the labs, the
equipment, the timeline of our planned preflight and postflight
procedures, etc. By performing all of these tests and by keeping careful
track of forgotten items or missing people, or inadequate lab space, or
whatever, we can assure ourselves and the scientists that when we launch
for real, we will have everything in its place. The we hope that all
the equipment performs properly and that the mission returns to Earth
safely.