Spacelab: The Final Mission

Things have been pretty busy around here lately. Some of the Space Station engineers, including myself, have been asked to help out on the final Spacelab mission. The mission name is "Neurolab" and it will fly on the Shuttle next year as STS-90. Neurolab is a Life Sciences mission focusing on how the human body functions in space. I have been assigned to work on the ALFE experiment that will fly on Neurolab. ALFE stands for "Astronaut Lung Function Experiment" and it's purpose is to conduct a series of breathing tests in zero gravity.

Last week, I flew to the Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas to put the final touches on a procedure that I am writing to check out the experiment before it launches on the Shuttle. The test will be conducted next month here at the Kennedy Space Center. It is customary to test all experiments at the Kennedy Space Center before they launch. The reason I was in Texas was because that is where the experiment is being designed and managed. I met with some of the engineers and scientists from the Johnson Space Center who work on ALFE and they helped me with my procedure. We powered up a back-up ALFE unit and ran through the procedure in a simulated Spacelab module. While I was there I got to meet one of the astronauts who will fly on STS-90.

The next step is to get all the ALFE flight hardware to the Kennedy Space Center and perform the final test before flight. That test is currently scheduled for October 6, 1997.