STS-60: A Cosmonaut Flies on the Shuttle

STS-60

Space Shuttle Discovery

Launched:
February 3, 1994, 10:05 a.m. EST
Kennedy Space Center, Pad 39-A

Orbit:
191 nautical miles

Inclination:
57 degrees

Landed:
February 11, 1994, 2:18 p.m. EST
Kennedy Space Center

Mission:
8 days, 7 hours, 9 minutes

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STS-60
TOC

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STS-60 Crew

Commander Charles F. Bolden
Fourth Shuttle flight

Pilot Kenneth S. Reightler, Jr.
Second Shuttle flight

Mission Specialist N. Jan Davis, Ph.D.
Second Shuttle flight

Mission Specialist Ronald M. Sega, Ph.D.
First Shuttle flight

Mission Specialist Franklin R. Chang-Díaz, Ph.D.
Fourth Shuttle flight

Cosmonaut Sergei K. Krikalev
Russian Space Agency
First Shuttle flight and third space mission

STS-60 Crew Biographies

Read the Shuttle-Mir Oral Histories (PDF)

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Payload

Wake Shield Facility-1
SPACEHAB-2 (Space Habitation Module-2)
Capillary Pumped Loop Experiment
Three-Dimensional Microgravity Accelerometer
Astroculture Experiment
Bioserve Pilot Lab
Commercial Generic Bioprocessing
Commercial Protein Crystal Growth
Equipment for Controlled Liquid Phase Sintering
Immune Response Studies
Organic Separations Experiment
Space Experiment Facility
Penn State Biomodule
Space Acceleration Measurement System
Orbital Debris Radar Calibration Spheres
University of Bremen Satellite
Ball Bearing Experiment
Orbiter Stability Experiment
Medicines in Microgravity
Heat Flux Experiment

Joint U.S.-Russian Investigations
Radiological Effects
Sensory Motor Investigation
Metabolic Investigation
Visual Observations from Space

Read more about Shuttle-Mir Science

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Mission: February 3 -11, 1994

Sergei Krikalev became the first Russian cosmonaut to fly on the U.S. Space Shuttle when he launched with his five NASA crewmates onboard Discovery. Krikalev and his backup, Vladimir Titov, joined the STS-60 mission after the U.S. crew had already been assigned; however, Krikalev was able to take full part in the mission. His roles included manipulating the ShuttleÆs payload bay "arm" and operating the Space Acceleration Measurement System experiment, as well as participating in the joint science experiments. KrikalevÆs backup Titov would go on to fly on the STS-63 "near Mir" mission. Besides gaining practical experience on an American Space Shuttle, Krikalev helped further diplomatic and public relations in ways that hearkened back to the Apollo-Soyuz Test Project of 1975 and pointed forward to the Shuttle-Mir flights.

On February 8, 1994, the ABC-TV program Good Morning America telecast a live hookup between the Discovery crew and the three cosmonauts aboard the space station, while the Orbiter flew over the Pacific Ocean and Mir was above the southern United States. The next day, Krikalev and STS-60 Commander Charles Bolden received a call from Russian Prime Minister Viktor Chernomyrdin. During the conversation, Chernomyrdin said that he wanted to hear Krikalev speak some Russian because the day before on ABC-TV he thought he had heard him speaking to the Mir cosmonauts in English. But, Krikalev said that was "not exactly correctà. I was speaking Russian, but the interpreter in New York was speaking in English." He added, politely, that the American astronauts could speak some Russian words "without an accent."

During STS-60, Krikalev observed and participated in a typical, busy Space Shuttle science mission that included many varied experiments and investigations. In the payload bay was the commercially developed SPACEHAB-2 facility, providing an additional 1,100 cubic feet of working and storage space. Experiments being carried in SPACEHAB-2 involved materials processing, biotechnology, and hardware and technology development payloads. Also in the bay was the Wake Shield Facility (WSF), a 2-foot-diameter, stainless-steel disk designed to generate an "ultra-vacuum" environment in space within which to grow thin semiconductor films for next-generation advanced electronics.

STS-60 also carried the 100th Get Away Special (GAS) payload. This program provides an opportunity for a variety of smaller experiments to be conducted in space. Among STS-60Æs GAS payloads were efforts to create a new kind of ball bearing, measure the vibration level during normal Orbiter and crew operations, and understand the boiling process in microgravity.

One disappointment for the STS-60 crew and for scientists was the failure to deploy the WSF to free-fly away from Discovery. Several factors postponed the deployment until controllers were concerned that there wasnÆt enough time remaining to deal with problems that might occur during WSFÆs free flight. WSF remained at the end of the ShuttleÆs arm and, from that position, was able to conduct part of its mission.
Read more about the STS-60 mission and crew.

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Space Shuttles

NASAÆs four Space Shuttle Orbiters launch into orbit like rockets and return to Earth as gliders. During Shuttle-Mir, this capability with MirÆs long-duration spaceflight qualities created a new and effective combination. Since Shuttle-Mir, the Shuttles remain the main element of NASAÆs Space Transportation System.

They are used to construct and service the International Space Station as well as for scientific research and space applications, such as deploying and repairing satellites.

A Space Shuttle can reach orbits of 115 to 400 miles and can launch with payloads of up to 63,500 pounds. Typical missions have crews of five to seven astronauts and last from 5 to 16 days. The longest a Shuttle has stayed in orbit is 171⁄2 days, on mission STS-80 in November 1996.

The Space Shuttle system is composed of several large components: the Orbiter itself, the three main engines, the external tank, and the two solid rocket boosters. During the Shuttle-Mir Program, NASA used three Space Shuttles: Discovery for the first two and the last missions, STS-60, STS-63, and STS-91; Atlantis for the middle seven missions, STS-71, STS-74, STS-76, STS-79, STS-81, STS-84, and STS-86; and Endeavour for the next-to-final mission, STS-89.
See Space Shuttle diagrams.

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Space Shuttle Life

A Space Shuttle normally supports crews for up to two weeks at a time. The living area of a Space Shuttle consists of the flight deckùwhere the main controls and most of the windows areùand the mid-deckùwhere lockers hold most of the equipment and supplies. Frequently, the useable area of a Shuttle is expanded greatly by the addition of a Spacelab or SPACEHAB module in the payload bay.

To get the most out of every mission, a Shuttle crewÆs workday is intense, with activities scripted to a greater detail than on Mir. Beyond this aspect, life on a Shuttle is much like that on Mir. Shuttle crewmembers wear ordinary clothingùfor example, rugby shirts and shorts. The atmosphere is kept at about 79 percent nitrogen and 21 percent oxygen with the temperature between 61░F and 90░F. This air, which is cleaner than EarthÆs air and is pollen-free, is maintained at a pressure equal to EarthÆs at sea level. Filters remove carbon dioxide and other impurities. Excess moisture is also removed, keeping the humidity comfortable.

Meals can be eaten anywhere in the crew areas, although most astronauts prefer to dine "family style" in the mid-deck area. A galley oven provides heating for some foods. Hot and cold water is available, but a Shuttle does not have a refrigerator. Most foods are dehydrated to save weight and storage. Some foods are thermostabilized, heat-sterilized, then sealed in cans or plastic pouches. Some foods, such as cookies and nuts, are ready-to-eat. One crewmember can "ready" meals for four people in about five minutes. Special trays separate the different foods and keep them from floating off. Despite microgravity, most foods stick to spoons, forks, and fingers.

Menus provide about 2,700 calories daily because astronauts need as many calories in space as they do on Earth. Before flights, crewmembers choose among more than 70 foods and 20 beverages. A typical dayÆs meals might include a breakfast of orange drink, peaches, scrambled eggs, sausage, cocoa, and a sweet roll; a lunch of cream of mushroom soup, ham and cheese sandwich, stewed tomatoes, banana, and cookies; and a dinner of shrimp cocktail, beefsteak, broccoli au gratin, strawberries, pudding, and cocoa.

Sanitation is crucial. Microbes can multiply quickly in the confined microgravity environment and could potentially infect the entire crew. As a result, all living areas are regularly cleaned. Eating utensils are cleaned with wet wipes containing a strong disinfectant. CrewmembersÆ pants are changed weekly; socks, shirts, and underwear are changed every two days; and all used clothing is sealed in airtight plastic bags. Garbage and trash are also sealed in plastic bags and brought back to Earth.

Shuttle crewmembers take sponge baths. An airflow system directs any loose wastewater into the OrbiterÆs waste collection system, where it is sealed in plastic watertight bags. For shaving, crewmembers use shaving cream and wipe their face with a towel, or they use a wind-up shaver with a vacuum that sucks up cut whiskers. Crewmembers use a toilet much like one on an airliner.

In place of gravity, airflow directs waste to the bottom of the toilet, where it goes directly into a sealed container to be processed and stored.

Sleep and recreation are important to good health in space. Crewmembers can sleep in "free float," or they can use special berths with good air circulation to eliminate pockets of carbon-dioxide buildup. Crewmembers follow scientifically planned exercise programs to counter microgravityÆs effects on the heart, veins, and muscles. For recreation, they have games, books, writing materials, and tape and CD players.

Read more about Life in Microgravity

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Sergei K. Krikalev

Sergei Krikalev endured a tough training schedule to prepare for STS-60. One of his more difficult challenges was the English language. He told NASA manager Travis Brice, "By the time I get through with all my studies for the classes à I normally have à from about one oÆclock to two oÆclock in the morning to do my English language training."

Sergei Konstantinovich Krikalev was born in 1958 in Leningrad and joined NPO Energia in 1981. An aerobatics pilot, he became Champion of Moscow in 1983 and Champion of the Soviet Union in 1986. For Energia, he tested spaceflight equipment, developed space operations methods, and participated in ground control operations. When the Salyut-7 space station failed in 1985, he worked on the rescue mission team, developing procedures for docking with the uncontrolled station and for repairing the stationÆs onboard system.

Selected as a cosmonaut in 1985, Krikalev was first assigned to the Buran-Shuttle Program. In early 1988, he began training for his first long-duration flight onboard the Mir space station. He launched to Mir for a five-month mission on November 26, 1988. He flew to Mir again in 1991, and some called him "the cosmonaut without a country" after the Soviet Union broke apart during his time on the space station. He returned to Earth as a Russian citizen on March 25, 1992.

In October 1992, NASA announced that an experienced cosmonaut would fly onboard a future Space Shuttle mission. Krikalev was one of two candidates the Russian Space Agency named for mission specialist training with the crew of STS-60. In April 1993, Krikalev was assigned as the crewÆs prime mission specialist. He launched with his American crewmates on February 3, 1994, to inaugurate the operational phase of the Shuttle-Mir Program and become the first cosmonaut to fly on an American Space Shuttle.

After his STS-60 Shuttle mission, Sergei Krikalev actively supported U.S.-Russian joint operations throughout the Shuttle-Mir Program, working in the Mission Control Center at NASAÆs Johnson Space Center and at the Mission Control Center-Moscow and training as backup cosmonaut for STS-63.

Also, Krikalev flew on Endeavour on STS-88 (December 4-15, 1998), the first International Space Station assembly mission. He served as flight engineer on the first International Space Station Expedition crew with American Commander Bill Shepherd and Soyuz Commander Yuri Gidzenko.
Sergei Krikalev Biography

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Meanwhile on Earth

February 1994 to March 1995

The launch of Discovery (STS-60) on February 3, 1994, shifted Shuttle-Mir into a higher gear. The United States and Russia began the operational phase of the program, with cosmonaut Sergei Krikalev flying as a crewmember of a Space Shuttle. A future Shuttle mission, STS-63, would be reconfigured to include a rendezvousùbut no dockingùwith the Mir Space Station.

On Earth, events were moving quickly, too. On the same day that Krikalev launched on STS-60, astronauts Norm Thagard and Bonnie Dunbar were announced as the first NASA astronauts to go to Russia to train for a flight on Mir. Thagard was the prime candidate, with Dunbar as backup. They would train, often side by side, at the Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center in Star City, Russia.

The next day, February 4, began the first meetings of "Team Zero"ùthe first of ten working groups staffed by U.S. and Russian counterparts-experts from NASA, the Russian Space Agency, Energia, the Institute for Biomedical Problems, the Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center, and other organizations and companies. These working groups were organized on the model of the Apollo-Soyuz Test Project in 1975. Their structure divided mission planning and execution into different functions, including management, cargo and scheduling, public affairs, safety, operations, science, training, integration, extravehicular activities, and medicine. Each nation designated for each group a cochair, who facilitated joint meetings (usually weekly via teleconference, and occasionally face-to-face). Cochairs were authorized to sign protocols, documenting agreements made within their purview. Working group members generally came to trust each other and work well together, finding common ground in shared interests and humor. The Russian Shuttle-Mir Manager, Valery Ryumin, was heard to joke that the management group was called Working Group Zero because "Managers donÆt do anything."

Read more about NASA's Public Affairs Office

On February 23, NASAÆs Office of Life Sciences and Microgravity Science Applications began soliciting the scientific community for investigations to be carried out by astronauts onboard Mir. On the same day, astronaut Ken Cameron, who would later command Atlantis (STS-74) on a mission to Mir, was announced as NASAÆs first Director of Operations-Russia. Cameron, his fellow astronauts Norm Thagard and Bonnie Dunbar, along with Flight Surgeons Dave Ward and Mike Barratt left the same day for Star City, Russia.

In May, NASA and Russian Space Agency negotiating teams met in both Houston and Moscow. Also in May, the first meeting of the Task Force on the Shuttle-Mir Rendezvous and Docking Missions was held at the Johnson Space Center. The NASA Advisory Council created this task forceùoften called the Stafford Committee for its chairman, Apollo-Soyuz Commander Tom Staffordùto review Shuttle-Mir planning, management, training, operations, and rendezvous and docking and to make recommendations.

In June, Randy Brinkley, NASAÆs Space Station Program Manager, delegated Shuttle-Mir management to the Space Shuttle Program. Director of Space Shuttle Operations Brewster Shaw announced the creation of a Phase 1 Management Group, with Tommy Holloway of the Space Shuttle Program Office as its chairperson. According to Tom Cremins, who would become NASAÆs Deputy Assistant to the Director in Russia during Phase 1, "Tommy had a real small staff. I remember going to some of his meetings, and there were probably five or six direct staff." The group put together a "roles and responsibilities" document, organizing Phase 1 of the International Space Station Program. This would also be known as "Shuttle-Mir."

On June 23, 1994, Vice President Gore and Russian Foreign Minister Chernomyrdin met again in Washington, D.C. There, the two countriesÆ space agency chiefsùDaniel S. Goldin and Yuri Koptevùsigned a "Definitized Contract" between the Russian Space Agency and NASA, which Gore and Chernomyrdin jointly announced. The contract provided for: $400 million in U.S. expenditures; up to 21 additional months of flight time aboard Mir for U.S. astronauts; up to nine more Shuttle dockings with Mir after STS-71; a docking module to permit repeated Shuttle dockings with Mir; the use of the Russian modules Spektr and Priroda for U.S. experiments; a joint U.S.-Russian research program onboard Mir; joint technology development; and the extension of MirÆs lifetime beyond 1995ùto allow time for U.S.-Mir operations.

Tom Cremins later commented on some of the non-space-related motivations behind AmericaÆs financial stake in the new Russia. "A lot of it was directly related to trying to discourage Russian scientists and engineers from leaving the country and working for folks who didnÆt necessarily have a à good global interest à as well as to discourage some sales that were going on at that time; for example, the sale of rocket technology to India." According to Cremins, the United States was "trying to create a positive venue for Russia and us, to be working in a nonthreatening manner. So, that was really what generatedùat the top levelùa lot of the support for doing the flights to Mir."

On October 3, 1994, a Soyuz rocket launched from the Baikonur space complex, carrying Mir Principal Expedition-17 Cosmonauts Aleksandr Viktorenko, Elena Kondakova, and Valeri Polyakov. These cosmonauts would greet Norm Thagard and his Mir-18 crewmates when they docked with the space station in March 1995.

NASAÆs Shuttle-Mir Program became a formal stand-alone program on October 6, 1994, when the NASA Associate Administrator for Spaceflight, Jeremiah Pearson III, signed a letter establishing the program plan and officially appointing Tommy Holloway as Manager.

Despite the injection of U.S. funds into the Russian economy, the Russian government was in danger of financial ruin. On October 11, 1994, the ruble collapsed. On November 2, Valery Ryumin informed Tommy Holloway that launch targets for the Priroda and Spektr modules would not be met. (Spektr would eventually be launched on May 20, 1995, while Norm Thagard was onboard Mir. Priroda would launch nearly a year later, on April 23, 1996, when Shannon Lucid was a Mir resident.)

Between November 3 and 14, 1994, tools, devices, and procedures planned for use on Shuttle-Mir missions were tested on STS-66. In December, Gore and Chernomyrdin agreed to the formation of a Joint Medical Policy Board to coordinate development of a common system of medical support for Shuttle-Mir. They also signed a customs agreement providing for duty-free clearance of NASAÆs Shuttle-Mir supplies shipped to Russia.

Regardless of the agreements, early in the Shuttle-Mir Program almost everything was difficult. This included getting funds to managers in Russia where society remained in a deep governmental and economic crisis, according to NASA manager Travis Brice, who worked on Shuttle-Mir training, communications, and coordination. When Johnson Space Center (JSC) managers needed to get funds to their Star City office, they first had to transfer money to NASA Headquarters, in Washington, D.C., which then transferred the money to the U.S. State Department. According to Brice, "Then the State Department transferred [the money] over to the Paris Embassyà. The Paris Embassy then transferred it to the Moscow Embassy. The Moscow Embassy then transferred it to our Moscow NASA Office, who then gave the moneyùin cash, because that was the way the Russian society workedùto our Director of Operations-Russia in Star Cityà. It typically had a two-month lag in it."

In January 1995, Norm Thagard and Bonnie Dunbar were joined by astronauts Shannon Lucid and John Blaha, who reported to Star City to begin their Mir training.

The early days in Star City have been compared to living in a monastery and included problems with communications, language, supply, and support. Besides the operational growing pains, there were also culture deprivation and loneliness. Astronaut Bonnie Dunbar later spoke of her "little support group" of Russian women at Star City, including "Olga à [who] taught technical English at an institute in downtown Moscow. A tremendously warm, nice womanà. She took me on tours of Star City, before we ever had maps, and showed me where everything was, all the little nooks and crannies to buy food. And, Galena," an engineer in Building 2, who, "particularly if I was by myself, would open the door to the hall and pull me inside. It was like disappearing into the bowels of the building. And, weÆd have tea with her colleagues there."

Another Russian especially helpful to the Americans in Star City was Natasha Dorishenko, hired as an administrative assistant. According to Bill Readdy, Director of Operations-Russia, Dorishenko was "absolutely spectacular" at bridging the gap between the different cultures and agencies, and in helping physically to set up the NASA offices in Russia.

Also "spectacular" in her dedication and contributions to the Shuttle-Mir Program was American Jessie Gilmore, executive secretary to Program Manager Frank Culbertson. Gilmore coordinated the Phase 1 Office in Houston and, according to Culbertson, made the whole Russian-American relationship in Houston seem like a family.

"Everybody here kind of worked together as a family," Jessie Gilmore said. "It wasnÆt an eight-to-four job. If [Culbertson] needed somethingùnine, ten oÆclock at nightùhe could call anybody, and they came in and got it done."

Susan Anderson, Lindy Fortenberry, and other program support specialists worked to make the NASA side of the Shuttle-Mir Program succeed. They escorted visiting Russians, scheduled and rescheduled meetings, and even worked to make it possible for astronauts to vote from orbit.

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Tommy Holloway

In October 1994, Tommy W. Holloway became the first Manager of the Phase 1 Program when this historic partnership became a formal stand-alone NASA program. He remained in this position until August 1995, when he was assigned as the Manager for the Space Shuttle Program. In 1999, Holloway became Manager of the International Space Station Program.

Early in the Phase 1 Program, there was some uncertainty over whether Phase 1 was more part of the Space Shuttle Program, because of all the rendezvous and dockings, or more part of the Space Station Program, because of the long-duration astronaut residencies onboard Mir. Holloway provided definition and leadership.

Frank Culbertson, who followed Holloway as Phase 1 Manager, said, "Tommy Holloway did a really good job of pulling together a compromise à that established a program officeùa framework of working groups with which to negotiate and work the issuesà. Some of it was based on the Apollo-Soyuz experience à Some of it was just good common sense."

According to Culbertson, Holloway got everyone to agree that "this is the way weÆre going to manage this program. This is the way itÆs going to exist. And, he was able to establish a budget for it, a schedule, and everything. And, I thought that that was the real foundation of our successùwas that early work Tommy did."

Holloway began his career with NASA in 1963 at the Johnson Space Center, planning activities for Gemini and Apollo flights in the Mission Control Center. He was a flight director in Mission Control for early Space Shuttle flights and became Chief of the Flight Director Office in 1985. In 1989, he was named Assistant Director for the Space Shuttle Program for the Mission Operations Directorate. He became the Deputy Manager for Program Integration with the Space Shuttle Program in 1992, and in 1994 he was named Manager of the Phase 1 Program.

In September 1999, he received the prestigious Robert R. Gilruth Award, which is given to recognize outstanding managers of operations, engineering, and science programs.

Next Chapter - STS-63: First Rendezvous!