STS-77 Flight Day 2

Abstract

On this second day of the STS-77 mission, the flight crew, Cmdr. John H. Casper, Pilot Curtis L. Brown, Jr., and Mission Specialists Andrew S.W. Thomas, Ph.D., Daniel W. Bursch, Mario Runco, Jr., and Marc Garneau, Ph.D., are seen deploying the Spartan satellite for its 24 hour free flight away from Endeavor to test new inflatable antenna technology. The inflation procedure begins as the shuttle and antenna pass over New Mexico, Southern California, the Grand Canyon, Appalachian Mountains, and coast of Virginia. The inflation takes about 5 minutes, bringing the antenna to its full size of 90 feet by 50 feet. After an hour and a half, the antenna was to be jettisoned from the Spartan.