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| Space Radiation Environment Measurement Program by utilizing STS-84 |  |
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Outline of the Mission |
National Space Development Agency of Japan (NASDA) has performed Space
Radiation Environment Measurement Experiment in May 1997. Real time Radiation
Monitoring Device (RRMD) on board the Space Shuttle Atlantis (STS-84) which
was launched on May 15 was used and the experiment was terminated on 24
May. This experiment was planned for the purpose of applying its results
for planning the measures used to avoid the effect of space radiation in
the International Space Station (ISS) by monitoring the space radiation
environment under similar orbital environment as the ISS.
Shuttle/Mir mission is being promoted as the first step of the International
Space Station (ISS) with the primary effort by USA and Russia. The purpose
of this mission is to mitigate the technical risks of constructing and
operating the ISS prior to the actual activities by checking technical
issues, extracting problems and accumulating international space activities
experiences. Shuttle/Mir mission activities include docking Space Shuttle
with Russian Space Station Mir and to navigate cooperatively each other,
transferring crew and supplying goods from Shuttle, performing extravehicular
activities (EVA) by astronauts from both countries and promoting scientific
researches which are inevitable prior to the utilization activities of
the ISS.
From 1995 through 1998 nine missions have been assigned for Shuttle/Mir
mission, and STS-84 is the one of them.
| Orbiter | Atlantis(19th flight) |
| Launch date and time | May 15 1997 4:08 a.m. (EDT) |
| Launch site | NASA Kennedy Space Center |
| Initial orbital altitude | 296km |
| Docked flight altitude | apogee 402 km/ perigee 389 km |
| Orbital inclination | 51.6 degrees |
| Orbital period | 90 min |
| Mission duration | 9days 5hr 20min |
| Landing date and time | May 24 1997 8:28 a.m. (EDT) |
| Landing site | NASA Kennedy Space Center |
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Major Accomplishments of STS-84 |
Space radiation measurement was conducted by RRMD aboard STS-84 on the
same orbit as STS-79 orbited. On this mission, an investigation was made
on low-energy particles, in consequence of which it was revealed that most
of these particles were concentrated in the South Atlantic Anomaly (SAA)
zone.
As for the biological effect by space radiation, an experiment was made
using such specimens as silkworm eggs, dicty ostelium discoideums, colitis
germs, radiation-resistant bacteria, and genetic DNA. At present, analyses
are under way to elucidate the bodily reaction mechanism of these specimens
vital for repair of DNA damages by space radiation, the effect of the space
environment over their embryonic development and differentiation, and the
genetic effect exerted over the silkworm's offspring during the process
of their growth in space.
Last Updated : March 27, 1998
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