KSC-97pc674

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. -- McDonnell Douglas-SPACEHAB technicians look over a Russian-made oxygen generator which has just been placed on the floor of a SPACEHAB Double Module being prepared for flight on Space Shuttle Mission STS-84. The module is being processed in the SPACEHAB Payload Processing Facility just outside of Gate 1 on Cape Canaveral Air Station. The Space Shuttle Atlantis will transport the oxygen generator to the Russian Space Station Mir to replace one of two Mir units that have been malfunctioning recently. The nearly 300-pound generator functions by electrolysis, which separates water into its oxygen and hydrogen components. The hydrogen is vented and the oxygen is used for breathing by the Mir crew. The generator is 4.2 feet long with a diameter of 1.4 feet. STS-84, which is planned to include a Mir crew exchange of astronaut C. Michael Foale for Jerry M. Linenger, is targeted for a May 15 launch. It will be the sixth Shuttle-Mir docking