KSC-97pc764

KSC payload processing employees in Orbiter Processing Facility 1 prepare the Space Shuttle Orbiter Columbia’s crew airlock and payload bay for the reinstallation of the Spacelab long transfer tunnel that leads from the airlock to the Microgravity Science Laboratory-1 (MSL-1) Spacelab module. The tunnel was taken out after the STS-83 mission to allow better access to the MSL-1 module during reservicing operations to prepare it for for the STS-94 mission. That space flight is now scheduled to lift off in early July. This was the first time that this type of payload was reserviced without removing it from the payload bay. This new procedure pioneers processing efforts for quick relaunch turnaround times for future payloads. The Spacelab module was scheduled to fly again with the full complement of STS-83 experiments after that mission was cut short due to a faulty fuel cell. During the scheduled 16-day STS-94 mission, the experiments will be used to test some of the hardware, facilities and procedures that are planned for use on the International Space Station while the flight crew conducts combustion, protein crystal growth and materials processing experiments