Story's sixth space shuttle flight to studies the stars

           STS Liftoff November 19, 1996 NASA photo credit

On November 19, 1996, the 21st flight of the Columbia Space Shuttle lifted off with a five-person crew aboard.

The STS-80 crew studied stars, produced thin semiconductor films, and practiced construction of the International Space Station.

Other tasks included activation of hardware to conduct research in diabetes treatment, tissue replacement and the growth of crystals for use in researching breast cancer inhibitors. The crew studied alternative methods to use in spacecraft thermal management

NASA also designed the WSF to fly free of the Shuttle. The WSF created a tremendous vacuum in its wake in order to grow thin film wafers to use in high tech electrical components and in semiconductors.

STS-80 conducted numerous experiments, including the experiments to investigate the role that calcium plays in regulating blood pressure, bone cell experiments, and studies on the effects of microgravity on genetically-altered seedlings. The crew also worked with the Space Vision System, designed by engineers to monitor alignment and position of structures in space.

The flight of STS-80 was the 80th mission since the beginning of the Space Shuttle Program, back in April of 1981. It landed on December 7, 1996, having traveled seven million miles, making 279 revolutions. The flight lasted for 17 days, 15 hours, 53 minutes, and 18 seconds.
 

  Crew of STS-80

Commander Kenneth D. Cockrell

Born on April 9, 1950, Austin, Texas
BS in mechanical engineering from University of Texas
MS in aeronautical systems, University of West Florida
Selected as astronaut, July 1991
Flew on STS-56, STS-69, STS-80, STS-98, and STS-111

Pilot Kent V. Rominger

Born on August 7, 1956, in Del Norte, Colorado
BS in civil engineering from Colorado State University
MS in aeronautical engineering from U.S. Naval Postgraduate School
Selected as astronaut, March 1992
Flew on STS-73, STS-80, STS-85, STS-96, and STS-100 

Mission Specialist Tamara E. Jernigan

Born on May 7, 1959, in Chattanooga, Tennessee
BS in physics (with honors)
MS engineering science from Stanford University in 1981
MS in astronomy from the University of California-Berkeley
Doctorate in space physics and astronomy from Rice University
Dr. Jernigan became an astronaut in July 1986
Flew on STS-40, STS-52, STS-67, STS-80, and STS-96
 

Mission Specialist Thomas D. Jones

Born on January 22, 1955, in Baltimore, Maryland
BS in basic sciences from the USAF Academy in Colorado Springs in 1977
Doctorate in planetary science, University of Arizona in Tucson
Dr. Jones became an astronaut in July 1991
Flew on STS-59, STS-68, STS-80, and STS-98
 

Mission Specialist F. Story Musgrave

Born August 19, 1935, in Boston, MA, considers Lexington, KY his hometown
BS in mathematics and statistics from Syracuse University
MBA degree in operations analysis and computer programming from the UCLA
BA degree in chemistry from Marietta College; Doctorate in medicine from Columbia University
MS in physiology and biophysics from the University of Kentucky,
MA in literature from the University of Houston
Flew on STS-6, STS-51F/Spacelab-2, STS-33, STS-44, STS-61, STS-80

Crew of STS-80 in front of Columbia

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