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deployed for communicating via the TDRS system.

In anticipation of the LDEF retrieval the crew and flight controllers checked out the Remote Manipulator system (RMS) arm a few hours after launch. PNG and CNCR activations,as well as AFE and FEA middeck experiment operations, were begun during the third,fourth,and fifth orbits. During orbit seven the crew began their first sleep period aboard Columbia. The orbiter was at this time about 965 nm behind LDEF and closing at 52 nm per orbit.

Day Two:January 10,1990

The main objective on Day Two of the mission was the deployment of the Syncom IV-05 satellite. The 15,000 pound satellite was spun out of the payload bay ‘frisbee style’ at 13:18 GMT as Columbia passed over the western coast of Africa.

“There was a bit of a thump as Syncom was deployed and a small bit of vibration”, Commander Dan Brandenstein told Spaceflight. “We saw the deployment of the omni antenna. I had other things to do,but David Low continued to watch it and he saw the RCS jets fire to spin the satellite to a little over 30 rpm.” Brandenstein then fired the Shuttle motors to separate Columbia from the satellite. The orbiter was then positioned so its belly faced Syncom to prevent the exhaust from the satellite’s onboard motor from damaging the orbiter’s windows.

The orbiter’s RMS was positioned so the crew could watch the satellite fire its perigee kick motor with the camera at the end of the arm. “We saw the flash when the motor initiated and then we lost it in the clouds of the Earth below”, Bonnie Dunbar said.

A few minor problems surfaced during the day. The primary S-band FM communications system had failed but its redundant backup system was working,the Text and Graphics System (TAGS) was not responding to ground commands,and the PCG experiment power had been accidentally disconnected for a short period. Secondary experiments and medical test operations were undertaken, but due to a busy schedule and unfavourable ground weather IMAX photography was postponed.

Columbia was now in a 165 x 189 nm orbit with LDEF 522 nm ahead in a 176 x 183 nm orbit. Closure rate was 33 nm per orbit.

Day Three: January 11,1990

During the third flight day the crew performed a series of three phasing burns to refine Columbia’s position relative to LDEF. Following the burns Columbia was 280 nm from LDEF.

The day’s other activities involved work on the experiments and medical tests. The research programme was interrupted when the astronauts had to deal with a leak from a humidifier located beneath the middeck floor.