FREESTAR , which stands for Fast Reaction Experiments Enabling Science Technology Applications and Research , was a payload of six separate experiments on the Space Shuttle Columbia .
6-609: It was mounted on a crossbay Hitchhiker Multipurpose Equipment Support Structure in the Shuttle's payload bay during the STS-107 flight, which ended with the disintegration of Columbia during re-entry into the Earth's atmosphere. Although data was lost in the re-entry, much of the data collected while in space, such as that from MEIDEX, had already been transmitted to ground stations. The six experiments were: The primary mission of
12-423: A Seagate ST9385AG 2.5" hard drive with 400 MB storage capacity, was found and believed to be melted beyond recognition. In 2008, however, a data recovery specialist cleaned the hard drive's storage platters and rebuilt them into a new hard drive. They were able to recover 99% of the data, saving the experiment. The SOLCON instrument is designed to accurately measure the solar constant and identify variations in
18-744: The MEIDEX payload was to study the temporal and spatial distribution and physical properties of atmospheric desert dust over North Africa , the Mediterranean and the Atlantic Saharan regions. The aim was achieved by a remote sensing experiment operated by the astronauts aboard the shuttle. Also, MEIDEX accomplished diverse secondary science objectives by performing slant visibility observations, sea-surface reflectivity observations, desert surface observations and observations of Transient Luminous Events, better known as sprites. MEIDEX also made
24-568: The first space observation of a glory . SOLSE-2 was a hyperspectral imaging spectrometer built at the Goddard Space Flight Center that demonstrated a new technique to measure the vertical distribution of ozone in the atmosphere. The first demonstration flight of SOLSE-1 was on STS-87 in 1997. Once proven over a wider range of viewing conditions, the SOLSE-2 technique was incorporated to routinely measure ozone by
30-530: The next generation of weather satellites , including the Ozone Mapping and Profiler Suite (OMPS), that was launched in 2011. The Critical Viscosity of Xenon-2 Experiment measures the viscous behavior of xenon – a heavy, inert gas used in flash lamps and ion rocket engines – at its critical point. The data from the CVX-2 experiment was believed lost in the disaster. The hard drive that carried its data,
36-509: The value during a solar cycle . SOLCON measures the solar irradiance in space to avoid perturbations by the atmosphere of the Earth . It is also used as a reference to construct a long-duration time series of the solar irradiance . This data will ensure continuity of the solar constant level obtained by instruments mounted on free flyers, over climate time-scale duration. The SEM is made up of 11 separate student experiments from schools across
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