Mar 27 1985
From The Space Library
NASA announced a launch date of no earlier than April 12, 1985, for the 51-D Space Shuttle mission, with two windows for launch on that date: from 8:04 a.m. to 8:18 a.m. EST and from 8:45 a.m. to 9:00 a.m. EST. The orbiter Discovery would land April 17 at approximately 8:14 a.m. EST at KSC.
During the mission, crew would deploy the Canadian Telesat (Anik C1) and the Hughes Syncom IV (LEASAT) and operate the McDonnell Douglas continuous flow electrophoresis system. (NASA Release 85-43)
NASA had scratched four squirrel monkeys scheduled to be carried into orbit by the Space Shuttle Challenger in April because NASA found they had a form of herpes that could be transmitted to the astronaut crew, the Washington Post reported.
The monkeys' herpes, called Herpes Samirii, was not the virus transmitted sexually by humans, but was unique to New World primates whose natural habitat was the rain forests of South America. Researchers suspected the virus of causing cancer in lower mammals such as rats and therefore classified it as potentially cancerous in humans. NASA replaced the monkeys with those from colonies bred to be virus-free.
Four monkeys recruited from the National Institutes of Health and one from Harvard University had been in training since January for their flight on the second mission of Spacelab, scheduled for April 29 at the earliest. Dr. Arnauld Nicogossian, NASA's chief of space medicine, said they were looking for a sixth monkey even though only three might be flown. "One of the monkeys in training is too small and will have to be replaced, and it will be nice to have a backup when the time comes for them to go into orbit," he said.
In space the monkeys' cages would have their own oxygen and food and water supplies in the Spacelab portion of the Space Shuttle's cargo bay, which was shut off from Challenger's cabin by an airlock. The upcoming flight was a shakedown cruise for the monkeys to ascertain that their cages functioned properly and to make sure the monkeys wouldn't get frightened or injured during launch or return to earth. (Washington Post, Mar 27/85, A20)
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