The Spacelab 2 mission - An overview

A summary is presented of the results of experiments on the Spacelab 2 mission, which was flown on the Shuttle Orbiter between July 29 and August 6, 1985. The background and flight of the mission and the payload configuration are examined. The experiments include the Ejectable Plasma Diagnostics Package, Vehicle Charging and Potential Experiment, and plasma detection experiments. Life science experiments include studies of the effects of spaceflight on the growth of plant tissues and perturbations of bone and calcium homeostasis in flight crew members. Solar studies include the Solar UV Spectral Irradiance Monitor, the Coronal Helium Abundance Spacelab Experiment, the High Resolution Telescope and Spectrograph, the Solar Magnetic and Velocity Field Measurement System, and the Solar Optical Universal Polarimeter. Additional experiments include observations with a small He-cooler IR telescope, Hard X-ray imaging of galaxy clusters and extended X-ray sources, the composition and energy spectra of cosmic ray nuclei, and the properties of superfluid He in zero gravity.