STS-80 Flight Day 9

On this ninth day of the STS-80 mission, the flight crew, Cmdr. Kenneth D. Cockrell, Pilot Kent V. Rominger, Mission Specialists, Tamara E. Jernigan, Thomas D. Jones, and F. Story Musgrave, begin preparations for two planned spacewalks with the depressurization of the shuttle's cabin from 14.7 pounds per square inch to 10.2 pounds per square inch. This reduces the amount of time Jernigan and Jones will have to prebreath pure oxygen before beginning the spacewalk. The first spacewalk will allow the astronauts to evaluate assembly and maintenance techniques that will be used for construction of the International Space Station.