Oh
this is el def the long-duration
exposure facility this school bus size
satellite covered with samples of a
variety of space-age materials has been
circling the Earth since 1984 these
samples will tell NASA what happens to
spacecraft materials when they're
exposed to the harsh environment of
space for long periods like they will be
on Space Station freedom NASA's original
plan was to bring ldap home after about
a year but because the shuttle fleet was
grounded for nearly three years el def
has now stayed in orbit five times
longer than once expected the crew of
the next space shuttle mission plans to
use the orbiters remote manipulator arm
to grab the satellite and ease it into
the cargo bay where it will be stowed
for the trip back to earth it will mean
the homecoming of more than 50
experiments and while the delay has
meant the loss of some data on the other
hand without a doubt the majority of the
experiments are substantially enhanced
by being up there the five years such is
the case with an experiment developed by
the University of Alabama Huntsville and
NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center it
measures the effects of atomic oxygen on
surfaces at orbital altitude the same
stuff we breathe on earth takes on a
different form in space that literally
erodes the surfaces of spacecraft over
long periods of time by this
unanticipated longer exposure the LDF
can provide considerable beneficial
results in terms of this studying these
oxidation effects that kind of
information can be extremely crucial in
the building of a space station any
spacecraft that's to survive for a long
period of time in space the benefits
from l death may be as varied as the
experiments it carries there are even
millions of tomato seeds up there which
will soon be in the hands and the
gardens of students who may be the
scientists of tomorrow although the
scientific homecoming may be overdue in
one sense it will be just in time in
another just in time that is to get as
much exposure in space as is possible
before L def is destroyed returning to
Earth on its own in Huntsville this is
mike arrington reporting