Launch from Cape Canaveral (
KSC);
landing on Cape Canaveral (
KSC).
STS-77 carried out the mission
"Spacehab-4". During this flight the crew deployed and retrieved the
SPARTAN satellite and deployed the
PAMS/
STU satellite. Several rendezvous maneuvers with both
satellites were performed by the crew of Endeavour.
During the flight
the crew performed microgravity research aboard the commercially owned and
operated SPACEHAB module. The SPACEHAB single module carried nearly 3,000
pounds (1,400 kg) of experiments and support equipment for 12 commercial space
product development payloads in the areas of biotechnology, electronic
materials, polymers and agriculture as well as several experiments for other
NASA payload organizations. One of these, the
Commercial Float Zone Facility (CFZF) was developed through international
collaboration between the U.S., Canada, and Germany. It heated various samples
of electronic and semiconductor material through the float-zone technique.
Another facility on SPACEHAB was the Space Experiment Facility (SEF) which grew
crystals by vapor diffusion.