Onboard STS-73, USML-2: Mission Specialist, Payload Commander, Kathryn Thorton with (CGF) Crystal Growth Furnace

Payload Specialist, Fred Leslie changing samples in (CGF) Crystal Growth Furnace onboard STS-73, USML-2.

Crystal Growth Furnace (CGF) without the EAC internal support structure. Flown on USML-1 and USML-2. The Principal Investigators on these flights were: Larson, Lehoczky, Matthiesen, Wiedemeier. Processed 6 samples on USML-1 and 7 samples on USML-2.

STS073-101-018 (20 October-5 November 1995) --- Payload specialist Fred W. Leslie maneuvers his body to a position conducive to research at the Crystal Growth Furnace (CGF) aboard the science module in the cargo bay of the Earth-orbiting Space Shuttle Columbia. Crystallization has been discovered to be more effectively studied in the weightless environment of space than on Earth, because the gravity-induced phenomena that obscure or change the process or change the process are greatly reduced or eliminated. Leslie was joined by a second guest researcher and five NASA astronauts for 16 full days of in-space research in support of the United States Microgravity Laboratory (USML-2) mission.

Crystal Growth Furnace (CGF) Being Tested at Manufacturing Facilty

Payload Commander, Bornie Dunbar loading samples in the CGF onboard STS-50, USML-1.

Evolution of Furnaces for Crystal Growth. Left view: Crystal Growth Furnace (CGF) Right view: Advanced Automated Directional Solidification Furnace (AADSF)

STS-50 Onboard photo: Payload Commander Bornie Dunbar unloading the SACA.

Space Shuttle Columbia (STS-50) astronaut Bornie Dunbar wears protective goggles to assemble a zeolite sample cartridge for the Crystal Growth Furnace (CGF) in the United States Microgravity Laboratory-1 (USML-1) science module.

View showing Payload Specialists Bonnie Dunbar and Larry DeLucas in the aft section of the U. S. Microgravity Laboratory-1. Dunbar prepares to load a sample in the Crystal Growth Furnace (CGF) Integrated Furnace Experiment Assembly (IFEA) in rack 9 of the Microgravity Laboratory, while DeLucas checks out the multi-purpose Glovebox Facility.

STS050-02-001 (9 July 1992) --- View showing Payload Specialists Bonnie Dunbar and Larry DeLucas in the aft section of the U. S. Microgravity Laboratory-1. Dunbar is preparing to load a sample in the Crystal Growth Furnace (CGF) Integrated Furnace Experiment Assembly (IFEA) in rack 9 of the Microgravity Laboratory. DeLucas is checking out the multipurpose Glovebox Facility.