Launch

Date: August 7, 1997

Time: 10:41:00 a.m. EDT

Site: Kennedy Space Center (KSC)

Dimensions: 4" round

Canadian Space Agency (CSA) astronaut Bjarni Tryggvason was the Payload Specialist during STS-85, a mission dedicated to space science and hardware-testing for application on the International Space Station (ISS).

Tryggvason successfully operated a Canadian technology he helped to develop: the Microgravity Vibration Isolation Mount (MIM). Designed to isolate payloads from vibrations, this technology would later be adapted for the Canadian Microgravity Vibration Isolation Subsystem (MVIS) currently installed on the ISS.

During STS-85, the Canadarm deployed and retrieved the CRISTA-SPAS payload, which consisted of three telescopes and four spectrometers to measure trace gases in the Earth's middle atmosphere.