Landed in China Nov 4 References: 4 , 276 .

Roll out of first of two slightly subscale 7.31 m long atmospheric test vehicles for use in parafoil landing tests was in November 1996.

The High Energy Transient Experiment (HETE) is an international mission led by The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). Its prime objective is to carry out the first multiwavelength study of gamma ray bursts (GRBs) with UV, X-ray, and gamma ray instruments. A unique feature of the mission is its capability to localise bursts with several arcsecond accuracy, in near real-time aboard the spacecraft. These positions are transmitted to the ground, and picked up by a global network of primary and secondary ground stations (SGS), enabling sensitive follow-up studies. References: 4 .

GT-23PA

En route Mars References: 4 .

Geostationary at 21.9E. References: 4 .

Geostationary at 148.0E. References: 4 .

The Mars 96 spacecraft was launched into Earth orbit, but failed to achieve insertion into Mars cruise trajectory and re-entered the Earth's atmosphere at about 00:45 to 01:30 GMT on 17 November 1996 and crashed within a presumed 320 km by 80 km area which includes parts of the Pacific Ocean, Chile, and Bolivia. The Russian Mars 96 mission was designed to send an orbiter, two small autonomous stations, and two surface penetrators to Mars. References: 4 , 67 , 118 , 274 , 296 .

Retrieved Dec 4 References: 4 , 276 .

Unmanned resupply vessel to Mir. Docked with Mir on 22 Nov 1996 01:01:30 GMT. Undocked on 6 Feb 1997 12:13:53 GMT. Thereafter in independent orbital flight in a 377 x 395 km x 51.65 deg orbit. Failed to redock with Mir on 4 Mar 1996. Destroyed in reentry on 12 Mar 1997 03:23:37 GMT. Total free-flight time 35.70 days. Total docked time 76.47 days. References: 4 , 275 , 276 .

Mission STS-80 carried the Orfeus astronomy satellite, the Wake Shield Facility, and spacewalk equipment. The Orfeus satellite was deployed on November 20. It carried an ultraviolet telescope and spectrographs. Wake Shield Facility was deployed on November 22 and retrieved on November 26 . On 1996 Nov 29, crewmembers Tamara Jernigan and Thomas Jones were to conduct the first of several planned EVAs. However the shuttle's exit hatch would not open and NASA cancelled this and the other planned spacewalks of the mission. On December 4 at the astronauts retrieved the Orfeus satellite using the RMS arm. Reentry attempts on Dec 5 and Dec 6 were called off due to bad weather. Columbia finally landed at 11:49 GMT December 7 on Runway 33 at Kennedy Space Center, making STS-80 the longest shuttle mission to that date . Additional Details: STS-80. References: 4 , 7 , 276 .

Retrieved Nov 26 References: 4 , 276 .

Geostationary at 13.0E. Launch vehicle put payload into supersynchronous earth orbit with IFR/MRS trajectory option. References: 4 , 278 .

Began installation of MCSA solar array cables. References: 66 .

En route Mars References: 4 .

Completed external cable installation for MCSA solar array. Installed antenna. References: 66 .

EORSAT, second of three to be stationed at 120 degree intervals on the same orbit with a 143 degree ascending node. However cutbacks in program resulted in the constellation not being completed. Still in operation as of December 1997. References: 4 , 69 .

Geostationary at 157.6E. Launch vehicle put payload into geosynchronous transfer orbit with RAAN Cntl trajectory option. References: 4 , 278 .

Military navigation satellite. Positioned in plane 4 of constellation. Signals at 149.97 and 399.92 MHz. References: 4 , 107 .

Biological research. Carried monkeys Lalik and Multik. References: 4 , 104 , 297 .