Conference 7.286::space

Associated Press Fri 16-AUG-1985 12:31                          Space Shuttle

                          By HOWARD BENEDICT
                          AP Aerospace Writer
   CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) - Space shuttle Discovery will have
better heat sensors when it blasts off Aug. 24 than those that cut
off one of Challenger's engines last month, almost aborting the
flight, NASA says.
   Shuttle managers gave the go-ahead Thursday after examining the
status of the shuttle and all mission aspects during a four-hour
meeting. Aug. 24 had been the tentative target. Liftoff was set for
8:38 a.m. EDT.
   Discovery's crew of five is to release three communications
satellites and then track down and try to repair a Syncom
communications satellite that failed to activate after being
deployed by another shuttle crew in April.
   The National Aeronautics and Space Administration said it had
tested and certified the improved heat sensors and that six would
be installed today on Discovery, two on each of the three main
engines.
   The devices, worth $3,800 each, record and send fuel pump
temperatures to a computer. Two of the sensors indicated the pump
in one engine was overheating, and the computer shut it down. A
third sensor showed a pump in a second engine was starting to
overheat, but Mission Control, believing the signal false, disabled
the sensor before the computer could act on its message.
   If the second engine had cut off, the astronauts would have
attempted an emergency landing on the island of Crete, a risky
maneuver that might have forced them to ditch in the Mediterranean
Sea, officials said.
   Challenger reached a lower-than-planned orbit on the two
remaining engines, and the seven-man crew completed its science
mission.
   Examination back on Earth disclosed all three sensors were
broken. The problem was traced to the way in which the wire
elements in the sensors and the tubes in which they operate were
twisted and bent during manufacture before being subjected to
1,700-degree heat to make them uniform.
   The Rocketdyne Division of Rockwell International, which builds
the shuttle engines, said sensors produced under a new process were
subjected to extensive testing and proved to be much better. The
change involves a more careful control of the handling and heating
of the devices.

Associated Press Wed 21-AUG-1985 16:57                          Space Shuttle

            Astronauts Ready For Satellite Salvage Mission
                          By HOWARD BENEDICT
                          AP Aerospace Writer
   CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) - Ducking lightning and heavy rain,
five astronauts flew here Wednesday and said they are primed to
ride space shuttle Discovery on a daring salvage flight in which
two space-walkers will try to repair a disabled communications
satellite.
   ``I'm glad we're getting the bad weather out of the way; we're
ready to go Saturday,'' commander Joe Engle told reporters after
the crew arrived here in NASA jets from their training base in
Houston.
   They had to evade numerous thunderstorms as they made their
final approaches across central Florida. They hurried their remarks
and made a hasty exit as a downpour moved in on the runway.
   The countdown for the 20th shuttle flight will begin Thursday
morning, aiming for a launching at 8:38 a.m. EDT Saturday.
   During a week in orbit, the astronauts are to deploy
communications satellites for the Australian government, the
American Satellite Co. and Hughes Communications Services.
   Engle and pilot Dick Covey will track down the $85 million
Syncom communications satellite that failed to activate when
deployed by another shuttle crew in April.
   Space-walkers James van Hoften and Bill Fisher will try to
revive the satellite by making electrical connections that will
bypass the craft's timing mechanism, believed to be the cause of
the failure. Purpose of the wiring task is to enable a ground
station to send rocket firing and other commands to the payload.
Those commands had been the responsibility of the timer.
   Van Hoften, mounted on a platform on the end of the shuttle's
50-foot robot arm, will reach out and grab the slowly-spinning
satellite, attach a handling bar and pass it down to Fisher in the
cargo bay for the repair task.
   Discovery's three engines are equipped with improved sensors to
prevent a recurrence of the early shutdown of one of sister ship
Challenger's engines last month, causing a near-abort. A defective
sensor reported falsely that a fuel pump was overheating and a
computer automatically cut off the powerplant.

Associated Press Fri 23-AUG-1985 15:59                          Space Shuttle

                         By HARRY F. ROSENTHAL
                        Associated Press Writer
   CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) - Fitted with improved engine gauges
to avoid another cliffhanger launch, Discovery was primed Friday to
begin one of the most daring space shuttle missions, the capture
and rewiring of an $85 million wandering satellite.
   Launch was set for 8:38 a.m. EDT Saturday and an Air Force
weatherman said ``the worst we expect are scattered clouds.''
   If all goes well, the shuttle will edge alongside the 7 1/2-ton
slowly spinning derelict on Thursday, and one of the five
astronauts will grab the satellite with his gloved hands and stop
its rotation.
   Each of Discovery's three main engines is fitted with two new
sensors to measure the temperature on fuel pumps. On Challenger's
last launch, July 29, two thermometers indicated one engine pump
was overheating and it was shut down by a computer.
   It was the first time in the manned space program that an engine
was shut down in flight, causing concern for the safety of the
astronauts. Engineers determined later that the instruments, not
the pump, were at fault and an improved version was installed.
   ``We've got a lot of confidence in the new sensors, that they
are going to solve our problems,'' said Jesse Moore, director of
the shuttle program.
   He played down the dangers of the mission.
   ``We think the activities are safe,'' he said. ``I don't think
we're taking any additional risk in terms of the rescue.''
   Discovery will start its sixth flight in less than a year with a
cargo of three satellites which will be deployed at a one-a-day
rate before the rescue attempt. One of the satellites is a Syncom
scheduled to join two others already in proper orbit. It has been
modified to prevent the same problems that befell No. 3.
   Hughes Communications and the other two customers, American
Satellite Co. and the Australian government, are paying NASA nearly
$40 million for the delivery service. In addition, Hughes is paying
about $8.5 million for the rescue, which Moore said represents
NASA's costs.
   The rescue attempt will be the second for the Syncom satellite,
which failed to activate after it was released from another shuttle
last April.
   After the satellite proved to be a dud in April, the shuttle
crew fashioned a ``flyswatter'' from plastic book covers to snag a
master switch thought to be at fault. The snare attempt was
successful but it failed to bring the satellite to life.
   Marvin Mixon, vice president of Hughes Communications, was not
overly optimistic on the eve of launch.
   ``It's 50-50, the entire success of the mission,'' he said.
``That is, that we get it into orbit, that it is a viable satellite
and that we can turn it over to the Navy.''
   The satellite, the third of four, is to be leased by Hughes for
the Navy's communications network.
   Hughes Communications worked out the plan with NASA in which
astronauts James ``Ox'' Van Hoften and William Fisher will
``hot-wire'' the Syncom to bypass the electrical circuits of the
entire timing mechanism.
   Commander of the flight is Joe Engle, an Air Force colonel who
held the same position in shuttle mission No. 2 in 1981. The pilot
is Lt. Col. Richard Covey of the Air Force and there is a third
mission specialist, John Lounge, a civilian.
   Van Hoften and Fisher, a surgeon, will attempt to run a
five-foot cable from one electrical outlet to another, bypassing
the timer and making it possible for a ground station to send
rocket firing and other commands to the satellite. These commands
had been the responsibility of the failed timer.
   Fisher also will install an electrical box that will enable him
to erect the antenna on the 15,000-pound, 14-foot-by-14-foot
drum-shaped Syncom.
   Engle and Covey are to guide the shuttle within 35 feet of the
satellite, 242 miles high, and van Hoften, standing on the end of
the shuttle's 50-foot crane will grab the 14.5 foot diameter
satellite, attach a handling bar and pass it down to Fisher at a
work stand in the cargo bay.
   The most dangerous part of the operation is at the beginning,
until Fisher can install safety devices to insure no stray
electrical signals ignite any of the 13,000 pounds of propellants
aboard. The fuel is used to boost the satellite to a useful orbit
22,300 miles up.
   The mission is given such a low chance of success for fear that
temperatures of 40 and 50 degrees below zero may have frozen and
cracked the propellant in the large solid fuel rocket to the extent
that it could explode when commanded to fire.
   Once the satellite can be oriented by ground command, it will be
left in its current orbit for another two months to thaw in
sunlight.

Associated Press Fri 23-AUG-1985 16:20                       Networks-Shuttle

   Network Shuttle Coverage Plans With AM-Space Shuttle Bjt

   NEW YORK (AP) - The ABC and CBS television networks did not plan
live coverage of the liftoff of the space shuttle Discovery on
Saturday, while NBC and the cable network CNN did, spokesmen said
Friday.
   CBS and ABC planned taped coverage on their regular news
programs but would interrupt regular programming during the launch
if events warranted it, spokeswomen said.
   NBC planned about 15 minutes of live coverage beginning just
before the scheduled 8:38 a.m. EDT liftoff, and CNN, a 24-hour news
network, also planned live coverage, spokesmen said.

Associated Press Sat 24-AUG-1985 09:48                          Space Shuttle

                          By HOWARD BENEDICT
                          AP Aerospace Writer
   CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) - A fast-developing thunderstorm
rolling over the launch area just nine minutes before scheduled
liftoff forced postponement today of space shuttle Discovery's
launch on a mission in which space-walking astronauts will try to
``jump-start'' a dead satellite.
   NASA said another launch attempt will be made Sunday morning,
with liftoff set for 7:57 a.m. EDT.
   The skies above Cape Canaveral had been clear for several hours
when black thunderclouds moved in from the south. Ironically, 20
minutes after the scrub was called, skies above the launch pad were
clear again.
   The launch team had only a 34-minute window - from 8:38 a.m. to
9:12 a.m. EDT - to launch Discovery. Hoping the storm would clear
out, the clock was counted down to the five-minute mark, where
another hold was called.
   The clouds were beginning to break up, but when it became clear
they would not quit the area in time, launch director Bob Sieck
called off the effort for the day. The launch window is determined
by several factors, including the time that three communications
satellites are to be deployed by the astronauts and by the position
of the disabled satellite they will try to rescue.
   The five astronauts had been in the shuttle cabin for more than
two hours when the countdown was halted. They were to return to
crew quarters to await another try Sunday.
   NASA does not want to launch in rain because it could damage the
shuttle's fragile heat-resistant tiles. And clouds could block the
astronauts' view of a runway in case there as trouble early in the
flight and they had to make an emergency landing back here.
   To avoid possible launch problems like those Challenger suffered
last month, each of Discovery's three main engines was fitted with
improved sensors to measure the temperature on high-pressure fuel
pumps.
   During Challenger's July 29 launch, two sensors falsely
indicated an engine pump was overheating and one engine was shut
down by a computer, but the remaining engines had enough power to
reach orbit.
   ``This is going to be an extremely exciting mission,'' said
Jesse Moore, director of the National Aeronatics and Space
Administraton's shuttle program.
   But the most exciting part, the satellite rescue effort, has
lower priority than the deployment of three commercial
communications satellites whose owners are paying the space agency
nearly $40 million for the delivery service, he said.
   The satellites will be dropped off one per day, starting late
today, for American Satellite Co., the Australian government and
Hughes Communications Services.
   After the cargo bay is empty, commander Joe Engle and pilot Dick
Covey will guide Discovery through two days of maneuvers to track
down the disabled Syncom 3 satellite, pulling alongside it at an
altitude of 240 miles on Thursday.
   Space walkers James van Hoften and Bill Fisher will move into
the open cargo bay and van Hoften will grab the 15,500-pound, $85
million satellite with his gloved hands to stop its slow rotation.
   Mike Lounge, operating the ship's 50-foot robot arm from inside
the cabin, will grip Syncom and hold it steady while Fisher, a
physician, attempts to repair it with some space-age ``bypass
surgery.''
   Fisher will run a five-foot cable from one satellite electrical
outlet to another, bypassing a timing mechanism believed to have
caused Syncom's failure to activate when it was released by another
shuttle crew in April.
   The ``jump start'' would make it possible for a ground station
to send rocket firing and other commands that had been the
responsibility of the timer. Fisher also will install an electrical
box to provide power to erect Syncom's radio antenna.

Associated Press Sat 24-AUG-1985 15:03                      Canaveral Weather

   CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) - Less than three hours after a
fast-developing thunderstorm stopped the launch of space shuttle
Discovery, a slender tornado funnel was sighted over the Kennedy
Space Center.
   It was miles from launch pad 39a where workers were draining the
shuttle's fuel tanks and posed no threat to the vehicle.
   The space center was under a tornado watch for only 10 minutes
although thunderstorms continued to hover around the area.
   In early afternoon, lightning struck a main transformer that
feeds the northern half of the space center, including the launch
control room and its many computers and the launch pad 3 1/2 miles a
way.
   Lights were out in many areas of the Cape for up to 20 minutes,
but NASA spokesman Dick Young said that there was only a momentary
outage in the luanch control room and on the pad.
   Both have emergency power, but it was not needed.
   Young said that the shuttle, which was being drained of fuel at
the time, lost internal power but that it was picked up immediately
by fuel cells that provide electricity while the ship is in orbit.

Associated Press Sun 25-AUG-1985 15:17                          Space Shuttle

                         By HARRY F. ROSENTHAL
                        Associated Press Writer
   CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) - A spacecraft computer failure
scrubbed Sunday's second attempt to launch space shuttle Discovery
and NASA decided to let two days pass before trying again.
   The delay reduces NASA's opportunities to catch and repair an
$85 million satellite that is drifting lifelessly in a low orbit.
   ``It goes without saying the team is pretty disappointed in
having been denied two days in a row from getting this very
ambitious mission going,'' said Bob Sieck, launch operations
director of the Kennedy Space Center.
   A Monday start had been possible for the satellite delivery and
repair mission. But Sieck and the Johnson Space Center's Arnold
Aldrich said the extra day is needed to inspect ducts between low
and high pressure pumps on the shuttle's three main engines to
ensure that the plumbing has not been deformed in on-again,
off-again cooling and warming.
   The shuttle's fuel, liquid hydrogen, is chilled to 423 degrees
below zero.
   ``Each time the duct is filled with cryogenic fluid it gets very
cold,'' said Aldrich. He said any deformation in the plumbing could
restrict the flow between the pumps and ``the engines could go into
a shutdown.''
   It was only the second time in the shuttle program that launches
were scrubbed back to back. Sieck said the launch teams were polled
and said they would like to try again Monday.
   But, he said, ``they could use the rest and that's one of the
advantages of going the 48-hour turnaround.''
   On their eight-day flight, the astronauts are to release three
communications satellites - one per day beginning on the day of
launch - then chase after the disabled satellite, called Syncom, in
an attempt to repair it in orbit.
   Originally, NASA had said there was only a four-day period,
beginning Saturday, in which the shuttle could be launched on the
proper path to catch up with the satellite. Since then, computer
studies have extended that period through Wednesday.
   Sieck called the weather outlook ``marginal'' for Tuesday and
uncertain for Wednesday because of developing tropical weather in
the Caribbean.
   If Discovery can't be launched by then, officials said they
would fly a shortened mission to deploy the three commercial
satellites. But the repair of the Syncom satellite would be
abandoned, possibly forever.
   Bad weather forced a halt in the first attempt Saturday to
launch Discovery and was a source of concern Sunday until the
computer problem rendered it irrelevant.
   The countdown was stopped at the 9-minutes-to-launch mark when
it became apparent that Discovery's backup computer had suffered a
hardware failure. That meant the fault was not in the device's
program - which might have been fixed - but with its machinery.
   A computer, the size of a suitcase, was taken from sister ship
Challenger and installed in the Discovery middeck.
   Four identical primary computers aboard the shuttle process
information that governs every detail of the ship's operations from
liftoff to landing. In essence, the computers ``vote'' among
themselves and if one disagreees with the others, it is cut out.
   A tie brings in a fifth computer to decide, and it was that
backup that failed. NASA rules forbid a launch with a
malfunctioning computer. If the backup fails in flight, the
astronauts can pull a spare from a locker and plug it in.
   The problem showed up simultaneously in Mission Control and in
the spacecraft. In Mission Control an ``I failed'' light flashed on
consoles. In the spacecraft, commander Joe Engle spotted an ``X''
on his display screen.
   Mission Control ``dumped'' the computer's memory, reloaded it
and reactivated the computer. It gave the same indications.
   ``It would be my recommendation that we scrub the launch,''
Engle said.
   ``All indications are we have a hardware problem,'' said Mission
Control.
   Minutes later, Sieck called off the attempt.

I wonder if the lightning strike reported in .6 had anything to do with the
computer failure.
    John Sauter

Associated Press Wed 28-AUG-1985 13:09                          Space Shuttle

                          By HOWARD BENEDICT
                          AP Aerospace Writer
   CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) - Discovery's astronauts today
successfully tested two electronic boxes they will use in a
satellite salvage mission on Saturday.
   That rescue-and-repair effort might be complicated, however,
because the ``elbow'' on the shuttle robot arm does not respond to
computer directions and must be operated by tedious manual
switches. Officials said the ailment should not block the salvage
but could turn it into a longer task that might spread over two
days.
   The 50-foot arm will grasp and hold the Syncom 3 satellite
steady after space-walkers James van Hoften and Bill Fisher have
secured it by hand and have attached a grapple to it.
   Fisher and van Hoften spent more than four hours today checking
out the two electronic boxes they plan to attach to Syncom 3 and
reported both functioned well. Two backup units also were fine,
they said.
   Flight Director Jay Greene said that the astronauts had a light
schedule today after Tuesday's busy day that included an unplanned
doubleheader satellite launching.
   Early today, the crew reported seeing the lights of the western
Australian city of Geraldton. Residents there switched on their
lights and opened their curtains as a salute to the Australian
communications satellite launched from Discovery on Tuesday. It was
reminisicent of 1962, when the people of Perth, Australia, did the
same thing to honor America's first orbiting astronaut, John Glenn.
   ``It's a mighty pretty little town,'' commander Joe Engle said
of Geraldton.
   On a later pass over Australia, Engle reported he also could see
Perth in the distance. The commander was supposed to have flashed a
high-intensity xenon light at Geraldton, but did not report whether
he actually did it.
   The astronauts ran into trouble Tuesday, two hours after
Discovery was launched spectacularly through a break in a large
storm system that dumped heavy rain on the spaceport before and
just after liftoff.
   They were unable to close a sun shield intended to protect
Aussat, the Australian satellite, from the searing heat of the sun
and the bitter cold of space darkness.
   The shield, made of fabric and lightweight tubing, apparently
was deformed when it touched a camera in the cargo bay, then
snagged on the Aussat antenna. After determining the shield could
not be shut, Mission Control directed the crew to use the
mechanical arm to force open the clamshell-like halves.
   Astronaut Mike Lounge, controlling the arm remotely from inside
the cabin, pushed the shield open. But that left Aussat exposed to
the extremes of space and ground controllers decided to launch it
Tuesday afternoon before its electronics were damaged. The original
flight plan called for deployment today.
   ``Deployed on time,'' Lounge reported as he watched the $60
million satellite spin out of the cargo bay. In its own orbit, the
satellite spins to prevent any section from becoming too hot or too
cold.
   Less than five hours after the Aussat launch and one orbit later
than originally scheduled, the astronauts released another
communications satellite owned by American Satellite Co., which
said it had $100 million invested in the project.
   Forty-five minutes after the deployments, a rocket motor in each
satellite fired to send it winging toward a stationary orbit 22,300
miles above the globe.
   One satellite remains in the cargo bay. That is Syncom 4, a twin
of the Syncom 3 spacecraft the astronauts will try to repair on
Saturday. Syncom 4 is to be dropped overboard Thursday.
   After the cargo bay is cleared, commander Engle and pilot Dick
Covey will guide Discovery to a rendezvous with Syncom 3, which
failed to turn itself on after deployment by another shuttle crew
in April. When van Hoften and Fisher have secured it, Lounge will
grab it with the arm and rotate it to desired positions while
Fisher ``hot-wires'' it by running an electrical cable from one
satellite electrical outlet to another to bypass an automatic
timer, believed to be the cause of the failure.
   The arm, which has joint motions similar to those of the human
shoulder, arm and hand, would not respond to computer commands in
its elbow on Tuesday. Lounge had to control each of six motions
separately with switches.
   Reeves said that will make Lounge's task Saturday much more
time-consuming and might force a second day's space walk to
complete the satellite salvage.

Associated Press Wed 28-AUG-1985 22:27                          Space Shuttle

                             By PAUL RECER
                          AP Aerospace Writer
   SPACE CENTER, Houston (AP) - NASA officials Wednesday added a
second spacewalk for Discovery's astronauts to repair a crippled
satellite and said the space shuttle would probably have to make a
rare pre-dawn landing.
   Mission planners had hoped the repairs could be made during a
Saturday spacewalk, but they added one for Sunday because ground
tests showed that the shuttle's crippled robot arm could not work
fast enough to complete the repair job in one day.
   ``It appears we are faced with a two-EVA (extravehicular
activity) plan,'' said flight director Bill Reeves. He blamed a
failed circuit that prevents Discovery's robot arm from being
operated in an automatic mode.
   Reeves said tests conducted on the ground by other astronauts
showed that a robot arm, when operated in manually, needs about 75
percent longer time to manuever the lifeless Syncom 3
communications satellite.
   The flight director said it will take two 6 1/2-hour spacewalks to
complete the repair. Originally, he said, it was expected to
require a single walk of about 6 hours, 50 minutes.
   Spacewalkers Dr. Bill Fisher and James van Hoften were asleep,
along with their three crewmates, and were not immediately told of
the new plan.
   Engineers had warned that the additional time may be needed
because Discovery's robot arm is crippled and will have to be
controlled manually rather than by computer. The 50-foot-long boom
is to hold the Syncom 3 while Fisher and van Hoften make the
repairs.
   Reeves said the two-spacewalk plan will mean that Discovery will
land at Edwards Air Force Base in California about an hour before
dawn. The shuttle has landed on a runway illuminated by floodlights
only once before.
   ``If we get lucky on the first (spacewalk), we'll take what we
can get'' and land on Monday, Reeves said.
   The change is another in a series forced on Discovery by
equipment problems, and mission officials said more changes may be
needed as the problems are studied.
   ``We're following the CAP (crew activity plan) as we write it
and writing the CAP as we follow it,'' said flight controller Jay
Greene.
   Fisher and van Hoften spent about four hours Wednesday checking
out electronic gear they'll use to repair the Syncom 3. Reeves said
the checkout ``went extremely well.''
   The testing came two days earlier than planned, one of the
improvisations that resulted from Tuesday's unscheduled
doubleheader launch of two satellites. A third satellite will be
deployed Thursday, leaving Discovery's cargo bay empty and ready
for the satellite rescue attempt.
   A computer operating a 3M Corp. crystal-growth experiment also
caused the Discovery astronauts problems. The computer prematurely
shutdown the experiment and the crewmen were forced to use a
back-up mode of operation.
   Chris Podsiadly, a 3M scientist, said the back-up mode will be
able to conduct all of the experiments, but that some data will be
lost.
   A jammed sun shield protecting a communications satellite led to
the improvised schedule.
   The screen over the $60 million Aussat satellite was jammed open
in the open cargo bay, exposing it to the temperature extremes of
sunshine and cold shadow, and Mission Control ordered it launched
before its electronics were damaged.
   The satellite was ejected into orbit, where its rapid spin kept
its temperature uniform. It later fired itself into a higher orbit
and officials said it was working well.
   About five hours later, a second satellite was launched. The
$100 million craft, owned by the American Satellite Co., spun off
on its own and a company official said the firm was ``delighted
with such a perfect orbit.''
   The Aussat is to provide telephone and television communications
for Australia and New Guinea. The second satellite will be used for
U.S. commercial communications.
   Discovery's final satellite is Syncom 4, a twin of the crippled
satellite. It is to be launched about 5:30 a.m. EDT Thursday.
   Then mission commander Joe Engle and pilot Richard Covey will
chase Syncom 3 with a series of rocket firings over two days that
will bring Discovery to within 35 feet of the slowly spinning
satellite.
   Syncom 3 was deployed by astronauts last April but it failed to
turn itself on and climb to a higher orbit. An attempt to activate
it by brushing a switch with improvised fly-swatter-like snares
failed.
   Its owner, Hughes Aircraft, is paying NASA $8.5 million for the
rescue effort.
   Engle acknowledged a salute to Discovery from residents of
Geraldton, a city in western Australia. The astronauts said they
could see lights turned on in Geraldton as Discovery passed
overhead in darkness. It was a continuation of a tradition started
in 1962, when Perth, Australia, turned on lights to salute John
Glenn, America's first orbiting astronaut.
   Two new, but minor problems, may add to the astronauts' chores
Saturday.
   Engle said part of a thermal blanket on Discovery's stern
apparently was lifted slightly during launch.
   ``I don't see it as a problem,'' said the mission commander, but
he said Fisher and van Hoften would look at it during their
spacewalk.
   The pair may also examine a water vent on the shuttle's side.
The vent, used to expel waste water, got very cold during a dump
Wednesday. On an earlier mission, a large chunk of ice formed over
the vent and had to be removed.

Associated Press Thu 29-AUG-1985 08:21                          Space Shuttle

                          By HOWARD BENEDICT
                          AP Aerospace Writer
   CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) - Discovery's astronauts launched a
third communications payload today and sped on to a Saturday
rendezvous with a stranded satellite they hope to fix during two
weeknd spacewalks.
   ``Syncom's away,'' astronaut James van Hoften reported as the
Syncom 4 satellite flipped out of the shuttle's cargo bay.
   ``You'll get to wrestle with one just like that in a couple
days,'' Mission Control reminded van Hoften.
   Syncom 4 is almost identical to Syncom 3, the lifeless satellite
which two spacewalkers will try to revive by ``hot-wiring'' its
electrical system, a task which will take two days instead of one
because Discovery's robot arm has a bad ``elbow.'' Van Hoften will
be one of the spacewalkers.
   Minutes after Syncom 4 cleared the cargo bay, commander Joe
Engle and pilot Dick Covey executed the first of 12 engine-firing
maneuvers needed to close in on Syncom 3 on Saturday. The chase
started with the satellite orbiting about 3,600 miles ahead of the
shuttle.
   The new satellite was modified to avoid the failure that
prevented Syncom 3 from switching on after it was released by
another shuttle crew in April. It was clear almost immediately that
Syncom 4 was alive, as its antenna extended on schedule 80 seconds
after deployment, the spacecraft began spinning after eight minutes
and its booster rocket fired after 45 minutes to propel it toward
stationary orbit 22,300 miles high.
   Engineers believe Syncom 3 failed because of a faulty automatic
timing mechanism. They added a redundant system to Syncom 4 and
also made it possible for a ground station to command the satellite
to turn on, which could not be done with the earlier satellite.
   The goal of the spacewalks is to make it possible for the ground
to send commands to the disabled payload.
   Hughes Aircraft builds the Syncom satellites and leases them to
the Navy for global military communications between land and sea
forces.
   On Monday, the astronauts launched communications satellites for
the Australian government and American Satellite Co.
   NASA had hoped the satellite repairs could be done during a
Saturday spacewalk, but added one Sunday after ground tests showed
the ship's robot arm could not be used in the automatic mode
because of a failed electrical circuit in the ``elbow'' joint.
   That also means that instead of making a daylight landing
Monday, Discovery will make a rare pre-dawn touchdown Tuesday at
Edwards Air Force Base, Calif. A shuttle has landed on a runway
illuminated by floodlights only once before.
   Flight director Bill Reeves said that because of the problem
with the mechanical arm, astronaut Mike Lounge will have to operate
it manually to move Syncom 3 around in the cargo bay while
spacewalkers van Hoften and Bill Fisher make the repairs. If the
50-foot crane were in perfect health, it would be commanded by
computer-generated signals.
   Reeves said tests on the ground showed that the arm when
operated manually will need about 75 percent longer time to execute
the Syncom maneuvers. As a result, he said, it will take two
6 1/2-hour space walks to finish the job, instead of one 6 hour, 50
minute excursion.
   Van Hoften and Fisher spent several hours Wednesday checking out
two electronic boxes they will install on Syncom 3. Reeves said the
checkout ``went extremely well.''
   A computer operating a 3M Corp. crystal-growth machine shut down
the experiment prematurely, forcing the astronauts to use a manual
back-up mode of operation. Chris Podsiadly, a 3M scientist, said
the back-up mode would be able to conduct all the experiments, but
that some processing data would be lost.

Associated Press Sat 31-AUG-1985 11:27                          Space Shuttle

                          By HOWARD BENEDICT
                          AP Aerospace Writer
   CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) - Space-walking astronaut James van
Hoften reached out with his gloved hands today and grabbed a
fully-fueled 7 1/2-ton derelict satellite, securing it for a bold
attempt to spark the $85 million craft back to life.
   ``I just gave it a little bitty push; it's quit spinning,'' von
Hoften exclaimed after he snared the huge Syncom 3 satellite and
stopped its slow rotation. He was standing on a work platform
mounted on the end of space shuttle Discovery's 50-foot robot arm.
   Van Hoften attached a capture bar to the side of Syncom 3 and
passed the payload down to fellow spacewalker Bill Fisher in the
cargo bay. Fisher fastened another bar to the opposite side and
held the satellite over his head like an Olympic weightlifter for
20 minutes while Van Hoften replaced the capture bar with a grapple.
   Astronaut Mike Lounge, inside the cabin, then remotely guided
the arm to snatch the satellite and held it steady while Fisher
started the repair work, expected to take several hours.
   ``Good capture,'' Fisher said. ``Time to go to work.''
   Because of a control problem with the arm, Lounge had to
maneuver it with manual instead of computer commands, and the task
took longer than required. After nearly three hours outside, the
astronauts were about 35 minutes behind schedule.
   Van Hoften, nicknamed ``Ox'' because of his strength, collared
the satellite an hour after he and Fisher, wearing protective
suits, floated from a shuttle airlock into the open cargo bay.
   Minutes before the walk started, commander Joe Engle and pilot
Dick Covey guided Discovery to within 35 feet of the 15-foot
satellite, adjusting their speed so both flew in formation 230
miles above the Earth at 17,400 mph.
   Engle and Covey had stalked Syncom 3 for nearly three days - 24
times around the globe. They executed a final series of engine
firings today to climax the 660,000-mile chase.
   ``I'm ready to go after that guy,'' van Hoften remarked as he
stepped outside.
   Syncom 3, loaded with 13,000 pounds of fuel, was hovering 35
feet above them, directly over the cargo bay.
   During at least six hours outside, the spacewalkers were to try
to fix the satellite by installing new electrical connectors. The
plan called for them to finish the work during a second walk on
Sundy.
   One of their first tasks was to install safing devices to
prevent stray electrical signals from accidentally igniting either
of Syncom 3's two rockets, intended to boost the satellite to
stationary orbit 22,300 miles high.
   The failure of an automatic timing device prevented Syncom 3's
rockets from firing after another crew successfully deployed the
payload in April. It was the astronauts' task to bypass the timer,
with Fisher installing two electronic boxes and a wire harness on
the spacecraft.
   A successful repair would enable a ground station to send rocket
firing and other commands that had been the responsibility of the
failed timer.
   They interrupted their work briefly to gaze down at Hurricane
Elena, whirling off the Florida coast in the Gulf of Mexico.
``There it is,'' van Hoften remarked.
   Van Hoften and Fisher would like to complete the repairs in one
space walk of eight hours or less, as originally planned, but
because of a problem with the mechanical arm, flight directors said
they probably would have to make a second excursion Sunday to
complete the job.
   Marvin Mixon, vice president of Hughes Communications Services,
which owns Syncom and is paying NASA $8.5 million for the salvage
effort, set the odds of saving the satellite at 50-50 because the
fuel has been exposed to temperatures of 40-50 degrees below zero
and much of it may be frozen.
   If the repairs are made, a ground station will maneuver the
satellite so the sun would thaw the frozen propellants, Mixon said.
After about two months, a radio signal would be sent to fire the
main motor, which Mixon said could explode if the fuel has not
thawed properly
   If the astronauts complete the repair job today, they would make
a daylight landing Monday at Edwards Air Force Base, Calif. If the
effort takes two days, they would land in pre-dawn darkness Tuesday.
   Syncom 3 is almost identical to Syncom 4, one of three
communications satellites launched successfully by the astronauts
during the first three days of the mission.

Associated Press Sat 31-AUG-1985 18:41                          Space Shuttle

                             By PAUL RECER
                          AP Aerospace Writer
   SPACE CENTER, Houston (AP) - Discovery's spacewalkers
``jump-started'' a dead satellite Saturday and whooped with joy
when the energized Syncom 3 flickered to life and snapped an
antenna into place.
   ``Hot dog, look at that,'' exclaimed spacewalker Bill Fisher as
the antennae whipped out from the top of the $85 million satellite.
   Syncom 3 came to life after Fisher and fellow spacewalker James
van Hoften wrestled the fully-fueled 7 1/2-ton craft onto the space
shuttle's robot arm and installed two boxes that replaced failed
electronics on the satellite.
   A second spacewalk on Sunday is needed to remove a battery pack
used in the ``jump start'' and to release the satellite to orbit.
   Saturday's space stroll lasted seven hours, eight minutes, a
record for the American space program. The previous record, set on
an earlier shuttle mission, was one minute shorter, said NASA
spokesman Milton Reim.
   Sunday's completion of the salvage job is expected to take
another three hours, 55 minutes. The need for the second spacewalk
will force Discovery to land before dawn Tuesday at Edwards Air
Force Base in California.
   The shuttle, launched last Tuesday, would have landed Monday had
only one spacewalk been needed. During the mission, the astronauts
have released three communications satellites - two on the day of
launch and one on Thursday. They also are growing crystals in the
cabin.
   Van Hoften and Fisher fell behind schedule as they struggled to
control the 14-foot, fully-fueled satellite before it was grasped
by Discovery's robot arm.
   ``It feels a little more massive than what we trained on,'' van
Hoften, nicknamed ``Ox'' because of his strength, admitted after
holding the craft for almost half an hour.
   The astronauts took turns holding the satellite until it was in
the grasp of the robot arm. Television pictures beamed to Earth
showed Fisher holding the Syncom 3 above his head like a
white-suited Atlas supporting the globe.
   Fisher, a physician who said before flight that this would be
his first ``bypass surgery'', installed the equipment that routed
power around dead electrical circuits in the spacecraft. He then
hooked up a battery pack to revive a powerless command circuit, a
technique similar to that used to jump start an automobile with a
dead battery.
   The astronaut pushed a button on the battery pack and moments
later the satellite responded by deploying its antenna.
   The repair will enable ground command of the satellite.
   ``That's really excellent work,'' Mission Control told the
astronauts.
   Syncom 3 became a space derelict last April when it failed to
turn itself on after it was successfully released from the shuttle.
Astronauts on that mission attempted to turn it on by brushing a
switch with improvised fly-swatter-like snares. They moved the
switch, but the communications satellite did not come to life.
   ``I found a piece of gray tape from the fly-swatter mission,''
Fisher said. ``I'll bring it back for a souvenir.''
   Standing on the end of the robot arm in his helmeted space suit,
van Hoften made first contact with the satellite. He grasped it
with his gloved hand, stopped its slight spin and snapped into
place a bar he could use as a handle.
   Astronaut Mike Lounge, remotely operating the robot arm from
inside Discovery, then manuevered van Hoften and the satellite into
the cargo bay where Fisher waited with another handle. Fisher held
the craft until van Hoften put on a handle that could be grasped by
the robot arm.
   The astronauts obviously had to struggle to control the massive
satellite and at one point fell an hour behind schedule.
   There was a whoop of joy when the robot arm finally latched onto
the Syncom almost three hours after the spacewalk began.
   A failed computer-driven circuit in the robot arm caused the
salvage work to go more slowly than hoped. Lounge had to operate
the arm with tedious manual switches that added about 75 percent to
the time required.
   Fisher and van Hoften had started the spacewalk within minutes
after Discovery rendezvoused with the Syncom.
   Engle and Dick Covery flew Discovery to within 35 feet of the
satellite, completing a 660,000-mile stalk that took three days and
24 orbits. Both craft then orbited in formation 230 miles above the
Earth at 17,400 mph.
   Hughes Aircraft Corp. owns Syncom and is paying NASA $8.5
million for the salvage attempt, but Marvin Mixon, a Hughes vice
president, said the odds are only 50-50 that the salvage would work.
   Syncom's rocket propellants have been exposed to the supercold
of space and Mixon said that if the surgery worked Hughes engineers
would have to allow the craft to warm slowly in sunlight for about
two months. Then, a radio signal would command a powerful Minuteman
solid rocket engine to fire and send it into a high orbit. Later, a
second rocket system would be commanded to place the satellite on
its station 22,300 miles above the Earth.
   Syncom 3 is a twin to Syncom 4 which the astronauts launched
Wednesday. Both are to be part of a U.S. Navy communications
network.

Associated Press Sun 01-SEP-1985 11:26                          Space Shuttle

                          By HOWARD BENEDICT
                          AP Aerospace Writer
   CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) - Space shuttle Discovery's two
spacewalkers completed electrical repairs on the Syncom 3
communications satellite Sunday and returned the 7 1/2-ton craft to
its own orbit.
   ``It looks good ... a good steady spin,'' astronaut James van
Hoften said as he manually spun the satellite out of the cargo bay
and watched it drift away.
   Now he and fellow spacewalk Bill Fisher must wait two months,
when a signal is sent to Syncom 3's rocket motor, to learn if their
two-day effort paid off.
   Van Hoften, standing on a platform mounted on the end of the
shuttle's 50-foot robot arm, manually spun the satellite to a rate
of about 3 revolutions per minute and let it go 230 miles above the
Pacific Ocean at the equator.
   While on the same platform Saturday, van Hoften had reached out
with his gloved hands and grabbed the disabled payload.
   Van Hoften and Fisher, wearing protective suits, floated out of
the shuttle's airlock at 8:14 a.m. EDT to finish what they started
Saturday.
   They moved immediately to a work station, while astronaut Mike
Lounge, operating from a remote position inside the cabin,
maneuvered the satellite on the end of the robot arm. The craft
remained on the arm overnight.
   They installed a new cover on the satellite's rocket nozzle and
switched on the power to the electrical connections they made
Saturday. Lounge released the satellite from the arm and Fisher
held it over his head in his weightless world while van Hoften
fastened the platform on the end of the arm and climbed on.
   Van Hoften attached a spinup bar, took manual control of Syncom
3 from Fisher and spun it up for release. Deployment came three
hours after Sunday's walk began.
   The ultimate success of the repair job will not be known for
about two months. That's when a ground station will send a signal
to ignite the satellite's rocket, intended to propel the craft to a
stationary orbit 22,300 miles high.
   The firing is being delayed to give ground controllers a chance
to maneuver Syncom 3 in the sun to thaw out its fuel, some of which
has frozen during the four months the satellite has drifted through
space as a derelict.
   If the fuel does not thaw properly, the rocket could explode
when the firing signal is sent.
   Syncom 3 failed when an automatic timing device did not work
after the spacecraft was released by another shuttle crew in April.
   During a seven hour, eight minute space walk Saturday, one
minute longer than the previous record, van Hoften and Fisher
electronically bypassed the timing device by running a wire harness
between two electrical outlets on the side of the satellite. This
will allow the ground station to send signals to the craft.
   The astronauts also attached a battery pack which enabled Fisher
to raise a seven-foot omni-directional antenna, which will receive
the signals from the ground.
   ``We had an extremely successful day,'' flight director Bill
Reeves said of Saturday's effort. ``But we have a tough day ahead.''
   When commander Joe Engle and pilot Dick Covey guided Discovery
alongside Syncom 3 on Saturday, insurance companies paid Hughes
Communications Services a $84.7 million in premiums for the loss of
the satellite in April. Under a complex agreement, if the satellite
is restored to life, the underwriters will receive part of the
revenue Hughes receives from the spacecraft.
   Syncom 3 is one of a series of satellites Hughes built to lease
to the Navy for military communications.
   Marvin Mixon, a Hughes vice president, said the shuttle
rendezvous with the satellite ``seemed a convenient time'' for the
insurance payoff. Hughes is paying NASA $8.5 million for the
salvage effort.
   Mixon said the odds are 50-50 that Syncom 3's engine will fire
properly, even though the repair work is successful. That's because
of the uncertainty over the condition of the fuel after being
exposed to 50 degree below zero temperatures, he said.
   Discovery and its crew land at Edwards Air Force Base, Calif.,
before dawn Tuesday.

Associated Press Mon 02-SEP-1985 10:19                          Space Shuttle

                          By HOWARD BENEDICT
                          AP Aerospace Writer
   CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) - Mission Control informed Discovery's
elated astronauts today that the $85 million satellite they
restored to life appeared healthy and that its steering jets had
been ignited by ground command to spin it up.
   ``That's really great news, thanks,'' exclaimed shuttle
commander Joe Engle.
   ``Everything is looking good on Syncom; another job well done,''
the control center reported.
   Earlier today, the astronauts were told that a ground station
had checked out the satellite and found its batteries and other
systems were working and that temperatures on at least one of the
three fuel systems were within limits.
   Engle reported a successful test of the shuttle's control
systems as the crew began its final full day in space. Discovery is
to land at Edwards Air Force Base in California's Mojave Desert at
6:15 a.m. PDT Tuesday, nine minutes before sunup.
   There was time today for relaxing and sightseeing after a busy
weekend in which all five crew members played key roles in the
recovery, repair and release of Syncom 3.
   During space walks on Saturday and Sunday, James van Hoften and
Bill Fisher plucked the derelict satellite, electrically rewired it
and sent it spinning back into its own orbit.
   It will be nearly two months before trackers know if Syncom 3's
main engine will fire to loft it to higher orbit. Engineers are
concerned that some of the propellants might have frozen, so they
are going to maneuver the satellite in the sun for several weeks to
give the fuel a chance to thaw.
   Data received from Syncom today indicated that there were no
fuel line ruptures and that about 25 percent of the 500 pounds of
fuel in the craft's steering rocket system was frozen or slushy.
Officials said this was acceptable and that was the system fired
today to spin the craft for stabiliazation.
   Trackers expected to get temperature data later on the main
rocket that contains 8,000 pounds of fuel.
   During the space repair job, Engle and pilot Dick Covey flew the
shuttle in tight formation with the satellite. Mike Lounge
maneuvered Syncom on the end of the ship's 50-foot robot arm while
the spacewalkers did their job.
   ``Boy, were we impressed yesterday,'' Mission Control told the
astronauts when they were awakened early today. ``It was really
incredible.''
   The wakeup music was ``Stormy Weather,'' and capsule
communicator Jim Weatherbee told the crew, ``Everything looks
pretty good on board, but the weather is not too good on the Gulf
Coast. Hurricane Elena has 115-knot winds and it's turned back
toward the west.''
   Later, the astronauts relayed television pictures of the massive
storm and called it ``potent'' and ``incredible.''
   Van Hoften, nicknamed ``Ox'' because of his strength, was
standing on a work platform mounted on the arm Sunday, spinning up
the 7 1/2-ton satellite and then releasing it 230 miles above the
Pacific Ocean.
   ``Good spin, Ox,'' Fisher called out as he watched the satellite
whirl away at three revolutions per minute. ``Ahhhh, that's great.''
   Von Hoften, commenting today on handling the satellite, said,
``That thing is really a beast to maneuver around.''
   The hand launch was the final act of a complex repair job that
energized dead electrical circuits inside the satellite and gave it
a chance to climb out of its useless low orbit and become a working
spacecraft.
   ``That's good news,'' replied Engle. ``If you've got any other
satellites that need fixing, we'll be glad to take care of them
before we come down.''
   Steven Dorfman, president of Hughes Communications Inc., owner
of the satellite, called the repair project ``the most remarkable
salvage mission in the U.S. space program.''
   But he cautioned that there still was no final assurance that
Syncom 3 had survived its long exposure to the deep cold of space
that could have damaged the satellite's rocket engines and
propellant.
   ``The hot-wire phase is over,'' Dorfman said. ``The question now
is will the engine turn on.''
   Syncom 3's first rocket firing is set for Oct. 29, following
weeks of testing and warming of the 13,000 pounds of fuel on board.
If successful, the craft will be propelled to a stationary orbit
22,300 miles above the Earth.
   If Syncom 3 works, insurance companies, which paid Hughes $84.7
million for the April loss of the satellite, will share revenues
Hughes receives from operating it. Syncom 3 is one of a series of
spacecraft Hughes leases to the Navy for global military
communications.
   Hughes paid the National Aeronautics and Space Administration
$8.5 million for the salvage effort.
   With the repair work finished, Discovery's mission goals were
completed. The astronauts earlier had successfully launched three
communications satellites for customers who paid the space agency a
total of about $40 million for the delivery service.

Associated Press Tue 03-SEP-1985 11:38                          Space Shuttle

                          By DENNIS ANDERSON
                        Associated Press Writer
   EDWARDS AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. (AP) - Discovery's astronauts
swooped out of orbit to a perfect pre-dawn desert landing today to
end a sensational space salvage mission that restored life to a
derelict $85 million satellite and ``demonstrated the value of
people in space.''
   Commander Joe Engle and pilot Dick Covey guided the 100-ton
space plane out of a semi-dark sky to a touchdown on a hard-packed
sand runway at 6:15 a.m. PDT, nine minutes before sunup. The last
star of the morning winked out in the rose-hued sky as the shuttle
rolled down the runway.
   ``Welcome home, Joe, and congratulations to the whole crew,''
Mission Control radioed as Discovery stopped on the centerline
after a journey of 2.9 million miles.
   High-intensity xenon lights had illuminated the runway earlier
but were turned off before landing because it was light enough for
the astronauts to see the strip.
   Twenty minutes after touchdown, a van rolled up to the spaceship
to take the five space travelers to a nearby facility for showers
and brief medical exams. They were to fly later today to their
homes near the Johnson Space Center in Houston.
   ``I have to characterize this as a near-perfect mission,'' Jesse
Moore, director of NASA's shuttle program, told a news conference.
He said the astronauts' repair of the Syncom 3 satellite ``clearly
demonstrated the value of people in space. Equally important to the
American people, it shows their space program at work.''
   ``Looks like this bus is coming home,'' Engle commented an hour
before landing as he fired braking rockets high above the Indian
Ocean to drop the shuttle out of orbit and start it on a fiery dive
through the atmosphere on a course over the Pacific and across the
California coast north of Los Angeles.
   Among the 2,100 spectators was Chuck Yeager, the famed test
pilot who first broke the sound barrier while flying the X-1
research plane at this flight test base three decades ago.
   During a week in space the astronauts dropped off three
communications satellites for commercial customers and, during two
bold weekend space walks, James van Hoften and Bill Fisher rewired
and electrically energized the Syncom 3 satellite which had been
disabled since it was launched by another shuttle crew in April.
   Hughes Communications Inc., owner of Syncom 3, reported that a
ground station had checked the satellite and found its batteries
and liquid-fueled rocket systems in good shape, despite four months
in the deep cold of space.
   ``Outstanding,'' Engle said Monday. ``That's good news.''
   Signals received from the 7 1/2-ton satellite by Hughes engineers
showed that only about a fourth of the liquid fuel froze in a
steering rocket system. Officials said this was no problem, and
they fired up the thrusters to spin the satellite for stabilization.
   Steven Dorfman, president of Hughes Communications, said the big
unknown now is the condition of Syncom's solid propellant rocket,
which is designed to boost it to a stationary orbit 22,300 miles
high. In its present 230-mile-high orbit the payload is useless as
a communications relay station.
   Hughes received the first temperature data from the big rocket
today and said it was encouraged because temperatures were warmer
than expected.
   Dorfman said the satellite will be manuevered in the sun for
several weeks to allow the 8,000 pounds of solid propellant to
thaw. If it does not thaw evenly, cracks could develop that would
cause the rocket to explode when commanded to fire. Hughes plans to
send the ignition signal Oct. 29.
   ``The next question is whether the engine will turn over,''
Dorfman said. He called the repair job a ``remarkable achievement''
that ``demonstrates what the space shuttle and the manned program
can do.''
   Such an endorsement is music to the ears of the National
Aeronautics and Space Administration, which is in a competitive
battle for satellite delivery services with the European Space
Agency's unmanned Ariane rocket.
   NASA contends the shuttle is much more versatile than Ariane
because astronauts on board can check the health of a satellite
before releasing it and, as on the current flight, they can
retrieve and repair payloads in orbit. So far, shuttle crews have
repaired two satellites in space and have collared two others for
refurbishment back on Earth.
   Insurance underwriters paid Hughes $85 million for the loss of
Syncom 3. If it is completely revived, the underwriters stand to
recoup up to $65 million of that in a profit-sharing arrangement
with Hughes, which leases the Syncom series of satellites to the
Navy for military communications traffic.
   Hughes invested $12 million in the salvage effort, including a
payment of $8.5 million to NASA for executing it.

Associated Press Sat 07-SEP-1985 12:14                          Space Shuttle

   Discovery Leaves California For Piggback Ride To Florida

   EDWARDS AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. (AP) - The space shuttle
Discovery, riding piggyback on a Boeing 747 jetliner, left this
Mojave Desert military base Saturday morning for a two-day return
trip to Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
   The shuttle, which returned from a week-long satellite repair
mission in space Tuesday, left Edwards at 6:30 a.m. PDT perched
atop the modified jet, said Don Weinberg, a National Aeronautics
and Space Administration official at Kennedy.
   Discovery's schedule called for a noon CDT arrival at Kelly Air
Force Base near San Antonio, Texas, where it was to stay overnight
until departing for Florida at 7:15 a.m. CDT Sunday, Weinberg said.
   The shuttle will arrive in Florida about 11:30 a.m. EDT Sunday,
he added.
   During the recent mission, Discovery's space-walking astronauts
fixed the lifeless $85 million Syncom 3 communications satellite
and launched three other satellites for commercial customers.
   NASA officials said last week that Discovery will now be
prepared for its next launch, scheduled for March 20 at the new,
$2.8 billion space port at California's Vandenberg Air Force Base.
It will be the first West Coast launch of a space shuttle.

Associated Press Thu 12-SEP-1985 01:42                          Space Shuttle

     Mistake In Crew Checklist Endangered Satellite, Crew Says
                           By PAUL RECER
                        AP Aerospace Writer
   SPACE CENTER, Houston (AP) - A jammed thermal shield that
threatened to damage an Australian communications satellite on
Discovery's last mission was the result of a preflight checklist
error, shuttle astronauts say.
   Hurried preparation for the flight that landed Sept. 3 after a
spectacular spacewalk rescue of a disabled satellite led to an
error in the sequence of on-board crew instructions, said mission
commander Joe Engle.
   The error caused a thermal shield to be jammed against a camera
on the shuttle's robot arm, Engle said Wednesday in a news
conference.
   Astronaut Mike Lounge, who was responsible for operating
Discovery's robot arm, said the flawed checklist, or mission
script, failed to call for the robot arm to be moved before the
thermal shield was operated.
   Normally, he said, the arm is rolled out of the way before the
shield is commanded to move.
   ``This trap was in our ... checklist all along and we had just
never done a high fidelity simulation of that part of the
mission,'' said Lounge. ``The trap was that we did the sunshield
operation first and then rolled the arm out and didn't think of the
mechanical interference problem.''
   Lounge was not at fault, Engle said. ``He was following
procedures that we had on board. I think we were all victims of the
short fuse that we had to prepare for this whole mission. The
thoroughness that you normally have for a mission, we just didn't
have that luxury.''
   Preparation for the mission was hurried because the complex
Syncom 3 satellite salvage operation was added to the flight plan
four months earlier.
   Engle credited Lounge with saving Aussat by using the robot arm
to force open the jammed shield, enabling the satellite to be
launched. If it hadn't been, engineers believed it would have been
damaged by the deep cold of space.
   ``Mike was able to recover a situation that looked pretty grim
for a while,'' said the mission commander.
   Aussat was one of three satellites launched by Discovery during
a seven-day mission highlighted by the repair of the $85 million
Syncom 3.
   Spacewalkers Bill Fisher and James van Hoften captured and held
the 7 1/2-ton Syncom 3 by hand, then installed electronic instruments
and wiring that permitted the satellite to be commanded from the
ground.
   Their work restored life to a satellite that never turned itself
on after being launched by another shuttle crew last April. The
satellite is now being prepared for a rocket firing Oct. 29 that
will send it to its working station 22,300 miles above the Earth.
   Both Fisher and van Hoften said moving the satellite by hand was
more taxing than expected.
   ``It's a very massive thing,'' said van Hoften. ``When you push
on it, you have to stop it somehow... It's not the easiest thing to
do. But at no time were we in any danger.''