Conference 7.286::space

From: NASA Spacelink
Organization: NASA

   KSC SHUTTLE STATUS REPORT - FRIDAY, APR. 19, 1991 - 10 a.m.
   
 
                 STS-43 - ATLANTIS (OV 104) - OPF BAY 2


WORK IN PROGRESS:
- Jacking and leveling the orbiter in the processing facility.
- Gaining access to the vehicle.
- Preparing to power up the orbiter.
- Removal of ferry kit items.

WORK COMPLETED:
- Demated from the 747 just before midnight.
- Tow to the OPF started at about 5 a.m. this morning.

WORK SCHEDULED:
- Opening the payload bay doors this weekend.
- Removal of the tail cone on Monday.

From: NASA SpaceLink
Organization: NASA

KSC SHUTTLE STATUS REPORT - WEDNESDAY, APRil 24, 1991 - 11:30 AM

 
                          STS-43 - ATLANTIS (OV 104) - OPF BAY 2


WORK IN PROGRESS:
- Preparations to drain residual hypergolic propellants from  the
  onboard storage tanks.
- Removal of ferry flight fixtures.
- Inspections of the cabin air recirculation system.
- Removal of heat shields from around the main engines.
- Preparations to remove the no. 3 fuel cell.
- Auxiliary power unit lube oil service.

WORK COMPLETED:
- Preparations to drain the auxiliary power unit catch bottles.
- Carrier panels have been removed from the main engine area.
- Initial engine inspections.
- Tires removed.

WORK SCHEDULED:
- Tests of the orbiter's electrical system.

From: NASA Select
Organization: NASA

KSC SHUTTLE STATUS REPORT - FRIDAY, APRIL 26, 1991 - 10 AM

 
                  STS-43 - ATLANTIS (OV 104) - OPF BAY 2


WORK IN PROGRESS:
- Sniff checks of the orbital maneuvering system motor valves.
-  Preparations to drain residual hypergolic propellants from the
  onboard storage tanks.
- Removal of heat shields from around the main engines.
- Connections of the newly installed no. 3 fuel cell.
- Auxiliary power unit lube oil service.
- Preparations to remove the external tank umbilical housings.
- Draining the waste management system.
- Main engine drying operations.
- Preparations to remove the remote manipulator system.

WORK COMPLETED:
- Heat shields removed from around the three main engines.
- Installation of the no. 3 fuel cell.
- Orbiter electrical system validations.

WORK SCHEDULED:
- Removal of the robot arm tomorrow.
- Removal of the three main engines next week.

    Has anyone any idea how much its costing to refit and launch
    the Shuttle ?
    Chris

From: [email protected] (Peter E. Yee)
Organization: NASA Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, CA


          KSC SHUTTLE STATUS REPORT - MONDAY, APRIL 29, 1991 - 10:30 AM

 
                       STS-43 - ATLANTIS (OV 104) - OPF BAY 2

          WORK IN PROGRESS:
          - Sniff checks of the orbital maneuvering system motor valves.
          -  Preparations to drain residual hypergolic propellants from the
          onboard storage tanks.
          - Auxiliary power unit lube oil service.
          - Preparations to remove the three main engines.
          - Stacking of the first booster segment, the left aft booster, in
          the VAB.

          WORK COMPLETED:
          - Removal of external tank umbilical housings.
          - Draining the waste management system.
          - Main engine drying operations.
          - Removal of the remote manipulator system.
          - Replacement of the no. 3 fuel cell.
          - Replacement of window no. 1.

          WORK SCHEDULED:
          - Removal of the three main engines late tomorrrow.

From: [email protected] (Peter E. Yee)
Organization: NASA Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, CA


          KSC SHUTTLE STATUS REPORT - TUESDAY, APRIL 30, 1991 - 10:30 AM

 
                       STS-43 - ATLANTIS (OV 104) - OPF BAY 2

          WORK IN PROGRESS:
          - Sniff checks of the orbital maneuvering system motor valves.
          - Preparations to drain residual hypergolic propellants from  the
          onboard storage tanks.
          - Removal of the shuttle's main engines.
          - Stacking of the first booster segment, the left aft booster, in
          the VAB.
          - Routine inspections of the 17-inch disconnect.
          -  Installation  of a fourth power reactant storage and distribu-
          tion system tank set.

          WORK COMPLETED:
          - Removal of Main engine no. 2.
          - Replacement of window no. 1.

Article         8032
From: [email protected] (Peter E. Yee)
Newsgroups: sci.space.shuttle
Subject: Shuttle Status for 05/06/91 (Forwarded)
Date: 6 May 91 18:48:20 GMT
Sender: [email protected] (USENET Administration)
Organization: NASA Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, CA 
 
          KSC SHUTTLE STATUS REPORT - MONDAY, MAY 6, 1991 - 11 AM
 
                       STS-43 - ATLANTIS (OV 104) - OPF BAY 2
 
          WORK IN PROGRESS:
          - Checks of the main propulsion system helium system.
          - Thermal protection system operations.
 
          WORK COMPLETED:
          - Residuals drained from auxiliary power unit catch bottles.
          - Installation of window no. 1.
          - Installation of the gaseous oxygen flow control valves.
  
          WORK SCHEDULED:
          - Auxiliary power unit leak and functional tests.
          - Power reactant storage and distribution systems tests.
          - Tests of the Tacan system and S-band antenna.

Article         8069
From: [email protected] (Peter E. Yee)
Newsgroups: sci.space.shuttle
Subject: Shuttle Status for 05/08/91 (Forwarded)
Date: 8 May 91 22:23:14 GMT
Sender: [email protected] (USENET Administration)
Organization: NASA Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, CA 
 
          KSC SHUTTLE STATUS REPORT - WEDNESDAY, MAY 8, 1991 - 11:30 AM
 
                       STS-43 - ATLANTIS (OV 104) - OPF BAY 2
 
          WORK IN PROGRESS:
          - Auxiliary power unit leak and functional tests.
          - Power reactant storage and distribution system testing.
          - Tests of the Tacan system and the S-band antenna.
          - Checks of the main propulsion system helium system.
          - Thermal protection system operations.
 
          WORK COMPLETED:
          - Installation of the potty yesterday.
  

From: [email protected] (Peter E. Yee)
Organization: NASA Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, CA


          KSC SHUTTLE STATUS REPORT - FRIDAY, MAY 10, 1991 - 10:30 AM

 
                     STS-43/TDRS - ATLANTIS (OV 104) - OPF BAY 2

          WORK IN PROGRESS:
          -  Preparations  to  replace  a  thruster  on  the  right orbital
          maneuvering system (OMS) pod.
          - Auxiliary power unit (APU) leak and functional tests.
          - Power reactant storage and distribution system testing.
          - Checks of the main propulsion system helium system.
          - Thermal protection system operations.
          - Preparations to remove the forward reaction control system  for
          replacement of two oxidizer thrusters.

          WORK SCHEDULED:
          - OMS thruster replacement this weekend.  The bay will be cleared
          for this job.
          - Removal of the forward reaction control system next week.
          - APU lube oil service next week.
          - Functional tests of the orbital maneuvering system pods.



 

From: [email protected] (Peter E. Yee)
Organization: NASA Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, CA


          KSC SHUTTLE STATUS REPORT - MONDAY, MAY 13, 1991 -- 10 a.m.

 
                     STS-43/TDRS - ATLANTIS (OV-104) - OPF BAY 2

          WORK IN PROGRESS:
          - Leak and functional checks of the auxiliary power units.
          -  Pre-launch  testing  of the TDRS spacecraft continues in KSC's
          Vertical Processing Facility.

          WORK SCHEDULED:
          - Removal of the forward reaction control system.
          - Auxilary Power Unit lube oil service.
          - Functional tests of the orbital maneuvering system pods.

          WORK COMPLETED:
          - Removal and replacement of a suspected leaky  thruster  on  the
          right orbital maneuvering system pod.

 

From: [email protected] (Peter E. Yee)
Organization: NASA Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, CA


          KSC SHUTTLE STATUS REPORT - TUESDAY, MAY 14, 1991 - 10:30 AM

 
                     STS-43/TDRS - ATLANTIS (OV 104) - OPF BAY 2

          WORK IN PROGRESS:
          - Preparations to remove the forward reaction control system.
          - Auxiliary power unit (APU) leak and functional tests.
          - Power reactant storage and distribution system testing.
          - Checks of the main propulsion system helium system.
          - Thermal protection system operations.
          - Functional tests of the waste containment system.

          WORK SCHEDULED:
          - Removal of the forward reaction control system on Wednesday.
          - APU lube oil service this week.
          - Functional tests of the orbital maneuvering system pods.

          WORK COMPLETED:
          - Replaced a leaking thruster on the  right  orbital  maneuvering
          system pod.


               ##   STS-43 SOLID ROCKET BOOSTERS - VAB HIGH BAY 1


          WORK IN PROGRESS:
          - Mating the left forward motor segment to the stack.
          - Joint closeouts.

          WORK SCHEDULED:
          - Stacking the left forward assembly/nose cone to the booster.
          - Stacking the right  aft  segment  to  the  launch  platform  on
          Thursday.

 

From: NASA Spacelink
Organization: NASA

           KSC SHUTTLE STATUS REPORT - THURSDAY, MAY 16, 1991 - 10 AM


 
               STS-43/TDRS - ATLANTIS (OV 104) - OPF BAY 2

    WORK IN PROGRESS:
    - Leak and functional tests of the water spray boilers.
    - Hot lube oil flush of the auxiliary power units.
    - Power reactant storage and distribution system testing.
    - Checks of the main propulsion system helium system.
    - Thermal protection system operations.
    - Functional tests of the waste containment system.
    - Installation of the landing gear flight wheels.
    - Tests of the orbiter's flight control system.

    WORK SCHEDULED:
    - Installation of the external tank umbilical  door  hinge  hous-
    ings.
    - APU lube oil service this week.
    -  Installation  of the three Shuttle main engines beginning Sun-
    day.
    - Functional tests of the orbital maneuvering  system  pods  next
    week.

    WORK COMPLETED:
    - Leak and functional tests of the auxiliary power units.
    - Installation of the brakes.

         ##     STS-43 SOLID ROCKET BOOSTERS - VAB HIGH BAY 1


    WORK IN PROGRESS:
    - Mating the right aft booster to the launch platform.
    - Joint closeouts.

    WORK SCHEDULED:
    - Stacking the right aft center segment this weekend.

    WORK COMPLETED:
    - Stacked the left forward assembly yesterday. This completes the
    left solid rocket booster.

 

From: NASA Spacelink
Organization: NASA

KSC SHUTTLE STATUS REPORT - FRIDAY, MAY 17, 1991 - 10 AM


 
                   STS-43/TDRS - ATLANTIS (OV 104) - OPF BAY 2

WORK IN PROGRESS:
- Leak and functional tests of the water spray boilers.
- Hot lube oil flush of the auxiliary power units.
- Thermal protection system operations.
-  Installation  of  the external tank umbilical door hinge hous-
ings.
- Preparations for main engine installation.

WORK SCHEDULED:
- APU lube oil service this week.
- Installation of the three Shuttle main engines  beginning  Sun-
day.
-  Functional  tests  of the orbital maneuvering system pods next
week.

WORK COMPLETED:
- Functional testing of the waste containment system.

       ##   STS-43 SOLID ROCKET BOOSTERS - VAB HIGH BAY 1

WORK IN PROGRESS:
- Connecting the right aft booster to the launch platform.
- Joint closeouts.

WORK SCHEDULED:
- Stacking the right aft center segment this weekend.

 

From: NASA Spacelink
Organization: NASA

 KSC SHUTTLE STATUS REPORT - WEDNESDAY, MAY 22, 1991 - 11:30 AM

 
                    STS-43/TDRS - ATLANTIS (OV 104) - OPF BAY 2

 WORK IN PROGRESS:
 - Cycles of the external tank doors.
 - Thermal protection system operations.
 - Potable water servicing.
 - Water spray boiler leak and functional tests.
 - Main engine and main propulsion system tests.

 WORK COMPLETED:
 - Installation of the four external tank umbilical door housings.
 - Installation of the three shuttle main engines.

 WORK SCHEDULED:
 - External tank door functional test later this week.


 

From: NASA Spacelink
Organization: NASA

    KSC SHUTTLE STATUS REPORT - FRIDAY, MAY 24, 1991 - 10 AM

     
               STS-43/TDRS - ATLANTIS (OV 104) - OPF BAY 2

    WORK IN PROGRESS:
    - Gimbal test of the orbital maneuvering system engines.
    - Thermal protection system operations.
    - Potable water servicing.
    - Water spray boiler leak and functional tests.
    - Main engine and main propulsion system tests.
    - Functional tests of the orbital maneuvering system.
    -  Tests of the forward reaction control system at the Hypergolic
    Maintenance Facility.
    - Auxiliary power unit lube oil servicing.

    WORK COMPLETED:
    - Tests of the ultra high frequency communications system.

    WORK SCHEDULED:
    - External tank door functional test next week.
    - Installation of the forward reaction control system next week.
    - Tests of the nose wheel steering system next week.
    - Anti-skid brake test planned next week.

     

Article         1327
From: [email protected]
Newsgroups: clari.news.interest.quirks,clari.tw.space
Subject: Cornell to send cargo of mementos aboard space shuttle
Date: 28 May 91 17:33:23 GMT
  
	ITHACA, N.Y. (UPI) -- Cornell University officials said
Tuesday they plan to send up a second small cargo of mementos aboard
the space shuttle in as many years. 

	An 1867 letter from Cornell founder Ezra Cornell to his
granddaughter Eunice, expressing his determination that women also be
admitted to the school, will be carried aboard the shuttle Atlantis in July. 

	The letter will be borne aloft by astronaut and Cornell alumnus 
G. David Low in a mission to launch a large data-relay satellite. 

	It is Low's second space mission and it is a tradition for
shuttle astronauts to carry mementos to space from the institutions
that graduated them. 

	The last time Low boarded the space shuttle he took with him a
pair of ancient socks that Cornell donned on his wedding day. That
memento prompted quips about how the aroma of a really old pair of
socks would cause no small hardship in the enclosed atmosphere of a
spaceship. 

	Cornell's letter was chosen as part of university officials
dubbed ``a Cornell in space contest.'' 

	A Cornell spokesman said among the losing entries were a
Cornell parking ticket, a photo of a baby niece offered by one alumnus
and a 1991 Cornell diploma. 

	Cornell asked his granddaughter to save the letter to prove
his desire that the university be co-educational. 

	``I want you to keep this letter until you grow up to be a
woman and want to go to a good school where you can have a good
opportunity to learn,'' the letter said. ``Show it to the president
and faculty of the university to let them know that it is the wish of
your Grand Pa that girls as well as boys should be educated at Cornell
University.'' 

From: NASA Spacelink
Organization: NASA

    KSC SHUTTLE STATUS REPORT - TUESDAY, MAY 28, 1991 - 10 AM

     
                  STS-43/TDRS - ATLANTIS (OV 104) - OPF BAY 2

    WORK IN PROGRESS:
    - Cycles of the external tank doors.
    - Thermal protection system operations.
    - Main engine and main propulsion system tests.
    - Preparations to install the forward reaction control system.

    WORK COMPLETED:
    - Potable water servicing.
    - Auxiliary power unit lube oil servicing.

    WORK SCHEDULED:
    - External tank door functional test.
    - Nose wheel steering tests.
    - Brake anti-skid tests.
    
             ## STS-43 SOLID ROCKET BOOSTERS - VAB HIGH BAY 1

    WORK IN PROGRESS:
    - Closeouts of the solid rocket boosters.
    - Routing cables for the boosters.


     

From: NASA
Organization: NASA

KSC SHUTTLE STATUS REPORT - THURSDAY, MAY 30, 1991 - 1:30 PM

 
                   STS-43/TDRS - ATLANTIS (OV 104) - OPF BAY 2

WORK IN PROGRESS:
- Connections of the forward reaction control system.
- Thermal protection system operations.
- Main engine and main propulsion system tests.
- Functional tests of the orbital maneuvering system pods.
-  Replacement of the low pressure oxidizer turbo pump on shuttle
main engine no. 1.


WORK SCHEDULED:
- External tank door functional test.

WORK COMPLETED:
- Installation of the forward reaction control system.
- Nose wheel steering tests.
- Brake anti-skid tests.


     ## STS-43 SOLID ROCKET BOOSTERS - VAB HIGH BAY 1

WORK IN PROGRESS:
- Measurements of the alignment of the boosters.
- Closeouts of the solid rocket boosters.
- Routing cables for the boosters.

WORK SCHEDULED:
- External tank mate to the boosters on June 3.

 

From: NASA Spacelink
Organization: NASA

    KSC SHUTTLE STATUS REPORT - FRIDAY, MAY 31, 1991 - 10  AM

     
               STS-43/TDRS - ATLANTIS (OV 104) - OPF BAY 2

    WORK IN PROGRESS:
    - Leak and functional tests of the water spray boiler.
    - Checkout of the forward reaction control system.
    - Thermal protection system operations.
    - Main engine and main propulsion system tests.
    - Functional tests of the orbital maneuvering system pods.
    - Replacement of the low pressure oxidizer turbo pump on  shuttle
    main engine no. 1.
    - Functional tests of the galley.

    WORK SCHEDULED:
    - Installation of heat shields around the three main engines.

    WORK COMPLETED:
    - Functional test of the external tank umbilical doors.
    - Removal of the low pressure oxidizer turbo pump on engine
      no. 1.

           ##   STS-43 SOLID ROCKET BOOSTERS - VAB HIGH BAY 1

    WORK IN PROGRESS:
    - Closeouts of the solid rocket boosters.
    - Routing cables for the boosters.

    WORK COMPLETED:
    - Measurements of the solid rocket boosters' alignment.

    WORK SCHEDULED:
              - External tank mate to the boosters on June 3.

 

KSC SHUTTLE STATUS REPORT - MONDAY, JUNE 3, 1991 - 11  AM

 
           STS-43/TDRS - ATLANTIS (OV 104) - OPF BAY 2

WORK IN PROGRESS:
- Thermal protection system operations.
- Main engine and main propulsion system tests.
- Functional tests of the orbital maneuvering system pods.
- Replacement of the low pressure fuel turbo pump on shuttle main
engine no. 3.
- Functional tests of the galley.

WORK SCHEDULED:
- Installation of heat shields around the three main engines.

WORK COMPLETED:
- Leak and functional tests of the water spray boilers.
- Replacement of the low pressure oxidizer turbo pump on engine
  no. 1.
- Removal of the low pressure fuel turbo pump on engine no. 3.
- Pressurization of the main landing gear struts.
- Checkout of the forward reaction control system.

 

KSC SHUTTLE STATUS REPORT - TUESDAY, JUNE 4, 1991 - 11  AM

 
           STS-43/TDRS - ATLANTIS (OV 104) - OPF BAY 2

WORK IN PROGRESS:
- Thermal protection system operations.
- Main engine and main propulsion system tests.
- Functional tests of the orbital maneuvering system pods.
- Hookups of the low pressure fuel turbo pump on shuttle main en-
gine no. 3.
- Wing positive pressure test.

WORK SCHEDULED:
- Installation of heat shields around the three main engines.
- Installation of the getaway special beam in the payload bay.

WORK COMPLETED:
- Functional tests of the galley.

      ##    STS-43 SOLID ROCKET BOOSTERS - VAB HIGH BAY 1

WORK IN PROGRESS:
-  Connections  between  the  external  tank and the solid rocket
boosters.

WORK COMPLETED:
- External tank soft mated to the solid rocket boosters at  about
6 a.m. today.

 

 
  KSC SHUTTLE STATUS  -  THURSDAY, JUNE 6, 1991  -- 10:00 a.m.
_________________________________________________________________
 
 
        STS-43/TDRS-E  - ATLANTIS (OV 104)  -  OPF Bay 2
                       LAUNCH JULY\AUGUST
WORK IN PROGRESS:
*  Main engine and main propulsion system checks
*  Main engine heat shield installation
*  Thermal protection system tile work
*  Replacement of left OMS engine actuator due to malfunction
during gimbaling test
*  Payload integration verification test
*  Environmental Control and Life Support System servicing
*  Landing gear functional test
 
WORK COMPLETED:
*  Main landing gear strut hydraulic level check
*  Gaseous nitrogen leak check
*  Installation of OMS heatshield
 
WORK SCHEDULED:
*  SSME interface leak checks
*  Payload verification tests
*  Crew equipment interface test
 
CONCERNS: During leak check of MPS, Helium Supply Tank number 4
was found to be source of helium leak in aft compartment.
Replacement of tank may be necessary.
 
 
 STS-43 EXTERNAL TANK/SOLID ROCKET BOOSTERS  --  VAB High Bay 1
 
WORK IN PROGRESS:
*  Electrical mates and checkouts
*  Replacement of lower strut firing line cable
 

        KSC SHUTTLE STATUS  -  MONDAY, JUNE 10, 1991  -- 10:00 a.m.
    _________________________________________________________________


     
            STS-43/TDRS-E  - ATLANTIS (OV 104)  -  OPF Bay 2
                           LAUNCH JULY\AUGUST

    WORK IN PROGRESS:
    *  Main engine heat shield installation
    *  Thermal protection system tile work
    *  Environmental Control and Life Support System servicing
    *  Preparations for final payload bay cleaning
    *  Preparations for orbiter hydraulic operations
    *  Orbiter ordnance installation and checks
    *  Main landing gear functional tests

    WORK COMPLETED:
    *  Replacement of main propulsion system helium tank number 4
    *  Main engine and main propulsion system checks
    *  Payload integration and verification test
    *  Crew equipment interface test

    WORK SCHEDULED:
    *  SSME interface leak checks
    *  Orbiter hydraulic operations (Tuesday)
    *  Final Ku-band tests

     ** STS-43 EXTERNAL TANK/SOLID ROCKET BOOSTERS  --  VAB High Bay 1

    WORK IN PROGRESS:
    *  Electrical mates and checkouts
    *  Replacement of lower strut and associated firing line cable

     

  KSC SHUTTLE STATUS  -  TUESDAY, JUNE 11, 1991  -- 10:00 a.m.
_________________________________________________________________


 
        STS-43/TDRS-E  - ATLANTIS (OV 104)  -  OPF Bay 2
                       LAUNCH JULY\AUGUST

WORK IN PROGRESS:
*  Orbiter hydraulic operations
*  Thermal protection system tile work
*  Environmental Control and Life Support System servicing
*  Preparations for final payload bay cleaning
*  Main landing gear functional tests
*  Main engine heat shield installation

WORK COMPLETED:
*  Orbiter ordnance installation and checks
*  Closed payload bay doors for tile work
*  Main engine and main propulsion system checks
*  Final Ku-band tests

WORK SCHEDULED:
*  SSME interface leak checks
*  Special bulb seal inspections
*  Brake checks

 ** STS-43 EXTERNAL TANK/SOLID ROCKET BOOSTERS  --  VAB High Bay 1

WORK IN PROGRESS:
*  Electrical mates and checkouts
*  Replacement of lower strut and associated firing line cable
 
 

  KSC SHUTTLE STATUS  -  WEDNESDAY, JUNE 12, 1991  -- 9:00 a.m.
_________________________________________________________________


 
        STS-43/TDRS-E  - ATLANTIS (OV 104)  -  OPF Bay 2
                       LAUNCH JULY\AUGUST

WORK IN PROGRESS:
*  Aft bay closeouts
*  Aerosurface cycling operations
*  Special bulb seal inspections
*  Thermal protection system tile work
*  Structural checks
*  Preparations for final payload bay cleaning

WORK COMPLETED:
*  Environmental Control and Life Support System servicing
*  Orbiter hydraulic operations
*  Main engine and main propulsion system checks
*  Main landing gear functional tests
*  Main engine heat shield installation

WORK SCHEDULED:
*  SSME interface leak checks
*  Final payload bay door closing
*  TDRS-E payload to be delivered to pad 39-A (Monday)

  ** STS-43 EXTERNAL TANK/SOLID ROCKET BOOSTERS  --  VAB High Bay 1

WORK IN PROGRESS:
*  Electrical mates and checkouts
*  Replacement of lower strut and associated firing line cable
*  Strut closeouts
*  Foaming operations

 

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER -  SHUTTLE STATUS - MONDAY, JUNE 17, 1991

 
          STS-43/ATLANTIS OV-104/TDRS-E  OPF BAY 2


WORK IN PROGRESS:

     Orbiter T-0 Disconnects
     Tile Waterproofing
     Weight & Center of Gravity Determination

     Installation of IUS/TDRS in Pad A Payload Changeout Room
     Solid rocket booster mechanical closeouts


WORK SCHEDULED:

     Placement of Atlantis on Orbiter Transport Vehicle on Tuesday
     Atlantis rollover to VAB transfer isle between 11 p.m. and
     12 Midnight on Tuesday

     VAB: solid rocket booster inspections


WORK COMPLETE:

     Payload bay cleaning is complete
     Payload bay doors are closed
     Aft main engine compartment is closed out
     Crew compartment leak test complete
     Payload bay leak test complete
     Aft main engine compartment leak test complete
     Orbiter power down complete
     IUS/TDRS arrived atop Pad A at 5:20 a.m.



 

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER -  SHUTTLE STATUS - WEDNESDAY, JUNE 19, 1991
 
 
        STS-43/ATLANTIS OV-104/TDRS-E  VEHICLE ASSEMBLY BUILDING
 
 
WORK IN PROGRESS:
 
     Attachment of the lifting sling to the orbiter in the VAB
     transfer isle.
 
     Preparations for TDRS-E state of health check in the Pad A
     Payload Changeout Room.
 
     Solid rocket booster/external tank integrated electrical
     checks.
 
 
WORK SCHEDULED:
 
     Mating of Atlantis to STS-43 stack starting at 4 p.m.
     TDRS-E state of health check on Thursday in Pad A PCR.
 
 
WORK COMPLETE:
 
     Rollover to VAB transfer isle, first motion at 4:52 a.m.
     Solid rocket booster mechanical closeouts are complete.
 
 
 

              KSC SHUTTLE STATUS  -  THURSDAY, JUNE 20, 1991  -- 10:30 a.m.
          _________________________________________________________________


 
                     STS-43/TDRS-E  - ATLANTIS (OV 104)  -  VAB
                                 LAUNCH JULY\AUGUST

          WORK IN PROGRESS:
          *  Sling removal from orbiter
          *  Tail service mast mates
          *  Pad 39-A preparations for receiving shuttle vehicle

          WORK COMPLETED:
          *  Orbiter lift operations
          *  Orbiter hard mate to external tank

          WORK SCHEDULED:
          *  Orbiter/external tank electrical connections
          *  Vehicle power up operations
          *  Rollout to Pad 39-A targeted for mid-night Sunday night

 

   KSC SHUTTLE STATUS  -  FRIDAY, JUNE 21, 1991  -- 9:00 a.m.
_________________________________________________________________


 
           STS-43/TDRS-E  - ATLANTIS (OV 104)  -  VAB
                       LAUNCH -- LATE JULY

WORK IN PROGRESS:
*  Orbiter/external tank electrical connections
*  SRB joint heater inspections
*  Preparations for vehicle power up
*  Pad 39-A preparations for receiving shuttle vehicle

WORK COMPLETED:
*  Orbiter lift operations
*  Orbiter hard mate to external tank
*  Sling removal from orbiter
*  Tail service mast umbilical mates

WORK SCHEDULED:
*  Cavity purges
*  Vehicle power up (tonight)
*  Rollout to Pad 39-A targeted for mid-night Monday night
   (Rollout to pad 39-A slipped 24 hours due to extra time needed
   to complete hypergolic fuel loading on the TDRS at the pad.)

 

06/21/91:  ATLANTIS BREAKS RECORD FOR OPF PROCESSING FLOW

KSC RELEASE NO. 76 - 91

     When the orbiter Atlantis rolled over to the Vehicle
Assembly Building from the Orbiter Processing Facility (OPF)
earlier this week, it bested the post-Challenger record for
shortest time spent in the OPF by 10 days.

     Atlantis first entered OPF bay 2 on April 19, 1991,
following completion of the STS-37 mission. It spent only 59 days
there being processed for its next Shuttle mission, STS-43,
targeted for launch in late July of this year.

     The previous OPF record also was held by Atlantis during
processing for mission STS-36.

     "We have had an extremely good OPF flow," said Conrad Nagel,
NASA's vehicle flow director for Atlantis. "The hardware was very
good to us and we had very few problems during processing."

     Originally, managers had hoped for a 65 day flow at best,
but the relatively small number of problems encountered allowed
workers to get a jump on the major tasks at hand and shorten the
schedule.

     The Task Team Leader concept also was a contributing factor.
Under this program, specific individuals are responsible for
coordinating activities, getting the necessary paper work ready
prior to the scheduled job, and tracking the work until the job
is complete.

    "The program was a real asset. It made a definite impact to
our processing flow," Nagel said. "Every day when we came out of
the scheduling meeting we all knew what had to be done during the
next 24 hours. We could go plan our work and be sure it was going
to be accomplished."

     The level of excitement grew over the past two or three
weeks as workers and managers both realized the significance of
what was about to happen. "It jelled our team a little bit more,"
Nagel said. "Success always does."

     In reality, Nagel admitted, there is always the need to
anticipate a certain number of problems in processing the orbiter
for launch. But with this flow, everything was well under
control. With the few problems that did occur, workers were able
to focus on them and not hold up the rest of the scheduled work.

     "We proved 59 days is very achievable. Once you have done
it, it's not as difficult the next time around. We gained a lot
of confidence here and we demonstrated to ourselves that we can
do this job efficiently and do it consistently."

     Nagel said there are still improvements to be made.

     "I feel we can clean up the flow even more. We can roll out
with not only the shortest turn around possible, but also with
all the work completed, all the paper closed, and with all the
requirements met. I don't want to come out of the OPF on a wing
and a prayer," Nagel said. "I want the spaceship to come out of
the OPF as it is suppose to come out -- ready to fly."
 

Article         1454
From: [email protected] (WILLIAM HARWOOD, UPI Science Writer)
Newsgroups: clari.tw.space
Subject: Shuttle satellite studied
Date: 21 Jun 91 16:59:32 GMT 
 
	CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (UPI) -- Engineers are studying possible
problems with a $100 million satellite scheduled for launch next month
aboard the shuttle Atlantis that could delay takeoff up to six weeks
if repairs are needed, officials said Friday. 

	Atlantis's roll out to the launch pad was delayed one day to
Tuesday pending the outcome of the debate, but space agency officials
were optimistic no such repairs will be needed, allowing Atlantis to
take off on schedule around July 22. 

	The issue involves a motor needed to deploy a boom carrying
one of the Tracking and Data Relay Satellite's two 16-foot-wide
high-speed antennas. The satellite is built by TRW of Redondo Beach,
Calif., while the antenna is supplied by Harris Corp. of Melbourne,
Fla. 

	A similar antenna aboard NASA's Galileo Jupiter probe failed
to fully unfurl April 11 and while different mechanisms are involved,
engineers want to make sure the shuttle satellite's antennas will
deploy properly. But if the motor has to be replaced, officials said,
Atlantis's launch would be delayed four to six weeks. 

	In the meantime, Atlantis and its five-member crew remain
scheduled to blast off around July 22 to launch the Tracking and Data
Relay Satellite, a new link in a globe-spanning network of relay
stations used to route communications between shuttles, other
satellites and ground stations. 

	The primary TDRS antennas are folded for launch but once the
satellite is in the proper orbit, the antenna booms rotate outward and
the antennas open up like umbrellas.

	Charles Force, associate administrator of space operations,
said TRW raised questions about the boom motors in the wake of a
series of satellite appendage deployment problems, most noticeably the
failure of Gaileo's main antenna to fully open April 11. 

	``The motor, in a very conservative, worst-case condition,
doesn't have enough torque to deploy the (TDRS) antenna,'' Force said.
``They are now going back and determining more precisely the
worst-case (scenario) and we hope that by the time this analysis is
done we'll find out we don't have a problem.'' 

	With two fully operational TDRS satellites in orbit on
opposite sides of North America, ground controllers can stay in
contact with shuttle crews over at least 85 percent of each orbit,
eliminating the need for ground stations scattered around the world. 

	Three satellites -- one is used as a spare -- are currently in
orbit, two stationed over the Indian Ocean and one stationed 22,300
miles above the equator off the coast of Brazil. 

	The satellite scheduled for launch aboard Atlantis will replace the
primary Indian Ocean relay station, which in turn will go into orbital
storage for use later as warranted. The satellites are leased from
Contel Federal Systems, of Fairfax, Va., for about $20 million a year.

	In other NASA developments Friday, the shuttle Columbia,
bolted to the back of a 747 jumbo jet, returned to the Kennedy Space
Center Friday, one week after landing in California to close out a
nine-day medical research mission. 

	The shuttle's Boeing transport jet, carrying the $2 billion
spaceplane on its back, touched down on the Florida shuttleport's 3-
mile-long runway shortly before 9 a.m. EDT to bring the 41st shuttle
mission full circle. 

	But Columbia will not remain in Florida long. After engineers
remove a $1 billion Spacelab research module from the ship's payload
bay, the shuttle will be transported back to California around Aug. 15
for five months of modifications at a Rockwell International plant in
Palmdale. 

	Once the modifications are complete, NASA's original space
shuttle will be able to remain in orbit up to 16 days for extended
duration science flights. The first such mission, a flight devoted to
materials science research, is scheduled for launch around May 11, 1992. 

   KSC SHUTTLE STATUS  -  MONDAY, JUNE 24, 1991  -- 11:00 a.m.
_________________________________________________________________



 
           STS-43/TDRS-E  - ATLANTIS (OV 104)  -  VAB
                       LAUNCH -- LATE JULY

WORK IN PROGRESS:
*  Preparations for rollout to Pad 39-A scheduled for 12:01 a.m. Tuesday
*  Retract platforms
*  Pad 39-A preparations for receiving shuttle vehicle
*  Final TDRS payload fuel servicing at pad

WORK COMPLETED:
*  Orbiter/external tank electrical connections
*  SRB joint heater inspections
*  Vehicle power up operations

WORK SCHEDULED:
*  8:00 p.m. Call to Stations for rollout
*  Rollout to Pad 39-A


 

  KSC SHUTTLE STATUS REPORT FOR TUESDAY, JUNE 25, 1991 - 10 AM


 
          STS-43/TDRS-E - ATLANTIS (OV 104) -  PAD 39-A

WORK IN PROGRESS:
- Making connections between the launch pad and the vehicle.
- Preparations to install the payload.

WORK COMPLETED:
- First motion of the vehicle from the VAB to the launch pad
  at 12:55 a.m.
- Vehicle was hard down on the pad's pedestals at 7:09 a.m.

WORK SCHEDULED:
- Installation of the Tracking and Data Relay Satellite into  the
  payload bay tomorrow.
- Helium  signature  leak test of the main propulsion system and
  three main engines.


 

 KSC SHUTTLE STATUS REPORT FOR WEDNESDAY, JUNE 26, 1991 - 10 AM


 
          STS-43/TDRS-E - ATLANTIS (OV 104) -  PAD 39-A

WORK IN PROGRESS:
- Installation of the Tracking and Data Relay Satellite into  At-
  lantis' payload bay.
- Making connections between the launch pad and the vehicle.
- Connections  of  forward reaction control system quick discon-
  nects in preparation for leak checks.
- Calibrations of the inertial measurement units.

WORK COMPLETED:
- Rotating service structure in place around the vehicle at 12:25
  p.m. following yesterday's rollout.
- Power up at 8 p.m. last night.
- Established access to the aft compartment.
- Payload bay doors opened at midnight.

WORK SCHEDULED:
- Helium signature leak test of the main  propulsion  system  and
  three main engines Friday.
- Payload to orbiter interface verification tests Saturday.
- Terminal Countdown Demonstration Test July 2-3.

 

From: [email protected] (Peter E. Yee)
Subject: Payload Summary for 06/24/91 (Forwarded)
Date: 24 Jun 91 22:56:08 GMT
Organization: NASA Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, CA

                              PAYLOAD TEST AND ACTIVITY SHEET
                              KENNEDY SPACE CENTER

                              TDRS-E/IUS-15
                              STS-43/ATLANTIS

                              June 24, 1991

          George H. Diller
          407/867-2468
          FTS 823-2468

          Upcoming Activity        * denotes change since last status

          Install IUS/TDRS into Atlantis  6/26 *
          Establish payload electrical connections  6/27-6/28 *
          Interface Verication Test (IVT)  6/29 *
          End-to-End Test (ETE)  7/1
          Astronaut payload sharp edge inspection 7/2 *
          IUS Flight Readiness Checks 7/11-7/12 *
          TDRS Battery Charging 7/12-15 *
          IUS Battery Installation 7/13-7/15 *
          IUS Simulated Countdown 7/16-7/17 *
          IUS Ordnance Installation 7/18 *
          Close payload bay doors  7/21 *

          Activity Completed

          TDRS arrival at KSC  3/5
          IUS Arrival  4/26
          IUS Test Cell Installation  4/29
          TDRS removal from shipping container  4/30
          IUS/TDRS Mate  5/8
          Single Access Antenna (SAA) Inspection 5/10
          IUS checkout station testing (cos wrap test) completed 5/13
          TDRS State of Health Checks completed 5/14
          White Sands Compatability Test complete 5/15
          IUS/TDRS Electrical Mates 5/16
          Astronaut payload inspection 5/20
          Interface Verification Test (IVT) complete 5/22
          End-to-End Communications Test-Part I
          IUS Software Demonstration Load 5/29
          SAA spoke reconfiguration 5/31
          End-to End Test Communications Test-Part 2 complete 6/7
          Power-on Stray Voltage Checks 6/7
          CITE Disconnects 6/10
          IUS Ordnance Connection 6/10
          IUS/TDRS Installation into payload canister  6/14
          Move to Pad A/Install in PCR  6/17
          TDRS Aliveness Test (state of health check) 6/20
          TDRS fueling  6/22
          TDRS propellant tank pressurization completed 6/24

  KSC SHUTTLE STATUS REPORT FOR THURSDAY, JUNE 27, 1991 - 10 AM


 
          STS-43/TDRS-E - ATLANTIS (OV 104) -  PAD 39-A

WORK IN PROGRESS:
- Preparations for helium signature leak test.
- Making connections between the launch pad and the vehicle.
- Connections of forward  reaction  control  system  and  orbital
  maneuvering  system  quick  disconnects in preparation for hyper-
  golic servicing operations.
- Calibrations of the inertial measurement units.
- Closeouts of the solid rocket boosters.

WORK COMPLETED:
- Installation of the Tracking and Data Relay Satellite into  At-
  lantis' payload bay.
- Leak checks of the liquid oxygen system.

WORK SCHEDULED:
- Helium  signature  leak test of the main propulsion system and
three main engines Friday.
- Payload to orbiter interface verification tests Saturday.
- Terminal Countdown Demonstration Test July 2-3.
- Flight Readiness Review July 11-12.

 

The STS-43 Press Kit is available - hot off the press.  No mission logo yet.

pragma::public:[nasa]sts-43.ps


- dave

   KSC SHUTTLE STATUS REPORT FOR MONDAY, JULY 1, 1991 - 10 AM

 
          STS-43/TDRS-E - ATLANTIS (OV 104) -  PAD 39-A

WORK IN PROGRESS:
- STS-43 crew arrives today at 3 p.m. for the countdown test.
- End-to-end test of the Tracking and Data Relay Satellite.
- Preparations for the Terminal Countdown Demonstration Test.

WORK COMPLETED:
- Helium signature leak test of the three main engines  and  main
  propulsion system.
- Payload to orbiter interface verification test.
- Final connections between the launch pad and the vehicle.
-  Main  engine  flight  readiness test,  which calibrates engine
valves and sensors.

WORK SCHEDULED:
- Terminal Countdown Demonstration  Test  call-to-stations  at  8
  a.m. tomorrow. The simulated T-zero will be at 11 a.m. Wednesday.
- Launch Readiness Review July 8.
- Flight Readiness Review July 11-12.

 

   KSC SHUTTLE STATUS REPORT FOR TUESDAY, JULY 2, 1991 - 10 AM


 
          STS-43/TDRS-E - ATLANTIS (OV 104) -  PAD 39-A

WORK IN PROGRESS:
- Terminal Countdown Demonstration Test began on time at 8 a.m.
- Flight crew emergency egress training at Launch Pad 39-A.
- Vehicle and payload status briefing to the flight crew.
- Crew training in the M113 personnel carriers.
- Preparations to  load  hypergolic  propellants  into  Atlantis'
  reaction  control  system  and orbital maneuvering system storage
  tanks.
- Tests of outboard flipper doors on right  elevon.  The  flipper
  doors cover hinges between the wing and the elevons.

WORK COMPLETED:
- STS-43 crew arrived at 3 p.m. yesterday for the countdown test.
- End-to-end test of the Tracking and Data Relay Satellite.
- Preparations for the Terminal Countdown Demonstration Test.
- Leak  tests of the cavity between the orbiter and the external
  tank at the 17-inch disconnect umbilical.

WORK SCHEDULED:
- Tomorrow, flight crew wakes up at 6:05 a.m.,  breakfast at 6:35
  a.m. and departure for the pad at 7:45 a.m.
- Terminal Countdown Demonstration Test simulated T-zero will be
  at 11 a.m. Wednesday.
- Loading of hypergolic propellants Monday.
- Launch Readiness Review Monday, July 8.
- Flight Readiness Review July 11-12.

 

[Unnumbered NASA Press release]   (7/8/91)

     Flight control for STS-43, the ninth flight of Atlantis,
will follow the procedures and traditions common to U.S. manned
space flights since 1965, when the Mission Control Center was
first used.

     Responsibility for conduct of the mission will revert to the
Mission Control Center (MCC) in Houston once Atlantis's two solid
rocket boosters ignite.  Mission support in the MCC will begin
about five hours prior to launch and will continue through
landing.

     STS-43 will feature the deployment of the Tracking and Data
Relay Satellite (TDRS-E), the demonstration of a spaceborne heat
pipe design, and measurements of solar backscatter to quantify
ozone effects and to calibrate weather satellites.  In addition,
a variety of tests, experiments, and evaluations will contribute
to the development of Extended Duration Orbiter capabilities and
Space Station Freedom applications.

     Once Atlantis and crew are cleared for orbital operations,
preparation and deployment of the TDRS and its inertial upper
stage (IUS) will be coordinated between flight controllers in
Houston, TDRS controllers at the White Sands Ground Terminal in
New Mexico, and Air Force IUS controllers at the Consolidated
Space Test Center in Sunnyvale, California.  The deployment is
scheduled to occur about six hours after launch.

     The mission will be conducted from Flight Control Room One
(FCR-1) on the second floor of the MCC located in Bldg. 30 at
Johnson Space Center.  The teams of flight controllers will
alternate shifts in the control center and in nearby analysis and
support facilities.

     The handover between each team takes about an hour and
allows each flight controller to brief his or her replacement on
developments during the previous two shifts.

     The four flight control teams for this mission will be
referred to as the Ascent/Entry, Orbit 1, Orbit 2, and Planning
teams.  The ascent phase will be conducted by flight director
Ronald D. Dittemore and the entry phase by Jeffrey W. Bantle.
The Orbit 1 team will be led by Philip L. Engelauf.  The Orbit 2
team will be headed by STS-43 lead flight director, Robert M.
Kelso.  The planning team will be directed by Gary E. Coen.


        # # #




        MCC POSITIONS AND CALL SIGNS FOR STS-43



     The flight control positions in the MCC, and their
responsibilities, are:


Flight Director (FLIGHT)

     Has overall responsibility for the conduct of the mission.

Spacecraft Communicator (CAPCOM)

     By tradition an astronaut; responsible for all voice contact
with the flight crew.

Flight Activities Officer (FAO)

     Responsible for procedures and crew timelines; provides
expertise on flight documentation and checklists; prepares
messages and maintains all teleprinter and/or Text and Graphics
System traffic to the vehicle.

Integrated Communications Officer (INCO)

     Responsible for all Orbiter data, voice and video
communications systems; monitors the telemetry link between the
vehicle and the ground; oversees the uplink command and control
processes.

Flight Dynamics Officer (FDO)

     Responsible for monitoring vehicle performance during the
powered flight phase and assessing abort modes; calculating
orbital maneuvers and resulting trajectories; and monitoring
vehicle flight profile and energy levels during reentry.

Trajectory Officer (TRAJECTORY)

     Also known as "TRAJ," this operator aids the FDO during
dynamic flight phases and is responsible for maintaining the
trajectory processors in the MCC and for trajectory inputs made
to the Mission Operations Computer.

Guidance, Navigation & Control Systems Engineer (GNC)

     Responsible for all inertial navigational systems hardware
such as star trackers, radar altimeters and the inertial
measurement units; monitors radio navigation and digital
autopilot hardware systems.

Guidance & Procedures Officer (GPO)

     Responsible for the onboard navigation software and for
maintenance of the Orbiter's navigation state, known as the state
vector.  Also responsible for monitoring crew vehicle control
during ascent, entry, or rendezvous.

Rendezvous Guidance and Procedures Officer (RENDEZVOUS)

     This position is a GPO specialist who monitors navigation of
the Orbiter during rendezvous operations, and advises the control
team on the status and effect of rendezvous events.

Environmental Engineer & Consumables Manager (EECOM)

     Responsible for all life support systems, cabin pressure,
thermal control and supply and waste water management; manages
consumables such as oxygen and hydrogen.

Electrical Generation and Illumination Officer (EGIL)

     Responsible for power management, fuel cell operation,
vehicle lighting and the master caution and warning system.

Payloads Officer (PAYLOADS)

     Coordinates all payload activities; serves as principal
interface with remote payload operations facilities.

Data Processing Systems Engineer (DPS)

     Responsible for all onboard mass memory and data processing
hardware; monitors primary and backup flight software systems;
manages operating routines and multi-computer configurations.

Propulsion Engineer (PROP)

     Manages the reaction control and orbital maneuvering
thrusters during all phases of flight; monitors fuel usage and
storage tank status; calculates optimal sequences for thruster
firings.

Booster Systems Engineer (BOOSTER)

     Monitors main engine and solid rocket booster performance
during ascent phase.

Ground Controller (GC)

     Coordinates operation of ground stations and other elements
of worldwide space tracking and data network; responsible for MCC
computer support and displays.

Maintenance, Mechanical, Arm & Crew Systems (MMACS)

     Formerly known as RMU; responsible for remote manipulator
system; monitors auxilliary power units and hydraulic systems;
manages payload bay and vent door operations.

Extravehicular Activities (EVA)

     A specialist responsible for monitoring and coordinating
preparations for and execution of space walks.  Responsibilities
include monitoring suit and EVA hardware performance.

Payload Data & Retrieval System (PDRS)

     A specialist responsible for monitoring and coordinating the
operation of the remote manipulator system.

Flight Surgeon (SURGEON)

     Monitors health of flight crew; provides procedures and
guidance on all health-related matters.

Public Affairs Officer (PAO)

     Provides real-time explanation of mission events during all
phases of flight.



        # # #


        STS-43 FLIGHT CONTROL TEAM STAFFING


Position     Ascent/Entry    Orbit 1          Orbit 2       Planning

FLIGHT  Ron Dittemore (A)    Phil Engelauf    Rob Kelso     Gary Coen
        Jeff Bantle (E)

CAPCOM  Ken Bowersox (A)     Jan Davis        Marsha Ivins    Bill Shepherd
        Bob Cabana (E)       Jim Halsell      Peter Wisoff

FAO     Ann Bowersox         Ann Bowersox     Tony Griffith   Mike Hurt

INCO    Joe Gibbs            Joe Gibbs        Chris Counts    Ed Walters

FDO     Brian Perry (A)      William Tracy    Tim Brown       Steve Stich
        Ed Gonzalez (E)

TRAJ    Matt Abbott (A)      Roger Balettie   Linda Shore     Mark Haynes
        Keith Fletcher (E)

GNC     John Shannon         John Shannon    Heather Mitchell  Phillip Perkins

GPO     Dennis Bentley     ////            ////    ////
        Glen Hillier

EECOM   Leonard Riche         Leonard Riche    Dan Molina      Quinn Carelock

EGIL    Charles Dingell       Charles Dingell  Mark Fugitt     Robert Armstrong

PAYLOADS        Tim Baum      Tim Baum         Mark Childress  Gene Cook

DPS     Terry Keeler          Terry Keeler     Gloria Araiza   Burt Jackson

PROP    Keith Chappell        Keith Chappell   Lonnie Schmitt  Tony Ceccacci

BOOSTER Franklin Markle     /////                   /////
        Michael Dingler

GC      John Wells            Chuck Capps      Lynn Vernon     Mike Marsh
        Bob Reynolds          Joe Aquino       Frank Stolarski Melissa Blizzard

MMACS   Kevin McCluney        Karl Pohl    William Anderson        James Medford

EVA                           James Thornton  Charles Armstrong  Robert Adams

SURGEON Brad Beck             Phil Stepaniak  Larry Pepper       \\\\

PAO     Jeff Carr (A)         Jeff Carr       Pam Alloway     Kari Fluegel
        James Hartsfield (E)


(A) = Ascent; (E) = Entry

  KSC SHUTTLE STATUS REPORT FOR WEDNESDAY, JULY 3, 1991 - 10 AM


 
          STS-43/TDRS-E - ATLANTIS (OV 104) -  PAD 39-A

WORK IN PROGRESS:
- Terminal Countdown Demonstration  Test  simulated  main  engine
cutoff scheduled at 11 a.m.
-  Preparations  to  load  hypergolic  propellants into Atlantis'
reaction control system and orbital  maneuvering  system  storage
tanks.
-  Tests  of outboard flipper doors on right elevon.  The flipper
doors cover hinges between the wing and the elevons.

WORK COMPLETED:
- Flight crew emergency egress training at Launch Pad 39-A.
- Vehicle and payload status briefing to the flight crew.
- Crew training in the M113 personnel carriers.
- Sharp edge inspection of the payload bay.

WORK SCHEDULED:
- Loading of hypergolic propellants Monday.
- Launch Readiness Review Monday, July 8.
- Flight Readiness Review July 11-12.


 

   KSC SHUTTLE STATUS REPORT FOR MONDAY, JULY 8, 1991 - 10 AM


 
          STS-43/TDRS-E - ATLANTIS (OV 104) -  PAD 39-A

WORK IN PROGRESS:
- Loading of hypergolic propellants into Atlantis'  reaction con-
trol system and orbital maneuvering system storage tanks.
- Launch pad is closed to all non-essential personnel.
- Launch Readiness Review.

WORK COMPLETED:
- Terminal Countdown Demonstration Test last Wednesday with simu-
lated main engine cutoff at 11 a.m.

WORK SCHEDULED:
- Flight Readiness Review July 11-12.


 

   KSC SHUTTLE STATUS REPORT FOR TUESDAY, JULY 9, 1991 - 10 AM


 
          STS-43/TDRS-E - ATLANTIS (OV 104) -  PAD 39-A

WORK IN PROGRESS:
- Loading of hypergolic propellants into Atlantis'  reaction con-
  trol system and orbital maneuvering system storage tanks.
- Launch pad is closed to all non-essential personnel.

WORK COMPLETED:
- Launch Readiness Review.

WORK SCHEDULED:
- Flight Readiness Review July 11-12.

 

KSC SHUTTLE STATUS REPORT FOR WEDNESDAY, JULY 10, 1991 - 10 AM

 
          STS-43/TDRS-E - ATLANTIS (OV 104) -  PAD 39-A

WORK IN PROGRESS:
- Loading of hypergolic propellants into Atlantis'  reaction con-
  trol system and orbital maneuvering system storage tanks.
- Launch pad is closed to all non-essential personnel.

WORK COMPLETED:
- Replaced two reaction control  system  oxidizer  quick  discon-
  nects.  The valves were stuck in the open position.  This delayed
  the hypergolic loading operation, but will not impace the overall
  schedule.
- Loaded oxidizer into the orbiter's onboard storage tanks.

WORK SCHEDULED:
- Open the payload bay doors about midnight.
- Repair the bulb seal.
- Final closeouts on the elevon flipper doors.
- Flight Readiness Review July 11-12.

 

   KSC SHUTTLE STATUS REPORT FOR FRIDAY, JULY 12, 1991 - 10 AM

 
          STS-43/TDRS-E - ATLANTIS (OV 104) -  PAD 39-A

WORK IN PROGRESS:
- Payload closeouts.
- Charging batteries for the Tracking and Data Relay Satellite.
- Functional tests of the two contingency space suits.
- Closeouts of the elevon flipper doors.
- Start of aft compartment closeouts.
- Preparing hydraulic system for flight.

WORK COMPLETED:
- Installation of the two contingency space suits.

WORK SCHEDULED:
- Charging batteries for the Tracking and  Data  Relay  Satellite
and its Inertial Upper Stage this weekend.
- Start launch countdown preparations next week.
-  Installation  of  vehicle  ordnance  devices  and tests of the
firing circuits next week.
- Pressurization of the orbiter's  hypergolic  propellant  system
tanks next week.
- Launch countdown begins at 4 p.m. EDT Saturday, July 20.
- Launch July 23 at 10:54 a.m. EDT.

 

From: [email protected] (WILLIAM HARWOOD, UPI Science Writer)
Subject: Shuttle glitch studied
Date: 16 Jul 91 17:56:13 GMT
 
 
	CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (UPI) -- Engineers worked Tuesday to determine
whether a device that translates computer commands aboard the shuttle
Atlantis needs to be replaced, work that would delay next Tuesday's
planned launch two to three days, officials said.
	Shuttle engineers plan to start Atlantis's countdown at 4 p.m. EDT
Saturday for a launch attempt at 10:54 a.m. Tuesday to kick off a nine-
day, $500 million mission highlighted by the launch of a NASA
communications satellite and a variety of on-board engineering and
medical experiments.
	But workers at launch pad 39-A ran into trouble Tuesday with an
electronic ``black box'' in Atlantis's engine room, one of two 
``multiplexer-demultiplexers'' needed to translate commands from the
ship's flight computers into a format that can be used by critical
hydraulic and mechanical systems.
	Trouble with a similar ``MDM'' unit forced NASA managers to delay
last month's launch of the shuttle Columbia nearly a week.
	It was not immediately clear whether the unit aboard Atlantis would
need to be replaced.
	But if NASA managers decide the device must be replaced, launch
likely would be delayed only two to three days because the problem was
detected before the shuttle's engine room had been closed up for launch.
	Commander John Blaha, 48, co-pilot Michael Baker, 37, flight engineer
G. David Low, 35, Shannon Lucid, 48, and James Adamson, 45, plan to
spend nine days in orbit.
	The primary goal of the 42nd shuttle flight is the deployment six
hours after launch of a $100 million Tracking and Data Relay Satellite
that will join three other such relay stations already in orbit to
improve communications between shuttle crews, mission control and other
satellites.
	The astronauts plan to devote the remainder of the $500 million
mission to conducting a variety of relatively minor engineering
experiments, along with medical studies to learn more about the human
body's adaptation to weightlessness.
	The flight is scheduled to end eight days, 21 hours and 17 minutes
after liftoff with a landing shortly after 8:10 a.m. at the Kennedy
Space Center, the first planned Florida touchdown since April 1985 when
one of the shuttle Discovery's main landing gear tires blew out as the
commander fought a stiff crosswind.
	Since then, the more forgiving Mojave Desert runways at Edwards Air
Force Base have served as NASA's prime landing site pending completion
of work to beef up the shuttle's brakes and other critical landing
systems.
	That work is essentially complete and shuttle program director Robert
Crippen decided two weeks ago to resume routine Florida landings. The
decision came after two recent missions ended at the Kennedy Space
Center because of bad weather in California.

  KSC SHUTTLE STATUS REPORT FOR TUESDAY, JULY 16, 1991 - 10 AM

 
          STS-43/TDRS-E - ATLANTIS (OV 104) -  PAD 39-A

WORK IN PROGRESS:
- Connections of the Inertial Upper Stage batteries.
- Payload closeouts.
- Trickle charging of  the  Tracking  and  Data  Relay  Satellite
(TDRS) batteries.
- Closeouts of the aft compartment.
- Launch countdown preparations.
-  Troubleshooting  of multiplexer demultiplexer (MDM) FA3.  (See
concerns.)

WORK COMPLETED:
- Purges of the external tank.
- Installation of ordnance devices.

WORK SCHEDULED:
- Simulated payload countdown tonight.
- Purges of the power reactant storage  and  distribution  system
tomorrow.
-  Pressurization  of  the orbiter's hypergolic propellant system
tanks for flight Wednesday.
- Tests and final connections of the ordnance firing circuits  on
Thursday.
- Flight crew arrives at KSC at  1:00 p.m. Saturday.
- Launch countdown begins at 4 p.m. EDT Saturday, July 20.
- Launch July 23 at 10:54 a.m. EDT.

CONCERNS:
-  During  power  up  this morning,  there was an indication of a
failed power supply with MDM FA3. This electronic component, part
of the orbiter's data processing system,  is located in  the  aft
compartment in avionics bay 6. The  function of the MDM is to in-
terpret  data  between  the  orbiter's  major  components and the
general purpose computers.  Engineers are troubleshooting the box
to determine the exact problem.


 

7/15/91:  STS-43 AIRSPACE, BRIDGES AND WATERWAYS RESTRICTIONS

KSC RELEASE NO. 84-91

     During preparations prior to Shuttle launches and immediately
following liftoff, a number of restrictions are in effect around
Kennedy Space Center. The launch of Atlantis on mission STS-43 is
targeted to occur at 10:54 a.m. EDT, July 23, 1991.

     Listed and described below are restrictions that apply to
pilots, boaters and motor traffic crossing bridges leading to KSC.

KSC AREA AVIATION RESTRICTIONS

     The airspace immediately surrounding Kennedy Space Center
will be limited to official aircraft only and will be off-limits
to general aviation pilots prior to and during the launch of the
Space Shuttle Atlantis on mission STS-43.

     NOTAMS must be checked by pilots prior to flights near the
KSC area. Pilots are warned that violations of restricted airspace
may result in serious penalties, including suspension or
revocation of pilot privileges.

     Official aircraft supporting the launch will be in the air.
Pilots must be aware that wandering into a restricted area is not
only forbidden, but will also create a safety hazard to support
aircraft and the errant pilot.

     Anyone wishing to view the launch from the air should stay
well west of the Indian River. Pilots should be advised that the
airspace in that area is expected to be extremely congested with
both controlled and uncontrolled aircraft.

     Pilots should also be aware of the solid rocket booster (SRB)
exhaust cloud that occurs after launch. They should stay at least
five miles away from that cloud, even if it drifts out of the
restricted area. Research aircraft will be flying into and out of
the cloud, and visibility will be limited.

     In general, the airspace restrictions cover a variety of air
ranges from now through launch. In addition to the normal
restrictions over KSC and Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, the
launch will require that all private aircraft stay out of an area
roughly bounded by the west side of the Indian River on the west,
the Trident Basin (State Road 528 area) on the south, slightly
north of Haulover Canal, and three miles out into the Atlantic on
the east. The restrictions are "surface-to-unlimited." These
launch-specific restrictions begin three hours before launch.

     Pilots should consult the most recent edition of the
Jacksonville Sectional Aeronautical Chart. In addition, they
should contact the St. Petersburg Flight Service Station at 1-800-
99-27433 (1-800-WX-BRIEF). Advisories will be available from the
Patrick Approach Control (VHF 134.95 megahertz), Space Center
Executive Airport Tower (TIX) (VHF 118.9 megahertz), or the NASA
Tower (128.55 megahertz).

     Pilots should also refer to the current Patrick Air Force
Base release on restricted airspace.


BRIDGES CONTROLLED FOR LAUNCH

     The opening and closing of bridges over waterways surrounding
the Kennedy Space Center will be strictly controlled during the
hours immediately before and after the launch period of the Space
Shuttle Atlantis on mission STS-43.

     Bridges affected by the launch requirements include:

     -- Canaveral Harbor Barge Canal (State Road 401, south of
Cape Canaveral Air Force Station Gate 1);

     -- Indian River Causeway west, a.k.a. NASA Causeway
(Intracoastal Waterway at Addison Point);

     -- Merritt Island Barge Canal (Merritt Island State Road 3);

     -- Haulover Canal Bridge (State Road 3, north of KSC).

     Restraints on bridge openings for boat traffic begin three
hours before launch. The bridges may be opened for 5 minutes at
the following points in the launch countdown: T-180 minutes, T-150
minutes, T-120 minutes, T-90 minutes, and T-65 minutes.

     Bridges will remain closed to boat traffic until 90 minutes
after liftoff (T+90). They may then open for 5 minutes at T+90
minutes, T+120 minutes, and T+150 minutes. Bridge operations will
return to normal at three hours (T+180 minutes) after launch.

     Should the Shuttle orbiter be required to perform a Return to
Launch Site (RTLS) landing at KSC, all bridges would remain closed
to boat traffic from 45 minutes before landing to one hour after
landing.


KSC AREA BOATING RESTRICTIONS

     Waterways and boating near the Kennedy Space Center will be
strictly controlled prior to and during the launch of the Space
Shuttle Atlantis on the STS-43 mission.

     Safety and security requirements, including U.S. Air Force
Range Safety impact limit lines, will go into effect as early as
three days before launch. Other requirements will be phased into
effect through sundown the night before launch. A general
description of the restricted areas follows.

     Banana River: Security limits begin at the Banana River Barge
Canal south of KSC at the State Road 528 crossing and extend
north. This restriction goes into effect at sundown the night
before launch.

     Atlantic Ocean: Beginning at sundown the night before launch,
a general exclusion zone will be in effect three miles offshore
from the Haulover Canal, near the north end of KSC, to the
entrance of Port Canaveral on the south end of KSC. Four hours
prior to launch, all ocean-going traffic will be restricted from
entering an area measured from five miles north and south of the
pad, and extending 30 miles east into the ocean. Pad 39-A is
located at latitude 28 degrees, 36 minutes, 33 seconds north;
longitude 80 degrees, 36 minutes, 15 seconds west. An additional
three mile wide exclusion zone will be extended eastward through
the projected flight path of the shuttle.

     Mosquito Lagoon: This area south of the Haulover Canal is off
limits to all boats beginning at dusk the night before launch.

     Indian River: Restrictions apply from the NASA Causeway north
to the Haulover Canal and east of the Indian River's main channel.
Restrictions begin at sundown the night before launch.

     All boating restrictions will be lifted approximately one
hour after launch.

     The U.S. Coast Guard, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and
KSC security forces share responsibility for enforcing the boating
guidelines.

 KSC SHUTTLE STATUS REPORT FOR WEDNESDAY, JULY 17, 1991 - 10 AM

 
          STS-43/TDRS-E - ATLANTIS (OV 104) -  PAD 39-A

WORK IN PROGRESS:
- Simulated payload countdown.
- Closeouts of the aft compartment.
- Disconnection, replacement and retest of the forward integrated
electronic assembly (IEA) on the right solid rocket booster. (See
concerns).
- Payload closeouts.
- Trickle charging of  the  Tracking  and  Data  Relay  Satellite
(TDRS) batteries.
- Launch countdown preparations.

WORK COMPLETED:
- Connections of the Inertial Upper Stage batteries.
- Troubleshooting of multiplexer demultiplexer (MDM) FA3. After a
series of tests and conferences with the vendor, officials deter-
mined  that the MDM is flight worthy and there is no concern with
the power supply.   The  function of the MDM is to interpret data
between  the  orbiter's  major components and the general purpose
computers.

WORK SCHEDULED:
- Purges of the power reactant storage  and  distribution  system
tomorrow.
-  Pressurization  of  the orbiter's hypergolic propellant system
tanks for flight Friday.
- Final ordnance operations planned Friday.
- Flight crew arrives at KSC at  1:00 p.m. Saturday.
- Launch countdown begins at 4 p.m. EDT Saturday, July 20.
- Launch July 23 at 10:54 a.m. EDT.

CONCERNS:
- Yesterday, during ordnance operations, tests of the firing cir-
cuit used to separate the right booster in flight did not give  a
reading.  Testing conducted overnight proved there was no problem
with the firing circuit. However,  as a precaution a decision was
made to replace the forward integrated electronic assembly on the
right booster.

 

  KSC SHUTTLE STATUS REPORT FOR THURSDAY, JULY 18, 1991 - 10 AM

 
          STS-43/TDRS-E - ATLANTIS (OV 104) -  PAD 39-A

WORK IN PROGRESS:
- Purges of the power reactant storage and distribution system.
- Retest of the newly installed  integrated  electronic  assembly
(IEA) on the right solid rocket booster.
-  Trickle  charging  of  the  Tracking  and Data Relay Satellite
(TDRS) batteries.
- Launch countdown preparations.
- Preparations for final ordnance connections and  tests  of  the
firing circuits later today.

WORK COMPLETED:
- Replacement of the new integrated electronics assembly.
- Simulated payload countdown.

WORK SCHEDULED:
- Payload closeouts for flight.
- Closing out the aft compartment for flight on Saturday.
-  Pressurization  of  the orbiter's hypergolic propellant system
tanks for flight Friday.
- Flight crew arrives at KSC at  1:00 p.m. Saturday.
- Launch countdown begins at 4 p.m. EDT Saturday, July 20.
- Launch July 23 at 10:54 a.m. EDT.


 

From: [email protected]
Subject: Shuttle stays on schedule
Date: 17 Jul 91 17:45:39 GMT
 
 
	CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (UPI) -- Engineers worked Wednesday to replace a
faulty electrical unit on one of the shuttle Atlantis's two boosters,
but officials said the repair job was not expected to delay the ship's
planned Tuesday liftoff.
	The faulty ``integrated electronics assembly,'' a device that routes
computer commands to various subsystems, was ordered replaced after
tests showed one of eight small rocket motors needed to jettison the
right-side booster after launch might not receive an ignition signal
from the suspect ``IEA.''
	Engineers said the replacement work would not delay Atlantis's
takeoff next week and that the ship's countdown remained scheduled to
start at 4 p.m. EDT Saturday for a launch attempt at 10:54 a.m. Tuesday.
	Commander John Blaha, 48, co-pilot Michael Baker, 37, flight engineer
G. David Low, 35, Shannon Lucid, 48, and James Adamson, 45, plan to fly
to the Kennedy Space Center on Saturday to await liftoff.
	The primary goal of the 42nd shuttle mission is the deployment of a
$100 million Tracking and Data Relay Satellite that will join three
other such spacecraft already in orbit to route communications between
shuttle crews, other satellites and ground stations.
	The astronauts plan to devote the rest of their nine-day mission to
conducting a variety of relatively minor engineering and medical
experiments before gliding to a landing Aug. 1 at the Kennedy Space
Center.

From: [email protected] (United Press International)
Subject: Atlantis mission at-a-glance
Date: 17 Jul 91 16:35:22 GMT
 
	Atlantis's launch on the 42nd shuttle mission marks the 17th post-
Challenger flight and the fourth of 1991. Here are mission details at-a-
glance:
	--Space shuttle: Atlantis, making its ninth flight since its maiden
voyage Oct. 3, 1985. Atlantis took off on its most recent previous
flight April 5, 1991, when it carried a gamma ray astronomy satellite
into orbit.
	--Mission highlights: Atlantis is scheduled to make the first planned
Kennedy Space Center, Fla., landing since 1985. Since then, the
shuttle's brakes and other landing systems have been improved to ensure
safe touchdowns on the spaceport's single runway.
	--Mission cost: About $500 million.
	--Launch site: pad 39-A at the Kennedy Space Center, Fla.
	--Launch time: 10:54 a.m. EDT, Tuesday, July 23.
	--Orbital altitude: 184 statute miles.
	--Payload: A $100 million Tracking and Data Relay Satellite that will
be boosted to its final orbit by a $60 million Boeing Inertial Upper
Stage booster. The satellite and three others already in orbit will
allow shuttle crews to stay in contact with mission control over 85
percent of each orbit.
	--Mission duration: 8 days, 21 hours, 17 minutes.
	--Landing: 8:11 a.m. EDT Aug. 1 at the Kennedy Space Center, Fla.
	--Propulsion: Three hydrogen-fueled main engines built by Rocketdyne
of Canoga Park, Calif., serial numbers 2024 (No. 1), 2012 (No. 2), 2028
(No. 3), and two solid-fuel boosters, serial number BI-045, built by
Thiokol Corp. of Ogden, Utah. Atlantis is bolted to a Martin Marietta-
built external fuel tank, serial No. 47.
	--Flight directors: Rob Kelso, Ron Dittemore, Phil Engelauf, Gary Coen
and Jeff Bantle.
	--Shuttle crew: Five.
	--Commander: Air Force Col. John E. Blaha, 48, master's degree in
astronautical engineering; third flight.
	--Co-pilot: Navy Lt. Cmdr. Michael A. Baker, 37, bachelor's degree in
aerospace engineering; first flight.
	--Mission specialist No. 1: Shannon W. Lucid, 48, Ph.D. in
biochemistry; third flight.
	--Mission specialist No. 2: G. David Low, 35, master's degree in
aeronautics and astronautics; second flight.
	--Mission specialist No. 3: Army Lt. Col. James C. Adamson, 45,
master's degree in aerospace engineering; second flight.
	--Crew seating: Blaha, Baker, Low and Lucid will be seated on
Atlantis's upper deck for launch with Adamson seated below on the
shuttle's lower deck. Lucid and Adamson will swap seats for re-entry.
	--Emergency spacewalk personnel: Adamson and Low.
	--Satellite deployment personnel: Lucid and Adamson.

From: [email protected] (WILLIAM HARWOOD, UPI Science Writer)
Subject: To put $100 million satellite in orbit
Date: 17 Jul 91 16:27:51 GMT
 
	CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (UPI) -- The shuttle Atlantis is set for liftoff
Tuesday on a satellite-launching flight highlighted by the first planned
Florida landing since a tire-blowing 1985 touchdown that prompted major
changes to improve safety.
	Carrying a $100 million NASA communications satellite, Atlantis and
its four-man, one-woman crew are scheduled to blast off on the 42nd
shuttle mission at 10:54 a.m. EDT Tuesday to kick off a nine-day flight,
the fourth of six planned for 1991 and the 17th since the 1986
Challenger disaster.
	At the controls will be commander John Blaha, 48, making his third
flight, and co-pilot Michael Baker, 37, a shuttle rookie. Their
crewmates, all shuttle veterans, are flight engineer G. David Low, 35,
Shannon Lucid, 48, and James Adamson, 45.
	If all goes well, Lucid and Adamson will complete the primary goal of
the flight six hours and 13 minutes after liftoff when they deploy a new
Tracking and Data Relay Satellite -- TDRS -- from a large cradle in
Atlantis's 60-foot-long cargo bay.
	The new satellite and three other such spacecraft already in orbit
make up a globe-spanning network of communications relay stations used
to route data, voice and television signals between shuttle crews,
ground stations and other satellites such as the Hubble Space Telescope.
	With the TDRS satellite safely on its way, the astronauts plan to
spend the remainder of their $500 million mission carrying out a variety
of relatively minor engineering experiments along with medical research
to learn more about how the human body adapts to weightlessness.
	``We have a rather busy mission,'' said flight director Robert Kelso.
``It might not have the glamour and the stunts of (previous missions),
but the amount of time we're doing on secondary experiments and a wide
range of technology demonstrations ... is rather significant in the
amount of data we're going to take.''
	Blaha and company plan to close out the mission by gliding to an 8:11
a.m. touchdown Aug. 1 on the Kennedy Space Center's 3-mile-long shuttle
runway, weather permitting, just a few miles from launch pad 39-A where
the flight began.
	Touchdown will mark the first planned Florida shuttle landing since
April 19, 1985, when one of the shuttle Discovery's main landing gear
tires blew out after commander Karol ``Bo'' Bobko, buffeted by a stiff
crosswind, used the ship's brakes to steer the shuttle back to the
center of the runway.
	As Discovery rolled to a stop on the Kennedy Space Center's single
landing strip, one of its right-side brakes overheated and locked up,
causing a blowout.
	Since then, the broader, more forgiving dry lakebed Mojave Desert
runways at Edwards Air Force Base, Calif., have served as NASA's prime
landing site pending completion of work to beef up the shuttle's brakes
and other critical landing systems.
	NASA's shuttle fleet now is equipped with stronger, more heat-
resistant carbon brakes, stiffer main landing gear axles to minimize
brake-damaging flexing during touchdown and an improved nose wheel
steering system to combat unexpected crosswinds.
	After reviewing the results of 14 post-Challenger landings in
California and two recent Kennedy Space Center landings ordered because
of bad weather at Edwards, shuttle program director Robert Crippen
decided last month to resume routine landings in Florida.
	At the same time, however, NASA managers established new flight rules
that will require virtually perfect weather at KSC before Atlantis and
other shuttles will be cleared for landing. Otherwise, Atlantis will be
diverted to Edwards.
	``We've changed our weather criteria, which is probably one of the
biggest risks involved with going to KSC, because the weather can change
very rapidly,'' Baker said in an interview. ``But we've made the weather
criteria such that unless it's a beautiful, clear day, we're not going
to go there.''
	The shuttle cannot fly through rain without major damage to the
ship's heat-shield tiles and with only one runway at KSC, unexpected,
strong crosswinds could make a safe landing extremely difficult.
	A final decision on where Atlantis will land will not be made until
re-entry day, based on weather conditions at both primary landing sites.
	``We're prepared to land at either,'' Blaha said. ``We feel
comfortable with Kennedy if they decide that the conditions are right
and we can land there, which they'll have to (decide in) real time
during the mission.''
	Agency Administrator Richard Truly said he supported the decision to
resume landings in Florida, despite requests by some agency engineers to
hold off until tougher tires are available later this year.
	``We've now been flying about two-and-a-half years (since the
Challenger accident), we've flown 16 flights and not once has anybody
pushed safety,'' Truly told United Press International. ``We are not
going to go into KSC if it's not well within the flight rules.
	``I feel very comfortable ... that if they decide to go there it's
going to be fine with me.''
	A Kennedy Space Center touchdown will mark only the eighth shuttle
landing in Florida in 42 flights.
	The 5,000-pound TDRS satellite nestled in Atlantis's cargo bay is the
fifth in a series of advanced solar-powered spacecraft that are critical
for routing communications between ground stations and a multitude of
civilian and military spacecraft.
	One hour after the satellite's release from Atlantis's cargo bay, the
first stage of a $60 million Boeing-built Inertial Upper Stage solid-
fuel booster will fire to begin the relay station's trip from the
shuttle's 184-mile-high-orbit to a point 22,300 miles above the equator
southwest of Hawaii at 174 degrees west longitude.
	At that altitude, a spacecraft's orbital velocity is synchronized
with the rotation of the Earth and it appears to hang stationary in the
sky, simplifying the job of maintaining contact with such relay
stations.
	After a second stage firing to circularize the satellite's orbit at
the proper altitude, two large solar panels will unfold followed by the
unfurling of two 16-foot-wide umbrella-like ``high-gain'' antennas.
Engineers on Earth then will begin testing the spacecraft's many
systems.
 ------
	With two fully operational TDRS (pronounced TEE'-drus) satellites in
orbit on opposite sides of North America, ground controllers can stay in
contact with shuttle crews over at least 85 percent of each orbit. The
satellites are owned by Contel Federal Systems, of Fairfax, Va., which
leases the spacecraft to NASA for about $20 million annually.
	Three TDRS satellites currently are in orbit -- a fourth was destroyed
in the Challenger disaster -- with two stationed over the Pacific Ocean
and one over the equator off the east coast of Brazil stationed at 41
degrees east longitude.
	The satellite aboard Atlantis will replace the third TDRS, currently
on station over the Pacific Ocean, which will be moved to a parking slot
over the Atlantic Ocean site where it will serve as a spare.
	The first TDRS, launched in 1983 and currently stationed over the
Pacific Ocean, will serve as a backup to the new spacecraft.
	With the primary goal of the flight accomplished, Atlantis's
astronauts will devote the remainder of their mission to carrying out a
slate of relatively minor on-board experiments.
	Throughout the flight, instruments making up the ``shuttle solar
backscatter ultraviolet'' -- SSBUV -- payload will be used to study ozone
levels in the upper atmosphere in concert with similar instruments
aboard three weather satellites.
	Data from SSBUV will be used later to recalibrate the satellite-borne
instruments, which have a tendency to become less accurate as time
passes.
	``These measurements require great precision and the instruments they
use go out of calibration very quickly,'' Baker said. ``What we'll be
doing using SSBUV is measuring ozone at the same time and in the same
place as these on-orbit satellites ... during some 33 orbits.
	``Post-flight, the data will be analyzed and used to calibrate the
instruments on those three satellites.''
	Another major payload-bay experiment involves engineering tests of an
advanced radiator system that utilizes weightlessness to circulate
fluids through tubes without electricity-consuming pumps and other
systems. Such a radiator could prove useful for NASA's planned space
station.
	A similar radiator failed to work properly during an earlier shuttle
flight but modifications have been made to improve performance this time
around.
	``It's purpose is to investigate the possibility of using a very low-
cost, low-energy system to radiate heat away from areas we want to cool
out into space,'' said Adamson. ``The systems that we currently use on
the shuttle require pumps and energy to run.''
	A third payload bay experiment, mounted in a small container about
the size of a beer keg, involves equipment to study new ways of
controlling fuel tank pressures and temperatures.
	The astronauts also will be responsible for carrying out 14
experiments in Atlantis's crew cabin, eight of which are primarly
concerned with engineering projects, including three sponsored by the
Department of Defense.
	But the other six are devoted to learning more about how the human
body adapts to weightlessness, the latest in an ongoing series of
physiological investigations that could help pave the way for future
long-duration flights to Mars.
	Indeed, Atlantis's flight originally was scheduled to last just five
days. But the mission was extended to nine days to give the astronauts
time to gather as much medical data as possible. The results will be
used to plan future ``extended duration orbiter'' missions lasting up to
16 days.
	``The United States has been flying humans in space for about 30
years now and still one of the main reasons for us to send humans into
space is to understand a little bit better how humans adapt spaceflight
and also readapt to the one-gravity environment once they come back to
Earth,'' Low said.
	Adamson said the research is part of a program to ``lay out, the best
we can, a selection of experiments that are aimed at the general
technical solutions we know we're going to need.''
	``Is it sufficient to get us where we want to go?'' he asked. ``I
can't answer that because I'm not sure where we're going right now.''

    KSC SHUTTLE STATUS REPORT FOR FRIDAY, JULY 19, 1991 - 10 AM

 
            STS-43/TDRS-E - ATLANTIS (OV 104) -  PAD 39-A

WORK IN PROGRESS:
- Trickle charging of  the  Tracking  and  Data  Relay  Satellite
  (TDRS) batteries.
- Launch countdown preparations.
- Final ordnance connections and tests of the firing circuits.
-  Pressurization  of  the orbiter's hypergolic propellant system
tanks for flight.

WORK COMPLETED:
- Purges of the power reactant storage and distribution system.
- Successful retest of the newly installed integrated electronics
assembly for the right forward solid rocket booster.

WORK SCHEDULED:
- Payload closeouts for flight.
- Closing out the aft compartment for flight on Saturday.
- Flight crew arrives at KSC at  1:00 p.m. tomorrow.
- Launch countdown begins at 4 p.m. EDT tomorrow.
- Launch July 23 at 10:54 a.m. EDT.


 

                            STS-43 LAUNCH DELAY STATEMENT



          The launch of the STS-43 mission scheduled for launch on Tuesday,
          July 23, has been postponed for at least 24 hours.   The delay is
          required  to  permit the launch team to troubleshoot a problem in
          an electrical circuit controlling orbiter/external  tank  separa-
          tion.

          The  duration  of  the  delay will be 24 hours if the problem re-
          quires only the repair of an orbiter aft fuselage cable and  that
          this  work and retest can be completed by noon on Saturday,  July
          20.

          The circuit involves the left hand orbiter/external attach  point
          separation function.

   KSC SHUTTLE STATUS REPORT FOR MONDAY, JULY 22, 1991 - 11 AM

 
          STS-43/TDRS-E - ATLANTIS (OV 104) -  PAD 39-A

                       LAUNCH MINUS 2 DAYS


WORK IN PROGRESS:
- Launch countdown in four hour built-in hold at  the  T-27  hour
mark.
- Countdown will resume at 12 noon.
- Loading  liquid  oxygen  and  liquid hydrogen reactants in the
  orbiter's onboard storage tanks this afternoon.
- Preparation of the shuttle main  engines  and  main  propulsion
  system for flight.

WORK COMPLETED:
- Repair of a small crack in the aft compartment.   This 4.4 inch
  long crack was found yesterday on one of the structural beams.
- Closed out the aft compartment at 5 a.m.
- Closed the payload bay doors for flight at about 5:10 a.m.
- Trickle charging of  the  Tracking  and  Data  Relay  Satellite
  (TDRS) batteries.
- Replacement of a damaged firing circuit in the aft compartment.
- Final ordnance connections and tests of the firing circuits.
- Pressurization  of  the orbiter's hypergolic propellant system
  tanks for flight.

WORK SCHEDULED:
- Activation  of  the  orbiter's  communications  system   later
  tonight.
- Begin  loading the external tank with a half a million gallons
  of liquid oxygen and liquid hydrogen  propellants  at  2:35  a.m.
  Wednesday.
- Launch July 24 at 10:55 a.m. EDT.

FLIGHT CREW:
     Crew  arrived  at  the Shuttle Landing Facility at 4:20 p.m.
yesterday.  Commander John Blaha and Pilot Michael Baker flew  in
Shuttle  Training  Aircraft  today.  The entire crew will receive
medical exams, review flight data files and perform fit checks of
their flight equipment.

WEATHER:
- Probability of violating weather constraints  at  the  time  of
  liftoff: 50 percent.
- Chance for violating constraints for the entire launch period:
  40 percent.




 

Rev. C

pragma::public:[nasa]sts-43.nasa_select


- dave

    Scrubbed for today (several days) due to a faulty main engine
    controller. They will swap it out which will take some time (possibly
    up to a week).

  KSC SHUTTLE STATUS REPORT FOR TUESDAY, JULY 23, 1991 - 11 AM

 
          STS-43/TDRS-E - ATLANTIS (OV 104) -  PAD 39-A

                       LAUNCH MINUS 1 DAY


WORK IN PROGRESS:
- Launch countdown in 12 hour,  35 minute built-in  hold  at  the
T-11 hour mark.
- Countdown will resume at 8:35 p.m. tonight.
- Retraction of the rotating service structure at 11 a.m.
- Stowage of flight crew time critical equipment and items in the
crew cabin.
- Preparation of the launch pad for liftoff.
- Loading film in cameras.
- Preparations for loading the external tank for flight.
- Final inspections of the launch pad area.

WORK COMPLETED:
- Bonded two carrier panels on the payload bay doors. One each on
the left and right doors.
-  Loading  liquid  oxygen  and  liquid hydrogen reactants in the
orbiter's onboard storage tanks.
- Preparation of the shuttle main  engines  and  main  propulsion
system for flight.
- Activation of the orbiter's communications system.
- Tail service masts prepared for launch.
- Installation of the crew seats in the crew cabin.

WORK SCHEDULED:
-  Begin  loading the external tank with a half a million gallons
of liquid oxygen and liquid hydrogen  propellants  at  2:35  a.m.
tomorrow.
- Crew wake up at 6 a.m.
- Crew departs for Launch Pad 39-A at 7:40 a.m.
- Launch tomorrow at 10:55 a.m.  EDT. Window extends to 3:12 p.m.
EDT.

FLIGHT CREW:
     The crew will receive  a  briefing  on  the  status  of  the
vehicle,  payload  and  weather.  Pilot Michael Baker and Mission
Specialist G. David Low will be flying in T-38 aircraft today.

WEATHER:
- Probability of violating weather constraints  at  the  time  of
liftoff: 50 percent.
-  Chance for violating constraints for the entire launch period:
40 percent.


 

RELEASE: 91-116  (7/23/91)

     NASA's In-Space Technology Experiments Program (IN-STEP)
passes a major milestone this week when its first flight
hardware, the Tank Pressure Control Experiment (TPCE), rides
into orbit aboard Atlantis on STS-43.

     Transfer and control of very cold (cryogenic) fluids in
microgravity is critical to plans for several future U.S.
space efforts.  TPCE will demonstrate how cryogenic storage
tank pressures can be controlled by actively mixing the
fluids to eliminate temperature stratification.  The
technology would allow lightweight cryogenic tanks to be used
in advanced space projects.  Scientists also will use the
results to validate computer codes used to calculate the
energy of liquid propellants in space.

     TPCE is contained in a Getaway Special canister mounted
on the sidewall of Atlantis's payload bay.  It includes a
Plexiglas tank 85 percent filled with liquid Freon 113, a
refrigerant.  The remaining volume contains helium gas and
Freon vapor, so that  the tank pressure is about 2 pounds per
square inch above the liquid's vapor pressure.

     During each test run, heaters are turned on to raise the
pressure above equilibrium.  Liquid jets then circulate the
Freon at a low velocity, a process that returns the pressure
to equilibrium.  The experiment measures pressure,
temperatures and jet flow rates within the tank.  Video
cameras record the liquid flow patterns through the tank's
transparent walls.  Thirty-eight different combinations of
flow rates and heater locations will be tested.

     A second IN-STEP experiment package is also on this
year's Shuttle manifest.  MODE (Middeck 0-gravity Dynamics
Experiment), which will fly on STS-48 in September 1991, will
study critical aspects of mechanical and fluid behavior of
components for future space structures, such as Space Station
Freedom.

     One of the most attractive features of these experiments
is the potentially large payoff for a relatively small
financial outlay.  Boeing Aerospace Company, Seattle,
developed the TPCE hardware for $1.7 million.  MODE, designed
by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, cost
$1.9 million.

     Since 1987, IN-STEP has brought NASA, the aerospace
community and academia together to research potentially
valuable space technologies using small, relatively
inexpensive payloads.  NASA's Office of Aeronautics,
Exploration and Technology at NASA Headquarters, Washington,
D.C., selects the experiments and manages the program.

From: [email protected]
Subject: A busy first day in space
Date: 24 Jul 91 06:33:45 GMT
 
 
	CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (UPI) -- The five-member crew of the shuttle
Atlantis faced a busy first day in orbit Wednesday. Here is a timeline
of events (all times in EDT and subject to change):
	
	Wednesday, July 24:
	10:55 a.m.: Atlantis lifts off from pad 39-A at the Kennedy Space
Center. On board are commander John Blaha, 48, copilot Michael Baker,
37, flight engineer G. David Low, 35, Shannon Lucid, 48, and James
Adamson, 45.
	11:37 a.m.: Blaha and Baker fire the shuttle's twin maneuvering
system rockets for two minutes and 22 seconds to circularize Atlantis's
altitude at 184 miles.
	12:23 p.m.: Baker opens the shuttle's 60-foot-long payload bay doors.
	12:31 p.m.: Flight controllers at the Johnson Space Center in Houston
give the astronauts formal permission to begin routine orbital
operations.
	12:55 p.m.: NASA managers hold a post-launch news conference at the
Kennedy Space Center.
	1:35 p.m.: The astronauts begin initial checks to make sure a $60
million inertial upper stage -- IUS -- booster will be ready to launch the
ship's primary payload, a $120 million Tracking and Data Relay
Satellite, into orbit.
	2:10 p.m.: Lucid and Adamson begin checking out the ``TDRS'' relay
station.
	2:25 p.m.: Flight director Ron Dittemore holds a mission status
briefing at the Johnson Space Center.
	2:45 p.m.: A protein crystal growth experiment is activated in
Atlantis's crew cabin.
	3:25 p.m.: The TDRS-IUS spacecraft, mounted in a large cradle, is
rotated 29 degrees toward vertical to facilitate pre-launch checkout.
	3:35 p.m.: The astronauts take a break for lunch.
	4:28 p.m.: Blaha and Baker maneuver Atlantis into the proper TDRS-IUS
launch attitude.
	4:43 p.m.: The TDRS-IUS launch countdown begins.
	4:50 p.m.: Flight controllers give the shuttle crew formal permission
to proceed with the TDRS-IUS launch.
	4:55 p.m.: The TDRS-IUS spacecraft is rotated to the launch position,
52 degrees from horizontal.
	5:08 p.m.: Lucid flips a switch in Atlantis's cockpit, releasing four
large springs in the TDRS-IUS cradle that gently push the spacecraft
away from the shuttle.
	5:23 p.m.: Blaha fires Atlantis's maneuvering engines to move the
shuttle a safe distance away.
	6:08 p.m.: The first stage of the IUS booster fires to begin the
satellite's journey to an orbit 22,300 miles above the equator.
	7:30 p.m.: The astronauts check the health of instruments in the
shuttle's cargo bay that will be used later to measure atmospheric ozone
levels.
	8:25 p.m.: The crew holds a private medical conference with
physicians at the Johnson Space Center to discuss any problems adapting
to weightlessness.
	9:30 p.m.: Flight director Rob Kelso holds a mission status briefing.
	9:55 p.m.: The crew begins a seven-hour sleep period during the
shuttle's eighth orbit.
	10:30 p.m.: NASA broadcasts videotaped highlights of the crew's first
day in space.
	11:25 p.m.: The second stage of the IUS booster fires to circularize
the satellite's orbit at an altitude of 22,300 miles.

From: [email protected] (WILLIAM HARWOOD, UPI Science Writer)
Subject: NASA studies shuttle problem
Date: 24 Jul 91 09:29:58 GMT
 
 
	CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (UPI) -- The shuttle Atlantis was fueled for
liftoff Wednesday with engineers scrambling to resolve an apparent
problem with a critical engine computer that could force NASA to delay
the flight up to a week, officials said.
	Engineers pumped a half-million gallons of supercold liquid oxygen
and liquid hydrogen rocket fuel into Atlantis's huge external tank
before dawn to set the stage for a launch attempt at 10:55 a.m. EDT, 24
hours behind schedule because of minor problems last week.
	Wearing bright orange spacesuits, commander John Blaha, 48, co-pilot
Michael Baker, 37, flight engineer G. David Low, 35, Shannon Lucid, 48,
and James Adamson, 45, planned to strap in about three hours before
liftoff.
	But shortly before dawn, NASA spokeswoman Lisa Malone said a critical
computer bolted to main engine No. 3 failed a routine test, raising the
possibility of a launch delay.
	The main engine ``controller'' checks the operation of the powerful
engine 50 times a second during the 8.5-minute climb to space and it
must be working properly before a shuttle can be cleared for takeoff.
	If the controller has to be replaced, launch likely would be delayed
a week or so, based on similar problems in the past.
	The goal of the 42nd shuttle mission, the fourth of six planned for
1991, is the deployment of a $120 million Tracking and Data Relay
Satellite - TDRS - nestled in Atlantis's 60-foot-long cargo bay.
	The 5,000-pound satellite is the fifth in a series of advanced solar-
powered relay stations used to route communications between ground
stations and a multitude of civilian and military spacecraft, including
NASA's Hubble Space Telescope and the recently launched Gamma Ray
Observatory astronomy satellite.
	The flight plan called for Lucid to launch the satellite six hours
and 13 minutes after the shuttle's takeoff.
	The astronauts plan to devote the rest of their mission to carrying
out a smorgasbord of minor on-board science and engineering experiments,
including six devoted to learning more about how to combat the adverse
medical effects of weightlessness.
	Landing is scheduled for the Kennedy Space Center, the first planned
Florida landing since 1985 when the shuttle Discovery suffered major
tire and brake damage during touchdown in a stiff crosswind.
	Since then, NASA's shuttle fleet has been equipped with more heat-
resistant carbon brakes, an improved nosewheel steering system and
stiffer main landing gear axles to minimize brake-damaging flexing on
touchdown.
	Still, if the weather on landing day is not ideal, Atlantis will be
diverted to the broader, more forgiving runways at Edwards Air Force
Base in California's Mojave Desert.
	With two fully operational TDRS satellites in orbit 22,300 miles
above the equator on opposite sides of North America, ground controllers
can stay in contact with shuttle crews over at least 85 percent of each
orbit.
	Three TDRS satellites already are in orbit - a fourth was destroyed
in the Challenger disaster - but only one of them, stationed off the
east coast of Brazil at 41 degrees east longitude, is fully operational
because of technical glitches that limit the usefulness of the other
two.
	The new satellite will replace the third TDRS, currently on station
over the Pacific Ocean, which will be moved to a parking slot over the
Atlantic Ocean site where it will serve as a spare.
	The first TDRS, launched in 1983 and currently stationed over the
Pacific Ocean, will serve as a backup to the new spacecraft.
	With the primary goal of the flight accomplished, Atlantis's
astronauts will turn their attention to on-board experiments.
	Throughout the flight, instruments making up the ``shuttle solar
backscatter ultraviolet'' - SSBUV - payload will be used to study ozone
levels in the upper atmosphere in concert with similar instruments
aboard three weather satellites.
	Data from SSBUV will be used later to recalibrate the satellite-borne
instruments, which have a tendency to become less accurate as time
passes.
	Another major payload-bay experiment involves engineering tests of an
advanced radiator system that utilizes weightlessness to circulate
fluids through tubes without electricity-consuming pumps and other
systems. Such a radiator could prove useful for NASA's planned space
station.

This KSC Status Report was prepared at 6:30 a.m. on Wednesday, July 24.

NASA today postponed the launch of Atlantis and STS-43 due to the failure of a
critical component within a Space Shuttle Main Engine.  A failure of the Main
Engine controller of engine #3 was detected at about 4:30 this morning, and the
launch team immediately began troubleshooting the issue.  After determining
that the problem involved hardware and not software, the launch team began
preparing to recycle the countdown.  An announcement of the postponement came
at about 6 a.m.

The Main Engine controller serves as a self-contained system for engine
control, sensors and valves.  The controller also provides engine flight
readiness and verification, engine start and shutdown sequencing and many other
critical functions of the launch phase of flight.  No new launch date has been
established.   (7/24/91)

  KSC SHUTTLE STATUS REPORT FOR THURSDAY, JULY 25, 1991 - 10 AM

 
          STS-43/TDRS-E - ATLANTIS (OV 104) -  PAD 39-A

WORK IN PROGRESS:
- Launch was postponed yesterday at 5:38 a.m.  EDT when channel A
on the main engine controller for engine no. 3 failed. Both chan-
nels  A and B must be operating prior to launch.  The problem oc-
curred at about 4:30 a.m. and engineers performed tests to try to
determine the cause of the failure before the launch postponement
was announced.
- Offloading liquid oxygen and liquid hydrogen reactants from the
orbiter's onboard storage tanks.

WORK COMPLETED:
- Extension of the rotating service structure around the vehicle.
- Offloading liquid oxygen and liquid hydrogen from the  external
tank.
- Connection of the orbiter midbody umbilical unit to the orbiter
for offloading onboard reactants.

WORK SCHEDULED:
- Access to the aft compartment later this afternoon.
- Installation of platforms in the aft.
- Setting up platforms on the top deck of the mobile launcher
under the no. 3 main engine.
- Removal of heat shields around the main engine tomorrow.
- Removal and replacement of the controller Saturday.
- Testing the new controller Sunday.
- Closeouts of the orbiter for flight Monday.
- Launch targeted for the end of next week.

FLIGHT CREW:
     The  STS-43  crew  departed KSC yesterday at 1:30 p.m.  They
will return three days before launch.


 

STS-43 STATUS UPDATE   7/25/91
4:15 p.m.

                        STS-43 STATUS REPORT

     Preparations for changing out the malfunctioning   main  en-
gine  controller  for the number 3 engine on the orbiter Atlantis
which led to a launch postponement yesterday at 5:38 a.m. EDT are
continuing at the Kennedy Space Center Launch Complex 39-A today.

     One of two channels on  the  controller  failed  during  the
countdown  Wednesday morning;  both channels must be operable for
flight.

     The work schedule now calls for removal and  replacement  of
the controller on Saturday and its testing on Sunday.   Closeouts
of the orbiter for flight could be accomplished as early as  Mon-
day.

     Project  officials have laid out a success-oriented schedule
which could - if no obstacles are encountered - lead to launch of
Atlantis on the STS-43 mission as early as Aug.  2.   All options
are being kept open to prepare for launch as early as Aug. 1 with
a  final decision to be made on Monday after a review of the work
accomplished over the weekend.
 

   KSC SHUTTLE STATUS REPORT FOR FRIDAY, JULY 26, 1991 - 10 AM

 
          STS-43/TDRS-E - ATLANTIS (OV 104) -  PAD 39-A

WORK IN PROGRESS:
- Preparations to replace the no. 3 engine controller.
- Positioning the engines and locking them in place.
- Electrically disconnecting the controller.
- Charging batteries for the Tracking and Data Relay Satellite.

WORK COMPLETED:
- Offloading liquid oxygen and liquid hydrogen reactants from the
orbiter's onboard storage tanks.
- Access to the aft compartment.
- Setting up platforms on the top deck of the mobile launcher
under the no. 3 main engine.

WORK SCHEDULED:
- Removal of heat shields around the main engine overnight.
- Removal and replacement of the controller tomorrow.
- Testing the new controller Sunday.
- Closeouts of the orbiter for flight Monday.
- Launch targeted for the end of next week.

 

   KSC SHUTTLE STATUS REPORT FOR MONDAY, JULY 29, 1991 - 11 AM

 
          STS-43/TDRS-E - ATLANTIS (OV 104) -  PAD 39-A
                       LAUNCH MINUS 3 DAYS


WORK IN PROGRESS:
- Preparations to start the launch countdown at 4 p.m. EDT.
- Closeouts of the aft compartment.
- Installation of heat shields around the no. 3 main engine.

WORK COMPLETED:
- Replacement and successful retest of the no.  3 engine control-
ler.
- Charging batteries for the Tracking and Data Relay Satellite.

WORK SCHEDULED:
-  Loading  of  liquid  oxygen and liquid hydrogen reactants into
the orbiter's onboard storage tanks.
- Closing the aft compartment tomorrow.
- Flight crew arrives tomorrow.
- Retraction of the rotating  service  structure  away  from  the
vehicle Wednesday at 11 a.m.
-  Loading  of  the  external tank for flight begins at 2:41 a.m.
Thursday at the T minus 6 hour mark.
- Launch targeted for 11:01 a.m.  EDT Thursday,  Aug.  1.  Senior
shuttle  managers  will  not  give  a  final go for liftoff until
tomorrow after they have reviewed the data from the failed engine
test at Stennis Space Center last week.

WEATHER FORECAST:
- The probability for being within launch weather criteria at the
opening of the window is 60 percent.  There  is  a  70    percent
chance for good weather for the entire window.

 

  KSC SHUTTLE STATUS REPORT FOR TUESDAY, JULY 30, 1991 - 10 AM

 
          STS-43/TDRS-E - ATLANTIS (OV 104) -  PAD 39-A
                       LAUNCH MINUS 2 DAYS

WORK IN PROGRESS:
- Countdown in a built-in hold at the T-27 hour mark.  The  clock
will resume at noon.
- Removal of platforms from the aft compartment.
-  Final  inspections  and  closeouts  of the aft compartment for
flight.
- Loading of liquid oxygen and liquid hydrogen reactants into the
orbiter's onboard storage tanks.
- Flight crew arrival  at  12:15  p.m.  at  the  Shuttle  Landing
Facility.

WORK COMPLETED:
- Started the launch countdown at 4 p.m. EDT yesterday.
- Removal of non-flight items from the aft compartment.
- Installation of heat shields around the no. 3 main engine.
- Charging batteries for the Tracking and Data Relay Satellite.

WORK SCHEDULED:
-  Activation  of  the orbiter's communications systems begins at
midnight.
- Preparing the main engines and main propulsion system for tank-
ing and launch.
- Retraction of the rotating  service  structure  away  from  the
vehicle Wednesday at 11 a.m.
-  Loading  of  the  external tank for flight begins at 2:41 a.m.
Thursday at the T minus 6 hour mark.
- Launch targeted for 11:01 a.m.  EDT Thursday,  Aug.  1.  Senior
shuttle  managers will not give a final clearance to launch until
later today after the data from the failed engine test at Stennis
Space Center last week has been reviewed.

WEATHER FORECAST:
- The probability for being within launch weather criteria at the
opening of the window is 70  percent.  There  is  an  80  percent
chance  of having acceptable weather for the duration of the win-
dow.

 

Article         8644
From: [email protected] (David Kane)
Newsgroups: sci.space.shuttle
Subject: E-MAIL to Shuttle
Date: 30 Jul 91 16:58:00 GMT
Sender: [email protected] (Mr News)
Organization: SUNY Binghamton
 
NASA is taking a Macintosh Portable up in the space shuttle on the
Mission this week (it's OK -- they added a supplementary engine) and
they are going to be *connecting*to*AppleLink*from*space*.
 
This is very exciting, because it is the *first time ever* that e-mail
will have been sent or received from space (if it works
It's exciting for the astronauts because not only can they send data
files back and forth and send their mission reports in while still on
the mission, but they will also be able to communicate with their
families while they are on the trip.  And that is GREAT!
 
The connection is a little bit more complex than normal ... here is
the journey an AppleLink packet has to take from the GE IS host:
 
The packet goes (digital, X.25) through the GE IS ww network to a
modem pool (converts to analog) which is connected to a ROLM telephone
switch (converts back to digital), then to a data phone at Johnson
Space Center.
 
The data phone is connected to a Mac Portable through its Printer
port.  The packet then goes through a "Data Forwarder" application
written by our own Byron Han (the genius behind this project) which
sends the packet out the Modem port using "NASALink," a CTB tool
specially written for this event (also by Byron).
 
The packet then goes through a PSI Fax Modem (back to analog)
operating in v.27 terr (half duplex, ungodly, and evil) and is then
routed through an ATU (Audio Terminal Unit) which digitizes the signal
(converts to digital).
 
The packet is then sent up to an orbiting CommSat (Commercial
Satellite) then back down to White Sands, New Mexico TDRSS (Tracking
and Data Relay Satellite System).
 
It is then sent up again to another TDRSS Satellite which is orbiting
geosynchronously with the space shuttle, and that satellite sends the
packet to the space shuttle (still digital) which sends it through its
voice subsystem and converts it back to analog.
 
It is sent through another ATU to another PSI Fax modem (back to
digital) through the modem port, through the NASALink CTB tool and
FINALLY into AppleLink 6.0.2s1 (a special version of AppleLink 6.0.2).
 
Whew!  In addition to modifying AppleLink (slightly -- we would have
used 6.1 which has the necessary modifications built in to handle this
amazing connection, but 6.1 wasn't in beta early enough to train the
astronauts how to use it), the portable had to be modified with a
special fuse to prevent accidental turn-on during ascent,
modifications to the trackball so it wouldn't float out of its socket
in 0grav, and the motherboard was sprayed to prevent outgassing.
 
We also thank Maria in ADG for making modifications to the host
software to support this connection.  The original throughput we were
getting was about 110bps, but we've gotten it up to an effective
throughput of 400-800bps!  Alright with the wise cracks.  We're using
an off-the shelf modem ... the IBM system they set up for simple data
file transfer (XModem) requires a $500,000 modem.  (That's another
reason we have to make this work.  We, of course, can do the same
thing in spades.)
 
So, wish us all luck.  We'll need it.  This connection has, of course,
never been tested end to end.  We've only been able to test pieces of it 
at a time.  If it does work, there will be great reason for celebration.
 
"Hello, HelpLine?  Uh, I'm having trouble getting on AppleLink."  "Did
you check all of your connections?"  :+)
 
=================================================================
=                                                               =
=        David Kane   [email protected]	=
= 	                                                        =
=		           "I'm here."			        =
=							        =
=================================================================

    So if this is a first how did they do the source code changes, compile
    and relink as described in 662.132 when the VAX rode in the shuttle?
    Was there any sort of networking with the ground or was it all done
    locally (i.e. by the astronauts cum programmers it seems)? It
    explicitly says in 662.* that the Ethernet controller was _not_ used.

I believe that the source code changes were made by the people at Goddard -
who were controlling the experiment -- that is where the robot that the VAX
controlled was stationed.   No electronic mail or astronaut involvement at
the level of experiment control -- they probably just turned on the power,
etc.

- dave

    re .71
    
>I believe that the source code changes were made by the people at Goddard -
>who were controlling the experiment -- that is where the robot that the VAX
>controlled was stationed.
    
    Yep, now that you mention it I seem to recall that.
    
    But if the VAX is in the shuttle and source code is being re-compiled
    on the VAX, or even just a new .EXE 'down'-loaded, how is that achieved?
    
    >No electronic mail or astronaut involvement at the level of experiment
    >control -- they probably just turned on the power,
    
    Yep, I expect you're right. There would have been no point in sending
    email.

Article         8655
From: [email protected] (Patty Winter)
Newsgroups: sci.space.shuttle
Subject: Re: E-MAIL to Shuttle
Date: 31 Jul 91 05:05:19 GMT
Organization: Apple Computer Inc., Cupertino, CA
 
In article <[email protected]>
[email protected] (David Kane) writes: 

>NASA is taking a Macintosh Portable up in the space shuttle on the
>Mission this week (it's OK -- they added a supplementary engine) and
>they are going to be *connecting*to*AppleLink*from*space*.
 
Somehow the original attribution on this message got lost. It was written
by Michael Silver of Apple, who is evidently going to Houston to coordinate
the project during the flight.
 
>This is very exciting, because it is the *first time ever* that e-mail
>will have been sent or received from space (if it works
 
Ha! Amateur radio operators have been running spaceborne email systems
for a long time! The OSCAR satellites have had BBSs for at least a
couple of years, and the Soviet Mir space station has had one since
this past January. (Some of the email conversations between earthbound
hams and the Mir astronauts have been posted in rec.radio.amateur.packet.)
 
But in all seriousness, the AppleLink experiment will be really nifty. 
Best of luck to everyone involved!
  
Patty 
-- 
===============================================================================
Patty Winter N6BIS			What do they got? A lot of sand!
INTERNET: [email protected]		We got a hot crustacean band!
UUCP: {decwrl,nsc,sun}!apple!winter	We got no troubles, life is de bubbles
AMPR.ORG: [44.4.0.44]			Under the sea.
===============================================================================

        Senior NASA officials today gave the go-ahead to proceed toward the
launch of STS-43 on August 1.  The launch window for Thursday extends from
11:01 a.m. to 3:06 p.m.  EDT. Senior Shuttle managers cleared Atlantis to fly
following a review of the analysis conducted on a non-flight configuration
Shuttle main engine that was damaged during ground testing at the Stennis Space
Center last week.

        Analysis to date points to a failure in the high pressure fuel turbine
on the development test engine.  Space Shuttle main engines are routinely
tested at Stennis Space Center to expand NASA's data base on high time
components and to test and certify new or modified components for later use on
flight engines.

        "All three of Atlantis' main engines have significantly less run time
than components on the development engine that experienced the failure," said
Shuttle Director Robert L. Crippen, "and the fabrication, inspection and repair
histories of these units are well within our experience base for Shuttle
engines."

Re: .74

>        "All three of Atlantis' main engines have significantly less run time
>than components on the development engine that experienced the failure," said
>Shuttle Director Robert L. Crippen, "and the fabrication, inspection and repair
>histories of these units are well within our experience base for Shuttle
>engines."

I hope this remark isn't indicative of the thought processes that are in use,
or they reflect a significant amount of data analysis that is not being
mentioned.

I *hope* Crippen meant that the failure of the development engine is seen
to be related to turbopump wear and tear, and inspection histories, etc.
indicate that while it wasn't expected to fail, it wasn't outside the
design limits (or was quickly approaching them).

If he didn't mean this, then the amount of run time of the engines currently
attached to Atlantis are more or less irrelevant  (e.g., the turbopump failure
could be traced to a generic, non-wear-related, defect).

Likewise, with the failure of the development engine, the "experience base" for
Shuttle engines just widened a bit, didn't it?   A few days seems like an
awfully short time to be so certain.


I hope there is a deeper understanding being employed -- because at face value,
those comments are downright scary (and all too familiar pre-51L-speak).  I'd
feel a whole lot better saying that the risk of failure has increased, but
not enough to stop this flight.   Crippen's comments say (to me) that there is
no increased risk flying with the current engines.


[I apologize for going off on a tangent here...]

- dave

  KSC SHUTTLE STATUS REPORT FOR WEDNESDAY, JULY 31, 1991 - 10 AM

 
          STS-43/TDRS-E - ATLANTIS (OV 104) -  PAD 39-A
                      LAUNCH MINUS ONE DAY

WORK IN PROGRESS:
- Countdown is in a built-in hold of 12 hours,  41 minutes at the
T-11 hour mark. The clock will resume at 8:41 p.m. tonight.
-  Retraction  of  the  rotating  service structure away from the
vehicle at 10 a.m.
- Preparation of the main propulsion system and shuttle main  en-
gines for flight.
- Preparing the launch pad area for launch.
- Installation of flight crew time critical equipment.

WORK COMPLETED:
-  Final  inspections  and  closeouts  of the aft compartment for
flight at 12 noon yesterday.
- Loading of liquid oxygen and liquid hydrogen reactants into the
orbiter's onboard storage tanks from 7 p.m.  to midnight  yester-
day.
-  Disconnection  of  the  orbiter midbody umbilical unit used in
loading the orbiter's storage tanks.
- Activation of the orbiter's communications systems.
- Tail service masts on the mobile launcher platform readied  for
launch.
-  Installation of the crew seats in the orbiter's flight and mid
decks.

WORK SCHEDULED:
- Preparing the fuel cells for launch later tonight.
- Loading of the external tank for flight  begins  at  2:41  a.m.
Thursday at the T minus 6 hour mark.
- Flight crew wake up at 6:06 a.m.
- Crew departs for launch pad at 7:46 a.m.
- Launch targeted for 11:01 a.m. EDT Thursday, Aug. 1. Window ex-
tends until 3:06 p.m.

FLIGHT CREW:
- Crew arrived at the Shuttle Landing Facility at 12:15 p.m. yes-
terday. Commander John Blaha and Pilot Mike Baker flew in Shuttle
Training Aircraft this morning. The five member crew will receive
vehicle, weather and payload briefings today.

WEATHER FORECAST:
- The probability for being within launch weather criteria at the
opening  of  the  window  is  70 percent.  There is an 80 percent
chance of having acceptable weather for the duration of the  win-
dow.

 

Article         8666
From: [email protected]
Newsgroups: sci.space.shuttle
Subject: Re: E-MAIL to Shuttle
Date: 1 Aug 91 05:15:27 GMT
Sender: [email protected] (USENET News System)
Organization: NASA Johnson Space Center
 
In article <[email protected]>,
[email protected] (David Kane) writes: 

> NASA is taking a Macintosh Portable up in the space shuttle on the
> Mission this week (it's OK -- they added a supplementary engine) and
> they are going to be *connecting*to*AppleLink*from*space*.
 
The e-mail test is only a portion of one of the Development Test Objectives
(DTO) which is being flown on this flight.  A brief description of the DTO
is provided for those who wish to continue reading.
 
DTO 1208 - Space Station Cursor Control Device Evaluation II and Advanced
Applications
 
Purpose/Objectives
 
1.  The purpose of the cursor control device experiment is to evaluate human
    performance under space flight conditions of cursor control devices which
    are similar to the devices under consideration for Space Station.  The
    cursor control devices to be tested are Apple Macintosh Portable computer
    compatible:
 
    a:  The built-in Macintosh trackball
    b:  An A+ optical mouse
    c:  A trackball with restraint rail
    d:  A thumball/handgrip control device
 
2.  One of the advanced Space Station software applications to be tested 
    supports the Space Station requirements for an electronic Flight Data
    File, i.e., the Operations Data File.  The other advanced applications are
    derived from crew requirements for electronic data transfer between ground
    and onboard computer, i.e., the Space Station Multipurpose Applications
    Console (MPAC) and portable computers for payload support and personal use.
 
Test Conditions/Activity Required
 
1.  Cursor Control Device Evaluation
 
    Two crewmembers will be designated to participate in the control device
    evaluations.  It would be desirable to have other crew members participate
    as well if time allows.  The designated crew members will perform two data
    collection runs at each experiment session (total of four sessions per
    crew member).
 
    Total Performance time is as follows:
 
    Task Setup - 5 minutes
    Task Performance - 14 minutes
    Questionnaire (last day only) - 5 minutes
    Copy data to diskette (once per day or session) - 1 minute
    Stow computer and control device - 5 minutes
 
    Total Time:  Initial days - max of 25 minutes per day per crew member
                 Last day - max. of 30 minutes per crew member
 
2.  MacSPOC:
 
    MacSPOC will be available to the crew on an as needed basis.  First use
    setup time is approximately 10 minutes to reset the Macintosh clock.
 
3.  The Operations Data File:
 
    The Operations Data File will be available to the crew on an as needed
    basis to provide support for the crew and the Payload Operations
    Checklist.
 
4.  Data Transfer Applications:
 
    The electronic bulletin board/file transfer and WristMac applications will
    take approximately 15 minutes each day.  Bulletin board/file transfer
    application will be available on a non-interference basis with other
    support functions required of the computer.  Data transfers will be
    scheduled in the flight plan.
 
This DTO is scheduled daily begining on flight day 3 and continuing through
flight day 9.  The crew members assigned to the DTO are Shannon Lucid, David
Low and James Adamson.
 
Another electronic file transfer DTO is also being flown on this flight.
 
DTO 799 - PGSC/PADM Air/Ground Communications Demonstration
 
Purpose/Objective
 
To demonstrate the operational capability of the integrated Payload
and General Support Computer/Portable Audio Data Modem (PGSC/PADM)
system to uplink and downlink data files via the orbiter voice
communications link. 
 
Data Requirements
 
Data files will be transfered from a test floppy disk in the PGSC on the
ground to a floppy disk in the onboard PGSC.  Data files will also be
transfered from the onboard system to the ground system.  Multiple error
detection protocols will be used for the transmissions.
 
DTO Success Criteria
 
Error free 10K byte files will be uplinked/downlinked in 10 minutes or
less with nominal STS communication link performance.
 
This DTO is scheduled on flight days 2, 4, 5 and 6.  The crew members assigned
to the DTO are Shannon Lucid and David Low.
 
---
 
Pat Oliver  - Lockheed Engineering & Sciences Company at JSC
              [email protected]

	So have they launched yet, it was scheduled for 11:01 am.

	Susan

    As of 11am they were in an extended hold at T-9mins. On of the orbiter
    cabin vents was not closing (or at least the sensor indicates that it
    is not closing). I thought I heard that the cabin pressure test was
    failing also (seal the cabin and pump up to a few psi above ambient to
    ensure that the vents are closed and sealed).
    
    gary

    
    	The launch has been scrubbed for today due to high winds. At this
    time, they haven't rescheduled it.
    
    				Drew
    

    I had a feeling they wouldn't launch today, although I thought they
    would scrub because of the cabin vent problem. WX for tomorrow looked
    good, I wonder what is going on?
    
    gary

Article         1562
From: [email protected] (WILLIAM HARWOOD, UPI Science Writer)
Newsgroups: clari.tw.space,clari.news.aviation,clari.news.bulletin
Subject: Shuttle launch delayed to Friday
Date: 1 Aug 91 18:00:08 GMT
  
	CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (UPI) -- The shuttle Atlantis's planned Thursday
launch on a twice-delayed $500 million flight was postponed another 24
hours to Friday because of a last-minute glitch, high winds and clouds
over the ship's emergency runway.
	Atlantis's frustrated four-man, one-woman crew climbed out of the $2
billion spaceplane around 1:30 p.m. EDT while engineers drained rocket
fuel and reset critical systems for a fourth launch try at 11:02 a.m.
EDT Friday.
	``We'll do it when you all are ready,'' commander John Blaha radioed
the launch team before leaving the shuttle.
	Already running nine days late because of a faulty engine computer
and a broken wire in a critical circuit, Blaha, 48, co-pilot Michael
Baker, 37, flight engineer G. David Low, 35, Shannon Lucid, 48, and
James Adamson, 45, originally were scheduled for takeoff at 11:01 a.m.
Thursday.
	But launch director Robert Sieck held up the countdown at the T-minus
9-minute mark after readings indicated a valve used to control crew
cabin air pressure was not closed for takeoff.
	A team of engineers returned to the launch pad and conducted time-
consuming tests that showed the valve was, in fact, working properly.
	But by that time, another problem had developed: high winds and fast-
moving clouds that built up near the Kennedy Space Center's 3-mile-long
shuttle runway where the astronauts would have to attempt an emergency
landing in the event of a main engine failure shortly after liftoff.
	``I think it's one of those days,'' chief astronaut Daniel
Brandenstein radioed from a weather observation aircraft.
	With no signs of improvement, Sieck reluctantly canceled the
countdown at 12:28 p.m. to give engineers time to drain rocket fuel from
Atlantis's external tank and to rig the ship for a Friday launch try.
	``Based on the dynamic conditions of the weather and the fact that
we're expecting it to deteriorate ... we want to go ahead and scrub for
the day and go into a recycle so we'll have a chance ... tomorrow,''
Sieck radioed the launch team.
	It was the third frustrating delay in a row for NASA and Atlantis's
crew, which had hoped to finally kick off a nine-day flight, the fourth
of six planned for 1991.
	But in the wake of the 1986 Challenger disaster, NASA beefed up its
launch safety guidelines, making it more difficult to get space shuttles
off the ground. Of the 41 flights to date, 13 were launched on time
after the start of a countdown, but only two of those were post-
Challenger missions.
	Atlantis's launch on the 42nd shuttle mission originally was
scheduled for liftoff July 23, but before the countdown started NASA
managers ordered a one-day delay for work to fix a broken wire in a
circuit used to jettison the shuttle's external fuel tank.
	Blaha and his colleagues came within six hours of launch July 24 only
to be grounded by a faulty main engine computer. Work to replace the $4
million ``controller'' delayed a third launch try to Thursday.
	The goal of the flight is the deployment of a $120 million Tracking
and Data Relay Satellite, the fifth in a series of TRW-built solar-
powered relay stations used to route communications between ground
stations, shuttles and other satellites.
	Once the satellite is safely on its way, the astronauts plan to
devote the rest of the flight to carrying out relatively minor on-board
experiments, including six devoted to learning more about how the human
body adapts to weightlessness.
	Landing is scheduled for the Kennedy Space Center, the first planned
Florida landing since 1985 when the shuttle Discovery suffered major
tire and brake damage during touchdown in a stiff crosswind.
	The satellite carried aboard Atlantis is the fifth in a series of 
``TDRS'' relay stations that have a history of technical problems.
	Three such satellites were in orbit prior to Atlantis's mission -- a
fourth was destroyed in the 1986 Challenger disaster -- but only one of
them, stationed off the east coast of Brazil at 41 degrees east
longitude, is fully operational because of technical glitches that limit
the usefulness of the other two.
	The new satellite will replace the third TDRS, currently on station
over the Pacific Ocean, which will be moved to a parking slot over the
Atlantic Ocean site where it will serve as a spare.
	The first TDRS, launched in 1983 and currently stationed over the
Pacific Ocean, will serve as a backup to the new spacecraft.

        re: .-2
        
        After fueling the ET, any scrup is at least a 48 hour delay. It
        takes that long to drain the tank, and recondition it before it
        can be loaded again. If they stopped before the fuel load (around
        midnight), then they could recycle for the next day.

    re .-1
    
    Evidently not as they are going for Friday, and the ET was loaded.
    
    gary

    They probably avoided doing the boil-off and helium purge and left the
    tank "at temperature" since they didn't need vehicle access for this
    scrub. Things are on track (for 11:02am) as of the 7am EST CNN radio news.

Article         1568
From: [email protected] (WILLIAM HARWOOD, UPI Science Writer)
Newsgroups: clari.tw.space,clari.news.aviation,clari.news.bulletin
Subject: Shuttle Atlantis roars to space
Date: 2 Aug 91 15:04:26 GMT
  
	CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (UPI) -- The shuttle Atlantis and its five-member
crew rocketed away Friday on a thrice-delayed $500 million flight to
launch a NASA communications satellite and to study the medical effects
of weightlessness.

	Running 10 days late because of a faulty engine computer, a broken
wire and bad weather Thursday, Atlantis's solid-fuel boosters ignited
with a ground-shaking burst of fire and smoke on time at 11:02 a.m. EDT
to kick off a nine-day mission.

	Strapped in aboard the $2 billion shuttle were commander John Blaha,
48, co-pilot Michael Baker, 37, flight engineer G. David Low, 35,
Shannon Lucid, 48, and James Adamson, 45. Blaha and Lucid are making
their third flight while Low and Adamson have one previous flight to
their credit. Baker is a rookie.

	Emitting a crackling roar that shook the ground for miles around,
Atlantis knifed through a blue sky and arced east over the Atlantic
Ocean as it thundered away toward a 184-mile-high orbit.

	Mounted in the ship's 60-foot-long payload bay was a $120 million
Tracking and Data Relay Satellite, the fifth in a series of solar-
powered spacecraft forming a globe-spanning communications network that
keeps NASA in contact with shuttle crews and other satellites over 85
percent of their orbits.

	Lucid, working at a control panel on Atlantis's flight deck, was
scheduled to launch the new ``TDRS'' -- pronounced TEE'-druss -- into open
space six hours and 13 minutes after takeoff.

	A $60 million two-stage solid-fuel booster was primed to fire an hour
later to begin the satellite's trip to an orbital outpost 22,300 miles
above the Pacific Ocean equator. The booster's second stage was
scheduled to finish the job 12 hours after Atlantis's launch.

	Three TDRS satellites already were in orbit -- a fourth was destroyed
in the Challenger disaster -- but two of them are only partially
operational because of electrical glitches that limit the amount of data
they can transmit and receive.

	The new TDRS will give NASA a fully operational system and improve
the agency's ability to collect data from shuttles and science
satellites like the Hubble Space Telescope and the recently launched
Gamma Ray Observatory.

	After accomplishing the primary objective of their mission, the
Atlantis astronauts planned to turn their attention to carrying out a
battery of minor on-board experiments, including six devoted to learning
more about how the human body adapts to weightlessness.

	Atlantis's flight originally was scheduled to last just five days,
but NASA managers decided last year to extend the mission to nine days
to give the crew more time to gather medical data.

	Learning more about how to combat the deleterious effects of
weightlessness is required before astronauts can be cleared for planned
16-day shuttle flights and much longer stays aboard NASA's planned space
station.

	If all goes well, Blaha and Baker will close out the eight-day, 21-
hour, 17-minute mission with a touchdown on the Kennedy Space Center's
3-mile-long shuttle runway just a few miles west of the crew's launch pad.

	Landing will mark the first planned Florida shuttle touchdown since
April 1985 when the shuttle Discovery suffered major tire and brake
damage during touchdown in a brisk crosswind.

	Since then, NASA has used the broader, more forgiving runways at
Edwards Air Force Base, Calif., as the shuttle's primary landing site,
although two recent missions ended at the Kennedy Space Center because
of bad Mojave Desert weather.

	NASA's shuttle fleet now is equipped with tougher brakes and other
safety improvements, prompting NASA managers earlier this summer to
order the resumption of routine shuttle landings in Florida, weather
permitting.

	Atlantis originally was scheduled for liftoff July 23, but the flight
was delayed one day before the countdown even began because of work to fix 
a broken wire in a circuit used to jettison the ship's external fuel tank.

	The crew's second launch attempt ended in failure July 24, six hours
before takeoff, when a computer bolted to one of the ship's three main
engines malfunctioned because of a broken solder joint.

	Work to replace the faulty ``controller'' delayed the flight to
Thursday, but launch was delayed a third time because of work to check
out a suspect valve in the ship's crew cabin and, ultimately, high winds
and clouds over the shuttle's emergency runway.

    STS 43 Estimated Keplerian Elements
     
    STS-43
    1 00043U 91 40  A 91214.67708334  .00025000  00000-0  12000-3 0    13
    2 00043  28.4500   7.7627 0000034  87.2874 272.7734 15.85895359    22
     
    Satellite: STS-43
    Catalog number: 00043
    Epoch time:      91214.67708334        (02 AUG 91   16:15:00.00 UTC)
    Element set:     JSC-001
    Inclination:       28.4500 deg
    RA of node:         7.7627 deg          Space Shuttle Flight STS-43
    Eccentricity:     .0000034                  Keplerian Elements
    Arg of perigee:    87.2874 deg
    Mean anomaly:     272.7734 deg
    Mean motion:   15.85895359 rev/day              OBITAL MECHANICS
    Decay rate:       2.50E-04 rev/day^2      NASA Johnson Space Center
    Epoch rev:               2
    

                                                                           
            MCC Status Report #1
            MET 00/09:00
            Flt. Day 1  Aug. 2, 1991
     
    STS-43 crew members successfully deployed the Tracking and
    Data Relay Satellite and its inertial upper stage from
    Atlantis' payload bay today on time at a MET of 00/06:12 or
    about 4:15 p.m.  CDT.  There were no systems problems that
    affected the deploy.
     
    About 15 minutes after the deploy, the crew performed an
    orbital maneuvering system separation burn that moved the
    orbiter into an inertial upper stage viewing attitude so that
    the crew could observe the TDRS/IUS combination as it drifted
    away from the orbiter and record it on videotape. The
    separation burn, which lasted about 17 seconds, moved the
    orbiter into a higher and slower orbit so that Atlantis fell
    behind the IUS/TDRS spacecraft.
     
    At a MET of 00/06:50 when Atlantis was at a safe separation
    distance from the IUS/TDRS combination, Orbit 2 Flight
    Director Rob Kelso officially handed over the payload
    operations to the IUS flight director at the Sunnyvale,
    Calif., ground control center, Capt. Rick Kellog, and the TDRS
    flight director, Rick Beck, at the White Sands, N.M. ground
    terminal.
     
    About 40 minutes after the deploy, the crew then maneuvered
    Atlantis into a protective attitude to protect the orbiter's
    windows and tiles from any debris that emerged from the IUS
    nozzles when it fired.
     
    The IUS fired its first stage at a MET of 00/07:13 or about
    5:15 p.m. CDT sending the TDRS into its transfer orbit ranging
    from 160 nautical miles to a geosynchronous altitude. The second
    IUS burn was set for approximately 10:30 p.m. CDT to round out
    the orbit at about 22,000 miles high.
     
    Crew members are scheduled to begin their sleep period at a
    MET of 00/10:00 or about 8:00 p.m.
    
    ----------------------------------------------------------------------- 
    MISSION CONTROL STATUS REPORT #2
    4:30 a.m. CDT  Saturday, August 3
     
     
    All activities with the Tracking and Data Relay Satellite and
    its Interial Upper Stage carrier were completed as scheduled
    following the deploy of the TDRS/IUS stack Friday afternoon.
     
     
    The IUS's second solid rocket motor performed its 112-second
    burn at 10:32 p.m. Central (12:30 MET) followed by a 121-
    second reaction control system burn. TDRS then successfully
    deployed its antennas and solar array panels. Separation of
    the TDRS and IUS vehicles occured at 11:11 p.m. Central
    (13:09:35 MET).
     
     
    Separation of the IUS signalled the end of the carrier's
    mission, but began the on-orbit check-out period of TDRS-E.
    Following the 60-90 day check-out, TDRS-E will be moved to
    its final position over the Pacific Ocean. TDRS-E is now one
    of four satellites that will provide a minimum of 85 percent
    communcations coverage on each orbit for spacecraft using the
    system.
     
     
    Atlantis continues to perform well with only minor problems.
    Controllers are transmitting messages to the crew via the
    teleprinter due to a ground configuration problem with the
    text and graphics system. Also, crew members reported an
    overtemp message on the forward starboard payload bay camera.
    Camera D has been powered down for the remainder of the
    flight.
     
     
    All went smoothly on the overnight shift. Crew members will
    be awakened at 5:02 a.m. Central for their second day in
    space during which the five astronauts will begin their work
    with the secondary payloads. Activities include operations
    with the Bioserve ITA Material Dispersion Apparatus, the
    Shuttle Solar Backscatter Ultraviolet instrument, the Space
    Station Heat Pipe Advanced Radiator Element and the Space
    Acceleration Measurement System.
     
     
    Atlantis is currently in a 178 x 166 nm orbit.
    

        MISSION CONTROL CENTER
        STS-43 Status Report #03


Saturday, August 3, 1991, 11 a.m. CDT


Midway through their second day in orbit, the space shuttle
Atlantis astronauts began a series of experiments and tests which
will each uniquely contribute to the development techniques and
technologies for extended duration Shuttle missions and the Space
Station Freedom.

The crew began performing measurements this morning of
ultraviolet content in direct solar radiation to compare with
measurements of ultraviolet light in radiation reflected off
the Earth's atmosphere below.  This information, derived from
the finely calibrated Shuttle Solar Backscatter Ultraviolet
experiment, can be used to determine ozone distribution in
the atmosphere and will be used to improve the accuracy of
ozone-measuring instruments on weather satellites in orbit.

The crew also activated the Bioserve ITA Materials Dispersion
Apparatus, an experiment that will investigate methods of
biomedical manufacturing processes and potential commercial
applications.

Later today, the crew will activate the Space Station Heat
Radiator Experiment to study heat dissipation techniques that
could have applications for Space Staton cooling systems.

The only unresolved Orbiter system anomaly at this point is
the failure of a cryogenic hydrogen tank heater to operate in
the automatic mode.  Flight controllers plan to activate that
heater later in the mission in the manual mode to test the
unit.  In the meantime, a backup heater is performing well,
providing all the necessary heating to the tank.


------------------------------------------------------------------------

        MISSION CONTROL CENTER
        STS-43 Status Report #04


Saturday, August 3, 1991, 3 p.m. CDT


STS-43 crew members are wrapping up their work on various
experiments, preparing to end their second day in orbit.

The crew maneuvered Atlantis into a payload bay-to-Earth attitude
to support the Space Station Heatpipe Advanced Radiator Element
II (SHARE II), a payload bay experiment.  SHARE II will test
whether a natural process that uses no moving parts could serve
as a dependable, durable cooling system for Space Station
Freedom.  Using two 6-inch heatpipe radiator panels, SHARE II's
objective is to achieve uninterrupted performance in two orbital
attitudes that put the experiment in two different temperatures:
payload bay-to-Earth, a warm radiator attitude, and tail-to-Sun,
a cool radiator attitude.

SHARE II will be operated in the warm environment for six hours
in this first data take.  So far, the payloads officer has
reported that both heatpipe designs on board, monogroove and
 graded groove pipes, have peformed well.  No bubble problems
have occurred such as those found during SHARE I on STS-29 in
March 1989.  On that flight, a large vapor bubble formed in the
condenser of the heatpipe, keeping the radiator from functioning.

Commander John Blaha, Pilot Mike Baker and Mission Specialist
G. David Low also have participated in a supplementary objective
to measure the variability of blood pressure during space flight,
called DSO 602.  For the medical experiment, crew members wear
equipment that measures their heart rates and blood pressure and
keep track of their individual activities, moods and positions
during the recording sessions.  The experiment may help determine
if arterial blood pressure and heart rate changes less in
weightlessness than it does on Earth.

The crew will go to sleep tonight at about 8:32 p.m. CDT.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

MISSION CONTROL STATUS REPORT #5
4:30 a.m. CDT -- Sunday, August 4, 1991
Flight Day 3


All was quiet overnight as STS-43 continues to progress
smoothly with very few problems.


Flight controllers spent the night monitoring systems and
preparing messages to send to the crew in the morning, before
the five astronauts begin another busy day on orbit.


Included in the Flight Day 3 activities are sessions in the
Lower Body Negative Pressure Unit for Mission Specialist
David Low and Pilot Mike Baker.  In the microgravity environment
of space human body fluid has a tendancy to shift
upward.  The LBNP unit, which is stowed in a middeck locker,
uses negative pressure to draw fluids into the lower part of
the body.  This procedure is being tested as a countermeasure
for orthostatic intolerance or the tendancy to feel
lightheaded upon return to Earth's gravity.


Crew members also will continue their work with the Shuttle
Solar Backscatter Ultraviolet instrument and change an optical
disk in the Space Acceleration Measurement System.


Atlantis, making its ninth flight, is performing very well.


-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

        MISSION CONTROL STATUS REPORT #6
        5:30 p.m. CDT -- Sunday, August 4, 1991
        Flight Day 3

STS-43 Pilot Mike Baker and Mission Specialist G. David Low
spent much of their third day in space operating a middeck
experiment, the Lower Body Negative Pressure (LBNP) unit.

The experiment requires the use of a collapsible device that
uses negative pressure to draw body fluids into the subject's
lower extremities. In microgravity, body fluids shift upward. The
LBNP unit is being tested as a countermeasure to offset the fluid
shift which can result in a crew member's tendancy to feel
lightheaded when returning to Earth's gravity.  The flight
surgeon reported that good data was collected today.
This experiment also was conducted on STS-32 and Low, an STS-32
crew member, participated in it during that mission as well.

The crew and flight controllers continue attempts to photograph
Hurricane Fefa in the Pacific Ocean. At last report, the
hurricane had winds of 90 knots with gusts to 110 knots,
indicating it had strengthened overnight. Feta is located about
800 nautical miles east of Hawaii.  Current predictions are that
it will pass north of the Hawaiian Islands.  Earth Observation
experts also are interested in the crew's observations of a new
tropical depression forming just south of the Mexican coast. The
system is expected to intensify during the next 24 hours.

Checkout of the Tracking and Data Relay Satellite E,
deployed from Atlantis' payload bay Friday, is proceeding as
expected. At about 6 p.m. CDT, one-pound thrusters on the TDRS
will fire to begin moving the communications satellite to its
checkout position at 150 degrees west longitude. The TDRS will
slowly drift to that position over the next few days.

Crew members maneuvered Atlantis into an Earth viewing attitude,
payload bay facing Earth, to support of the Shuttle Solar
Backscatter Ultraviolet (SSBUV) instrument. The SSBUV is
contained in two Get Away Special canisters in the payload bay,
and its measurements assist in fine-tuning ozone-measuring
instruments aboard other satellites.

All systems onboard Atlantis continue to function normally. The
crew sleep period was scheduled to begin at about 7 p.m. Sunday
and end at 3:02 a.m. Monday.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

        MISSION CONTROL STATUS REPORT #7
        4:30 a.m. CDT -- Monday, August 5
        Flight Day 4

Astronauts aboard the Space Shuttle Atlantis were awakened
this morning just after 3 a.m. CDT with a custom music medley
sung by friends of the STS-43 crew from Rockwell-Downey, in
California.  The inspiring tunes marked the beginning of flight
day four, during which the Atlantis crew will continue
investigations into the ozone content of the Earth's atmosphere
below, conduct engineering evaluations of a heat dissipation
system design, and demonstrate an optical communications device
which may improve communications with space walking astronauts in
the future.

The Optical Communications through the Window payload employs an
optical coupler with a fiber-optic line that transmits video
through the windows of the aft flight deck. Crew members will use
a test signal from the crew cabin television system and process
it through the fiber-optic line to a receiver module in the
payload bay. The payload bay module will then send the signal
back to the crew cabin. By comparing the two signals,
investigators will be able to assess the quality of the system.

Astronauts John Blaha, Mike Baker, Shannon Lucid, David Low, and
Jim Adamson continue remain on schedule with all their assigned
tasks with no small thanks to the near flawless performance of
Atlantis and experiment systems.

The crew and flight controllers will be watching for
opportunities today to make additional observations of Hurricane
Fefa and tropical storm Guillermo, both in the Pacific Ocean.

The Tracking and Data Relay Satellite-E, designated TDRS-5 after
reaching geosynchronous orbit, completed all of its antennas and
appendages deployments Saturday at approximately 4:00 a.m. CDT.
The spacecraft is operating and responding to ground commands
extremely well.


All TDRS/IUS deployment phases performed so well that the
spacecraft's antennas and appendages were deployed earlier than
planned.  Maneuvering the spacecraft to its checkout position
also will begin ahead of schedule.


This evening the spacecraft will begin its drift to 150 degrees,
where the White Sands Ground Terminal operators will perform the
60-90 day spacecraft systems checkout. TDRS-5 will move 5 degrees
per day and reach its checkout position in about 5-6 days.
TDRS-5 was inserted in an orbit of 178 degrees west longitude,
West of Hawaii.


After the spacecraft's checkout, TDRS-5 will be maneuvered to 174
degrees west longitude to take over that position presently
occupied by TDRS-3. TDRS-3 will be moved to 62 degrees west
longitude, becoming an on-orbit spare.  TDRS-4 will remain at 41
degrees west longitude and TDRS-1 at 171 west longitude.
  

Is this mission being carried on NASA Select -- its blacked out
on our local cable.

  It appears that there is a blind spot in TDRS coverage somewhere over India
and Pakistan. If one TDRS is at 41 west, and the other is at 175 west, then the
area from about 65 east to 90 east should be over the horizon for both. Is that
correct? 

  If that's not the case, why? Is the fact that they are 150+ miles above
Earth enough to keep a TDRS in sight at all times?

  If it is the case, then why don't they put one of the spares in the blind
spot? 

  George

    Re:.93
    
    	I forget the exact size of the TDRS coverage blindspot but your
    estimate is probably a bit large mainly because an orbiting spacecraft
    can be seen for more than 180 degrees of it orbit from TDRS due to its
    altitude above Earth's surface. As far as moving one of the spare
    TDRS's (or is that TDRSi? :-) ) to cover the blind spot, it can't be
    done. The TDRS satellites have to be within view of their control
    center located in White Sands, NM. A TDRS that could cover the blind
    spot would be below the horizon as seen from White Sands. It would
    require either another tracking station and relay satellite to support
    it (which would require beaucoup bucks) or have an inter-TDRS relay
    capability (which would require a bigger, more complicated TDRS =
    beaucoup bucks) to eliminate the blind spot. 
    	The small blind spot is the result of an obvious design trade off 
    to help minimize the costs of the total relay system.
    
    				Drew
    

  Ah HA, I didn't realize they couldn't do TDRS to TDRS.

  That explains it. Thanks,
  George

    Re. .93:
    
>  If that's not the case, why? Is the fact that they are 150+ miles above
                                                          ^^^^^^^^^^
>Earth enough to keep a TDRS in sight at all times?
    
    No-one has picked this up. TDRS satellites are in geostationary orbit.
    That's a little higher than 150 miles! It's nearer 22,000 miles.
    
    
    Dave Hazel

    I read the "they" as the shuttle.
    

       Mission Control Status Report #8
        Flight Day 4

STS-43 crew members have begun to wrap up a busy and productive day of payload
operations and medical investigations.

Crew members operated the Optical Communications Through the Window (OCTW)
payload today.  This experiment tests the transmission of video through the aft
flight deck window via an optical coupler and a fiber optic line.  A test
signal to and from the crew cabin television system was sent through the fiber
optic line to a receiver in Atlantis' payload bay.  Although a configuration
problem was encountered with the first data take, the system was reconfigured
and additional data takes were successful.

The cell syringe activities that are part of the Bioserve Instrumentation
Technology Associates Materials Dispersion Apparatus (BIMDA) were completed
early today.  Although there was some leaking with the syringe compounds, crew
members cleaned up the non-toxic compound and investigators reported they were
able to retrieve some science from this portion of the BIMDA payload.  The cell
syringes are one of three elements in this payload that is designed to
investigate the methods and commercial potential of biomedical and fluid
science applications in microgravity.

The Space Station Heatpipe Advanced Radiator Element II (SHARE II) was operated
for a second time in a cool attitude with the orbiter's tail facing the sun.
SHARE II is a test of a cooling system for Space Station Freedom that uses two
radiator panels that are six inches wide and 23 feet long.  The SHARE II will
be tested to its limits during STS-43 with a gradual increase in its heat load.
Investigators are interested in learning how well the experiment recovers after
being dried out.

Other activities today included: Detailed Test Objective (DTO) 799, in which
digital data files were transferred between a test floppy disk in the Payload
and General Support Computer on the ground to a floppy disk in the onboard
payload support computer; and DTO 1208, Space Station Cursor Control Device
Evaluation II and Advanced Applications, in which crew members used four
different types of computer trackballs with a MacIntosh computer to evaluate
which trackball they preferred.  The cursor control devices are similar to
devices being considered for use on Space Station Freedom.

Atlantis this afternoon flew over Hurricane Guillermo which is off the western
coastline of Mexico in the Pacific Ocean. The crew and ground controllers also
continue to watch the progress of Hurricane Fefa east of the Hawaiian Islands.

The in-flight crew conference between STS-43 and seven television stations
affiliated with Conus Communications has been moved from Saturday to Tuesday.
The 20-minute conference, which will be broadcast on NASA Select, now is
scheduled for MET 4/01:50 or 11:52 a.m.  CDT.

Astronauts are scheduled to begin their sleep period at about 7 p.m.  CDT. They
will be awakened at about 3 a.m.  CDT Tuesday.

The orbiter continues to perform well and there are no major systems problems.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

        MISSION CONTROL STATUS REPORT #9
        4:30 a.m. CDT -- Tuesday, Aug. 6, 1991.
        Flight Day 5

Music of the Clear Lake High School Orchestra greeted the
crew of STS-43 this morning, rousing the astronauts for a fifth
day in space.

Today, the five-member crew will continue working with the
secondary payloads and conduct an in-flight press conference
hosted by Conus Communications. Media representatives from New
York, Los Angeles, Houston, San Antonio, Oklahoma City and
Minneapolis will have the opportunity to question the crew about
its activities in space.

Overnight, the control team opted to keep the Space Station Heat
Pipe Advanced Radiator Element-II operating at a low-power
setting. At the start of the STS-43 SHARE-II data takes, the
experiment experienced gas bubble blockage and the subsequent
recovery in the monogroove heat pipe. After the bubbles cleared,
there was no evidence that they reformed during the remainder of
the six-hour test. By operating the payload overnight,
investigators hoped to confirm that the bubble formation is only
a characteristic of the start-up procedures. It also will give
the SHARE-II team data on long-term operation of both designs.

The retake of the hot test for the Optical Communication Through
the Window payload has been scheduled for Saturday, flight day
nine. Monday's hot test -- a reference to the orbiter's thermal
attitude -- did not go as well as hoped due to a configuration
problem. The problem was fixed, however, for the following cold
test.

Atlantis continues to perform very well with no major systems
anomalies.
  

   KSC SHUTTLE STATUS REPORT FOR MONDAY, AUG. 5, 1991 - 10 AM

 
        STS-43/TDRS-E - ATLANTIS (OV 104) -  FLIGHT DAY 4

     Launch pad 39-A  sustained  minimal  damage  from  Atlantis'
launch  last Friday at 11:02:00.0432 a.m.  EDT.  The first launch
attempt on Thursday was postponed because of  a  problem  with  a
cabin vent valve and dynamic weather conditions in the area.

     The solid rocket boosters arrived at Hangar AF at 12:30 p.m.
Saturday.  No unusual anomalies have been reported. The exit cone
has been removed from the right booster. High pressure water will
be used to strip the boosters of the thermal protective foam.

     End of mission landing of Mission STS-43 is planned  at  KSC
on Sunday, Aug. 11, at 8:19 a.m. EDT on orbit 142.

 

   KSC SHUTTLE STATUS REPORT FOR TUESDAY, AUG. 6, 1991 - 11 AM

 
        STS-43/TDRS-E - ATLANTIS (OV 104) -  FLIGHT DAY 5


     The STS-43 solid rocket boosters are being stripped of ther-
mal protective foam with a hydrolasing technique using high pres-
sure water.   The motor segments will be disassembled and shipped
back  to  Thiokol in Utah for refurbishment.  The aft and forward
sections will be refurbished here at KSC by USBI.

     The mobile launcher platform used to launch STS-43 is  being
transferred  today  from Launch Pad 39-A to the park site located
just outside of the Vehicle Assembly Building.

     End of mission landing of Mission STS-43 is planned  at  KSC
on Sunday, Aug. 11, at 8:23 a.m. EDT, on orbit 142.

 

        MISSION CONTROL CENTER
        STS-43 Status Report #10

Tuesday, August 6, 1991, 2:30 p.m. CDT


STS-43 crew members completed their work with the Shuttle Solar
Backscatter UltraViolet (SSBUV) instrument which is contained in
two Get Away Special canisters in the Space Shuttle Atlantis'
payload bay.  The instrument is designed to check the calibration
of ozone sounders on satellites to verify the accuracy of
atmospheric ozone and solar irradiance data measured by those
satellites.  Today, Atlantis positioned its payload bay to face
the sun so the instrument could observe solar irradiance.
Following the instrument's calibration period, investigations
ended with this experiment.

All five crew members participated in an in-flight press
conference hosted by Conus Communications network.  Interviewers
at television stations in New York, Houston, San Antonio,
Oklahoma City and Minneapolis quizzed crew members about their
activities in space.

Crew members also exercised the Optical Communications Through
the Window payload.  This experiment tests the transmission of
video through the aft flight deck window via an optical coupler
and a fiber optic line.  A test signal to and from the crew cabin
television system was sent through the fiber optic line to a
receiver in Atlantis' payload bay.  A loose cable interrupted the
morning's OCTW take, but crew members attempted to fix the
problem by taping the cable and securing the connection. At mid-
afternoon, ground flight controllers were waiting to hear the
results of the recent activity.

The astronauts are scheduled to begin their sleep period about 6
p.m. CDT and will be awakened at about 2 a.m. CDT Wednesday.

        MCC STATUS REPORT #11
        4 a.m. CDT -- Flight Day 6

The crew aboard the Space Shuttle Atlantis was awakened this
morning by the sounds of the late Louis Armstrong, singing "What
a Wonderful World," a favorite of Pilot Mike Baker.

The wakeup call came at 2 a.m. CDT, one hour earlier than the
previous two days, as crew days are being shifted earlier each
day in preparation for a morning landing on Sunday.

Highlights of the crew's sixth day on orbit will include a test
of the Space Station Heat Pipe Advanced Radiator Elements, or
SHARE II.  In today's test, Atlantis will be maneuvered to induce
acceleration in the cooling fluid in the heat pipes, forcing the
fluid from the condensing end of the system.  Investigators are
interested in determining how much time is needed for the system
to reprime itself and begin the heat rejection process over
again.

Commander John Blaha will conduct an experiment designed to study
the development of polymer membranes in microgravity.  Such
membranes are commonly used in such earthly applications as water
desalinization and kidney dialysis.

Later in the day, the crew will photograph the glowing effect of
atomic oxygen interacting with the orbiter in low-Earth orbit.
During the demonstration, the crew will fire Atlantis' reaction
control system jets and photograph their effect on the phenomena.

Atlantis and crew are continuing to perform well with no
significant Orbiter anomalies reported since the first day of the
mission.

  KSC SHUTTLE STATUS REPORT FOR WEDNESDAY, AUG. 7, 1991 - 10 AM

 
        STS-43/TDRS-E - ATLANTIS (OV 104) -  FLIGHT DAY 6

     Technicians are continuing to strip thermal protective  foam
from  the  STS-43  solid rocket boosters with a hydrolasing tech-
nique using high pressure water.  Both the robot  hydrolaser  and
manual  method  are  being  used to strip the foam away.  The aft
skirts are scheduled to be removed from both boosters today.  The
motor  segments  will be disassembled and shipped back to Thiokol
in Utah for refurbishment.  The aft and forward  skirts  will  be
refurbished here at KSC by USBI.

     The  mobile  launcher  platform  used  to  launch STS-43 was
transferred yesterday from Launch Pad 39-A to the park  site  lo-
cated just outside of the Vehicle Assembly Building.

     KSC's  landing  team  will  assemble today for a briefing to
review landing procedures and plans.

     End of mission landing of Mission STS-43 is planned  at  KSC
on Sunday, Aug. 11, at 8:23 a.m. EDT, on orbit 142.

 

        MISSION CONTROL CENTER
        STS-43 Status Report #12

Wednesday, August 7, 1991, 2:30 p.m. CDT

The STS-43 crew today successfully completed a test of the Space
Station Heat Pipe Advanced Radiator Elements (SHARE II).
Atlantis was maneuvered so that the experiment's fluid, in this
case ammonia, was cooled in the heat pipe and forced from the
system's condensing end.  Investigators are interested in
determining how much time is needed for the system to reprime
itself and begin the heat rejection process over again.  The
SHARE II experiment is comprised of two 22-foot long by six
inches wide heat pipe radiator designs.  A heat pipe system is
being considered for use on Space Station Freedom to reject heat
generated by the station's equipment and occupants.

Mission Specialist Jim Adamson conducted a successful test of the
Solid Surface Combustion Experiment investigating how flames
behave in microgravity.  This information will be used to improve
fire safety in spacecraft.  Ashless filter paper was ignited by a
hot filament wire coated with nitrocellulose in a sealed
chamber.  The chamber is designed with windows for camera
viewing.

Flight controllers and astronauts troubleshot a problem with the
assembly of the camera hardware that is part of the Auroral
Photography Experiment B (APE-B).  Astronauts adapted another
camera part to replace one which apparently was not packed for
the mission.  Crew members still had difficulty focusing the
apparatus for photography of aurora and orbiter glow phenomena.
Another attempt will be made later in the mission.

Crew members are scheduled to begin their sleep period at about 5
p.m. CDT.  They will be awakened about 1 a.m. CDT Thursday.  The
orbiter continues to perform well with no significant anomalies
reported.

       MISSION CONTROL CENTER
        STS-43 Status Report #13


Thursday, August 8, 1991, 7 a.m. CDT

Astronauts aboard the Space Shuttle Atlantis are busy today
investigating a technique for conditioning the human body for re-
adaptation to gravity after prolonged space flight.  In addition,
a new method of attitude control is being evaluated which would
allow use of the Orbiter's big primary thrusters with less fuel
and less jarring of sensitive payloads in the cargo bay.

The Lower Body Negative Pressure experiment creates a pressure
differential between the test subject's upper and lower body,
creating a fluid distribution equivalent to standing up on
Earth.  This technique is being evaluated as a method of
readjusting the body to operate under the stress of gravity days
before landing.  After some difficulty in establishing a tight
seal of the system around the waist of mission specialist
G. David Low, the first of two scheduled conditioning sessions
was underway just after 6 a.m. this morning.  Later today, pilot
Mike Baker will don the LBNP gear for a conditioning session as
well.

Crew commander John Blaha and mission specialist Jim Adamson
will be working throughout the day testing a new, low-impulse
digital autopilot designed to minimize the amount of thruster
firings needed to maintain the Orbiter's attitude.  The
enhancement, introduced along with the newest generation of
Shuttle flight software, is being evaluated for use on STS-48
next month during the deployment of the Upper Atmospheric
Research Satellite.

Mission specialist Shannon Lucid will attempt to modify a
complex array of photographic equipment needed to photograph
a phenomena known as Shuttle glow.  A vital lens adapter
was found to be missing by the crew, and flight controllers
have devised a replacement strategy, using a similar adapter
to recover the use of the equipment.

Atlantis continues to perform extremely well with no
significant anomalies reported.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

        MISSION CONTROL CENTER
        STS-43 Status Report #14

Thursday, August 8, 1991, 1:30 p.m. CDT

STS-43 crew members' today participated in a medical
investigation for conditioning the human body for adaptation to
gravity after prolonged space flight, reconfigured camera
equipment in support of a photography experiment, and continued
testing a cooling system that could be used on Space Station
Freedom.

Mission Specialist G. David Low and Pilot Mike Baker spent time
in the Lower Body Negative Pressure device, which resembles a
sleeping bay.  Test data will allow investigators to assess a
person's ability to stand upright after being weightless.  The
device uses negative pressure loads which are gradually
increased.  The subjects also drink saline solutions during this
four hour test.  Although Low's session was cutshort by about 30
minutes because of an inability to get a tight waist seal,
medical investigators said they got good data.  An earlier
problem with imaging on the American Flight Echocardiograph (AFE)
also was corrected.  The AFE is an off-the-shelf medical
ultrasonic imaging system that has been modified for flight.  It
displays two-dimensional, cross-sectional images of the heart and
displays them on a cathode-ray tube.

Three Space Station Heatpipe Advanced Radiator Element II data
takes were conducted today. The experiment tests whether a
natural process can provide a reliable cooling system for the
space station.  The experiment tests the performance of two heat
pipe radiators which are each designed slightly different.  The
data takes today subjected the heat pipes to more severe heat
levels and shuttle movement.  The monogroove heat pipe earlier
today vented a vapor bubble and successfully rewetted. This heat
pipe design has an improved evaporator wick that can capture
bubbles and allow them to dissolve without affecting heat pipe
operation.  The other heat pipe also performed nominally. It has
a wide slot that allows bubbles to vent into the vapor channel.

The orbiter also performed 22 tests that involved various jet
firings in a test of the onboard digital autopilot.  The new
method of attitude control, possible because of a software update
on board the shuttle, is being evaluated as a means of using less
fuel and reducing the amount of jarring of sensitive payloads in
the cargo bay while firing the orbiter's big primary thrusters.

Mission Specialist Shannon Lucid and Pilot Mike Baker
successfully connected an adapter to a camera lens that could
permit crew members to take photographs as part of the Auroral
Photography Experiment (APE).  Crew members yesterday reported
that a lens adapter apparently was missing and were unable to
conduct yesterday's photographic session.  Later this afternoon
before the crew's sleep period begins, crew members will attempt
to take photographs of aurora and shuttle glow phenomena.

The only orbiter system anomaly reported today was the failure of
a cryogenic hydrogen tank manifold valve to close.  The valves
are closed during the crew sleep period to isolate cryogenic
tanks as an added safety precaution.  New cryogenic configuration
instructions were relayed to the crew and the sticky valve does
not present a problem.

Crew members are scheduled to begin their sleep period at a MET
of 6/06:00 or 4:02 p.m. CDT.  They will be awakened at a MET of
6/14:00 or 12:02 a.m. CDT tomorrow.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

        STS-43 STATUS REPORT
        4 a.m. -- August 9, 1991
        Flight Day 7

The Atlantis astronauts were awakened at midnight to begin their
eighth day in orbit, as mission specialist G. David Low was
honored with the song of his alma mater, Washington and Lee
University.

After hours of lower body negative pressure conditioning
yesterday, Low and Pilot Mike Baker will be tested for effects
from the procedure, which is intended to enhance the readaptation
process when they return home on Sunday.

The two will be wired for electrogardiogram, echocardiograph, and
blood pressure readings during their scheduled tests, this
morning.  Medical investigators on Earth will compare the data to
that taken during identical tests earlier in the mission.

Shuttle glow caused by the interaction of atomic particles with
the orbiter and reaction control jets will be documented by the
crew today using the APE-B photographic equipment they adapted
from spare parts yesterday.

The crew will not have an opportunity to observe and document the
after-effects of a barium release from the Combined Release and
Radiation Effects Satellite because weather in Argentina is not
favorable for observation aircraft. CRESS, placed in orbit over a
year ago, is designed to study the electrical, magnetic, and
particle environment of the upper ionosphere and magnetosphere.
The barium release had been expected to create large, luminous
clouds that elongate along the Earth's magnetic field lines.

The only orbiter system anomaly of significance has been the
failure of a cryogenic hydrogen manifold valve to close. The
valve controls the flow of supercold liquid hydrogen from tank 1
into the system manifold before being fed to the orbiter fuel
cells for interaction with cryogenic oxygen to produce power for
the vehicle. There are alternate means for controlling the flow,
and the valve poses no threat to normal operations or the
continuation of the mission.

Plans still call for Atlantis and crew to land at Kennedy Space
Center's Shuttle Landinf Facility on Sunday. Long-range weather
forecasts are favorable.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------


        MISSION CONTROL CENTER
        STS-43 Status Report #16

Friday, August 9, 1991, 2 p.m. CDT

STS-43 Pilot Mike Baker and Mission Specialist G. David Low spent
time this morning in the Lower Body Negative Pressure device this
morning.  The experiment's data will give medical investigators
information about a person's ability to stand upright after being
weightless.  The device uses negative pressure loads.  Both Baker
and Low will reenter the device again tomorrow for additional
conditioning.

Ground investigators reported their sensors saw all of the
orbiter's jet firings as it passed over the island of Maui.  The
observations were part of the Air Force Maui Optical Site
calibration test in which ground-based sensors collect data on
shuttle jet firings to assist in calibrating the site's sensors.

Crew members also completed work with the Auroral Photography
Experiment B.  A troubleshooting procedure which devised a new
camera hardware configuration worked and crew members were able
to focus and take photographs of the shuttle firing its aft jets.
The reconfigured camera set up was necessary because of a missing
adaptor.  Data collected will help develop target adquisition
models for space-based sensor systems.

Atlantis performed a five second reaction control system burn to
support the Space Station Heatpipe Advanced Radiator Element II
operation.  The orbiter's movement forced liquid ammonia away
from the two heatpipes' evaporator end towards the condensor,
referred to as depriming.  The absence of the ammonia on the
evaporator end, combined with heat produced by the experiment's
six electrical heaters, produces a condition referred to as
dryout.  Investigators are interested in how long it takes the
evaporator end of the heatpipes to reprime or rewet.

Following the maneuver, ground investigators reported that
heatpipe one, the monogroove design, did not deprime and heatpipe
two, the graded groove design, recovered completely and rewet.
Investigators reported both conditions were expected.

Crew members were asked to turn the SHARE's six heaters back on
briefly for an extra data take after the orbiter maneuvered into
the APE attitude in which its tail was moving into the velocity
vector or the line of travel.

Crew members are scheduled to begin their sleep period at 3:02
p.m. CDT.  They will be awakened at 11:02 p.m. CDT tonight.

The orbiter continues to perform well.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------

        MCC STATUS REPORT #17
        5 a.m. CDT -- August 10, 1991

The crew of Atlantis today began preparations for tomorrow's trip
home, performing a thorough checkout of the equipment needed for
the entry and landing.

All systems onboard checked out in good condition with the
exception of one of the spacecraft's three auxiliary power units.
During today's checkout, APU 2 ran for a total of about 11
minutes before its oil temperature reached a previously set limit
and the crew turned off the unit. The condition was first seen
during ascent.

Each APU is cooled by evaporation via a water spray boiler. The
water spray boilers cool the lubricating oil, and therefore the
APUs. Water spray boiler No. 2, which provides cooling for APU 2,
is not functioning. The mechanical systems officer reported APU 2
still appeared to be in good working order after it was shut off.
The unit is expected to operate during tomorrow's entry, though
probably for a shorter period than usual. Flight controllers are
assessing any impact the problem will have on tomorrow's
activities.

Also this morning, Mission Specialist G. David Low and Pilot Mike
Baker each took a turn in the Lower Body Negative Pressure Unit,
a device designed to counteract one of the effects of
weightlessness by pulling body fluids that have shifted upward
down to the lower body. Scientists hope to prevent a
lightheadedness sometimes experienced briefly by astronauts
returning to Earth's gravity.

A final evaluation of the Space Station Heat Pipe Advanced
Radiator Element-II also is planned today, testing the radiators'
ability to start up in very cold conditions. The crew will spend
the second half of its day stowing gear in preparation for
landing.

Meanwhile, at Kennedy Space Center in Florida, the Space Shuttle
Columbia and its Shuttle Carrier Aircraft are being prepared for
take-off on a journey to California. Columbia and its SCA are
scheduled to take off on the first leg of the trek at 5:45 a.m.
CDT. They should arrive at Tinker Air Force Base in Oklahoma City
about 9:45 a.m. CDT. Columbia will undergo five months of
modifications and structural inspections at Rockwell's Palmdale,
Calif., plant.

Article         1606
From: [email protected]
Newsgroups: clari.tw.space,clari.news.aviation,clari.news.military
Subject: LEAD: 	    (1grafsub6thgraf xxx space center;pickup7thgraf: atlantis's
Date: 11 Aug 91 13:33:50 GMT
  
	   _ _(_1_g_r_a_f_s_u_b_6_t_h_g_r_a_f_ _x_x_x_ _s_p_a_c_e_ _c_e_n_t_e_r_;_p_i_c_k_u_p_7_t_h_g_r_a_f_:_ _a_t_l_a_n_t_i_s_'_s
triumphant -- crew _l_e_a_v_e_s_ _s_h_u_t_t_l_e_)
 _A_t_l_a_n_t_i_s_ _g_l_i_d_e_s_ _t_o_ _s_m_o_o_t_h_ _t_o_u_c_h_d_o_w_n
                       _ _B_y_ _W_I_L_L_I_A_M_ _H_A_R_W_O_O_D
                       _ _U_P_I_ _S_c_i_e_n_c_e_ _W_r_i_t_e_r

	CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (UPI) -- The shuttle Atlantis's four-man,
one-woman crew glided to the first planned Florida landing in six
years Sunday, touching down at the Kennedy Space Center to close out a
near-flawless nine-day flight. 

	Heralded by twin sonic booms, the $2 billion orbiter shot across
central Florida, banked over the coast and descended through a cloudless
sky to a picture-perfect touchdown on the Kennedy Space Center's 3-mile-
long shuttle runway at 8:23 a.m. EDT.

	A few moments later, the black-and-white spaceplane rolled to
a stop, completing a 3.6-million-mile, 141-orbit mission highlighted
by the successful launch last Friday of a $120 million NASA
communications satellite. 

	``Houston, (this is) Atlantis. We are wheels stopped,'' commander
John Blaha radioed mission control in Houston.

	``Welcome home Atlantis. Congratulations on a picture-perfect
mission,'' replied astronaut Robert Cabana from the Johnson Space Center.

	Blaha, 48, co-pilot Michael Baker, 37, flight engineer G.
David Low, 35, Shannon Lucid, 48, and James Adamson, 45, climbed out
of the spacecraft about one hour after landing. After completing
medical research on how the body readapts to the tug of gravity, all
five planned to fly back to Houston. 

	Atlantis's triumphant homecoming, the eighth spaceport landing
in 42 flights to date, marked the first planned Florida landing since
April 19, 1985, when one of Discovery's tires blew out after touchdown
in a stiff crosswind. 

	Since then, space shuttles have used the broad, more forgiving
runways at Edwards Air Force Base, Calif., while engineers developed
better brakes to make landings at the Kennedy Space Center safer.

	With the recent decision to resume routine landings at the Kennedy
Space Center, weather permitting, NASA will be able to save $1 million
per flight in costs associated with landings at Edwards.

	In the wake of the 1986 Challenger disaster, NASA equipped its
remaining space shuttles with more heat-resistant carbon brakes, an
improved nosewheel steering system and stiffer main landing gear axles
to eliminate brake-damaging flexing on touchdown.

	The modifications were tested during the previous 16 post-Challenger
missions, including two in recent months that ended at the Kennedy Space
Center because of high Mojave Desert winds at Edwards.

	Results from those tests convinced shuttle program director Robert
Crippen it was safe to resume routine Florida landings.

	But at the same time, tough new weather rules were established that
require virtually perfect conditions before a shuttle can be cleared to
land at the spaceport. Otherwise, shuttle crews will be diverted to Edwards.

	Atlantis's crew accomplished the primary goal of the year's fourth
shuttle flight six hours and 13 minutes after blastoff Aug. 2 when they
deployed a new Tracking and Data Relay Satellite, or TDRS, to augment a
globe-spanning communications network used by shuttle crews and unmanned
satellites.

	After the TDRS was fired into an orbit 22,300 miles above the
equator, the shuttle fliers settled down to a battery of on-board
biological, engineering and medical experiments, including a half dozen
devoted to learning more about the effects of weightlessness on human
physiology.

	In Atlantis's cargo bay, instruments were used during the first few
days of the flight to study Earth's fragile ozone layer at the same time
similar sensors aboard three weather satellites were making the same
observations.

	Data from the shuttle instruments will be used to re-calibrate the
satellite sensors, which tend to lose accuracy as time goes by.

	Another cargo bay experiment involved tests of an experimental space
station radiator that uses weightlessness and capillary action to move
heat-carrying ammonia from one point to another, eliminating the need
for failure-prone pumps and other mechanical systems.

From: [email protected] (Michael Todd Smith)
Subject: Space Shuttle Pre-Flight Failure.
Date: 8 Aug 91 17:04:37 GMT
Organization: Georgia Institute of Technology
 
 
	I tought I would post, for those that are curious, about the
pre-flight failure that postponed Atlantis' liftoff. I work as an intern
for Honeywell in the main engine controller department and saw the 
actual controller that failed.  It turned out to be a loose solder joint
and was diagnosed and repaired very quickly then sent back to the Cape in
no time at all.  If this would have occured after main engine start a 
reserve unit would have taken over, but any pre-flight errors like that
result in a shutdown.
 
-- 
Michael Smith	    Internet: [email protected]      
 
Georgia Tech                       |   "What to do for Earth Day..."      |
                                   |   "Spray a can of hairspray!"        | 

       KSC SHUTTLE STATUS REPORT FOR MONDAY, AUG. 12, 1991 - 11 AM


 
         STS-43/TDRS-E - ATLANTIS (OV 104) - OPF BAY 2

       Atlantis ended a nine-day journey in space  with  the  first
  planned landing at KSC's Shuttle Landing Facility since return to
  flight.  Landing occurred at 8:23:25 a.m. EDT for a total mission
  elapsed time of 8 days, 21 hours, 21 minutes, and 25 seconds.

       The orbiter was towed to  the  Orbiter  Processing  Facility
  yesterday  afternoon by 3 p.m.  Since that time,  the crew module
  has been opened,  the doors have been removed from the  aft  com-
  partment and access to the vehicle is being established.

       Initial  inspections  of  the orbiter indicate the ship sus-
  tained minimal damage and that it is in good condition.  Prelimi-
  nary  indications  show  only four tiles will need to be replaced
  prior to the next flight. Some hazing was noted on the windows in
  the crew module.

       Activities today include post-flight operations to safe  the
  pyrotechnics  on the vehicle and preparations to offload residual
  propellants from the power reactant storage and distribution sys-
  tem tanks.

 

MISSION CONTROL STATUS REPORT #18

Saturday, August 10  2 p.m.


The crew of Atlantis has completed its ninth day
in orbit and is busy stowing experiments and preparing the
vehicle for the return to Earth tomorrow.

Saturday morning, the crew completed a thorough evaluation of the
Orbiter's flight control systems and attitude control
thrusters.  During the test, a cooling system for auxiliary
power unit 2 failed to activate, and is considered failed.

Loss of the cooling system does not effect the performance of
the APU, which provides hydraulic pressurization to Orbiter
steering systems during entry and landing.  But, in order to
avoid the need for cooling, APU-2 --one of three redundant
systems -- will not be activated until shortly before final
approach, for normal use through landing.

All other systems checked out, and a Sunday morning landing
at the Kennedy Space Center remains a very good prospect.
Weather conditions at that primary landing site are expected
to be favorable with scattered clouds, moderate winds, and
only a chance of rainshowers in the area.

The crew's scheduled sleep period runs from 3 p.m. to 11:00 p.m.
CDT Saturday when the astronauts will be awakened to begin their
de-orbit preparations.

Deorbit burn is scheduled for 6:21 a.m. CDT, with
touchdown on KSC runway 15 at 7:23 a.m. CDT.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

STS-43 LANDING STATEMENT 8/12/91

Atlantis and its five-member STS-43 flight crew landed
yesterday right on time at 8:23 am EDT at Kennedy Space
Center's Shuttle Landing Facility.  The weather at the Cape was
perfect, as was Atlantis' landing, prompting Kennedy Center Director
Forrest McCartney to comment later that it was "a picture perfect
day for Kennedy Space Center staff."  Shuttle chief Robert Crippen
also noted that space flight office management was satisfied that
Kennedy met all safety requirements and would continue to vie as
primary end-of-mission landing site with Dryden/Edwards Air Force
Base.

The only anomaly during the reentry and landing was a
previously-known non-functional Water Spray Boiler #2, which cools
Auxiliary Power Unit #2.  The APU was started later during reentry
and functioned well through landing.  The crew and ground team had
performed an on-orbit APU test which indicated APU #2 was good for
11 minutes without the use of the cooler and with no ill effects to the
APU.

The mission's final experiments included a good test of new digital
autopilot software which will reduce the amount of jarring
caused by thruster firings and will also reduce the amount of
thruster fuel used.  The crew executed 22 tests of this new system,
which is being considered for flight on the next mission.  The crew also
performed a final test of the prototype space station cooling
radiators in which the two different design radiators were
deliberately deprimed.  The graded grove design heatpipe was able
to reprime itself, the monogrove design was not.  These results were
expected.

The crew post-mission press conference is scheduled for
Wednesday, August 21, at 11:00 am EDT.  The crew will describe
their mission and narrate film and video highlights.  The briefing will
be carried on NASA Select TV.

=

    The 'Boston Globe' had a small article stating that Atlantis's fuel
    cells were not shut down when the vehicle was hangered resulting in 
    excess (unplanned) water generation which may have damaged one or
    more fuel cells (the article was rather vague).  NASA stated that they
    will swap the fuel cells out before the orbiter's next mission.
    What's the real story here?  I thought that all the reactants were
    isolated prior to brining the shuttle into the OPF.

Dwayne Brown
Headquarters, Washington, D.C.


Jessie Katz
Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md.



RELEASE:  91-164  (10/08/91)

     NASA's newest Tracking and Data Relay Satellite (TDRS-5),
launched aboard the Space Shuttle Atlantis on Aug. 2, 1991, is now
operational, expanding the communications capability required by the
increasing number of scientific spacecraft dependant upon the
Tracking and Data Relay Satellite System (TDRSS).

     TDRS-5 was moved from its on-orbit checkout location over the
Equator at 150 degrees west longitude, to its operational position of
174 degrees west longitude over the Gilbert Islands, south of Hawaii.

     "This TDRS launch, deployment and activation, calibration and
evaluation has gone more smoothly than any of the previous satellites
launched into orbit," says Nicholas G. Chrissotimos, TDRS Manager at
the Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md.

     There are three other TDRSs in the orbital constellation.
TDRS-5 replaced TDRS-3 which is being moved to 62 degrees west
longitude, becoming an on-orbit emergency backup.  TDRS-4 and TDRS-1
remain at 41 and 171 degrees west, respectively.

     The TDRSS is required by Earth-orbiting spacecraft such as the
Space Shuttle, Hubble Space Telescope, Cosmic Background Explorer,
the Compton Observatory and the recently launched Upper Atmosphere
Research Satellite. The TDRSs relay command signals and data between
the scientific spacecraft and the White Sands Ground Terminal, N.M.

     The TDRSS has relayed more than two million minutes of data to
the ground.  Since late 1983, every Shuttle mission has required the
TDRSS capabilities.  The constellation is currently accomplishing 400
to 500 tracking events per week with better than 99 percent
proficiency.

     The 2-1/2 ton satellites have seven antennas and two solar
arrays each -- that from tip-to-tip are taller than a 5-story
building.  A single satellite can handle more than 300 million bits
of information per second per channel-- the equivalent of all the
data in a 24-volume encyclopedia-- in less than 6 seconds.

     Studies in the 1970s showed that a system of telecommunication
satellites, whose signals were relayed to a single ground station,
could better meet the requirements of the Space Shuttle and Earth
orbiting satellites than a world-wide network of more than 20 ground
stations.  With the TDRSS, controllers can communicate with
satellites during 85 to 100 percent of an orbit, depending on the
user satellite's orbital attitude.  Prior to the TDRSS,
communications with the Shuttle and other scientific spacecraft were
limited to 15 percent of each orbit.

     NASA's Office of Space Communications, Washington, D.C., is
responsible for overall program management of the TDRSS. NASA's
Goddard Space Flight Center manages the operation of the TDRSS
through GTE , White Sands, N.M. TRW Space and Technology Group,
Redondo Beach, Calif., is the prime spacecraft contractor.