Conference 7.286::space

    KSC SHUTTLE STATUS REPORT - TUESDAY, JULY 14, 1992  10 AM

 
     STS-52 - COLUMBIA/LAGEOS-2, USMP-1 - (OV 102) - OPF BAY 1

WORK IN PROGRESS:
- Preparations to remove two fuel cells.
- Opening of the payload bay doors for a functional test.
- Safing of pyrotechnic devices in the aft compartment.

WORK COMPLETED:
- Attached strongbacks to the payload bay doors.
- Removed the potty.

WORK SCHEDULED:
-  Removal  of  the United States Microgravity Laboratory-1 later
this week.

 

	RE: base note

	The TBD from Canada is Steve McLean. He will be making his first flight
	and will be working on CANEX (Canadian Experiments). These experiments
	are a continuation from STS 41G flight in 1984, on which the first
	Canadian Marc Garneau flew.

	Susan
 

     KSC SHUTTLE STATUS REPORT - WEDNESDAY, JULY 15, 1992  10 AM

 
     STS-52 - COLUMBIA/LAGEOS-2, USMP-1 - (OV 102) - OPF BAY 1

WORK IN PROGRESS:
- Preparations to deservice residual hypergolic propellants.
- Inspections of the radiators.

WORK COMPLETED:
- Opened the payload bay doors and performed functional tests.

WORK SCHEDULED:
- Removal of the United States  Microgravity  Laboratory-1  later
this week.

 

   KSC SHUTTLE STATUS REPORT - THURSDAY, JULY 16, 1992  10 AM


 
      STS-52 - COLUMBIA/LAGEOS-2, USMP-1 - (OV 102) - OPF BAY 1

WORK IN PROGRESS:
- Preparations to remove the USML tunnel.
- Preparations to deservice residual hypergolic propellants.
- Inspections of the radiators.
- Post-flight inspections of the windows and main engines.

WORK SCHEDULED:
-  Removal  of  the United States Microgravity Laboratory-1  this
weekend.

 

   KSC SHUTTLE STATUS REPORT - MONDAY, JULY 20, 1992  10 AM


 
     STS-52 - COLUMBIA/LAGEOS-2, USMP-1 - (OV 102) - OPF BAY 1

WORK IN PROGRESS:
-  Disconnecting  equipment used to deservice residual hypergolic
propellants.
- Removing thermal blankets around the extended duration  orbiter
pallet.

WORK COMPLETED:
-  Drained  residual hypergolic propellants from the orbiter this
weekend.

WORK SCHEDULED:
- Removal of the extended duration orbiter pallet Wednesday.


 

    KSC SHUTTLE STATUS REPORT - TUESDAY, JULY 21, 1992  10 AM


 
     STS-52 - COLUMBIA/LAGEOS-2, USMP-1 - (OV 102) - OPF BAY 1

WORK IN PROGRESS:
-  Removing thermal blankets around the extended duration orbiter
pallet.
- Removing heat shields.
- Removing window number 4.

WORK COMPLETED:
- Functional tests of the radiators.

WORK SCHEDULED:
- Removal of the extended duration orbiter pallet Wednesday.


 

   KSC SHUTTLE STATUS REPORT - THURSDAY, JULY 23, 1992  10 AM


 
     STS-52 - COLUMBIA/LAGEOS-2, USMP-1 - (OV 102) - OPF BAY 1


WORK IN PROGRESS:
- Transferring the extended duration orbiter pallet to the VAB.
- Removing heat shields.
- Post-flight inspections of the radiators.

WORK COMPLETED:
- Removed the extended duration orbiter pallet.
- Removed window number 4.

      ###      STS-52 SOLID ROCKET BOOSTERS - VAB


WORK IN PROGRESS:
- Beginning of booster stacking by attaching the left aft booster
to the mobile launcher platform.
- Transferring the right aft booster to the VAB for  stacking  on
the platform.

 

   KSC SHUTTLE STATUS REPORT - FRIDAY, JULY 24, 1992  10 AM

 
     STS-52 - COLUMBIA/LAGEOS-2, USMP-1 - (OV 102) - OPF BAY 1

WORK IN PROGRESS:
- Inspections of the main engines.
- Post-flight inspections of the radiators.

WORK COMPLETED:
- Removed the heat shields.
- Removed window number 6.


      ###      STS-52 SOLID ROCKET BOOSTERS - VAB


WORK IN PROGRESS:
-  Attaching  the  right aft booster to the mobile launcher plat-
form.

WORK COMPLETED:
- Connected the left aft booster to the launch platform.

 

Article: 1547
Newsgroups: sci.space.news
From: [email protected] (Peter E. Yee)
Subject: Shuttle Status for 07/24/92 (Forwarded)
Sender: [email protected]
Organization: NASA Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, CA
Date: Sat, 25 Jul 1992 01:10:37 GMT
 
              KSC SHUTTLE STATUS REPORT - FRIDAY, JULY 24, 1992  10 AM
 
              STS-52 - COLUMBIA/LAGEOS-2, USMP-1 - (OV 102) - OPF BAY 1
 
          WORK IN PROGRESS:
          - Inspections of the main engines.
          - Post-flight inspections of the radiators.
 
          WORK COMPLETED:
          - Removed the heat shields.
          - Removed window number 6.
 
                         STS-52 SOLID ROCKET BOOSTERS - VAB
 
          WORK IN PROGRESS:
          -  Attaching  the  right aft booster to the mobile launcher platform.
 
          WORK COMPLETED:
          - Connected the left aft booster to the launch platform.


Article: 1569
From: [email protected] (Peter E. Yee)
Newsgroups: sci.space.news
Subject: Shuttle Status for 07/27/92 (Forwarded)
Date: 29 Jul 92 19:13:55 GMT
Sender: [email protected]
Organization: NASA Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, CA
 
              KSC SHUTTLE STATUS REPORT - MONDAY, JULY 27, 1992  10 AM
 
              STS-52 - COLUMBIA/LAGEOS-2, USMP-1 - (OV 102) - OPF BAY 1
 
          WORK IN PROGRESS:
          - Preparations to remove the forward reaction control system.
          - Post-flight inspections of the radiators.
 
          WORK COMPLETED:
          - Deserviced lube oil from the auxiliary power units.

                         STS-52 SOLID ROCKET BOOSTERS - VAB
 
          WORK IN PROGRESS:
          - Making connections between the right aft booster and the mobile
          launcher platform.


Article: 1572
From: [email protected] (Peter E. Yee)
Newsgroups: sci.space.news
Subject: Shuttle Status for 07/29/92 (Forwarded)
Date: 29 Jul 92 19:14:29 GMT
Sender: [email protected]
Organization: NASA Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, CA
 
             KSC SHUTTLE STATUS REPORT - WEDNESDAY, JULY 29 1992  10 AM
 
              STS-52 - COLUMBIA/LAGEOS-2, USMP-1 - (OV 102) - OPF BAY 1
 
          WORK IN PROGRESS:
          - Preparations to remove the forward reaction control system.
          - Post-flight inspections of the radiators.
          - Leak and functional tests of the main propulsion system.
          - Replacement of the No. 3 fuel cell.
 
          WORK COMPLETED:
          - Replaced the No. 2 fuel cell.
 
                         STS-52 SOLID ROCKET BOOSTERS - VAB
 
          WORK IN PROGRESS:
          - Attaching the right forward center segment to the right booster.

     KSC SHUTTLE STATUS REPORT - MONDAY, AUG. 3 1992  10 AM
 
 
 
          STS-52/LAGEOS - COLUMBIA (OV 102) - OPF BAY 1
 
WORK IN PROGRESS:
-  Preparations  to  replace  a  thruster  on  the  left  orbital
maneuvering system pod.
- Preparations to remove the three main engines.
- Inspections of the radiators.
 
WORK COMPLETED:
- Replaced fuel cells No. 2 and 3.
 
 

     KSC SHUTTLE STATUS REPORT - TUESDAY, AUG. 4 1992  10 AM


 
          STS-52/LAGEOS - COLUMBIA (OV 102) - OPF BAY 1

WORK IN PROGRESS:
-  Preparations  to  install  a  thruster  on  the  left  orbital
maneuvering system (OMS) pod.
- Leak and functional tests of the auxiliary power units.
- Inspections of the radiators.

WORK COMPLETED:
- Removed a thruster from the left OMS pod.
- Nozzle leak checks of the main engines.


     ##    STS-52 SOLID ROCKET BOOSTERS - VAB HB 1

WORK IN PROGRESS:
- Preparations to connect the left aft center segment to the left
booster.
- Joint close outs.

WORK COMPLETED:
-  Attached  the right forward assembly/nose cone which completed
stacking activities for the right booster.

 

      KSC SHUTTLE STATUS REPORT - THURSDAY, AUG. 6 1992  10 AM

 
          STS-52/LAGEOS - COLUMBIA (OV 102) - OPF BAY 1

WORK IN PROGRESS:
- Preparations for voltage tests of the fuel cells.
- Tests of the hydraulic flight control systems.
- Functional tests of the external tank doors.
- Retest  of  a  thruster on the left orbital maneuvering system
  (OMS) pod.
- Leak and functional tests of the auxiliary power units.
- Inspections of the radiators.

      ##    STS-52 SOLID ROCKET BOOSTERS - VAB HB 1


WORK IN PROGRESS:
- Connecting the left forward center segment to the left booster.
- Joint close outs.

WORK COMPLETED:
- Attached the left aft center segment to the booster yesterday.
- Transferred  the  left forward center segment to the VAB early
  today.

 

     KSC SHUTTLE STATUS REPORT - MONDAY, AUG. 10 1992  10 AM


 
          STS-52/LAGEOS - COLUMBIA (OV 102) - OPF BAY 1

WORK IN PROGRESS:
-  Removing the main engines and transferring them to the VAB en-
gine shop.
- Preparations to install the remote manipulator system.
- Tests of the hydraulic flight control systems.
- Functional tests of the external tank doors.
- Leak and functional tests of the auxiliary power units.
- Inspections of the radiators.
- Replacement of a water spray boiler.
- Reconfiguring the payload bay.

WORK COMPLETED:
- Tests of the fuel cells.


     ##     STS-52 SOLID ROCKET BOOSTERS - VAB HB 1

WORK IN PROGRESS:
- Transfer the left forward segment to the left booster.
- Joint close outs.

WORK COMPLETED:
- Mated the left forward center segment to the booster.


 

    KSC SHUTTLE STATUS REPORT - TUESDAY, AUG. 11, 1992  10 AM


 
          STS-52/LAGEOS - COLUMBIA (OV 102) - OPF BAY 1

WORK IN PROGRESS:
- Installation of the wheels and tires.
- Preparations to install the remote manipulator system.
- Functional tests of the external tank doors.
- Leak and functional tests of the auxiliary power units.
- Inspections of the radiators.
- Replacement of a water spray boiler.
- Reconfiguring the payload bay.

WORK COMPLETED:
- Removed the main engines and transferred them to the VAB engine
shop.
- Pressurized the main landing gear struts


     ##      STS-52 SOLID ROCKET BOOSTERS - VAB HB 1

WORK IN PROGRESS:
-  Mating  of  the  left  forward  segment is on hold pending the
resolution of the overhead crane.

CONCERNS:
- Evaluation of the 250-ton overhead crane which was lowering the
left forward segment to be mated to the left booster. The segment
was being lowered shortly after  midnight  last  night  when  the
motor  on  the  crane  went  into a higher speed causing a faster
movement of the booster. Crane operators stopped the movement mo-
ments after it began.  There was no damage  to  flight  hardware;
however, the crane is being examined prior to using it again.
 

 

  KSC SHUTTLE STATUS REPORT - WEDNESDAY, AUG. 12, 1992  10 AM

 
          STS-52/LAGEOS - COLUMBIA (OV 102) - OPF BAY 1

WORK IN PROGRESS:
- Installing a getaway special beam in the payload bay.
- Functional  tests of the orbital maneuvering system pod.
- Installing main landing gear wheels and tires.
- Functional tests of the external tank doors.
- Leak and functional tests of the auxiliary power units.
- Inspections of the radiators.
- Replacement of a water spray boiler.

    ##         STS-52 SOLID ROCKET BOOSTERS - VAB HB 1

WORK IN PROGRESS:
- Troubleshooting of the overhead crane.
- Mating of the left forward  segment  is  on  hold  pending  the
resolution of the overhead crane.

WORK COMPLETED:
-  Transferred the left forward segment back to its pallet in the
VAB transfer aisle and disconnected the overhead crane  from  the
segment.

CONCERNS:
-  Evaluation  is  continuing of the 250-ton overhead crane which
was lowering the left forward segment to be  mated  to  the  left
booster  early  Tuesday  morning.  The  segment was being lowered
shortly after midnight Monday when the motor on  the  crane  went
into  a  higher  speed  causing a faster movement of the booster.
Crane operators stopped the  movement  moments  after  it  began.
There  was  no damage to flight hardware;  however,  the crane is
being examined prior to using it again.

 
 

          KSC SPACE SHUTTLE STATUS - THURSDAY, AUGUST 13, 1992 -- 9:30 A.M.
           --------------------------------------------------------------

 
         STS-52/LAGEOS - COLUMBIA (OV 102) -- OPF BAY 1

WORK IN PROGRESS:
*  Power Reactant and Storage Distribution tank fit checks
*  KU band tests
*  Replace water spray boiler

WORK COMPLETED:
*  Main landing gear wheel and tire installation

WORK SCHEDULED:
*  Orbital Maneuvering system functional tests

NOTE: In the Vehicle Assembly Building, stacking of the last
solid rocket booster segment (left forward) has been put on hold
until further assessments of the 250 ton crane are made. The left
forward segment currently remains in the transfer aisle.
Closeouts of the previously stacked segments continue.

 

      KSC SHUTTLE STATUS REPORT - MONDAY, AUG. 17, 1992  10 AM

 
          STS-52/LAGEOS - COLUMBIA (OV 102) - OPF BAY 1

WORK IN PROGRESS:
- Installation and connections of the payloads.
- Tests of the brakes.
- Functional  tests of the orbital maneuvering system pod.
- Leak and functional tests of the water spray boilers.
- Reconfiguring the aft flight deck.
- Tile operations.

       ##   STS-52 SOLID ROCKET BOOSTERS - VAB HB 1

WORK IN PROGRESS:
- Troubleshooting of the overhead crane.
- Investigations are continuing to determine the problem with the
crane and to recommend solutions.
- Mating of the left forward segment is on hold  pending  resolu-
tion of the crane issue.
- Close outs of the right solid rocket booster.

WORK COMPLETED:
- Replacement and retest of high bay No. 1 crane's metadyne unit,
which is an electronic box.

CONCERNS:
-  While  evaluations  are  continuing  on the 250-ton high bay 1
crane incident,  use of the other 250-ton and the 175-ton  cranes
has been put on hold.
 
 

Lisa Malone                                       August 17, 1992

KSC Release No. 109-92

     Center  Director  Robert L.  Crippen has appointed an inves-
tigation board to examine an incident involving a  250-ton  crane
that  apparently  experienced  erratic  movement  while lifting a
solid rocket booster segment in High Bay 1  of  the  Vehicle  As-
sembly Building (VAB).

     On Aug. 11, crane operators were preparing to stack the left
forward  segment  for  the  STS-52 mission using the crane's slow
speed operating mode.  There was a sudden increase in the lateral
speed of the crane during the operation. The operator stopped the
crane  immediately  and there was no damage to personnel,  flight
hardware or ground equipment.

     Columbia is scheduled to fly the  STS-52  mission,  targeted
for  launch  in  October,  with  the Laser Geodynamic Satellite-2
(LAGEOS II) payload.

     A team is troubleshooting the crane and will make  necessary
repairs prior to using it again.  Booster stacking operations and
all crane operations have been suspended pending  the  resolution
of the issue.  The 30-foot-long,  12-foot-diameter,  left forward
booster segment has been transferred to a storage facility  while
the investigation is continuing.

     Jackie E.  Smith,  Director, Safety and Reliability has been
named to chair the board.  Assisting Smith on  the  investigation
are board members: David Kelley, chief, Structural System Branch,
Ground  Engineering Directorate;  Howard Meeks of the Systems En-
gineering Section, Payload Operations Directorate; Ronald Eatman
of the Project Engineering Staff,  Facilities Engineering  Direc-
torate;  James Myers, Systems Assurance Office, Mission Assurance
Directorate;  Arthur Clark of the Cables and Special  Power  Sec-
tion,  Facilities Engineering Directorate; and Todd Steinrock  of
the Mechanical Section, Facilities Directorate.

     Malcolm  Glenn  will  serve  as  the  safety  advisor,  John
Biedenharn  will  provide legal assistance and Lisa Malone is the
public affairs representative.

     Board functions include investigating the facts  surrounding
the  mishap,  determining the probable cause,  assessing the pos-
sibility of a recurrence  or  similar  mishap,  and  recommending
corrective  action.  A final report is due during the second week
of October.

        KSC SHUTTLE STATUS REPORT - WEDNESDAY, AUG. 19, 1992  10 AM

 
          STS-52/LAGEOS - COLUMBIA (OV 102) - OPF BAY 1

WORK IN PROGRESS:
- Replacement of fuel cell No. 1.
- Installing the drag chute.
- Installation and connections of the payloads.
- Functional  tests of the orbital maneuvering system pod.
- Leak and functional tests of the water spray boilers.
- Reconfiguring the aft flight deck.
- Tile operations.
- Functional tests of the potty.

WORK SCHEDULED:
- Installation of the three main engines begins Thursday.


     ##      STS-52 SOLID ROCKET BOOSTERS - VAB HB 1

WORK IN PROGRESS:
- Investigations are continuing of the No. 1 250-ton crane.
-  Mating  of the left forward segment is on hold pending resolu-
tion of the crane issue.
- Close outs of the right solid rocket booster.

 

          KSC SHUTTLE STATUS REPORT - FRIDAY, AUG. 21, 1992  8 AM

 
          STS-52/LAGEOS - COLUMBIA (OV 102) - OPF BAY 1

WORK IN PROGRESS:
- Installation of the main engines.
- Functional  tests of the orbital maneuvering system pod.
- Tile operations.
- Testing of connections for the STS-52 payload.

WORK COMPLETED:
- Replaced auxiliary power unit No. 1.
- Installed the drage chute.
- Leak and functional tests of the water spray boiler.
- Replaced fuel cell No. 1.

    ##       STS-52 SOLID ROCKET BOOSTERS - VAB HB 1

WORK IN PROGRESS:
- Investigations are continuing of the No. 1 250-ton crane.
-  Mating  of  the  left  forward  segment   and   left   forward
assembly/nose  cone  is  on  hold pending resolution of the crane
issue.
- Close outs of the right solid rocket booster.


    ##          STS-52 EXTERNAL TANK - TURN BASIN

     The external tank designated for the STS-52 mission  arrived
by barge in the Complex 39 turn basin. The tank will be offloaded
today and transferred to the storage cell in the VAB.


 

    KSC SHUTTLE STATUS REPORT - MONDAY, AUG. 24, 1992  10 AM

 
          STS-52/LAGEOS - COLUMBIA (OV 102) - OPF BAY 1

WORK IN PROGRESS:
- Installation of the No. 2 main engine.
- Preparations to install the robot arm.
- Tile operations.
- Testing of connections for the STS-52 payload.

WORK COMPLETED:
- Installed the No. 1 and 3 main engines on Friday.
-  Installed  power reactant storage and distribution system tank
set 5 today.


      ##     STS-52 SOLID ROCKET BOOSTERS - VAB HB 1

WORK IN PROGRESS:
- Transfer of the left forward segment to the VAB in  preparation
for mate.


     ##     STS-54 EXTERNAL TANK - VAB

     The  external tank designated for the STS-54 mission arrived
by barge in the Complex 39 turn basin last week.  Friday's status
report incorrectly referred to the tank's designation for mission
STS-52.  The  tank  was  offloaded and transferred to the storage
cell in the VAB.
 
 

       KSC SHUTTLE STATUS REPORT - WEDNESDAY, AUG. 26, 1992  10 AM


 
          STS-52/LAGEOS - COLUMBIA (OV 102) - OPF BAY 1

WORK IN PROGRESS:
- Preparations to install the robot arm.
- Installation of the CANEX payload.
- Preparations for the Crew Equipment Interface Test (CEIT).
- Configuring the crew cabin for flight.
- Installing window No. 8.

      ##    STS-52 SOLID ROCKET BOOSTERS - VAB HB 1

WORK IN PROGRESS:
- Connecting the left forward segment to the left booster.
- Preparations to connect the left forward assembly/nose cone.

WORK SCHEDULED:
- Measurements of the boosters' alignment.
- Attaching the external tank to the  solid  rocket  boosters  on
Monday.


 

   KSC SHUTTLE STATUS REPORT - THURSDAY, AUG. 27, 1992  10 AM


 
          STS-52/LAGEOS - COLUMBIA (OV 102) - OPF BAY 1

WORK IN PROGRESS:
- Preparations to install the robot arm.
- Preparations for the Crew Equipment Interface Test (CEIT).
- Configuring the crew cabin for flight.
- Installing window No. 8.

WORK COMPLETED:
- Installed the CANEX payload.

     ##     STS-52 SOLID ROCKET BOOSTERS - VAB HB 1

WORK IN PROGRESS:
- Preparations to attach the left forward assembly/nose cone.

WORK COMPLETED:
- Connected the left forward segment to the left booster.

WORK SCHEDULED:
- Measurements of the boosters' alignment.
- Attaching the external tank to the  solid  rocket  boosters  on
Monday.

 

KSC SPACE SHUTTLE STATUS - MONDAY, AUGUST 31, 1992 -- 12:30 P.M.
 --------------------------------------------------------------

 
         STS-52/LAGEOS - COLUMBIA (OV 102) -- OPF BAY 1

WORK IN PROGRESS:
*  Forward Reaction Control System installation

WORK COMPLETED:
*  Robot arm installation
*  Crew Equipment Interface Test
*  Payload pre-mate operations

WORK SCHEDULED:
*  Orbital Maneuvering System functional tests


NOTE: In the Vehicle Assembly Building, lift and mating of the
external tank to the solid rocket boosters is scheduled to occur
no earlier than tomorrow.


 

 KSC SPACE SHUTTLE STATUS - TUESDAY, SEPT. 1, 1992 -- 10:00 A.M.
 --------------------------------------------------------------

 
         STS-52/LAGEOS - COLUMBIA (OV 102) -- OPF BAY 1

WORK IN PROGRESS:
*  Forward Reaction Control System electrical mates and checks
*  Orbiter-payload interface verification tests
*  Ammonia boiler servicing

WORK COMPLETED:
*  Installation of Auxiliary Power Units
*  Installation of fuel cells storage tank set number 5
*  Crew Equipment Interface Test
*  Payload pre-mate operations
*  Payload bay door cycles

WORK SCHEDULED:
*  Orbital Maneuvering System functional tests
*  Auxiliary Power Units hook-ups
*  External tank mate with solid rocket boosters (on hold pending
   determination of VAB 250 ton crane status)


 

      KSC SPACE SHUTTLE STATUS - WEDNESDAY, SEPT. 2, 1992 -- 10:00 A.M.
        --------------------------------------------------------------

 
         STS-52/LAGEOS - COLUMBIA (OV 102) -- OPF BAY 1

WORK IN PROGRESS:
*  Forward Reaction Control System electrical mates and checks
*  Orbiter-payload interface verification tests
*  Ammonia boiler servicing
*  Orbital Maneuvering System electrical redundancy checks
*  Remote manipulator system verification checks

WORK COMPLETED:
*  Installation of Auxiliary Power Units
*  Installation of fuel cells storage tank set number 5
*  Payload bay door cycles

WORK SCHEDULED:
*  Auxiliary Power Unit hook-ups
*  External tank mate with solid rocket boosters (on hold pending
   resolution of VAB 250 ton crane status)


 

 KSC SPACE SHUTTLE STATUS - FRIDAY, SEPT. 4, 1992 -- 10:00 A.M.
 --------------------------------------------------------------

 
         STS-52/LAGEOS - COLUMBIA (OV 102) -- OPF BAY 1

WORK IN PROGRESS:
*  Forward Reaction Control System checks
*  Orbital Maneuvering System electrical redundancy checks
*  Remote manipulator system checkouts
*  Main engine electrical checks
*  Main engine heat shield installation
*  Retest of Auxiliary Power Unit number 1

WORK COMPLETED:
*  Ammonia boiler servicing
*  Installation of fuel cells storage tank set number 5

WORK SCHEDULED:
*  Orbiter-payload interface verification tests
*  External tank mate with solid rocket boosters (on hold for no
   earlier than Tuesday morning pending resolution of VAB 250 ton
   crane status)

 

    KSC SHUTTLE STATUS REPORT - TUESDAY, SEPT. 8, 1992  11 AM


 
          STS-52/LAGEOS - COLUMBIA (OV 102) - OPF BAY 1

WORK IN PROGRESS:
- Check out of the forward reaction control system.
- Verification of the robot arm.
- Minor repairing of the radiators.
- Close outs of the vehicle.
- Main engine interface leak checks.

   ##   STS-52 SOLID ROCKET BOOSTERS/EXTERNAL TANK - VAB HB 1

WORK IN PROGRESS:
- Attaching the external tank to the solid rocket boosters.

WORK SCHEDULED:
- Mating the orbiter Columbia later this month.

 
 

KSC SPACE SHUTTLE STATUS - WEDNESDAY, SEPT. 9, 1992 -- 10:00 A.M.
 --------------------------------------------------------------

 
         STS-52/LAGEOS - COLUMBIA (OV 102) -- OPF BAY 1

WORK IN PROGRESS:
*  Orbiter forward and aft compartment closeouts
*  Window # 8 installation
*  External tank mate with solid rocket boosters
*  Main engine heat shield installation

WORK COMPLETED:
*  Hydraulic checks of the landing gear
*  Orbital Maneuvering System electrical redundancy checks

WORK SCHEDULED:
*  Rollover to the Vehicle Assembly Building scheduled for mid-
   next week

 

   KSC SHUTTLE STATUS REPORT - THURSDAY, SEPT. 10, 1992  10 AM

 
          STS-52/LAGEOS - COLUMBIA (OV 102) - OPF BAY 1

WORK IN PROGRESS:
- Replacement of TACANs No. 1 and 3.
- Check out of the forward reaction control system.
- Tests of the robot arm.
- Close outs of the vehicle.
- Main engine interface leak checks.

WORK SCHEDULED:
-  Transfer  to  the Vehicle Assembly Building next week for mate
with the external tank and boosters.


   ##   STS-52 SOLID ROCKET BOOSTERS/EXTERNAL TANK - VAB HB 1

WORK IN PROGRESS:
-  Making  connections  between  the  external  tank to the solid
rocket boosters.

WORK COMPLETED:
- External tank was attached to the orbiter yesterday.

WORK SCHEDULED:
- Mating the orbiter Columbia later this month.


 

    KSC SHUTTLE STATUS REPORT - FRIDAY, SEPT. 11, 1992  10 AM

 
         STS-52/LAGEOS - COLUMBIA (OV 102) - OPF BAY 1

WORK IN PROGRESS:
- Close outs of the vehicle.
- Main engine interface leak checks.
- Hydraulic system operations.

WORK COMPLETED:
- Replaced TACANs No. 1 and 3.
- Completed check out of the forward reaction control system.

WORK SCHEDULED:
-  Transfer  to  the Vehicle Assembly Building next week for mate
with the external tank and boosters.

   STS-52 SOLID ROCKET BOOSTERS/EXTERNAL TANK - VAB HIGH BAY 1

WORK IN PROGRESS:
- Making connections between  the  external  tank  to  the  solid
rocket boosters.

WORK SCHEDULED:
-  Bolting  the  orbiter  Columbia to the boosters and tank later
this month.

 

    KSC SHUTTLE STATUS REPORT - MONDAY, SEPT. 14, 1992  11 AM

 
          STS-52/LAGEOS - COLUMBIA (OV 102) - OPF BAY 1

WORK IN PROGRESS:
- Cleaning of the payload bay.
- Close outs of the vehicle.
- Tests of the hydraulic system.
-  Troubleshooting  of the water system for the crystals by vapor
transport experiment located in the middeck.

WORK COMPLETED:
- Leak checks of the crew module.

WORK SCHEDULED:
- Transfer Columbia to the Vehicle Assembly Building targeted for
Friday.  Columbia will bolted to the external tank and boosters.

   STS-52 SOLID ROCKET BOOSTERS/EXTERNAL TANK - VAB HIGH BAY 1

WORK SCHEDULED:
- Bolting the orbiter Columbia to the boosters and tank  the  end
of this week.

 

   KSC SHUTTLE STATUS REPORT - WEDNESDAY, SEPT. 16, 1992  11 AM

 
          STS-52/LAGEOS - COLUMBIA (OV 102) - OPF BAY 1

WORK IN PROGRESS:
- Cleaning of the payload bay.
- Close outs of the vehicle.
- Final brazing of gaseous nitrogen lines in the aft compartment.
-  Replacement of the water accumulator for the crystals by vapor
transport experiment located in the middeck.

WORK SCHEDULED:
- Transfer Columbia to the Vehicle Assembly Building targeted for
no earlier than 0001 Sunday.  Columbia will be bolted to the  ex-
ternal tank and boosters.
- Flight Readiness Review on October 1.
- Launch targeted for mid-October.

   STS-52 SOLID ROCKET BOOSTERS/EXTERNAL TANK - VAB HIGH BAY 1

WORK SCHEDULED:
- Bolting the orbiter Columbia to  the  boosters  and  tank  this
weekend.

 

The "standard first edition" (no graphics, limited editing, etc.) of the
STS-52 press kit is now available.   I'll announce the final version when
it's ready (typically a few days before launch).

  pragma::public:[nasa]sts-52.ps


20 pages


- dave

    KSC SHUTTLE STATUS REPORT - MONDAY, SEPT. 21, 1992  10 AM

 
        STS-52/LAGEOS - COLUMBIA (OV 102) - VAB HB BAY 1

WORK IN PROGRESS:
-  Hoisting  the  orbiter above the transfer aisle floor and into
high bay 1 where it will be bolted to the external tank and solid
rocket boosters.

WORK COMPLETED:
- Transferred Columbia to the VAB by 1:10 p.m. yesterday.

WORK SCHEDULED:
- Rollout to Launch Pad 39-B targeted for 0001 Saturday.
- Terminal Countdown Demonstration Test scheduled on Oct. 1-2.
- Flight Readiness Review early next month.
- Launch targeted for mid-October.

 

  KSC SHUTTLE STATUS REPORT - WEDNESDAY, SEPT. 23, 1992  10 AM


 
        STS-52/LAGEOS - COLUMBIA (OV 102) - VAB HB BAY 1

WORK IN PROGRESS:
- Electrically connecting the orbiter and vehicle elements.
- Preparations to begin the Shuttle Interface Test tonight.

WORK SCHEDULED:
- Rollout to Launch Pad 39-B targeted for 0001 Saturday.
- Terminal Countdown Demonstration Test scheduled on Oct. 1-2.
- Flight Readiness Review Oct. 6.
- Launch targeted for mid-October.


 

   KSC SHUTTLE STATUS REPORT - THURSDAY, SEPT. 24, 1992  10 AM

 
        STS-52/LAGEOS - COLUMBIA (OV 102) - VAB HB BAY 1

WORK IN PROGRESS:
- Shuttle Interface Test in progress to  verify  connections  be-
tween the orbiter and vehicle elements and launch platform.

WORK SCHEDULED:
- Rollout to Launch Pad 39-B targeted for 0001 Saturday.
- Terminal Countdown Demonstration Test scheduled on Oct. 1-2.
- Flight Readiness Review Oct. 6.
- Launch targeted for mid-October.


 

    KSC SHUTTLE STATUS REPORT - FRIDAY, SEPT. 25, 1992  10 AM

 
        STS-52/LAGEOS - COLUMBIA (OV 102) - VAB HB BAY 1

WORK IN PROGRESS:
- Preparations to transfer the orbiter to launch pad 39-B.
- Retracting platforms away from the vehicle.
- Defoaming around the main engine No.  3 interfaces in  prepara-
tion for removal next week.
- X-rays of the welds in the engine No. 1 aft manifold.

 WORK SCHEDULED:
- Rollout to Launch Pad 39-B targeted for 0001 Saturday.
- Hot fire of the auxiliary power units Saturday night.
- Move the rotating service structure in place around the vehicle
at 0400 Sunday.
- Terminal Countdown Demonstration Test scheduled on Oct. 1-2.
- Flight Readiness Review Oct. 6.
- Launch targeted for mid-October.

CONCERNS:
- Yesterday, officials decided to replace engine No. 3 because of
concerns of small welds in the nozzle's aft manifold.  Performing
x-rays of this particular area is an involved task and would  re-
quire a significant amount of time.  After evaluating options, it
was determined that replacing engine No. 3 at the pad is the pru-
dent thing to do.  X-rays of welds in a different location in the
engine  No.  1  aft manifold are being taken today.  There are no
concerns with engine No. 2.

 

          KSC SHUTTLE STATUS REPORT - MONDAY, SEPT. 28, 1992  10 AM


 
             STS-52/LAGEOS - COLUMBIA (OV 102) - LAUNCH PAD 39-B

WORK IN PROGRESS:
- Open the payload bay doors.
- Preparations to transfer the payloads into the payload bay.
- Preparations to remove and replace main engine No. 3.
- Evaluation of X-rays of the welds  in  the  engine  No.  1  aft manifold.
- Check out of the booster hydraulic system.

WORK COMPLETED:
- Columbia arrived at Launch Pad 39-B Saturday morning.
- Hot fired auxiliary power unit No. 1 Saturday night.
- Removed heat shields around engine No. 3.

WORK SCHEDULED:
- Launch Readiness Review Sept. 30.
- STS-52 crew arrives at KSC on Wednesday at 11:30 a.m. EDT.
- Terminal Countdown Demonstration Test scheduled on Oct. 1-2.
- Flight Readiness Review Oct. 6.
- Launch targeted for third week of October.


 

       KSC SPACE SHUTTLE STATUS - TUESDAY, SEPT. 29, 1992 -- 10:00 A.M.
        --------------------------------------------------------------

 
                    STS-52/LAGEOS - COLUMBIA (OV 102) -- PAD 39-B

WORK IN PROGRESS:
*  Remove main engine number 3 from orbiter this afternoon
*  Transfer payload into orbiter

WORK COMPLETED:
*  Main engine heat shield removal from engine number 3
*  Open payload bay doors
*  Evaluation of X-rays on the welds in the engine number 1 aft
   manifold showed no indication of defects

WORK SCHEDULED:
*  Install replacement engine number 3 tomorrow
*  Launch Readiness Review Sept. 30
*  Terminal Countdown Demonstration Test (TCDT) Oct. 1-2
*  STS-52 crew arrives at KSC tomorrow at 11:30 a.m. for TCDT
*  Flight Readiness Review Oct. 6
*  Launch targeted for third week of October


 

George Diller                                      Sept. 29, 1992
Kennedy Space Center

Jessie Katz
Goddard Space Flight Center

Jerry Berg
Marshall Space Flight Center

KSC Release No. 135-92

     The LAGEOS II (Laser Geodynamic Satellite) spacecraft was installed into
Columbia's payload bay today in preparation for the upcoming STS-52 mission
next month.

     LAGEOS II, built by the Italian Space Agency (ASI) is attached to an IRIS
(Italian Research Interim Stage) booster, a low-cost spinning solid upper stage
developed by the Italians for deploying moderate sized satellites from the
Space Shuttle.

     USMP-1, the first in the U.S. Microgravity Payload series, was also
installed into the payload bay today.  The ten-day STS- 52 mission will provide
the flight duration necessary to achieve the desired microgravity science
objectives.

     The next major activity for each of these payloads is an Interface
Verification Test (IVT) which verifies the electrical connections with Columbia
and ensures that the payloads will respond correctly when sent commands from
the flight deck.  The IVT for USMP is scheduled for Oct. 2, and the IVT for
LAGEOS/IRIS is scheduled for Oct 13.

        KSC SHUTTLE STATUS REPORT - WEDNESDAY, SEPT. 30, 1992  10 AM


 
             STS-52/LAGEOS - COLUMBIA (OV 102) - LAUNCH PAD 39-B

WORK IN PROGRESS:
- Interface verification tests of the payloads.
- Preparations to replace main engine No. 3.
- Check out of the booster hydraulic system.
- Calibrations of the inertial measurement units.
- KSC Launch Readiness Review.
- STS-52 crew scheduled to arrive at 11:30 a.m.

WORK COMPLETED:
- Disconnected the No. 3 main engine from the orbiter.
- Installed the STS-52 payloads.

WORK SCHEDULED:
- Terminal Countdown Demonstration Test tomorrow and Friday.
- Flight Readiness Review Oct. 6.
- Launch targeted for third week of October.


 

   KSC SHUTTLE STATUS REPORT - THURSDAY, OCT. 1, 1992  10 AM


 
       STS-52/LAGEOS - COLUMBIA (OV 102) - LAUNCH PAD 39-B

WORK IN PROGRESS:
- Terminal Countdown Demonstration Test began at 8  a.m.  at  the T-24 hour
mark.
- Preparations to replace main engine No.  3 acceptable wind con-
ditions at the pad.
- STS-52 flight crew to perform  sharp  edge  inspection  of  the
payload bay and  practice emergency escape procedures at the pad.

WORK COMPLETED:
- Calibrated the inertial measurement units.

WORK SCHEDULED:
- Terminal  Countdown Demonstration Test T-0 tomorrow at 11 a.m.EDT.
- Flight Readiness Review Oct. 6.
- Launch targeted for October 22.


 

    KSC SHUTTLE STATUS REPORT - MONDAY, OCT. 5, 1992  11 AM


 
       STS-52/LAGEOS - COLUMBIA (OV 102) - LAUNCH PAD 39-B

WORK IN PROGRESS:
- Leak tests of the No. 3 main engine.
- Making ground connections to the  orbiter  in  preparation  for
loading hypergolic propellants into the orbiter's onboard storage
tanks.

WORK COMPLETED:
-  Replaced the suspect No.  3 main engine and  conducted several
leak tests.
- Interface verification tests between the payloads and  the  or-
biter.

WORK SCHEDULED:
-  Helium  signature leak test of the three main engines and main
propulsion system on Wednesday.
- Flight Readiness Review Oct. 6.
- Launch targeted for October 22.


 

                  SPACE SHUTTLE STATUS REPORT: STS-52
                  Tuesday, October 6, 1992

George Diller
Kennedy Space Center



Vehicle: Space Shuttle Columbia/OV-102
Location: Launch Pad 39-B
Primary Payloads: IRIS/LAGEOS-1
                  USMP-1

IN WORK:

-  STS-52 Flight Readiness Review in the Mission Briefing Room

-  APU #1 quick disconnect changeout

-  power-on testing

-  heat shield installation around SSME #3

-  preparations for hypergolic propellant loading

-  preparations for helium signature leak checks of the main
   engines and main propulsion system

-  CVTE payload power supply checkout


COMPLETED:

- SSME #3 changeout

- Initial SSME #3 leak checks

- USMP payload Interface Verification Test (IVT) with Columbia


SCHEDULED:

- Helium Signature Leak Check on Wednesday

- USMP cryogenic servicing on Wednesday

- Potable water sample on Wednesday

- Hypergolic storable propellant loading on Thursday and Friday

- IRIS/LAGEOS payload Interface Verification Test (IVT) with
  Columbia on Saturday


     A summary of other orbiter vehicles, associated payloads and
the VAB activities will be released weekly on Friday covering the
schedule for the upcoming week and the previous week.  Issues and
concerns having potential schedule impact will be addressed if
and when they occur.

SPACE SHUTTLE STATUS REPORT: STS-52

Wednesday, October 7, 1992

Vehicle: Space Shuttle Columbia/OV-102
Location: Launch Pad 39-B
Primary Payloads: IRIS/LAGEOS-2
                  USMP-1

Launch Date: October 22
Available launch window: 11:16 a.m.-2:21 p.m. EDT (3 hrs 5 min)



IN WORK:

-  power-on testing
-  heat shield and eye lid installation around SSME #3
-  preparations for hypergolic propellant loading
-  helium signature leak checks of the main engines and main propulsion system
-  USMP payload Cryogenic Servicing
-  CVTE payload power supply checkout
-  Potable water sampling



COMPLETED:

-  APU #1 quick disconnect changeout
-  Galley water tank changeout
-  SSME #3 changeout
-  SSME #3 leak checks
-  USMP payload Interface Verification Test (IVT) with Columbia



SCHEDULED:

- Hypergolic storable propellant loading on Thursday and Friday
- IRIS/LAGEOS payload Interface Verification Test (IVT) with Columbia on
  Saturday
- Flight Readiness Test on Sunday



     A summary of other orbiter vehicles, associated payloads and the VAB
activities will be released weekly on Friday covering the schedule for the
upcoming week and the previous week.  Issues and concerns having potential
schedule impact will be addressed if and when they occur.

Ed Campion
Headquarters, Washington, D.C.                   October 6, 1992


Lisa Malone
Kennedy Space Center, Fla.



EDITORS NOTE:  N92-88


     NASA managers today announced Oct. 22 as the official launch date for the
next Space Shuttle mission.  The STS-52 flight will see the Space Shuttle
Columbia and her 6 person crew deploy a satellite developed by the United
States and Italy to obtain precise measurements of the Earth's tectonic plates.
A series of U.S./Canadian experiments also will be conducted during the
mission.

     The launch window on Oct. 22 opens at 11:16 a.m.  EDT and extends for 2
1/2 hours.  The mission duration for STS-52 is 9 days, 20 hours, 46 minutes.
At the end of the mission, Columbia is scheduled to land at Kennedy Space
Center's Shuttle Landing Facility in Fla.

     Mission Commander is James Wetherbee with Michael Baker serving as Pilot.
Mission specialists are Charles Lacy Veach, William Shepherd and Tamara
Jernigan. Steve MacLean is the payload specialist and the third Canadian
citizen to fly aboard the Space Shuttle.


- end -

                   SPACE SHUTTLE STATUS REPORT

 
                           STS-52


Thursday, October 8, 1992

George Diller
Kennedy Space Center

Vehicle: Space Shuttle Columbia/OV-102
Location: Launch Pad 39-B
Primary Payloads: IRIS/LAGEOS-2
                  USMP-1

Launch Date: Thursday, October 22
Available launch window:  11:16 a.m.-2:21 p.m. EDT (3 hrs 5 min)
Nominal Landing:  KSC 7:02 a.m. EST  Sunday, November 1


IN WORK:

-  power-on testing
- preparations for hypergolic propellant loading
-  helium signature leak checks of the main
   engines and main propulsion system
-  preparations for payload bay door closure required for
   propellant servicing activities
-  thermal protection system closeouts

COMPLETED:

-  APU #1 quick disconnect changeout
-  Galley water tank changeout
-  SSME #3 changeout
-  SSME #3 leak checks
-  SSME ## heat shield and eye lid installation
-  USMP payload Interface Verification Test (IVT) with Columbia
-  USMP payload cryogenic top off
-  Potable water sampling


SCHEDULED:

- Hypergolic storable propellant loading on Friday and Saturday
- IRIS/LAGEOS payload Interface Verification Test (IVT) with
  Columbia on Saturday
- Flight Readiness Test on Sunday
- Begin aft main engine compartment closeouts on Monday

               SPACE SHUTTLE WEEKLY STATUS SUMMARY
               Friday, October 9, 1992

George Diller
Kennedy Space Center


 
                      STS-52

Vehicle: Space Shuttle Columbia/OV-102
Location: Launch Pad 39-B
Mission: STS-52
Primary Payloads: IRIS/LAGEOS-2
                  USMP-1

Launch Date: Thursday, October 22
Available launch window:  11:16 a.m.-2:21 p.m. EDT (3 hrs 5 min)
Nominal Landing:  KSC 7:02 a.m. EST  Sunday, November 1


IN WORK:

-  oxidizer loading (Hazardous operation-Pad B cleared of
   nonparticipating personnel)

SCHEDULED:

- Fuel loading on Saturday
- Reopen payload bay doors Saturday night
- Gaseous oxygen system leak check
- IRIS/LAGEOS payload Interface Verification Test (IVT) with Columbia on Sunday
- Flight Readiness Test (FRT) on Sunday night
- Begin aft main engine compartment closeouts on Monday
- Ordnance installation and hypergolic tank pressurization on Monday night.
- EMU installation on Wednesday
- External tank purges on Thursday
- USMP payload cryogenic topoff/close payload bay doors on 10/19



STS-52 WORK COMPLETED:

-  Helium signature leak checks of main engines and main propulsion system
-  Payload bay door closure for hypergolic loading activities
-  APU #1 quick disconnect changeout
-  Galley water tank changeout
-  SSME #3 changeout
-  SSME #3 leak checks
-  SSME #3 heat shield and eye lid installation
-  USMP payload Interface Verification Test (IVT) with Columbia
-  USMP payload cryogenic servicing
-  Potable water sampling


 

The NASA Select TV schedule for STS-52 is now available.

    pragma::public:[nasa]sts-52.nasa_select

Additional revisions will be made without further notice here.   The document
is currently at Rev. A.

- dave

              SPACE SHUTTLE STATUS REPORT
               Tuesday, October 13, 1992

George Diller
Kennedy Space Center

 
                     STS-52

Vehicle: Space Shuttle Columbia/OV-102
Location: Launch Pad 39-B
Primary Payloads: IRIS/LAGEOS-2
                  USMP-1

Launch Date: Thursday, October 22
Available launch window:  11:16 a.m.-2:21 p.m. EDT (3 hrs 5 min)
Nominal Landing:  KSC 7:02 a.m. EST  Sunday, November 1


IN WORK:

- Ordnance installation
- Hypergolic tank pressurization


SCHEDULED:

- Aft main engine compartment closeouts
- Contingency EVA spacesuit installation
- Firepole installation
- Installation of Flight Crew Equipment
- ET purges
- PRSD tank purges
- Ordnance connections
- Fill Pad B cryogenic storage spheres
- USMP paylod cryogenic servicing
- Payload bay closeouts
- Validation of pad Firex system
- Pad/mobile launcher platform washdown



STS-52 WORK COMPLETED:

-  RMS elbow camera installed
-  IRIS/LAGEOS Interface Verification Test (IVT) with Columbia
-  Flight Readiness Test of main engines/flight control surfaces
-  Hypergolic propellant loading activities
-  USMP payload Interface Verification Test (IVT) with Columbia
-  Helium signature leak checks of the main engines and main propulsion system
-  thermal protection system closeouts

               SPACE SHUTTLE STATUS REPORT
               Wednesday, October 14, 1992

George Diller
Kennedy Space Center

 
                        STS-52

Vehicle: Space Shuttle Columbia/OV-102
Location: Launch Pad 39-B
Primary Payloads: IRIS/LAGEOS-2
                  USMP-1

Launch Date: Thursday, October 22
Available launch window:  11:16 a.m.-2:21 p.m. EDT (3 hrs 5 min)
Nominal Landing:  KSC 7:02 a.m. EST  Sunday, November 1


IN WORK:

- Contingency EVA spacesuit installation
- Orbiter/External tank cavity purge leak checks
- IRIS/LAGEOS closeouts
- Installation of flight crew equipment in the crew module
- Auxilary power unit leak checks
- Main engine #3 gimbal check
- Carrier panel/heat shield installation
- PRSD tank purges
- Countdown preparations in Firing Room 3

SCHEDULED:

- Aft main engine compartment cleaning/closeouts on Thursday
- Firepole installation on Thursday
- ET purges on Thursday
- Begin flight crew equipment stowage in crew cabin on Thursday
- Ordnance connections on Saturday
- Orbiter positive pressure check on Sunday
- USMP paylod cryogenic servicing on Monday
- Payload bay closeouts on Monday
- Pad/mobile launcher platform washdown/debris walkdown on Monday
- Begin STS-52 countdown at 4 p.m. on Monday
- Close payload bay doors on Tuesday



STS-52 WORK COMPLETED:

-  Initial ordnance installation
-  Hypergolic tank pressurization
-  IRIS/LAGEOS Interface Verification Test (IVT) with Columbia
-  Flight Readiness Test of main engines/flight control surfaces

               SPACE SHUTTLE STATUS REPORT
               Thursday, October 15, 1992

George Diller
Kennedy Space Center

 
                        STS-52

Vehicle: Space Shuttle Columbia/OV-102
Location: Launch Pad 39-B
Primary Payloads: IRIS/LAGEOS-2
                  USMP-1

Launch Date: Thursday, October 22
Available launch window:  11:16 a.m.-2:21 p.m. EDT (3 hrs 5 min)
Nominal Landing:  KSC 7:02 a.m. EST  Sunday, November 1


IN WORK:

- Aft main engine compartment cleaning

- Aft main engine compartment closeouts

- Orbiter aft confidence test

- Stowage of consumables and flight crew equipment in crew cabin

- Firepole installation on the mid-deck

- External tank purges

- Auxiliary power unit closeout inspections



WORK SCHEDULED:

- Cavity purge retest on Friday

- Load mass memory units

- Vehicle ordnance connections on Saturday

- IRIS/LAGEOS ordnance connections on Saturday

- USMP payload servicing on Saturday

- External tank/solid rocket booster closeouts

- Orbiter aft positive pressure check on Sunday



STS-52  WORK SCHEDULED continued

- Remove main engine protective covers on Sunday

- Aft compartment final inspections on Sunday

- Install orbiter aft flight doors Sunday night

- USMP payload cryogenic topoff on Monday

- Payload bay closeouts on Monday

- Pad/mobile launcher platform washdown/debris walkdown on Monday

- Begin STS-52 countdown at 4 p.m. on Monday

- Close payload bay doors on Tuesday morning



STS-52 WORK COMPLETED:

- Contingency EVA spacesuit installation

- Orbiter/External tank cavity purge leak checks

- IRIS/LAGEOS closeouts

- Auxiliary power unit leak checks

- Main engine #3 gimbal check

- Carrier panel/heat shield installation

- PRSD tank purges

- Countdown preparations and communications activation in FR #3


 

               SPACE SHUTTLE WEEKLY STATUS SUMMARY
               Friday, October 16, 1992


George Diller/Mitch Varnes
Kennedy Space Center

 
                             STS-52

Vehicle: Space Shuttle Columbia/OV-102
Location: Launch Pad 39-B
Mission: STS-52
Primary Payloads: IRIS/LAGEOS-2
                  USMP-1

Launch Date: Thursday, October 22
Available launch window:  11:16 a.m.-2:21 p.m. EDT (3 hrs 5 min)
Nominal Landing:  KSC 7:02 a.m. EST  Sunday, November 1


IN WORK:

- Aft main engine compartment closeouts
- Load mass memory units
- Cavity purge retest
- Ordnance installation
_ Preparations to pick up the countdown at 4 p.m. Monday

WORK SCHEDULED:

- Vehicle ordnance connections on Saturday
- IRIS/LAGEOS ordnance connections on Saturday
- USMP cryogenic servicing on Saturday
- External tank/solid rocket booster closeouts on Saturday
- Aft compartment final inspections on Sunday
- Install aft flight doors on Sunday
- Orbiter aft pressure check on Sunday
- USMP cryogenic topoff on Monday
- Payload bay closeouts on Monday
- Begin STS-52 countdown on Monday at 4 p.m.
- Astronaut arrival Monday at 5:30 p.m
- Close payload bay doors on Tuesday morning
- Gaseous oxygen system leak check


STS-52 WORK COMPLETED:

-  Orbiter aft confidence test
-  Stowage of consumables and flight crew equipment in crew cabin
-  Firepole installation on the mid-deck
-  External tank purges
-  Auxiliary power unit closeout inspections
-  Contingency EVA spacesuit installation

 

Article 2764 of clari.tw.space:
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Path: nntpd2.cxo.dec.com!pa.dec.com!decwrl!looking!clarinews
From: [email protected] (WILLIAM HARWOOD)
Newsgroups: clari.tw.space,clari.local.texas,clari.news.military,clari.news.aviation
Subject: Shuttle countdown begins
Keywords: space, science, air force, military, air transport,
	transportation
Message-ID: <[email protected]>
References: <[email protected]>
X-Supersedes: <[email protected]>
Date: Mon, 19 Oct 92 16:41:09 PDT
Location: texas
ACategory: national
Slugword: shuttle
Priority: regular
Format: regular
ANPA: Wc: 471; Id: z5749; Sel: txnss; Adate: 10-19-641pcd; Ver: 0/1
Approved: [email protected]
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	CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (UPI) -- The countdown began Monday for the
shuttle Columbia's takeoff Thursday on a 10-day mission featuring the
launch of a small science satellite and a battery of on-board
experiments.
	Countdown clocks began ticking on time at 4 p.m. EDT, about two hours
before Columbia's international five-man one-woman crew arrived at the
Kennedy Space Center for final preparations.
	``Columbia's ready to go,'' said astronaut Charles Lacy Veach. ``All
of our experiments are ready to go and our training team says we're
ready to go and I can absolutely, positively guarantee we are ready to
go fly and take one more small step in this great adventure. We're
looking forward to it.''
	Joining Veach, 48, aboard Columbia will be commander James Wetherbee,
39, co-pilot Michael Baker, 38, flight engineer William Shepherd, 43,
Tamara Jernigan, 33, and Canadian researcher Steven MacLean, 37.
	MacLean, the third Canadian to fly on a shuttle, is the only rookie
on the crew. Appropriately enough, MacLean, a sports enthusiast and
former member of the Canadian national gymnastic team, plans to carry a
Toronto Blue Jays cap and other memorabilia into space aboard Columbia.
	``The Jays are going to win (The World Series),'' MacLean told
reporters Monday. ``You should know I've got both a baseball and a hat,
so we'll be cheering from on top. Out of the six of us, there are more
than one Blue Jays fan. So that's good to know.''
	Jernigan quickly joked: ``Five dollars. Payable on orbit.''
	With forecasters calling for an 80-percent chance of acceptable
weather, Columbia was scheduled to take off on the 51st shuttle flight
at 11:16 a.m. EDT Thursday. The astronauts plan to spend 10 days in
orbit before returning to the Florida shuttleport.
	The goal of the year's seventh shuttle mission is the launch Friday
of a small Italian satellite designed to serve as a target for ground-
based lasers in research to plot the movement of Earth's continents.
	The 900-pound Laser Geodynamics Satellite - LAGEOS-2 - is equipped
with a solid-fuel booster to propel the mirrored sphere into a circular
3,600-mile-high orbit.
	Once the satellite is in position, scientists will bounce laser beams
off mirrors on its surface and time how long it takes reflections to
return. In that fashion, they can determine the distance to the
satellite to within two inches.
	Earth's continents can move up to 40 inches per year and measurements
made with LAGEOS-2 and an identical satellite launched in 1976 will
allow scientists to precisely plot such continental drift.
	Once LAGEOS-2 is on its way, the astronauts will focus on a battery
of on-board experiments in the fields of biology, medicine, physics,
chemistry and technology demonstration.

               SPACE SHUTTLE STATUS REPORT
               Monday, October 19, 1992
 
 
                       STS-52
 
George Diller
Kennedy Space Center
407/867-2468
 
 
 
Vehicle: Space Shuttle Columbia/OV-102
Location: Launch Pad 39-B
Primary Payloads: IRIS/LAGEOS-2
        USMP-1
 
Launch Date: Thursday, October 22
Available launch window:  11:16 a.m.-2:21 p.m. EDT (3 hrs 5 min)
Nominal Landing:  KSC 7:02 a.m. EST  Sunday, November 1
 
 
 
IN WORK:
 
- Payload closeouts
- USMP cryogenic topoff
- Remove IRIS/LAGEOS Safe & Arm pin
- Aft main engine compartment closeouts
- Cabin stowage
- Countdown preparations in Firing Room #3
- Pad/mobile launcher platform washdown/debris walkdown
 
WORK SCHEDULED:
 
- Aft access platform removal this afternoon
- Install aft flight doors this afternoon
- Orbiter aft pressure check tonight
- Remove payload access at Midnight
- Close payload bay doors 5:30 a.m. Tuesday
 
 
STS-52 WORK SCHEDULED continued
 
- Begin STS-52 countdown at 4 p.m. today
- Astronauts arrival 5:30 p.m.
- Install mid-deck experiments on Wednesday
- Retract Rotating Service Structure at 11 a.m. on Wednesday
- Begin fueling 3 a.m. Thursday
 
 
STS-52 WORK COMPLETED:
 
- IRIS/LAGEOS ordnance connections
- External Tank closeouts
- Solid Rocket Booster closeouts
 
 
 
SPECIAL TOPICS:  Launch Day Weather
 
     The chance of acceptable liftoff weather on Thursday is 80%
Skies are forecast to be be partly cloudy, the temperature
approximately 80 degrees, and winds are expected to be NNE 10-15
knots.
 
     A summary of other orbiter vehicles, associated payloads and
the VAB activities is released weekly on Friday covering the
schedule for the upcoming week and the previous week.  Issues and
concerns having potential schedule impact will be addressed if
and when they occur.

 
               SPACE SHUTTLE STATUS REPORT
                Tuesday, October 20, 1992

George Diller
Kennedy Space Center
407/867-2468
 
 
                        STS-52
   
Vehicle: Space Shuttle Columbia/OV-102
Location: Launch Pad 39-B
Primary Payloads: IRIS/LAGEOS-2
        USMP-1
 
Launch Date: Thursday, October 22
Available launch window:  11:16 a.m.-2:21 p.m. EDT (3 hrs 5 min)
Nominal Landing:  KSC 7:02 a.m. EST  Sunday, November 1
 
 
 
IN WORK:
 
- firing circuit verification check (PIC resistance)
- Loading orbiter fuel cell cryogenic storage tanks (PRSD)
 
 
 
WORK SCHEDULED:
 
- Orbiter midbody umbilical (OMBU) retract tonight
- Activate orbiter communications systems overnight
- Load main engine computer controller software overnight
- Install mid-deck experiments at Wednesday
- Retract Rotating Service Structure at 11 a.m. on Wednesday
- Configure cockpit switches for launch Wednesday
- Begin fueling 2:56 a.m. Thursday
 
STS-52 WORK COMPLETED:
 
- Payload bay doors closed for flight at 2:25 a.m. today
- Aft main engine compartment closed for flight Monday
- Aft compartment pressure check
- Pad washdown and debris inspection
 
 
SPECIAL TOPICS:  Launch Day Weather
 
     The chance of acceptable liftoff weather on Thursday is 70%
Clouds are forecast to be scattered, the temperature
approximately 80 degrees, and winds are expected to be NE 12-18
knots.  The concerns are for an RTLS crosswind violation and a
slight chance of developing a low level ceiling, also an RTLS
constraint.
 
     There are no technical issues or concerns for Thursday's
launch of Columbia on the STS-52 mission.
 
 
     A summary of other orbiter vehicles, associated payloads and
the VAB activities is released weekly on Friday covering the
schedule for the upcoming week and the previous week.  Issues and
concerns having potential schedule impact will be addressed if
and when they occur.

Article 2247 of sci.space.news:
Newsgroups: sci.space.news
Path: nntpd2.cxo.dec.com!pa.dec.com!e2big.mko.dec.com!uvo.dec.com!rdg.dec.com!news.crl.dec.com!deccrl!caen!uakari.primate.wisc.edu!ames!dont-send-mail-to-path-lines
From: [email protected] (Peter Yee)
Subject: NASA/Italian satellite to study earthquakes and geology [Release 92-175] (Forwarded)
Message-ID: <[email protected]>
Apparently-To: [email protected]
Followup-To: sci.space
Originator: [email protected]
Sender: [email protected]
Reply-To: [email protected] (Peter Yee)
Organization: NASA Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, CA
Date: Tue, 20 Oct 1992 20:01:01 GMT
Approved: [email protected]
Lines: 198

Brian Dunbar
Headquarters, Washington, D.C.         October 20, 1992
(Phone:  202/358-1547)

Jessie Katz
Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md.
(Phone:  301/286-5566)


RELEASE:  92-175

NASA/ITALIAN SATELLITE TO STUDY EARTHQUAKES AND GEOLOGY


     Whether they like it -- or even know it -- folks in 
sunny southern California are now on the move toward frigid 
Alaska where their descendants are expected to arrive in 
about 150 million years.

     They are riding on one of the crustal plates that 
constitute the earth's surface and it is moving north towards 
a collision with Alaska.

     On Oct. 22, NASA will launch an Italian-built satellite 
aboard the Space Shuttle Columbia to monitor the motion of 
the crustal plates.

     The primary purpose is not to check the accuracy of 
predictions like the California-Alaska and similar pending 
collisions but to better understand earthquakes and volcanic 
eruptions caused by plates sliding past one another.

     "Most earthquakes and volcanoes are located along the 
boundaries between Earth's crustal plates," said Miriam 
Baltuck, Program Scientist for the satellite, the second 
Laser Geodynamics Satellite (LAGEOS II).  "To be able to 
mitigate the damage they can cause, we must understand the 
processes that create them.  LAGEOS II will help us do that."

     Columbia also will carry the first United States 
Microgravity Payload (USMP-1), which will conduct experiments 
in how materials change state in the absence of gravity.


SATELLITE LASER RANGING

     Like LAGEOS I, launched in 1976 and still in service, 
LAGEOS II is dedicated to satellite laser ranging (SLR).  In 
SLR, ground-based lasers transmit intense, short pulses of 
light to a satellite equipped with retroreflectors.  The 
retroreflectors on the surface of LAGEOS II are three-
dimensional prisms that reflect the laser back to its source.  

     By recording the round-trip travel time of the pulse, 
scientists can determine the location of the laser station on 
the Earth's surface.  Over time, scientists can determine how 
the laser stations around the world have moved and therefore 
measure how the plates of the Earth's crust are moving.

     "Changes in the round-trip time are due either to very 
tiny changes -- as small as a millimeter -- in the ground 
station's location or to changes in the satellite's orbit 
which respond to changes in the Earth's gravity field," said 
Dr. Baltuck.


THE SATELLITE

     The Italian space agency, Agenzia Spaziale Italiana 
(ASI), built LAGEOS II from NASA drawings and hardware.  It 
is a spherical satellite made of aluminum with a brass core.  
LAGEOS II is only 24 inches (60 cm) in diameter, yet weighs 
approximately 900 pounds (405 kg).  This compact, dense 
design was selected to make the satellite's orbit as stable 
as possible so that its position can be determined with a 
high degree of accuracy.

     The satellite is covered with 426 retroreflectors, about 
1.5 inches (3.8 cm) in diameter.  Each retroreflector is a 
prism that reflects a light beam back to its source.

     GSFC and ASI have assembled 27 teams of investigators to 
work on LAGEOS II.  They represent the U.S., Italy, Germany, 
France, the Netherlands and Hungary.  The investigations 
planned for LAGEOS II include plate tectonics -- the motion 
of the plates of the Earth's crust -- the Earth's rotation, 
Earth's gravity and the accurate determination of the length 
of the day.

     "LAGEOS II is a joint mission of NASA and ASI," said Dr. 
Baltuck, "which is important because global monitoring of the 
Earth requires global participation.  About 30 countries will 
be tracking LAGEOS II from 65 sites around the world."


PREVIOUS RESULTS

     The global network of more than 30 SLR stations have 
provided a basic framework for determining plate motion, 
confirming the expected motion for most plates.  SLR studies 
have shown how stress is distributed and stored within the 
boundary zones between the two large plates divided by 
California's San Andreas Fault.  LAGEOS I data have shown 
that the Hawaiian island of Maui is moving toward Japan at 
approximately 2.8 inches (7 cm) a year and away from South 
America at 3.1 inches (8 cm) a year.


     Adding a second LAGEOS satellite will provide even more 
results, said Dr. Baltuck.  "LAGEOS II will double the number 
of measurements over our most important sites," she said.  
"It will also reduce the problems caused by cloudy weather 
and will enhance our modeling of the Earth's gravity field.  
Its orbit has been designed to improve coverage of the 
Mediterranean, a poorly understood and geologically complex 
area that is naturally of great interest to our Italian 
partners."


PLATE TECTONICS

     The theory of plate tectonics tries to explain how the 
continents got to their current positions and predicts where 
they will be in the future.  Scientists theorize that up 
until about 200 million years ago there was one giant super-
continent where the Atlantic Ocean is today.  It was called 
Pangaea, which means "all lands."  The word is a combination 
of the prefix pan, which means all, and the Greek word gaea, 
which means land or Earth.

       Then, about 180 million years ago, Pangaea started to 
break up into several continents.   The plates carrying the 
continents drifted away from each other with a low layer of 
rock forming between the plates.  Today, the plates comprise 
the solid outer 60 miles (100 km) of the Earth.

     The plates move slowly, generally not faster than 6 
inches (15 cm) a year.  To cite one example, North America 
and Europe are moving apart at about 1.2 inches (3 cm) a 
year.  Today, they are about 3,000 miles (4,828 km) apart.  
When the two continents originally split, the low layer of 
rock between the continents grew, sank and was gradually 
inundated to become the Atlantic Ocean.

      Although the plates' motions are slow when averaged 
over time, the effects of their short-term drastic movements 
can be catastrophic.  Plates may bump into one another, 
spread apart or move horizontally past one another, causing 
earthquakes, building mountains or triggering volcanoes.


OTHER INVESTIGATIONS

     LAGEOS II scientists will also use the data to look at 
changes in the location of the Earth's axis of rotation which 
causes a movement or "wobble" at the north pole.  The Earth 
is not perfectly round, and the material beneath the Earth's 
surface and its atmosphere is not equally distributed around 
the imaginary line around which the Earth spins.  This causes 
a small "wobble" in the Earth's rotation much like the motion 
of a child's top.  The spin rate varies by only a few 
thousandths of a second which changes the length of the 
Earth's day.

     Understanding the Earth's wobble and rotation rate 
provides important insight into how mass shifts above and 
within the Earth.  Through measurements using the LAGEOS 
satellites, scientists can detect changes in polar motion to 
an accuracy of 2 inches (5 cm) and changes in the length of 
the day to within one ten-thousandth of a second.

     The Earth's gravity plays a large part in controlling 
the orbit of a satellite.  Because the Earth is neither 
perfectly round nor equally dense through its interior, 
gravity varies from place to place around the globe.  In 
addition, tides, caused by the gravity of the Sun and the 
Moon pulling on the Earth, cause the Earth's mass to shift 
within a period of hours.  Using laser ranging with the 
LAGEOS satellites, scientists can measure large-scale changes 
in gravity.  Studying these changes helps scientists 
understand better the properties, as well as the strength and 
behavior of materials deep within the Earth.

                     - end-


Note to Editors:  Two illustrations to accompany this story 
are available to media.  The first is an artist's rendering 
of the LAGEOS I satellite (identical to LAGEOS II) 
illustrating the basics of satellite laser ranging.  The 
second is an artist's rendering of the position of the 
continents 200 million years ago, today and 10 million years 
from now.  These images may be obtained from NASA's 
Audio/Imaging Branch by calling 202/453-8375.

                        Color             B&W
LAGEOS I                78-HC-473         78-H-603
Continents              78-HC-477         78-H-607

Brian Dunbar
Headquarters, Washington, D.C.              October 21, 1992

Jim Wilson
Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif.



RELEASE:  92-176

     Scientists will test a Nobel Prize-winning theory which may have
applications ranging from hurricane dynamics to superconductivity during Space
Shuttle Columbia's STS-52 mission, scheduled to lift off Oct. 22.

     The Lambda-Point Experiment (LPE), part of NASA's first United States
Microgravity Payload (USMP-1), will study the strange behavior of helium at its
critical temperature of 2.177 degrees above absolute zero (minus 459 degrees
F).

     "Cryogenics and ultra-sensitive thermometry (measuring billionths of a
degree) will be used to study the mysteries of changes in material properties
during phase transitions," said Reuben Ruiz, LPE Manager for NASA's Jet
Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif.

       Phase transitions, such as those between water and steam or ice and
water, are common in nature and technology and are well understood with certain
exceptions.  The transition between helium's liquid state and its rare
superfluid state, in which the helium flows without friction, is the target of
the LPE's investigation.

     This experiment is the second flight of JPL's Low Temperature Research
Facility aboard the Shuttle orbiter to provide the needed supercold
temperatures and the microgravity environment.  The experiment itself was
devised by Dr. John Lipa, a Stanford University physicist and the LPE Principal
Investigator.

     Lipa's group developed a very precise thermometer and other experimental
equipment to measure the unusual thermal properties predicted by Nobel Laureate
Kenneth Wilson's "Renormalization Group Theory."

     This theory is believed to apply to physics problems ranging from the flow
of fluids (including the winds of hurricanes) to chemical bonding and
superconductivity.  The theory provides a mathematical explanation of how
interactions at the atomic level can translate into phenomena observed at much
larger scales.

     The theory can be tested more rigorously with helium at the transition
temperature in very low gravity.  The heat capacity of the helium, the amount
of energy required to increase its temperature, is predicted to increase
dramatically very close to the transition.

     On Earth, experiments have been limited by the effects of gravity on the
sample's own weight.  In the microgravity of space flight, it should be
possible to test Wilson's theory 100 times more accurately than the best
ground-based experiments.  In addition, the remote control of the experiment by
scientists on the ground will help develop experiment capabilities that will be
used on Space Station Freedom.

     The LPE experimental apparatus was built for Stanford University by Ball
Aerospace Systems, and the Low Temperature Research Facility was developed and
built by JPL. The system was integrated and tested by JPL. USMP-1 is managed by
NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center, Huntsville, Ala., where the experiment's
ground operations will be conducted.

     USMP-1 also will carry a U.S.-French experiment to study the effects
gravity has on metals and semiconductors as they solidify on Earth and in
orbit, called MEPHISTO. A third instrument, the Space Acceleration Measurement
System will measure vibrations in the Shuttle to account for them in the other
two experiments.

     STS-52 also will deploy the second Laser Geodynamics Satellite, an Italian
satellite to study the movements of the Earth's crust and other phenomena.

               SPACE SHUTTLE STATUS REPORT: STS-52
               Wednesday, October 21, 1992



George Diller
Kennedy Space Center


Vehicle: Space Shuttle Columbia/OV-102
Location: Launch Pad 39-B
Primary Payloads: IRIS/LAGEOS-2
                  USMP-1

Launch Date: Thursday, October 22
Available launch window:  11:16 a.m.-2:21 p.m. EDT (3 hrs 5 min)
Nominal Landing:  KSC 7:02 a.m. EST  Sunday, November 1
Mission Duration: 9 Days 20 hours 46 minutes



IN WORK:

- remove OMS/RCS covers and throat plugs
- remove window covers
- configure cockpit switches for launch
- load mid-deck experiments
- final vehicle/payload status briefing for astronauts
- retract rotating service structure
- activate inertial measurement units
- activate fuel cells
- stowage of flight crew equipment in crew cabin

WORK SCHEDULED:

- Begin fueling 2:56 a.m. Thursday
- Fueling complete 5:56 a.m.
- Awaken astronauts  6:21 a.m.
- Crew departs for launch pad  8:01 a.m.
- Hatch closed for flight  9:46 a.m.

STS-52 WORK COMPLETED:

- activate orbiter communications systems
- load controller software
- firing circuit verification check (PIC resistance test)
- Load orbiter fuel cell cryogenic storage tanks (PRSD)
- Retract orbiter mid-body umbilical


SPECIAL TOPICS:  Launch Day Weather

     The chance of acceptable liftoff weather on Thursday is 70%
Clouds are forecast to be scattered, the temperature
approximately 80 degrees, and winds are expected to be NE 12-18
knots.  The concerns are for an RTLS crosswind violation and a
slight chance of developing a low level ceiling, also an RTLS
constraint.  A chance also exist for a passing isolated shower.

     There are no technical issues or concerns for Thursday's
launch of Columbia on the STS-52 mission.
 

SUBJECT: STS-52 nominal prelaunch elements

STS-52
1 00052U          92296.68667432  .00025000  00000-0  25599-3 0    11
2 00052  28.4681  91.8717 0003244 312.3664  47.6625 15.90434847    26

Satellite: STS-52
Catalog number: 00052
Epoch time:      92296.68667432 =====> (22 OCT 92   16:28:48.66 UTC)
Element set:     JSC-001
Inclination:       28.4681 deg
RA of node:        91.8717 deg          Space Shuttle Flight STS-52
Eccentricity:     .0003244          Nominal prelaunch Keplerian Elements
Arg of perigee:   312.3664 deg         Launch:  22 OCT 92  15:16 UTC
Mean anomaly:      47.6625 deg
Mean motion:   15.90434847 rev/day             G. L. Carman
Decay rate:     2.5000e-04 rev/day~2     NASA  Johnson Space Center
Epoch rev:               2

G.L.CARMAN




STS-52 PREDICTED STATE VECTOR

FLIGHT DAY 1 STATE VECTOR (PREDICTED)
ON ORBIT OPERATIONS
(Posted 10/22/92 by Roger Simpson)


The following vector for the flight of STS-52 is provided by NASA Johnson Space
Center Flight Design and Dynamics Division for use in ground track plotting
programs.  The vector is valid for flight day one.  The vector represents the
predictied trajectory of Columbia during on orbit operations, after the OMS-2
maneuver.  The vector assumes an on time launch.

Lift off Time : 1992/296/15:16:00.000
Lift off Date : 10/22/92

Vector Time (GMT) : 296/15:58:12.030
Vector Time (MET) : 000/00:42:12.030
Orbit Count : 1
Weight : 234333.0 LBS
Drag Coefficient : 2.00
Drag Area : 2250.0 SQ FT

     M50 Elements                           Keplerian Elements
-----------------------                 --------------------------
X    =    16607023.2  FT                A          = 3608.2947 NM
Y    =   -11166659.9  FT                E          = 0.000499
Z    =    -8929274.2  FT                I  (M50)   =  28.70022 DEG
Xdot =  11198.574515  FT/S              Wp (M50)   = 254.39054 DEG
Ydot =  21812.017854  FT/S              RAAN (M50) =  91.49761 DEG
Zdot =  -6441.104288  FT/S            / N (True)   = 343.65794 DEG
                           Anomalies  \ M (Mean)   = 343.67404 DEG

                                        Ha         = 162.6826  NM
                                        Hp         = 159.9687  NM

Mean of 1950 (M50)   : Inertial, right-handed Cartesian system whose
Coordinate System      origin is the center of the earth.  The epoch
                       is the beginning of the Besselian year 1950.
                       X axis: Mean vernal equinox of epoch
                       Z axis: Earth's mean rotational axis of epoch
                       Y axis: Completes right-hand system
A:    Semi-major axis
E:    Eccentricity                         N:    True anomaly
I:    Inclination                          M:    Mean anomaly
Wp:   Argument of perigee                  Ha:   Height of apogee
RAAN: Right ascension of ascending node    Hp:   Height of perigee
P

George H. Diller                               October 19, 1992
Kennedy Space Center

KSC Release No. 145-92


     The countdown clock for the STS-52 flight of the Space Shuttle Columbia is
scheduled to begin at 4 p.m. (EDT) today at the T-43 hour mark.  The countdown
includes 24 hours and 16 minutes of built-in hold time leading up to the
opening of the launch window at 11:16 a.m. (EDT) on Thursday, October 22.  The
launch window extends until 2:21 p.m. that day.

     At the start of the countdown, the launch team in firing room 3 of the
Launch Control Center verifies the Shuttle vehicle is powered up and that the
data processing system and backup flight control system are operating.  Flight
software stored in the orbiter's twin memory banks will be reviewed, computer
con- trolled display systems will be activated, and the backup flight system
general purpose computer will be loaded.

     Preparations also start at the liquid oxygen and liquid hydrogen storage
farms for loading the external tank with super cold, or cryogenic, propellants.
The main propulsion system and shuttle main engines are prepared for cryogenic
loading, orbiter navigation aids are turned on and tested, and the inertial
measurement units are activated.

     In parallel with these activities, the launch team prepares for loading
Columbia's onboard fuel cell storage tanks with liq- uid oxygen and liquid
hydrogen reactants.  Also performed at the start of the countdown is the final
stowage, microbial sampling and water level adjustment of the crew waste
management system.

     At T-27 hours, the countdown will enter its first built-in hold.  This is
a 4-hour hold which extends from 8 a.m. to 12 noon on Tuesday, October 20.
When the countdown resumes, the launch pad will be cleared of all personnel in
preparation for loading the fuel cell storage tanks.

     Servicing of the liquid oxygen and liquid hydrogen fuel cell supply tanks
is scheduled to start at the T-25 hour mark.  Servic- ing activities take
approximately five hours.

     When servicing of the fuel cell tanks has been completed, the pad will be
reopened for normal work, and the countdown will enter the second planned hold.
During this four-hour hold at the T-19 hour mark, the orbiter mid-body
umbilical unit used to load the super cold fuel cell reactants into the orbiter
will be demated.  This hold will extend from 8 p.m. to 12 midnight on Tuesday.

     When the countdown resumes, technicians will complete final vehicle and
facility closeouts and begin activating the orbiter's communications systems
and configuring Columbia's cockpit for flight.

     The orbiter's flight control system navigation aids and com- munications
systems will be activated, and switches in the cock- pit will be configured for
loading of the external tank.  The stowable mission specialist seats will be
installed in the flight and mid-decks.

     The countdown will enter the next built-in hold at T-11 hours at 8 a.m. on
Wednesday. During the hold, time critical equipment will be installed in the
orbiter's cockpit and the in- ertial measurement units will be activated and
warmed up.  At about 11 a.m., the rotating service structure will be moved away
from the vehicle to the launch position.  This hold is scheduled to last 12
hours, 56 minutes, or until 8:56 p.m. on Wednesday.

     At T-9 hours, the onboard fuel cells will be activated, and the launch
team will begin evacuating the blast danger area at T- 8 hours, or about 11:56
p.m.  Wednesday. At T-7 hours, 45 minutes, conditioned air that is flowing
through the orbiter's payload bay and other areas will be switched to gaseous
nitrogen in prepara- tion for loading the external tank with super-cold liquid
propel- lants.  The inertial measurement units will transition from the warm up
stage to the operate/attitude determination mode at T-6 hours and 45 minutes.

     The countdown will enter another planned built-in hold at the T-6 hour
mark at approximately 1:56 a.m.  Thursday. During this one-hour hold, final
preparations for loading the external tank will be completed and a pre-tanking
weather briefing will be conducted.

     Chilldown of the lines that carry the cryogenic propellants to the
external tank will begin at the T-6 hour and counting mark, at 2:56 a.m.
Thursday. Filling and topping of the external tank should be complete at the
beginning of the planned hold at T-3 hours which will start at 5:56 a.m.
Thursday.

     This hold is two hours in duration.  During this time, the ice inspection
team will perform a survey of the tank's outer in- sulation, and the closeout
crew will begin configuring the crew module and white room for the flight
crew's arrival.  Liquid oxygen and liquid hydrogen will be in a stable
replenish mode during this time to replace the propellant that "boils" off.

     The STS-52 flight crew is scheduled to be awakened at 6:21 a.m.  Thursday
and have breakfast.  Their breakfast is scheduled at 6:51 a.m.

     After eating, the crew will receive a briefing on weather conditions
around the world via satellite from Mission Control- Houston.

     The flight crew will suit up in their partial pressure suits, then leave
the Operations and Checkout Building at about 8:01 a.m., at T-3 hours.  They
will arrive at the pad white room at about 8:31 a.m. where they will be
assisted by white room per- sonnel in getting into the crew cabin.

     Just prior to the T-1 hour mark, the test team and the flight crew will
get another weather update, including observa- tions from an astronaut flying
in a Shuttle Training Aircraft in the KSC area.

     The last two built-in holds will be 10 minutes in duration and will occur
at the T-20 minute mark or at 10:36 a.m. and at the T-9 minute mark or at 10:57
a.m.  During the final hold, the flight crew and ground team receive the NASA
Launch Director's and the Mission Management Team's final "go" for launch.

     Milestones after the T-9 minute mark include start of the ground launch
sequencer; retraction of the orbiter access arm at T-7 minutes, 30 seconds;
start of the orbiter's auxiliary power units at T-5 minutes; pressurization of
the liquid oxygen tank at T-2 minutes, 55 seconds; pressurization of the liquid
hydrogen tank at T-1 minute, 57 seconds; and the electronic "go" to Columbia's
onboard computers to start their own terminal countdown sequence at T-31
seconds.  The orbiter's three main en- gines will start at T-6.6 seconds.



                      COUNTDOWN MILESTONES

              Launch - 3 Days (Monday, October 19)

     Perform the call-to-stations at T-43 hours.  Begin check out of the backup
flight system and review flight software stored in mass memory units and
display systems.  Astronauts arrive.

     Load backup flight system software into Columbia's fifth general purpose
computer.

     Begin stowage of flight crew equipment.  Inspect the orbiter's mid and
flight decks and remove crew module platforms.  Start external tank loading
preparations.  Close payload bay doors.


     Launch - 2 Days (Tuesday, October 20)

     Enter first planned built-in hold at T-27 hours for a dura- tion of 4
hours.

     Resume countdown.  Start preparations for servicing fuel cell storage
tanks and begin final vehicle and facility closeouts for launch.

     Clear launch pad of all personnel and load liquid oxygen and liquid
hydrogen reactants into Columbia's fuel cell storage tanks.

     Enter second planned built-in hold at T-19 hours for four hours.

       After the loading operation, the pad will be reopened for normal work
and orbiter and ground support equipment closeouts will resume.

      Demate orbiter mid-body umbilical unit used during fuel cell loading.
Resume countdown.  Retract rotating service struc- ture.



     Launch - 1 Day (Wednesday, October 21)

     Activate orbiter communications systems, flight control and navigation
systems.  Install mission and payload specialist seats in crew cabin.  The tail
service masts on the mobile launcher platform will be closed out for launch.
Pepare Shuttle main en- gines for propellant tanking and flight.


     Enter planned hold at T-11 hours (8 a.m.) for a duration of 12 hours and
56 minutes.

     Perform orbiter ascent switch list in crew cabin.  During this hold, the
orbiter's inertial measurement units will be ac- tivated and kept in the "warm
up" mode and film will be installed in the numerous cameras on the launch pad.
In addition, safety personnel will conduct a debris walkdown and the pad sound
sup- pression system water tank will be filled.

     The rotating service structure will be moved to the park position during
this hold at 11 a.m.

      Resume countdown at 8:56 p.m.  Install time critical flight crew
equipment and perform the pre-ingress switch list.  Start fuel cell
flow-through purge.

     Activate orbiter fuel cells.  Configure communications at Mission Control
Houston for launch.  Clear the blast danger area of all non-essential personnel
and switch Columbia's purge air to gaseous nitrogen.


     Launch Day (Thursday, October 22)


     Enter one-hour planned built-in hold at T-6 hours (1:56 a.m.).

     Resume countdown.  Launch team verifies there are no viola- tions of
launch commit criteria prior to cryogenic loading of the external tank.  Start
loading the external tank with cryogenic propellants.

     Complete filling the external tank with its flight load of liquid hydrogen
and liquid oxygen propellants.  Perform open loop test with Range Safety and
conduct gimbal profile checks of orbi- tal maneuvering system engines.

     Perform inertial measurement unit preflight calibration and align Merritt
Island Launch Area (MILA) tracking antennas.

     Enter 2 hour hold at T-3 hours.  Closeout crew and ice in- spection team
proceeds to launch pad 39-B.

     Resume countdown at T-3 hours (7:56 a.m.) Complete closeout preparations
in the white room and cockpit switch configurations.  Crew departs astronaut
quarters at Operations and Checkout Build- ing for the pad.


     Flight crew enters orbiter.  Astronauts perform air-to-ground voice checks
with Mission Control Houston. Close Columbia's crew hatch.  Begin Range Safety
final network open loop command check, perform hatch seal and cabin leak
checks, begin the inertial measurement unit preflight alignment and range
safety closed loop test.  The white room is closed out and the closeout crew
moves to fallback area.  Primary ascent guidance data is transferred to the
backup flight system.

     Enter planned 10-minute hold at T-20 minutes.

     Resume countdown.  Transition orbiter onboard computers to launch
configuration and start fuel cell thermal conditioning.  Close orbiter cabin
vent valves.  Backup flight system transitions to launch configuration.


     Enter planned 10 minute hold at T-9 minutes.


     Resume countdown.



Start automatic ground launch sequencer (T-9 minutes).
Retract orbiter crew access arm (T-7:30).
Start mission recorders (T-5:30).
Start APU's. Arm SRB and ET range safety safe and arm devices (T-5).
Start liquid oxygen drainback (T-4:55).
Start orbiter aerosurface profile test (T-3:55).
Orbiter transfers to internal power (T-3:30).
Start MPS gimbal profile test (T-3:30).
Pressurize  liquid  oxygen (LO2) tank/retract gaseous oxygen vent arm (T-2:55).
Fuel cells to internal reactants (T-2:35).
Pressurize liquid hydrogen (LH2) tank (T-1:57).
Deactivate SRB joint heaters (T-1:00).
LPS go for start of orbiter automatic sequence (T-0:31 seconds).
Start SRB gimbal profile test (T-0:6.6).
SRB ignition and liftoff (T-0).

From: [email protected] (WILLIAM HARWOOD, UPI Science Writer)
Date: Thu, 22 Oct 92 10:27:26 PDT

	CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (UPI) -- The shuttle Columbia thundered into
orbit Thursday, kicking off a 10-day mission featuring the launch of a
small satellite that will help scientists monitor the slow movement of
Earth's drifting continents.
	Columbia's five-man one-woman crew also plans to carry out a
smorgasbord of on-board experiments, including materials processing
research and a Canadian project expected to turn the shuttle's robot arm
into a precision space crane.
	The 51st shuttle mission got under way at 1:09 p.m. EDT with
Columbia's ground-shaking launch from pad 39-B at the Kennedy Space
Center. Liftoff came nearly two hours late because of unfavorable
weather conditions at emergency landing sites.
	``We have liftoff. Liftoff of Columbia on an ambitious 10-day
mission,'' said NASA commentator Lisa Malone.
	Trailing a 600-foot-long column of flame from its twin solid-fuel
boosters, the $2 billion spaceship climbed majestically into partly
cloudy skies and arced east over the Atlantic Ocean.
	Eight-and-a-half minutes after liftoff, Columbia's three main engines
shut down, putting the ship in a preliminary elliptical orbit. A smaller
rocket firing was planned about 40 minutes later to put Columbia in a
circular orbit 186 miles up.
	On board are commander James Wetherbee, 39, co-pilot Michael Baker,
38, William Shepherd, 43, Charles Lacy Veach, 48, Tamara Jernigan, 33,
and Canadian researcher Steven MacLean, 37. MacLean is the third
Canadian to fly on a shuttle and the crew's only rookie.
	The crew faced a relatively light schedule in orbit Thursday, with
plans calling for them to activate on-board experiments and ready the $4
million Italian-built Laser Geodynamics Satellite -- LAGEOS-2 -- for
deployment from Columbia's cargo bay early Friday.
	The small, 900-pound satellite is little more than a sphere covered
with 426 mirror-like prisms that scientists plan to use to reflect laser
beams from ground stations around the world.
	Knowing the round-trip travel time of laser light, scientists can
determine the distance between LAGEOS-2 and various ground stations.
Repeated measurements will allow researchers to plot the slow movement
of Earth's drifting continents.
	LAGEOS-2, built by the Italian Space Agency, is identical to an
American satellite launched in 1976 by an unmanned rocket. With two such
spacecraft in orbit, scientists hope to improve their models of plate
tectonics, a branch of geology concerned with the movement of plates
that make up Earth's crust.
	NASA program scientist Miriam Baltuck said LAGEOS-2 has been designed
to help scientists understand plate motion and rates of movement, as
well broaden researchers' knowledge of earthquakes.
	``In order to do this, we need to be able to measure crustal motion
that occurs at very, very slow rates -- at rates of a couple of
centimeters per year,'' she said. ``That's about as fast as your
fingernail grows.''
	The two-foot-wide LAGEOS-2 was scheduled for deployment early Friday,
some 20 hours after Columbia's liftoff.
	NASA expected two solid-fuel rockets supplied by Italy to boost the
satellite into a 3,600-mile-high orbit. At that altitude, LAGEOS-2 would
be immune to the effects of atmospheric friction that might otherwise
cause it to fall back to Earth.
	Once LAGEOS-2 gets on its way, astronauts plan to concentrate on a
battery of on-board experiments dealing with medicine, physics,
chemistry, biology and technology development.
	While Thursday's payload is modest by shuttle standards, NASA
officials -- claiming missions like Columbia's will pave the way for
space-station operations later this decade -- say the trip's $500 million
cost is justified.
	``How do you determine what Nobel Prize science is worth?'' asked Al
Diaz, a top NASA science manager. ``The fact of the matter is (that)
this science was selected through a normal peer-review process. It isn't
only our decision how we spend that money. The scientists in the
community decided this was important enough to spend the money on.
That's why it's flying.''
	One of the Canadian experiments aboard Columbia promises a tangible
payoff: an improved way to operate the shuttle's robot arm for building
NASA's planned space station.
	The idea is straight forward: astronauts will use a shuttle TV camera
to photograph a series of dots on a target panel. By plotting how the
dots change position relative to each other as astronauts move the panel
around, a computer can determine the target's orientation in three
dimensions.
	The Canadian ``Space Vision System'' can then generate a computerized
image of the target as viewed from any angle.
	NASA says it will need such a system when astronauts begin building
the space station -- a job that will require them to connect components
without always being able to directly see what they are doing.
	``Space station construction is a very complex process,'' astronaut
Veach said. ``We're moving large pieces of hardware around -- 30,000-
pound truss structures that are 40 to 60 feet long -- and we're trying to
mate them in very complex procedures.
	``There are several places in the space-station construction where we
just don't have good direct camera views of what we're going to be
doing,'' he added. ``Space Vision System looks at the object through a
normal TV camera (and) converts that with microprocessors into a
computer's view -- and we can then put up any sort of a view we want.
It's got amazing capability.''

STS-52 Status Report #1

Thursday, October 22, 1992, 5:30 p.m. CDT
 
 
Columbia roared into space at 12:09 p.m.  CDT today carrying a six-person crew
and a multitude of science experiments.  Crosswind conditions in excess of the
limits for the return to launch site landing facility held Columbia almost two
hours past the opening of today's launch window at 10:16 a.m.  CDT.

Mission commander Jim Wetherbee, Pilot Mike Baker, Mission Specialists Lacy
Veach, Bill Shepherd and Tammy Jernigan with Canadian Payload Specialist Steve
MacLean began working quickly through flight day one experiment activations and
equipment setups.

The flight crew has already activated the Space Acceleration Measurement
Systems 1 and 2; the Crystals by Vapor Transport Experiment; the Attitude
Sensor Package; and the Commercial Materials Dispersion Apparatus (also called
the CMIX) experiment.  A slight variation in temperature was noted on the CMIX
indicating that the experiments temperature controller was not performing
properly.  Payloads controllers are continuing to monitor the CMIX temperature
controller.

Tammy Jernigan completed the planned flight day one checkout of the LAGEOS/IRIS
satellite.  All the instrument readings showed the satellite and upper stage in
good health.  Deploy of the LAGEOS satellite is scheduled for 20:47 MET or 8:56
a.m.  CDT.

Steve MacLean reported a normal first run on the Quennes University Experiment
in Liquid Metal Diffusion (QUELD), one of several Canadian experiments on this
mission.

The Mission Control team monitors Columbia's systems around the clock.  No
serious problems have been detected on the Shuttle after five hours of
spaceflight.  Columbia circles the Earth every 90 minutes in a slightly
elliptical orbit of 163 by 160 nautical miles.

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

STS-52 Mission Control Status Report #2


Friday, October 23, 1992, 5:30 a.m. CDT
 
"Wake Up Columbia" an original composition by Crow Carroll of Peoria, Ill.,
started the STS-52 crew on its second day in orbit.

After working through their post sleep activities, the six-member crew --
Commander Jim Wetherbee, Pilot Mike Baker, Mission Specialists Lacy Veach, Bill
Shepherd and Tammy Jernigan and Canadian Payload Specialist Steve MacLean --
will begin preparations for the deploy of the Laser Geodynamics Satellite-II.

LAGEOS will be deployed from Columbia's cargo bay at about 8:56 a.m.  Houston
time (MET 00/20:47:22).  About 45 minutes after the deploy, the Italian
Research Interim Stage will boost the spacecraft to an elliptical orbit that
will be circularized at 5,700 km with a burn of the apogee kick motor about one
hour and 45 minutes later.

The passive LAGEOS satellite will serve as a target for ground-based lasers
used to detect the drift of the Earth's continental plates.  The time it takes
the laser to bounce off the satellite and return to Earth allows investigators
to measure crust movements within millimeters.

Following the LAGEOS deploy, crew members will lower Columbia's altitude to 155
n.m. and calibrate the Space Vision System. Astronauts also will continue their
work with the Queen's University Experiment in Liquid Metal Diffusion, the
Commercial Materials Dispersion Apparatus and the Heat Pipe Performance test.

All was quiet as overnight as flight controllers monitored their systems.
Columbia is performing very will almost 18 hours into its 13th flight.
Controllers are not tracking any major systems problems at this time.

The orbiter is circling the Earth every 90 minutes in a slightly elliptical
orbit of 164 by 160 nautical miles.

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

USMP-1 Mission Status Report #1
7:00 a.m. CDT, October 23, 1992
0/18:51 MET
Spacelab Mission Operations Control
Marshall Space Flight Center
Huntsville, Ala.

The multi-purpose STS-52 Space Shuttle mission marks the first flight of the
United States Microgravity Payload (USMP) series, planned to fly yearly during
much of the 1990s.  Experiments are mounted in the cargo bay of the Shuttle on
a special truss-like structure which supplies them with power, thermal control
and communications capability.  The USMP program gives scientists an
opportunity to conduct microgravity experiments in materials and fundamental
science that operate best in the vacuum of open space and do not require the
"hands on" environment of the Spacelab module.

The crew of the Shuttle Columbia powered up the USMP-1 carrier about two and
one-half hours after launch.  Within an hour, all three of the USMP experiments
were successfully activated, to the delight of experiment teams stationed in
NASA's Spacelab Mission Operations Control center at Marshall Space Flight
Center in Huntsville, Ala. The MEPHISTO directional solidification furnace and
the Lambda-Point Experiment -- both unique, state-of-the-art experiments -- are
making their first space flight aboard STS-52. The third USMP-1 investigation,
the Space Acceleration Measurement Experiment, is on its sixth Shuttle mission.
All three are being operated remotely from the Huntsville facility, in what
could be considered a dress rehearsal for "telescience" operations aboard Space
Station Freedom in the three years between delivery of the first laboratory
module and full-time crew occupancy.

Shortly after activation, command capability from Spacelab Mission Operations
Control was lost for about two hours due to a software problem in a Johnson
Space Center computer.  Commands to the USMP-1 experiments were issued from
Johnson during that time while a switch was made to a backup system, and USMP-1
science activities were not affected.

The MEPHISTO furnace, a cooperative French/U.S. venture, has heated up to the
1202 degree Fahrenheit (650 degrees Celsius) temperature at which melting and
solidification cycles for its three tin-bismuth samples will be performed.
Unlike furnaces flown on previous Shuttle missions, MEPHISTO will allow
scientists to closely monitor solidification of the metal by taking real-time
temperature and resistance readings at the point where the molten and solid
metals meet, called the solid-liquid interface.  Free from the distortions of
gravity-driven convection, these data should provide scientists with greater
insights into other, more subtle influences that impact solidification of
materials on Earth.

The Lambda-Point Experiment (LPE), a joint project of NASA's Jet Propulsion
Laboratory and Stanford University, is an innovative test of a Nobel
Prize-winning theory that has applications ranging from hurricane dynamics to
superconductivity.  The theory provides a mathematical explanation of the
dynamics of matter near transition points, such as liquid to gas, or superfluid
to normal fluid for helium.  LPE will use ultra-sensitive thermometers to
measure the heat capacity of helium as its temperature is nudged extremely
close to its "lambda point" (2.17 degrees above absolute zero) and it makes the
transition from its mysterious "superfluid" phase to liquid helium.  Superfluid
helium conducts heat 1,000 times better than copper and flows without friction.
The LPE experiment team reports their instrument is performing as expected and
sensitivity of their high resolution thermometers is normal.

Early in the flight, the Shuttle orbiter team conducted a series of maneuvers
to calibrate the Space Acceleration Measurement System (SAMS).  Crew activity
and non-essential equipment use were held to a minimum during the maneuvers, to
allow the experiment team to identify specific accelerations caused by Shuttle
motions.  Separate SAMS units are mounted on or near both the MEPHISTO and
Lambda-Point Experiments to help scientists track subtle disturbances which may
affect their investigations.  Though SAMS has flown previously, USMP-1 is the
first time it has been mounted in the Shuttle cargo bay and the first time data
is being downlinked to Spacelab control for real-time analysis.  The SAMS unit
mounted on the Lambda Point Experiment experienced two temporary downlink
losses, but it has been restored and the system is operating normally.

During the next 24 hours, LPE will continue to calibrate their high resolution
thermometers and begin taking data, and the MEPHISTO team will make
measurements to locate the best portion of the samples on which to conduct
remaining experiments.  SAMS will monitor accelerations for both
investigations.

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


STS-52 element set JSC-002

These elements represent the nominal orbit 2 earth relative state vector
rotated to the actual launch time.

STS-52
1 22194U 92 70  A 92296.76560951  .00025000  00000-0  25599-3 0    28
2 22194  28.4681 120.3662 0003244 312.3664  47.6625 15.90434847    24

Satellite: STS-52
Catalog number: 22194
Epoch time:      92296.76560951 =====> (22 OCT 92   18:22:28.66 UTC)
Element set:     JSC-002
Inclination:       28.4681 deg
RA of node:       120.3662 deg          Space Shuttle Flight STS-52
Eccentricity:     .0003244              Rotated Keplerian Elements
Arg of perigee:   312.3664 deg        Launch:  22 OCT 92  17:09:40 UTC
Mean anomaly:      47.6625 deg
Mean motion:   15.90434847 rev/day             G. L. Carman
Decay rate:     2.5000e-04 rev/day~2     NASA  Johnson Space Center
Epoch rev:               2

G.L.CARMAN

STS-52 Status Report #3
MISSION CONTROL CENTER

Friday, October 23, 1992, 12:30 p.m. CDT

Columbia's crew successfully deployed the Laser GeodynamicsSatellite 2 at 8:56
a.m.  CDT today and checked out Columbia's mechanical arm in preparation for
evaluating the Canadian Space Agency's Space Vision System later in the flight.

Mission Specialist Tammy Jernigan deployed the LAGEOS 2 with no trouble and 45
minutes later, the first of two solid rocket stages fired to propel it to a
3,666 nautical mile orbit.  The stages both worked flawlessly and LAGEOS 2 is
now in the orbit it will occupy for more than 8 million years.

Mission Specialist Lacy Veach performed a two-part check of the robot arm on
Columbia and found all equipment to be in good working order.  The arm was
latched back in place along the edge of the cargo bay before Commander Jim
Wetherbee performed two Orbital Maneuvering System firings to lower Columbia's
orbit to 155 nautical miles.  The lower orbit accomodates experiments in the
United States Microgravity Payload and improves number of landing opportunities
at the end of the flight.

Columbia's previous orbit had been 163 nautical miles by 160 nautical miles.
Now in a 155-mile-high orbit, Columbia circles Earth each 90 minutes, 24
seconds.

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

STS-52 Status Report #4
MISSION CONTROL CENTER

Friday, October 23, 1992, 5 p.m. CDT


Canadian Payload Specialist, Steve MacLean, activated the Space Vision System
(SVS) experiment during his second working day in space.  The SVS Machine
vision system studies should aid astronauts working in space where it is
difficult to gauge the distance and speed of objects such as satellites.  The
SVS uses a Shuttle television camera to monitor target dot patterns affixed to
the Canadian Tracking Assembly mounted on the starboard edge of Columbia's
payload bay.  On Saturday afternoon, about 2:20 p.m.  CDT, MacLean and Mission
Specialist Lacy Veach will conduct a test of the SVS. Veach will maneuver the
Shuttle's robot arm above the CTA while MacLean uses the SVS to acquire targets
with the robot arms wrist camera.  This test evaluates several Space Station
tasks such as grappling, fixed and free payloads, docking, servicing and
precision arm control.  Researchers believe results of the SVS experiment could
assist in the completion of target tracking systems for both Shuttle and Space
Station, but would make it easier for future crews to perform robotic arm work
without leaving the safety of the Shuttle or the Space Station.

Mission Specialist, Tammy Jernigan, set up a heat pipe performance experiment
for its first static test today.  The hardware was set up on Columbias middeck
and then operated in two separate sessions.  The heat pipe experiment evaluates
a simple, highly reliable way to reject heat.  The hardware is a closed vessel
containing fluid and has no mechanical parts.  Instead of a more complicated
mechanical system, the heat pipe relies on the natural phenomena of liquids
absorbing head to evaporate then releasing that heat while condensing.  While
several more sessions are planned during the flight, including some periods of
spinning the HPP device at various rates to simulate different levels of
spacecraft acceleration and body forces.  The HPP has applications for Space
Station Freedom and future spacecraft.

Columbia and its systems are performing well with no major problems being
worked.  The orbit was lowered early this morning to 155 nautical miles
circular to include more landing opportunities on November 1, and to optimize
lighting conditions at landing time.

STS-52 Status Report #5
MISSION CONTROL


  Saturday, October 24, 1992, 6 a.m.  CDT

All was quiet overnight as the six-member STS-52 crew ended a full but
successful second day in space.

At 5:09 a.m.  CDT, crew members were awakened to the the strains of "Shake,
Rattle and Roll" by Joe Turner in honor of their deployment of Laser
Geodynamics Satellite-II, which will help measure the shake, rattle and roll of
the Earth's crust.  Their third flight day schedule is packed with continued
work on the nine secondary payloads.

Canadian Payload Specialist Steve MacLean will continue his work with the Space
Vision System experiment by performing grapple and berthing operations with
Columbia's robot arm and the Canadian Target Assembly. These tests will
evaluate the SVS technology for future use on Space Station Freedom. The SVS,
which uses the science of photogrammetery result in faster and safer robot arms
operations.

Commander Jim Wetherbee and Mission Specialist Bill Shepherd will take their
first runs in the Lower Body Negative Pressure Unit. The LBNP is a
countermeasure designed to eliminate a post-flight condition called orthostatic
intolerance, a feeling of lightheadedness or dizziness upon standing after
return to Earth's gravity.  The LBNP draws body fluids that move upward during
spaceflight back down to the lower extremities.  Wetherbee and Shepherd will
perform the shorter ramp tests today and the longer soak treatments later in
the flight.

Crew members also will continue working with the Queen's University Experiment
in Liquid/Metal Diffusion (QUELD), the Sun Photospectrometer Earth Atmosphere
Measurement (SPEAM-2), Phase Partitioning in Liquids (PALIQ) and the Heat Pipe
Performance test.

Columbia and its systems are performing well as the orbiter circles the Earth
once every 90 minutes in a 154 by 155 nautical mile orbit.

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

USMP-1 Mission Status Report #2
7:00 a.m. CDT, October 24, 1992
1/18:51 MET
Spacelab Mission Operations Control
Marshall Space Flight Center
Huntsville, Ala.

The United States Microgravity Payload-1, managed for NASA by the
Marshall Space Flight Center, became the primary payload on STS-52
after the successful deployment of the LAGEOS-II satellite
yesterday morning.  USMP-1 experiment teams at Marshall's Spacelab
Mission Operations Control facility are now finishing diagnostic
tests which are critical to the successful analysis of the data
they will acquire during the mission.  Even though the Shuttle
Columbia is orbiting 155 nautical miles (287 kilometers) overhead,
extremely precise sensors on the USMP-1 experiments give ground
controllers "up close" understanding of their instruments'
operation and environment.

The Lambda-Point Experiment (LPE) team is verifying the ability of
their high resolution thermometers to measure heat capacity with
heat pulses of one-billionth of a watt.  "This is a very critical
step, since it demonstrates our ability to conduct the experiment,"
said LPE manager Reuben Ruiz of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory.
The thermometers, which use superconductor technology to measure
temperature rise to a billionth of a degree, were developed by
Stanford University specifically for this NASA experiment.  The
most sensitive thermometers previously available were accurate only
to a millionth of a degree.  "Even before this flight, the
scientific community has benefited from our high resolution
thermometers.  They have been used for other investigations on
Earth and have already made significant contributions to several
areas of physics and thermodynamics," said experiment
co-investigator Dr. Talso Chui.

The Lambda-Point Experiment will track the heat capacity of liquid
helium as its temperature is raised in tiny increments toward the
"lambda point" (2.17 Kelvin or -456 degrees Fahrenheit), where it
makes the transition from the mysterious superfluid phase to normal
liquid.  Gravity interferes with these measurements on Earth, since
density differences cause the top of a sample to become superfluid
at higher temperatures than the bottom.  Team members expect
measurements to be 100 times more precise in space than on Earth,
in a test that could confirm a Nobel Prize-winning theory with
universal applications to a wide range of problems in fundamental
physics.

The MEPHISTO directional solidification furnace uses another
sensitive temperature measurement system for the first time in
space.  The system does this by detecting differences in electrical
charge down to one ten-millionth of a volt.  These temperature
readings allow the experiment team to visualize the "solidification
front," the point at which the molten metal solidifies as
MEPHISTO's movable furnace passes over it.  The French and American
MEPHISTO team is in the midst of a 24-hour calibration procedure --
a long, slow traverse over the tin-bismuth alloy sample.  This
initial run of the furnace will allow scientists to detect any
minute flaws in the sample and to determine which segment is most
suitable for subsequent experiment runs.  Results from repeated
melting and solidification runs aboard USMP-1 will be compared with
similar ground-based tests, to help determine which effects on
solidification are caused by gravity and which are caused by subtle
factors masked by gravity on Earth.  Data gathered from MEPHISTO
may help improve fabrication processes for composite materials,
such as those designed for engines to power future aircraft and
spacecraft.

The "microgravity" environment is not always equally placid.  Crew
motion, orbiter maneuvers and firings, and even antenna motion can
disturb it slightly.  For instance, overnight MEPHISTO sensors
clearly detected vibrational disturbances during a Shuttle orbital
maneuvering system engine firing.  The Space Acceleration
Measurement System (SAMS) downlinked data, which gives the other
USMP-1 experiment teams precise insight into the environment in
which their instruments are operating, correlated with the
solidification anomalies observed by the MEPHISTO experiment team.
Repeated flights of SAMS are building a database on the level of
disturbance created by different kinds of motions, so experiment
teams can plan better for future microgravity experiments.  During
this mission, SAMS has already tracked accelerations during various
standard Shuttle maneuvers and the LAGEOS deployment.  Its readings
will be closely watched by the Lambda-Point Experiment team when
they begin to take data.  Several data interruptions to the SAMS
monitors mounted on LPE have occurred, but the SAMS team has been
able to recover in each instance.

Yesterday and this morning, the crew used a standard procedure to
reset the computer which handles data for the USMP-1 experiment.
The computer has also been reset several times from the ground.
Managers had expected the resets to be necessary, and the
interruption to data has only been momentary.

The Lambda-Point Experiment will take its first high-resolution
measurements later today, and MEPHISTO will make the first of many
melting and solidification runs.  SAMS data will be correlated with
the experiments to characterize the microgravity environment in
which they are operating.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
STS-52 Status Report #6

MISSION CONTROL CENTER

Saturday, October 24, 1992, 5 p.m. CDT
  The STS-52 crew worked through a packed schedule of science experiments on
their third day in space.

Dr. Miriam Baltuck, the LAGEOS program scientist, reported that the satellite
had been successfully tracked by four laser stations as of 2 p.m.  CDT
Saturday. The first contact was made at dusk local time (early Saturday morning
CDT) from the tracking station in Orroral, Australia. The satellite was
subsequently successfully tracked from Easter Island in the Pacific, California
and NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md. The ground stations are
already able to meet the science team's requirements of predicting the
satellite's appearance within range to within 200 milliseconds.

Meanwhile, aboard Columbia, Bill Shepherd and Jim Wetherbee were test subjects
for two ramp sessions in the Lower Body Negative Pressure Device. The LBNP
lowers air pressure around the bottom half of the body, thus imitating gravity
by pulling body fluids downward.  Principal Investigator Dr. John Charles of
Johnson Space Center's Medical Sciences Division reported his team received
excellent data during both LBNP sessions.  The LBNP has been evaluated on
several shuttle flights as a countermeasure for the dizziness sometimes
experienced by astronauts as they return to Earth and readapt to gravity.

This afternoon, Lacy Veach and Steve MacLean completed two segments of testing
with the Space Vision System, a machine vision system for robotic devices.  The
SVS was designed to assist astronauts in gauging the distance and speed of
objects such as satellites or Space Station elements being moved by robotic
arms.  Maneuvering Columbia's mechanical arm, Lacy Veach grappled, moved and
replaced a small target assembly in the cargo bay several times to test the
precision provided by the system with the assistance of Steve MacLean. The
Space Vision System, a Canadian experiment, is hoped to aid in construction of
Space Station Freedom later this decade.

Tammy Jernigan operated the Heat Pipe Performance experiment again today.  The
HPP is set up in Columbia's mid-deck.  Today's runs called for spinning the HPP
device at various rates to simulate different levels of spacecraft acceleration
and body forces.  At the end of flight day three's work, the experiment set-up
will be temporarily stowed for further work during this flight.

The astronaut's workday will end about 6:30 p.m.  CDT and Columbia's crew will
go to sleep at 8:09 p.m.  CDT this evening.  Space Shuttle Columbia is
performing almost flawlessly and orbits the Earth every 90 minutes at an
altitude of 155 nautical miles.

STS-52 Status Report #7

MISSION CONTROL CENTER

Sunday, Oct. 25, 1992, 3 a.m. CST

Watches across the country were set back tonight, but the STS-52
mission clock kept counting as flight controllers got ready for
Columbia's fourth day in space.

Activities in Houston's Mission Control Center went smoothly overnight
as flight controllers monitored orbiter systems and prepared
messages for the six-member crew. Controllers also discussed an in-
flight maintenance procedure for a fan in the Queen's University
Experiment in Liquid Metal Diffusion (QUELD).

Investigators with the Attitude Sensor Package reported overnight that
one of the two channels on the Yaw Earth Sensor was transmitting data
erratically. Investigators are receiving clean data from the second
channel and periodic data from the degraded side. The other two ASP
sensors are performing nominally.

Payload Specialist Steve MacLean was awakened by greetings from fellow
Canadians recorded by Bob Nickelson of the Calgary Eye Opener.  Crew
members were then serenaded with a morning prayer song from the
Blackfoot Indians of Southern, Alberta.

Three secondary payloads will receive most of the crew's attention
during Flight Day Four -- the Sun Photospectrometer Earth Atmosphere
Measurement-2 (SPEAM-2), the Crystals by Vapor Transport Experiment
(CVTE) and the Heat Pipe Performance experiment (HPP).

SPEAM-2, one of the seven Canadian Experiments, consists of two
devices that will measure atmospheric structure and composition of the
upper atmosphere. CVTE is a crystal growth experiment that will enable
scientists to learn more about growing larger and more uniform industrial
crystals for use in producing faster and more capable semiconductors. HPP
is the latest in a series of tests to develop technology that will make
it easier for a space vehicle to reject excess heat generated by its
equipment and crew.

Crew members also will continue their work with the numerous medical
experiments and equipment evaluations manifested on STS-52.

Columbia continues to perform very well as it travels around the Earth
once every 90 minutes in an 154 by 155 nautical mile orbit.

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

USMP-1 Mission Status Report #3
7:00 a.m. CST, October 25, 1992
2/19:51 MET
Spacelab Mission Operations Control
Marshall Space Flight Center
Huntsville, Ala.

With their initial verification steps completed, instruments aboard
the United States Microgravity Payload-1 are taking data in
experiments termed "world-class science" by mission scientist Dr.
Alex Lehoczky.

Tests of the tin-bismuth alloy sample in the MEPHISTO directional
solidification furnace revealed its quality to be uniform along a
six-inch (15-centimeter) section of the sample.  However, the
experiment team will make all melting and solidification runs along
one two-inch (five-centimeter) section, in order to eliminate some
experimental variables.  Unlike furnaces flown on previous
missions, the sophisticated sensors in MEPHISTO allow experiment
controllers to visualize crystal solidification as it happens in
space.  Already, MEPHISTO co-investigator Dr. Andre Rouzaud says
the team has observed some phenomena that are completely different
in space than those observed in comparable ground-based
experiments.  "At first look, they seem to confirm theoretical
models of what we thought would be happening in microgravity,"
Rouzaud observed.  "We are very pleased with the evolution of the
experiment."  The MEPHISTO furnace runs are slightly faster than
expected, so time was available to repeat two experiment stages
overnight.  Though the stages themselves were identical the second
time around, there was more motion aboard the Shuttle, so an
additional comparison will be available.

The Lambda-Point Experiment (LPE) team completed calibration of
their high-resolution thermometers, verifying that the instrument
should indeed be able to test the Nobel prize-winning
renormalization group theory with 100 times greater accuracy in
space than has been possible on Earth.  The theory provides a
mathematical explanation for the dynamics of matter near transition
points.  Phase transitions, such as those between liquid and gas,
are common in nature and technology.  Scientists are particularly
interested in "cooperative" phase transitions where all the regions
of the fluid behave in the same way at the same time.  At the
lambda point of liquid helium, helium changes from a normal fluid
to a superfluid, becoming a virtually infinite conductor of heat
and flowing without friction.  The LPE team has begun collecting
high-resolution data on their superfluid helium sample, using
ultra-sensitive themometers accurate to within billionths of a
degree.  "To visualize how precise that is, think of the distance
from Los Angeles to New York City as one degree," said experiment
manager Reuben Ruiz.  "On that scale, one billionth of a degree
would be about the thickness of a human hair."  The team reports
that the experiment is operating well.  Analysis of the data they
are receiving at Spacelab Mission Operations Control in Huntsville,
Ala., indicates their instrument is less sensitive to radiation
disturbances in the South Atlantic Anomaly and to orbiter motions
than expected.  This should allow the team to continue collecting
data during some periods when they previously thought it would not
be possible.

During USMP-1, a group of science "interpreters" is stationed at
Spacelab control to define subtle orbiter motions picked up by the
Space Acceleration Measurement System (SAMS) almost as they
happen.  The Acceleration Characterization Analysis Project (ACAP)
group is working closely with the other USMP-1 experiment teams to
identify and interpret various accelerations.   SAMS has been a
"frequent flyer" on the Shuttle in a program designed to establish
the cause-and-effect relationship between low-level, on-orbit
accelerations and microgravity science experiments that is crucial
to accurate scientific analysis.  USMP-1 is the first time,
however, that SAMS readings are being downlinked for real-time
analysis during the mission.

The USMP-1 carrier, which provides the three experiments with
power, thermal control and communications capability, is also
operating very well, according to assistant mission manager
Sherwood Anderson.  The new carrier, derived from the Material
Sciences Lab which flew in 1986 on STS 61-C, was developed by
NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center.  Marshall is managing the USMP
series of microgravity science missions.

For the next several days, the three USMP-1 instruments will
continue taking data.  As with all scientific investigations,
multiple repetitions of an experiment are important for
establishing a reliable basis for analysis.

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

STS-52 Status Report #8
MISSION CONTROL CENTER

Sunday, October 25, 1992, 9:30 a.m. CST

Columbia's crew kept up a busy pace working with a variety of experiments
aboard the spacecraft in tandem this morning.

While Mission Specialist Tammy Jernigan worked with the Heat Pipe Performance
Experiment, Mission Specialist Bill Shepherd worked on the Crystal Vapor
Transport Experiment and Commander Jim Wetherbee and Pilot Mike Baker watched
over the Commercial Protein Crystal Growth experiment, all on Columbia's lower
deck.  The heat pipe experiment tests a technology that may be used to cool
future satellites and could prove far more reliable than some current systems
because it requires no moving parts, working instead through natural forces.

The crystal vapor experiment is designed to grow semiconductor crystals larger
than have ever been grown on Earth by heating solid materials to a vapor, then
letting them cool and crystallize.  The protein crystal growth work deals with
growing crystals of various animal proteins in a temperature-controlled unit
that may be useful in designing new medical drugs on Earth.

Also, Canadian Payload Specialist Steve MacLean worked with two optical
experiments.  One looks at various light wavelengths reflecting from Earth's
upper atmosphere and analyzes the presence of various substances such as ozone
and nitrogen.  Another photographs the glow created around the skin of the
Shuttle as it encounters atomic oxygen in low Earth orbit.

The crew worked through some minor glitches with the experiments during the
morning, but none stopped the progress of its scientific work or interrupted
the busy schedule.  One experiment that was found to have a balky fan
yesterday, the Queens University Experiment in Liquid Metal Diffusion, was
further checked by the crew today and then set aside as ground experts continue
to investigate the problem and find a solution.  QUELD, as it's called, studies
the properties of molten metals in weightlessness by heating various materials
in its furnace and studying them as they slowly cool and solidify.

The USMP 1 experiments continue to go very well.  The Lambda Point Experiment
and MEPHISTO are both ahead of schedule and MEPHISTO has made two extra data
runs. "They are getting better data than they ever expected", said David
Jarrett, USMP 1 Program Manager.

Columbia is in excellent shape with no mechanical problems seen during the
flight.  The spacecraft is in a 156 by 154 nautical mile orbit, circling Earth
each 90 minutes, 24 seconds.

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

STS-52 Status Report #9
MISSION CONTROL CENTER

Sunday, October 25, 1992, 5 p.m.  CST

On its fourth workday in space, the STS-52 crew conducted experiments in
materials processing, Space Station heat pipe technology, and atmospheric
observations.

While Mission Specialist Tammy Jernigan worked with the Heat Pipe Performance
Experiment, Mission Specialist Bill Shepherd worked on the Crystal Vapor
Transport Experiment while Commander Jim Wetherbee and Pilot Mike Baker watched
over the Commercial Protein Crystal Growth experiment.  The heat pipe
experiment tests a technology that may be used to cool future spacecraft and
satellites and could prove far more reliable than some current systems because
it requires no moving parts.  The protein crystal growth work deals with
growing crystals of various animal proteins in a temperature-controlled unit
that may be useful in designing new medical drugs on Earth.

The crystal vapor experiment is designed to grow semiconductor crystals larger
than have ever been grown on Earth by heating solid materials to a vapor, then
letting them cool and crystallize.  Shepherd observed some flecks forming in
one of the two samples inside furnace B of the CVTE experiment and researchers
are continuing analysis of the video of the experiment tube and experiment
instrument data.  The second sample in the furnace is operating fine.

Canadian Payload Specialist Steve MacLean worked with two optical experiments.
One of them looks at various light wavelengths reflecting from Earth's upper
atmosphere and analyzes the presence of various substances such as ozone and
nitrogen.  Another photographs the glow created around the skin of the shuttle
as it encounters atomic oxygen in low earth orbit.

The Queens University Experiment in Liquid Metal Diffusion, that was found to
have a balky fan yesterday, was checked further by the crew today and then set
aside.  The CANEX-II experiment package managers decided to defer to Monday a
procedure the flight control team developed that they believe will get the fan
operating again.  The experiment studies the properties of molten metals in
weightlessness by heating various materials in its furnace and studying them as
they slowly cool and solidify.

The USMP 1 experiments continue to go very well.  The Lambda Point Experiment
and MEPHISTO are both ahead of schedule and MEPHISTO has made two extra data
runs.

Columbia is in excellent shape with no mechanical problems seen during the
flight.  The STS-52 crew goes to sleep at 6:09 p.m.  CST and wakes up at 2:09
a.m.  CST Monday.

STS-52 Status Report #10
MISSION CONTROL CENTER

Monday, Oct. 26, 1992, 6 a.m. CST


Houston flight controllers had another quiet shift overnight after the STS-52
crew finished their fourth successful day in space.

Columbia, making its 13th flight, continues to perform without problems leaving
crew members and flight controllers ample time to focus on payload activities.

The crew was awakened at 2:09 a.m.  Houston time by "The World is Waiting for
the Sunrise," written by Gene Lockhart and performed by Les Paul and Mary Ford.
Lockhart's daughter June, best known for her roles in "Lost in Space" and
"Lassie," was in the viewing room at the Mission Control Center when her
father's song was played for the crew.

Payload activities will continue as the crew works through its fifth flight day
with today's work focusing on the Heat Pipe Performance experiment, the Sun
Photospectrometer Earth Atmosphere Measurement-2 experiment and the Queens
University Experiment in Liquid Metal Diffusion. Crew members performed an in-
flight maintenance procedure to by-pass a balky fan on the QUELD unit using a
vent hose in the orbiter air lock to cool the unit.  The procedure allows the
furnace to be kept cool, and the crew is beginning the experiments on the
liquid metals.

Pilot Mike Baker is performing a ramp test with the Lower Body Negative
Pressure Unit assisted by Mission Specialist Bill Shepherd.

Overnight, operations with the Crystals by Vapor Transport Experiment continued
as payload controllers accessed experiment data via the modem on the crew's
portable computer.

USMP-1 Mission Status Report #4
10:00 a.m. CST, Oct. 26, 1992
3/22:51 MET
Spacelab Mission Operations Control
Marshall Space Flight Center
Huntsville, Ala.

     As the STS-52 mission nears the end of its fourth day, the
first United States Microgravity Payload (USMP-1) experiments,
located in the cargo bay of the Space Shuttle Columbia, continue to
produce a wealth of data for scientists on the ground.  The USMP-1
part of Columbia's mission is managed for NASA by the Marshall
Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala.

     The MEPHISTO directional solidification furnace, a specialized
facility for studying how metals behave as they are solidifying in
the weightlessness of space, is continuing its multiple cycles of
cooling and reheating samples of a tin-bismuth alloy.  The MEPHISTO
science team members are increasingly excited by the results they
are obtaining from the sample processing runs, as well as by the
smooth performance of their apparatus.  Principal Investigator Dr.
Jean-Jacques Favier reported that the results from the experiment
so far show that the precise way in which the tin-bismuth alloy
solidifies -- the "microstructure" formed when the molten material
freezes -- is highly dependent on solidification velocity.  The
MEPHISTO facility, being flown for the first time on USMP-1, allows
performing the controlled solidification of alloy samples at a
variable range of speeds.  And, the furnace provides a mechanism
for noninvasively monitoring subtle effects occurring during the
solidification runs.  It does this by taking electronic
measurements on the metal samples themselves as a means of
visualizing the crystallization as it is actually under way.
Today, the MEPHISTO team is adjusting their furnace from the
ground, using the "telescience" capability, by which ground
controllers can remotely interact with their experiments.  This
will enable them to optimize the scientific data return from the
time available during the mission.  They are looking forward to
repeated experiment runs as a means of determining how closely
subsequent runs under similar conditions compare with the initial
data collections.

     The Lambda-Point Experiment, a study of the behavior of liquid
helium at a temperature approximately two degrees above absolute
zero, is continuing to obtain excellent high resolution data,
investigators for the project say.  The unique facility, with
instruments which can control and measure the temperature of a
helium sample to within billionths of a degree, is examining the
transition point at which the substance changes from its exotic
superfluid state to normal liquid helium.  A preliminary analysis
of data seen by the Lambda-Point science team so far indicates data
resolution from the experiment -- the degree to which it can
measure results with very high sensitivity and preciseness -- is
much greater than has ever been obtained on the ground.  This high
data resolution is the prime advantage of conducting the experiment
in the weightlessness environment of Earth orbit.  Free from the
interference of gravity on the Earth's surface, the
theoretically-predicted sharpness of certain physical changes at
the lambda-point transition is expected to stand out with high
clarity.  Obtaining concrete data showing these changes --
specifically, in what physicists term the "heat capacity" of the
substance -- will provide the best proof to date of a Nobel
Prize-winning theory that can help in understanding a wide variety
of phenomena, from the dynamics of hurricanes to electrical
superconductivity.  As with the MEPHISTO team, the Lambda-Point
scientists are eagar to conduct as many experiment runs as they can
in the available time, since multiple repetitions of an experiment
are important to establish a reliable basis for analysis.

     A peripheral observation made by the Lambda-Point team is that
the effects on the experiment from cosmic ray impacts is a bit
higher than expected, although not enough to impact science data
collection.  The liquid helium in the experiment is very sensitive
to energy input from spurious sources, and the cosmic-ray
background level at the Shuttle's altitude is high enough to add
energy to the helium, an effect which can be detected by the
experiment's sensitive instruments.

     The Space Acceleration Measurement System, with two sets of
motion-sensing apparatus mounted on the USMP-1 carrier, is
measuring subtle disturbances to the microgravity environment
provided by the Shuttle.  Such information is of interest because
disturbances at critical times could adversely affect the MEPHISTO
and Lambda-Point experiments.  One of the interesting findings from
the acceleration-measurement systems has to do with the "dither"
motion of the Shuttle's Ku-band antenna, used to transmit
television signals and high-rate data to the ground.  Vibrations
from the antenna can be clearly detected by the sensitive SAMS
pickup devices, and there had been some concern pre-mission that
the antenna motion might affect the Lambda-Point Experiment
results.  To test this possibility, the antenna dither motion was
briefly inhibited.  Preliminary results suggest that the antenna
has little noticeable effect on the investigation.  The SAMS
apparatus is continuing to supply valuable acceleration data to the
experiments.  There have been occasional interruptions in data from
one of the two systems, but a quick recovery procedure involving
cycling a power relay is used when this occurs.

STS-52
1 22194U 92 70  A 92300.58598480 0.01534997  00000-0  32600-2 0   113
2 22194  28.4633  91.6166 0006099 307.7950  52.2110 15.94411423   634

Satellite: STS-52
Catalog number: 22194
Epoch time:      92300.58598480         (26 OCT 92   14:03:49.09 UTC)
Element set:     GSFC-011
Inclination:       28.4633 deg
RA of node:        91.6166 deg          Space Shuttle Flight STS-52
Eccentricity:    0.0006099                  Keplerian Elements
Arg of perigee:   307.7950 deg
Mean anomaly:      52.2110 deg
Mean motion:   15.94411423 rev/day      Semi-major Axis: 6668.0871 Km
Decay rate:       0.15E-01 rev/day*2    Apogee  Alt:        293.77 Km
Epoch rev:              63              Perigee Alt:        285.63 Km


NOTE - This element set is based on NORAD element set # 011.
       The spacecraft has been propagated to the next ascending
       node, and the orbit number has been adjusted to bring it
       into agreement with the NASA numbering convention.

       R.A. Parise, Goddard Space Flight Center

    KSC SHUTTLE STATUS REPORT - MONDAY, OCT. 26, 1992  10 AM

 
       STS-52/LAGEOS/USMP-1 - COLUMBIA (OV 102) - ON ORBIT

     Officials are performing an open assessment of the two solid
rocket boosters at Hangar AF on Cape Canaveral Air Force Station.
Both boosters were reported at Hangar AF by  late  Friday  after-
noon.

     Landing remains scheduled for Nov.  1 at about 8:55 a.m. EST
at KSC's Shuttle Landing Facility.

 

STS-52 Status Report #11
MISSION CONTROL CENTER

Monday, October 26, 1992, 5 p.m. CST

The STS-52 crew completed its fifth work day in low Earth orbit late this
afternoon.  The six member crew goes to sleep at 5:09 p.m.  CST.

Columbia, making its 13th flight, continues to perform without problems leaving
crew members and flight controllers ample time to focus on payload activities.

Early today, Mike Baker completed a Lower Body Negative Pressure experiment
ramp session.  The experiment team reports getting good data readings on the
third LBNP run for STS-52. Researchers are gathering data to determine if this
treatment can be used routinely as an effective countermeasure against the
dizziness and light-headedness some astronauts experience when they readapt to
Earth's gravity after Shuttle landings.

Tammy Jernigan completed nearly five hours' testing on the Heat Pipe
Performance experiment.  Heat pipe technology provides a simple, highly
reliable way to reject heat that builds up from electronic components and
people working inside spacecraft.  Heat pipe studies have been conducted on
previous Shuttle missions for application to Space Station Freedom and future
spacecraft and satellites.  The STS-52 experiment evaluates the sensitivity of
state-of-the art heat pipes to large and small accelerations.  Investigators
will compare the STS-52 data against existing computer models and static ground
tests.
  Two payloads encountered problems today that will be worked further on flight
day 6.

As planned on the mission's timeline, the crew tried to deactivate materials
dispersion apparatus no. 4 of the Commercial Materials mixing experiment,
called CMIX. During experiment activation on flight day 1 the crew had
difficulty with the activation switch on MDA no. 4.  Today, during deactivation
of that MDA, they were unable to shut down the apparatus.  An in-flight
maintenance procedure will be completed on the planning team tonight for the
crew to use tomorrow morning to turn off this portion of the CMIX experiment.

Furnace no. 2 of the Crystal Vapor Transport Experiment prematurely went into
the idle mode this afternoon.  Furnace no. 2 is now cooling down and will be
deactivated before the crew sleep period this evening and will not be
reactivated during the remainder of the mission.  During tonight's planning
shift, mission planners and experiment investigators will include in the flight
day 6 schedule the procedures for activating the CVTE furnace no. 1 with two
new samples.  The CVTE data from this flight provides additional information
about growing larger and more uniform industrial crystals that could lead to
production of faster and more capable semiconductors.

Columbia circles the Earth every 90 minutes in an orbit 155 nautical miles
high.

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

STS-52 Status Report #12
MISSION CONTROL CENTER

Tuesday, Oct. 27, 1992, 6:00 a.m. CST


Birthday wishes to STS-52 Pilot Mike Baker woke Columbia's crew today at 1:09
a.m.  CST for its sixth day of payload activities.

Flight controllers in Houston had a quiet night as the six-member crew slept.
Columbia continues to perform well as it makes its 13th flight.

After post-sleep activities, crew members will once again resume their payload
work.  The astronauts will start a 72-hour processing run on the Crystals by
Vapor Transport Experiment and will perform two tests on the Heat Pipe
Performance experiment systems.  Crew members also will work with the Queens
University Experiment in Liquid Metal Diffusion (QUELD), the Sun
Photospectrometer Earth Atmosphere Measurement-2 (SPEAM-2) and the Phase
Partioning in Liquids (PARLIQ) investigations of the Canadian experiment
package.

Work with the Lower Body Negative Pressure Unit also will continue with a
four-hour soak treatment for STS-52 Commander Jim Wetherbee.

Overnight, flight controllers discussed an in-flight maintenance procedure for
the Commercial materials mixing experiment, called CMIX which crew members were
unable to deactivate Monday. After studying the apparatus, investigators
determined that the pin that was locked in the microgravity position could not
be reached by crew members and subsequently an IFM will not be performed.

Columbia circles the Earth every 90 minutes in a 155 n.m. orbit.

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

USMP-1 Public Affairs Status Report #5
7:00 a.m. CST, October 27, 1992
4/19:51 MET
Spacelab Mission Operations Control
Marshall Space Flight Center
Huntsville, Ala.

The United States Microgravity Payload-1 is bringing space science
a step closer to being performed the way experiments are conducted
in laboratories on the ground, according to Assistant Mission
Scientist Dr. Martin Volz.  Scientists on Earth perform
experiments, observe their results, then refine and repeat their
investigations to gain the maximum scientific return possible.

"The key element to USMP-1 is that we've been getting data from our
experiments while they're in orbit, and the science teams have been
able to make adjustments on that basis.  For the first time with an
entire payload unit, we have a really dynamic feedback mechanism,"
said Volz.  Science teams for each of the three USMP-1 experiments
are using "telescience" techniques to remotely monitor and control
their instruments from NASA's Spacelab Mission Operations Control
facility at Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala.

The Lambda-Point Experiment (LPE) has already met its minimum
science requirements, and the experiment team is continuing to work
toward meeting their scientific objectives in this unique study of
liquid helium as it makes the transition from its mysterious
superfluid phase to normal liquid.

"The operation of the experiment was initially in the automatic
mode with very little commanding from the ground," said LPE
Principal Investigator Dr. John Lipa of Stanford University.  "Now
that the transition region has been reached, we are operating
almost entirely in the interactive mode.  This allows us to respond
to events in near-real time."   Lipa said over 600 commands have
been successfully uplinked thus far in the mission.  Data has been
collected to within two billionths of a degree from liquid helium's
lambda-point (2.17 Kelvin or -456 degrees Fahrenheit), and in the
region slightly above that transition point.  "The total data set
will lead to a unique new test of phase transition theory in a
region never before entered, and completely inaccessible on the
ground," said Lipa.

The French-U.S. MEPHISTO directional solidification furnace
continues to perform extremely well, according to team members.
The flexibility to replan the original experiment schedule has
allowed the MEPHISTO team to study a host of interesting phenomena
that have been investigated as a result of real-time data
analysis.  Alloy solidification speeds are being varied on
successive runs to determine the solidification velocity at which
the shape of the solid-liquid interface becomes unstable.  By
removing the almost overwhelming influence of gravity, the MEPHISTO
experiment allows scientists to test theories that have
far-reaching implications to many types of crystal growth.

Decisions about MEPHISTO operations are made by the French science
team in Huntsville.  However, experiment data downlinked from the
Shuttle is being relayed from Huntsville to their colleagues at the
French Space Agency in Toulouse and the French Atomic Energy
Commission at Grenoble.  This is an operational test for future
missions when decision-making responsibility may be shared.

Subtle movements that may affect the experiments are being
monitored by the Space Acceleration Measurement System (SAMS), and
the acceleration characterization team at Spacelab Control has been
keeping a close eye on the downlinked data.  The SAMS group's
positive reporting has enabled other USMP-1 teams to determine the
sources of several orbiter activities which influence the
microgravity environment.  This information will continue to
provide valuable insights during post-mission flight data analysis.

On the upcoming flight day, the Lambda-Point Experiment team will
continue to acquire their high-resolution data.  MEPHISTO will
complete its study of the alloy internal structure and perform its
final solidification run where an electric pulse will mark the
shape of the solid-liquid interface at prescribed intervals for
post-mission analysis.

STS-52
1 22194U 92 70  A 92300.96151463 0.00103280  00000-0  25599-3 0   128
2 22194  28.4623  88.8001 0006158 316.8824  43.1305 15.94361765   690

Satellite: STS-52
Catalog number: 22194
Epoch time:      92300.96151463         (26 OCT 92   23:04:34.87 UTC)
Element set:     GSFC-012
Inclination:       28.4623 deg
RA of node:        88.8001 deg          Space Shuttle Flight STS-52
Eccentricity:    0.0006158                  Keplerian Elements
Arg of perigee:   316.8824 deg
Mean anomaly:      43.1305 deg
Mean motion:   15.94361765 rev/day      Semi-major Axis: 6668.2256 Km
Decay rate:       0.10E-02 rev/day*2    Apogee  Alt:        293.94 Km
Epoch rev:              69              Perigee Alt:        285.73 Km


NOTE - This element set is based on NORAD element set # 012.
       The spacecraft has been propagated to the next ascending
       node, and the orbit number has been adjusted to bring it
       into agreement with the NASA numbering convention.

R.A. Parise, Goddard Space Flight Center

STS-52 Status Report #13
MISSION CONTROL CENTER

Tuesday, October 27, 1992, 9:30 a.m. CST

Columbia's crew has continued working at a fast pace with a host of
investigations during the morning, uninterrupted by any spacecraft or equipment
problems.

In response to a query from Mission Control, Columbia Commander Jim Wetherbee
reported every crewmember has almost always had both hands full throughout
their 16- hour days, but that the crew was on schedule and had no complaints
about the workload.  The pace was busy with so many different experiments under
way simultaneously in the crew cabin, but the crew was comfortable with it,
Wetherbee told flight controllers.

This morning, Mission Specialist Bill Shepherd started another crystal growing
in one furnace of the Crystal Vapor Transport Experiment while Mission
Specialist Tammy Jernigan completed several experiments with the Heat Pipe
Performance experiment.  The crystal vapor study uses a furnace to heat solids
to a vapor and grows crystals as the vaporized materials slowly cool.  It is
hoped to grow Cadmium Telluride crystals, used in computer microchips, more
than twice as large as have ever been grown before.  The heat pipe study
evaluates a new cooling technology that has no moving parts and could prove to
be a very reliable method for cooling future spacecraft.

Also, Canadian Payload Specialist Steve MacLean added an electric current to
vials of phased fluids, fluids that naturally separate like oil and water, in
the Phase Partitioning in Liquids experiment.  The separated fluids' behaviours
are being studied because it is hoped they will be useful as filters for
refinining different cells, a process that may have benefits in purifying cells
for transplanting or disease treatments on Earth. Meanwhile, Mission Specialist
Lacy Veach modified a portable computer that is part of a Canadian experiment,
called SPEAM, to study the amounts of ozone and nitrogen in the upper
atmosphere using a hand-held instrument to break down reflected light.  Veach
spliced wires near the computers' battery terminals to allow it to operate off
of the shuttle's electrical power, thus saving its batteries.

Just before their lunch, the crew was interviewed by Music Television News, MTV
News. Commander Jim Wetherbee will spend several hours during the late morning
in the Lower Body Negative Pressure unit, a device that lowers the air pressure
around the lower half of the body to imitate gravity's effect in pulling body
fluids downward.  The LBNP is being studied as a method of counteracting a
problem with dizziness astronauts have sometimes experienced upon their return
to Earth's gravity.

Also, MacLean will power up the Queens University Experiment in Liquid Metal
Diffusion, QUELD, to melt several more samples of various metals whose
properties as a molten metal in weightlessness will be studied.  QUELD is a
furnace that was fixed by the crew yesterday after a cooling fan failed by
rigging an attachment to an air duct of Columbia's

Columbia is in excellent mechanical condition, with no problems seen by Mission
Control or the crew.  The spacecraft is in 157 by 154 nautical mile orbit,
circling Earth each 90 minutes, 26.6 seconds.

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

STS-52 Status Report #14
MISSION CONTROL CENTER

Tuesday, October 27, 1992, 5 p.m. CST

The STS-52 crew is winding down its sixth work day in space.  The sleep period
begins at 5:09 p.m.  CST today.

United States Microgravity Payload 1 has met its minimum science objectives and
both experiments are in interactive mode as scientists at the Marshall Space
Flight Center, Huntsville, Alabama, continue to refine their investigations.

This morning, Mission Specialist Bill Shepherd started two more crystal samples
growing in one furnace of the Crystal Vapor Transport Experiment. The crystal
vapor study uses a furnace to heat solids to a vapor and grows crystals as the
vaporized materials slowly cool.  It is hoped to grow Cadmium Telluride
crystals, used in computer microchips, more than twice as large as have ever
been grown before.  Experiment managers asked Shepherd to manually reposition
one of the crystals by entering commands to the experiment's control system.
Toward the end of today's work, Shepherd reported that sample A "looks like
it's on its way" and that sample B had exhibited no change since video
downlinked to researchers earlier in the day showed some unusual formation in
that sample.

Tammy Jernigan completed work with the Heat Pipe Performance experiment.  The
heat pipe study evaluates a new cooling technology that has no moving parts and
could prove to be a very reliable method for cooling future spacecraft.

Canadian Payload Specialist Steve MacLean added an electric current to vials of
phased fluids that naturally separate like oil and water in the Phase
Partitioning in Liquids experiment.  The separated fluids' behaviors are being
studied for possible use as filters for refinining different cells, a process
that may have benefits in purifying cells for transplanting or disease
treatments on Earth. Additionally,MacLean ran several samples in the Queens
University Experiment in Liquid Metal Diffusion. QUELD is a furnace experiment
that heats numerous specimen metals until they are molten.  The metals are
allowed to diffuse for 30 minutes or more and then are rapidly cooled to
solidify them metals for post-flight analysis.

Commander Jim Wetherbee spent four hours during the late morning and early
afternoon in the Lower Body Negative Pressure unit, a device that lowers the
air pressure around the lower half of the body to imitate gravity's effect in
pulling body fluids downward.  The LBNP is being studied as a method of
counteracting a problem with dizziness astronauts have sometimes experienced
upon their return to Earth's gravity.

Columbia is in excellent mechanical condition, with no problems seen by Mission
Control or the crew.  The spacecraft is in 157 by 154 nautical mile orbit,
circling Earth each 90 minutes. -end-

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
STS-52 Status Report #15
MISSION CONTROL CENTER

Wednesday, October 28, 1992, 6 a.m.  CST

  Strains of Hawaiian music woke the STS-52 crew today as the six astronauts
started their seventh day in orbit.

The music set the tone for today's planned discussion between the STS-52 crew,
students at the University of Hawaii and the Polynesian sailing canoe "Hokulea"
located somewhere in the South Pacific.

Overnight, Commander Jim Wetherbee was awakened at about 11 p.m. when a
communications loop was accidentally activated while technicians worked in the
Shuttle Motion Base Simulator. Capcom Don Thomas explained the situation and
Wetherbee went back to sleep.

"Reset and go to run," Wetherbee joked, using a phrase that is commonly heard
by crew members at the end of simulations.

Today, the Canadian experiment called Materials Exposure to Low Earth Orbit
(MELEO) makes its debut on STS-52. MELEO uses the shuttle's robot arm in
different positions to expose several materials plates mounted on the arm to
the space environment.  Work also will continue on the Queens University
Experiment in Liquid Metal Diffusion (QUELD), the Sun Photospectrometer Earth
Atmosphere Measurement -2 (SPEAM-2) and the Phase Partioning in Liquids
(PARLIQ).

Mission Specialist Bill Shepherd is scheduled to take a four-hour turn in the
Lower Body Negative Pressure Unit, a device that imitates gravity's effect in
pulling body fluids downward.  The LBNP is being studied as a method of
counteracting the problem with the dizziness astronauts sometimes experience
upon return to Earth's gravity.

Columbia continues to perform without major problems.  The spacecraft is in 157
by 154 n.m. orbit, circling Earth each 90 minutes.

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


USMP-1 Public Affairs Status Report #6
7:00 a.m. CST, October 28, 1992
5/19:51 MET
Spacelab Mission Operations Control
Marshall Space Flight Center
Huntsville, Ala.

Another successful day of microgravity science has been logged by
the first United States Microgravity Payload aboard the Space
Shuttle Columbia.  Because operation of the USMP-1 experiments is
going so well, investigators for the MEPHISTO directional
solidification furnace and the Lambda-Point Experiment (LPE) will
get additional data during an extension of their operation time.
The pre-mission timeline had called for the furnace to shut down
Thursday and for LPE to complete operations on Friday.

In order to continue experiment runs during the extension period,
the MEPHISTO science team did final solidification on only a
portion of their tin-bismuth alloy sample, rather than solidifying
the entire sample last night as originally planned.  Electric
pulses were sent through one of the samples at prescribed intervals
during three different solidification rates to mark the
solid-liquid interface, the precise point at which the molten metal
solidifies.  That portion will remain solidified for post-mission
analysis.  Further experimental runs at different solidification
speeds will be performed on the remaining two-fifths of the alloy
sample.  These additional runs will provide comparative data that
should confirm the accuracy of the measurements already made and
are expected to help scientists determine the speed at which the
most perfect crystals can be grown.

During their additional experiment time, MEPHISTO investigators
will be able to see what effect certain microgravity disturbances,
such as those caused by Shuttle maneuvers planned for late in the
mission, have on the solid-liquid interface of the alloy.  "Crystal
growers everywhere will be very glad MEPHISTO is doing these extra
runs," said Dr. Don Gillies, assistant to the USMP-1 mission
scientist.  Gillies was a member of the Crystal Growth Furnace
experiment team during the United States Microgravity Laboratory
mission in July. "Their data will help define how extensively
Shuttle maneuvers affect crystal growth.  That information will be
extremely valuable in planning future experiments."

The Lambda-Point Experiment continues to acquire high-resolution
data on the transition of helium from its mysterious superfluid
condition to normal liquid.  Since its activation, LPE has passed
through the transition temperature, or lambda point at
approximately 2.17 Kelvin or -456 degrees Fahrenheit, more than 40
times.  Members of the experiment team at Spacelab Mission
Operations Control in Huntsville, Ala., say the experiment will
continue to run until its supply of liquid helium is depleted. The
experiment is encased in a vacuum container similar to a Thermos
bottle, filled with about 85 quarts (80 liters) of superfluid
helium, to maintain its temperature below the lambda point.

The Lambda-Point Experiment's charged particle monitors, which
detect proton particles in the Earth's magnetosphere, will remain
powered-up until just before Columbia's landing in order to collect
data as the Shuttle orbits through the South Atlantic Anomaly.
This is an area where the Earth's magnetosphere dips closer to the
surface than elsewhere -- a phenomenon that can interfere with some
orbiting scientific instruments.  LPE's data will give scientists
more precise information on the location and size of the region.

The Space Acceleration Measurement System (SAMS) continues to
provide good downlink data.  The apparatus measures subtle
movements of the Shuttle and its crew and how those movements
affect the microgravity environment.  SAMS Project Manager Richard
DeLombard reports that one of the two SAMS units -- the one which
senses accelerations near the MEPHISTO furnace -- is operating
flawlessly.  SAMS and MEPHISTO teams at Spacelab Control are
comparing disturbances picked up by both experiments.  Although the
SAMS unit supporting Lambda Point Experiment is no longer recording
data on optical disks, real-time data for LPE is being downlinked
to Spacelab Mission Operations Control for real-time analysis.  The
acceleration monitors also will operate until shortly before
Columbia lands.

STS-52
1 22194U 92 70  A 92302.27586395 0.00103295  00000-0  25599-3 0   182
2 22194  28.4667  78.9185 0006409 327.2062  32.8152 15.94362233   900

Satellite: STS-52
Catalog number: 22194
Epoch time:      92302.27586395         (28 OCT 92   06:37:14.65 UTC)
Element set:     GSFC-018
Inclination:       28.4667 deg
RA of node:        78.9185 deg          Space Shuttle Flight STS-52
Eccentricity:    0.0006409                  Keplerian Elements
Arg of perigee:   327.2062 deg
Mean anomaly:      32.8152 deg
Mean motion:   15.94362233 rev/day      Semi-major Axis: 6668.2243 Km
Decay rate:       0.10E-02 rev/day*2    Apogee  Alt:        294.11 Km
Epoch rev:              90              Perigee Alt:        285.56 Km


NOTE - This element set is based on NORAD element set # 018.
       The spacecraft has been propagated to the next ascending
       node, and the orbit number has been adjusted to bring it
       into agreement with the NASA numbering convention.

R.A. Parise, Goddard Space Flight Center

Terri Sindelar
Headquarters, Washington, D.C.

Jeff Carr
Johnson Space Center, Houston

RELEASE:  92-184  (October 26, 1992)


        The Earth-orbiting crew of Space Shuttle Columbia will talk with
the sea-voyaging crew of the historic Hawaiian canoe Hokule'a on
Wednesday, Oct. 28 at 2:09 p.m. EST.

        At the same time, students throughout Hawaii, plotting the course
of the canoe's voyage, will watch the televised conversation.  Selected
students, located at the University of Hawaii's TV Lab, will ask both crews
about flight and sail plans, weather, procedures for navigating both
vessels and about exploration.

        "There are compelling similarities between space and ocean
exploration," said Myron Thompson, President of the Polynesian Voyaging
Society and the father of Hokule'a's sailmaster and navigator.  "The
discovery and settlement of Hawaii marked the end of the first phase of
human's migration using stone age technology.  The voyages of the
Shuttle mark the other end of this spectrum of discovery and
exploration."

        The Hokule'a set sail last Friday from the Cook Islands on a journey
to the Hawaiian Islands.  The double-hulled, 65-foot canoe is a replica of
the vessels used by the Polynesians who, as early as 3 thousand years ago,
explored the 20 million square miles of ocean.  They discovered and
settled Samoa, Tonga, the Marquesas, the Cooks, the Societies, the
Tuamotus, Easter Island, New Zealand and finally Hawaii.

        Carbon dating indicates that Polynesians sailed 2,500 miles from
the Marquesas to first colonize Hawaii around 250 A.D.  The Hokule'a will
retrace the route of her ancestors to better understand the ancient
seafarers accomplishments and to unlock a similar passion for discovery
with students.

Students Chart Course of Canoe and Learn Math and Sciences

        "Hokule'a symbolizes the promise of the future and the great
adventure of exploring a new ocean of space," Thompson said.  "The
excitement created by this unique contact has stimulated educational
programs throughout the state.

        "Both voyages of exploration require the courage, commitment and
cooperation of entire societies to ensure success.  We hope to
demonstrate to school children that exploration is a continuum with
endless possibilities," Thompson said. The theme of the Hokule'a voyage
is "No Na Mamo" -- meaning "For the Generations."

        During Hokule'a 30-day return voyage from Rarotonga in the Cook
Islands to Hawaii, school children in Hawaii will plot the daily course of
the canoe and learn about the differences between the ancient Polynesian
method of navigating with today's satellite technology.

        Today, only 10 Polynesians practice the ancient art of Polynesian
navigation called Wayfinding.  These navigators memorize star paths and
other natural signs, combining them with their knowledge of currents
and weather and sailing strategies.

        The Hawaii Maritime Center, a cooperative partner with the
Polynesian Voyaging Society, has conducted workshops to teach sailing
strategies and plotting procedures and to demonstrate satellite position
technology.  To assist students tracking the canoe, the center has set up
a phone line to access data from the Global Positioning Satellite on the
canoe's location.

        The Department of Education's Distance Learning and Technology
Office will broadcast live hookups with the canoe and provide daily
position reports.  KCCN radio will broadcast daily reports of the canoe's
position, weather and life-at-sea information.  The "Honolulu Advertiser"
will print daily reports.

        The Polynesian Voyaging Society has prepared a teacher's guide and
instructional tapes.  In addition to math skills learned through plotting
navigation, students also will learn geography, astronomy, ecology,
oceanography, natural history and Polynesian cultural practices.

Path: nntpd.lkg.dec.com!pa.dec.com!decwrl!looking!clarinews
From: [email protected] (UPI)
Subject: Columbia astronauts settle down to science
Date: Sun, 25 Oct 92 12:38:50 PST

	CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (UPI) -- The Columbia astronauts studied the
subtle glow of Earth's passage through space Sunday, operated crystal-
growth experiments and tested new space radiators that could help cool
future spacecraft.
	Two experiments in the shuttle's cargo bay, operated remotely by
researchers on the ground, also appeared to be working properly.
	One of them, a joint NASA-French Space Agency project, is devoted to
improving materials processing techniques. The other is designed to
study the strange behavior of ``superfluid'' liquid helium, which
conducts heat 1,000 times better than copper when chilled to a
temperature of 2.17 degrees above absolute zero.
	``The mission continues to go very well, the shuttle is performing
virtually flawlessly,'' said flight director Robert Castle.
	On board Columbia are commander James Wetherbee, 39, co-pilot Michael
Baker, 38, flight engineer William Shepherd, 43, Charles Lacy Veach, 48,
Tamara Jernigan, 33, and Canadian researcher Steven MacLean, 37.
	The astronauts were awakened for their fourth day in space at 4:09 a.
m. EST Sunday.
	``Good morning, Columbia; and by the way, there are celebrations in
the streets of Toronto,'' astronaut William McArthur radioed the crew
from mission control in Houston. ``Steve's going to collect on a few
bets today.''
	MacLean, an avid Toronto Blue Jays fan, predicted a Canadian victory
in Game 6 of the World Series and his team delivered Saturday night with
a 4-3 victory over the Atlanta Braves.
	``Alll Riiight!'' he radioed when informed of the outcome Sunday.
	Throughout the morning, Jernigan tested experimental ``heat pipe''
technology for use in future radiators. Heat pipes use weightlessness
and fluids to carry heat away. Such devices have no moving parts and
could be used on future spacecraft to make heat rejection more
efficient.
	The crew also is growing a variety of protein crystals that could
help researchers develop new drugs. By growing large, near-perfect
crystals of selected proteins in weightlessness, researchers can
determine their exact structure and thus design drugs to accomplish
specific tasks. Similar experiments have flown on several previous
shuttle missions.
	Shepherd spent the day activating a sophisticated crystal growth
facility viewed by NASA as a precursor to the types of experiments that
will fly aboard the agency's planned space station.
	MacLean, meanwhile, pressed ahead with a battery of Canadian
experiments, including one designed to photograph the subtle glow
produced by atomic particles smashing into Earth's atmosphere as the
planet sweeps through space.
	And finally, 12 doomed rats are presumably enjoying their final days.
They will be killed after landing to determine how a commercial
osteoporosis drug might have affected the bone loss that comes with
prolonged exposure to weightlessness.
	Columbia is scheduled to land Nov. 1 at the Kennedy Space Center to
wrap up a 10-day mission.

STS-52 Status Report #16
MISSION CONTROL CENTER

Wednesday, October 28, 1992, 9:30 a.m. CST

Columbia's crew is halfway through another busy day of simultaneous
experiments, including continuing work with the QUELD metals furnace, the
Crystal Vapor Transport Experiment crystal growth furnace, the SPEAM hand-held
ozone detection instrument and the Lower Body Negative Pressure medical device
being evaluated as a measure to counteract the effects of weightlessness on the
body.

Mission Specialist Bill Shepherd spent a four-hour session in the LBNP to
simulate the way gravity pulls body fluids toward the lower extremeties.  The
sessions are hoped to assist astronauts as they readapt to gravity and deter
light-headedness sometimes experienced upon their return to Earth. A crystal
sample growing in the vapor transport furnace appears to be in good shape,
payload controllers reported after watching television of the experiment from
Columbia. Later today, Canadian Payload Specialist Steve MacLean will observe
the upper atmosphere through Columbia's windows with the SPEAM instrument, one
of the Canadian experiments aboard the shuttle.

At 1:09 p.m.  CST, the crew will make a long-distance call to the Hokulea, a
replica of an ancient Polynesian sailing canoe on a voyage across the Pacific
en route to Hawaii, navigating in the same manner as the ancient Polynesian
voyagers.  Following the call, the crew will speak with students at the
University of Hawaii and answer questions.  Mission Specialist Lacy Veach,
whose hometown is Honolulu, and other members of the shuttle crew who may be
available, will talk with the canoe and students.

Columbia is in excellent shape, with no major problems.  The Text and Graphics
System, or TAGS, a type of onboard fax machine for the shuttle, jammed this
morning, however, printed material may be sent to the shuttle via a teleprinter
and an air-to-ground computer modem.  Columbia is in a 157 by 153 nautical mile
orbit, circling Earth each 90 minutes, 25 seconds.
 
----------------------------------------------------------------------------

STS-52 Status Report #17
MISSION CONTROL CENTER

Wednesday, October 28, 1992, 5 p.m. CST

  Columbia's six-person crew has completed its seventh working day of mission
STS-52.

Crewmembers worked on the Crystal Vapor Transport Experiment, the study of
industrial crystals grown by evaporating solid compounds at high temperatures,
then allowing the material to crystallize inside its glass tube.  Researchers
hope to grow large r crystals to use in semiconductors.  Extra runs with the
Heat Pipe Performance experiment were completed by Tammy Jernigan. These runs
were added to the crew's work schedule when time became available over and
above the preplanned experiment operations.  Jim Wetherbee spent over an hour
in the Lower Body Negative Pressure unit for a ramp session.

The entire crew participated in a long-distance phone call between Columbia and
the Polynesian sailing canoe Hokulea. The Hokulea canoe is a replica of an
ancient Polynesian sailing canoe used to train young navigators in the
ancestral navigation techniques used by early Polynesian voyagers to travel
vast distances in the South Pacific unaided by navigation instruments.  Hokulea
sailors steer their craft by sighting on stars and reading the wind and wave
currents.  Comparisons show that Hokulea makes its course across the ocean with
the same degree of accuracy as contemporary vessels which use the latest
electronic navigation aids.  The Columbia crew and the Hokulea crew answered
questions from school children located at the University of Hawaii.

Canadian Payload Specialist Steve MacLean reported that the Sun
Photospectrometer Earth Atmosphere Measurement-2 (SPEAM-2) experiment computer
screen stays blank when it is used.  Maclean gave a detailed description of the
problem to ground controllers and experimenters.  The two groups will analyze
the information overnight and give MacLean further instructions on Thursday
morning.

Columbia is in excellent shape, with no major problems.  The Text and Graphics
System, or TAGS, a type of onboard fax machine for the shuttle, jammed this
morning, however, printed material may be sent to the shuttle via a teleprinter
and an air-to-ground computer modem.  Columbia circles the Earth every 90
minutes in a 158 by 153 nautical mile orbit.

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

STS-52 Status Report #18
MISSION CONTROL CENTER

Thursday, Oct. 29, 1992, 6:00 a.m. CST

More work with the Space Vision System is on tap for Columbia's astronauts
during their eighth day of STS-52.

Planning shift flight controllers had a quiet shift overnight as Columbia,
making its 13th flight, continued to perform without major anomaly.  The crew
was awakened at 1:09 a.m.  CST with "Mack the Knife" by Bobby Darin.

The SVS, part of the Canadian experiment package, is a form of machine vision
for robotic applications in space.  Mission Specialist Lacy Veach will drive
the robot arm to grapple and maneuver the Canadian Target Assembly while
Payload Specialist Steve MacLean works the SVS. Thursday's test characterizes
the clearance measuring capabilities of the SVS. The determination of
clearances is particularly important for working with a large payload like the
Hubble Space Telescope or a Space Station Freedom module when accurate
information regarding the exact location of the payload is needed constantly.

Also today, Commander Jim Wetherbee, Pilot Mike Baker and Mission Specialist
Bill Shepherd will perform ramp tests in the Lower Body Negative Pressure Unit.

Columbia is currently in a 158 by 153 n.m. orbit and circles the Earth once
every 90 minutes.

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

USMP-1 Public Affairs Status Report #07
7:00 a.m. CST, October 29, 1992
6/19:51 MET
Spacelab Mission Operations Control
Marshall Space Flight Center
Huntsville, Ala.

The First United States Microgravity Payload (USMP-1) has completed
yet another day of successful operations in orbit aboard the Space
Shuttle Columbia.  USMP-1 experiments are managed for NASA by the
Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala.  Although USMP-1
has completed all of its primary objectives, investigators for the
MEPHISTO directional solidification furnace and the Lambda-Point
Experiment are continuing to collect extra data after receiving
additional operating time.  The "telescience" aspect of the USMP-1
mission has been extremely successful, with more than 1,800
commands already sent to the experiments from ground controllers at
Marshall.

Yesterday, in the MEPHISTO materials processing furnace, a partial
final solidification of the tin-bismuth alloy samples was performed
at varying speeds while a series of electrical pulses was sent
through one sample. The electrical pulses marked the shape of the
point where the molten metal becomes solid, known as the
solid-liquid interface.  The remaining portion of the samples are
being used for additional melting-solification runs to confirm
previously gathered data.

The MEPHISTO furnace allows many cycles of solidification and
remelting and is particularly well-adapted for long-duration
missions.  A moving furnace melts the rod-shaped samples as it
passes over them.  When the samples are melted, the furnace then
reverses, resolidifying them at different speeds during different
experiment runs.  The varying speeds affect the shape of the
solid-liquid interface, and thus the crystalline structure and
properties of the final product.  The multiple runs during the
MEPHISTO investigation will help the experiment team identify at
which solidification speeds certain crystalline structures are
acquired.

Early this morning, the team completed a solidification run at the
furnace's slowest speed, about 0.2 inches (5.5 mm) per hour, during
a period of minimum orbiter and crew movement.  An identical run
will be performed later today for comparison during a period of
intense activity.

The Lambda-Point Experiment (LPE) continues to acquire excellent
high-resolution data from phase transition measurements on a sample
of extremely cold liquid helium.  Scientists are interested in the
heat capacity of helium, because at a particular temperature, a
transition takes place, and the normal liquid helium becomes
superfluid.  In this unusual superfluid state, helium moves freely
through small pores that block other liquids, and it also conducts
heat 1,000 times more effectively than copper.  This change occurs
at liquid helium's lambda point (2.17 Kelvin or about -456 degrees
Fahrenheit).  It is important to conduct the experiment in space.
On Earth, density differences that result from gravity cause the
sample of helium to become superfluid at higher temperatures at the
top than at the bottom.  A more uniform sample is required to
accurately study the transition point.

Later today, it is expected that helium coolant will be depleted
below the level necessary to conduct the phase-transition
experiments, and that portion of the investigation will be
completed.  However, the Lambda-Point Experiment's charged particle
monitors will remain activated until the USMP carrier is powered
off a few hours prior to Columbia's landing.  These monitors will
be investigating the South Atlantic Anomaly, a region in the
Earth's magnetosphere which can interfere with orbiter science
operations.  Scientists hope to learn more about the location and
size of the region.

The Space Acceleration Measurement System continues to measure the
microgravity environment in which the MEPHISTO directional
solidification furnace and the Lambda-Point Experiment are
operating.

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

STS-52 Status Report #19
MISSION CONTROL CENTER

Thursday, October 29, 1992, 10:30 a.m. CST

Mission Specialist Lacy Veach and Canadian Payload Specialist Steve MacLean
completed the fourth in a series of evaluations of a computerized eye for
Columbia's mechanical arm this morning.

The test of the Canadian Space Agency-developed Space Vision System, which
takes television views from Columbia's camera and converts them to a computer
display aid for the mechanical arm operator, checked its abilities to track the
orientation of an object in the arm's grasp.  Veach rolled the Canadian Target
Assembly, attached to the arm's end, moved it from side-to-side and up and down
above Columbia's cargo bay as MacLean watched the vision system's display.

The test went smoothly, however, when Veach began to put the target assembly
back into it's stowage berth on the side of the cargo bay with the arm
operating in a single- joint mode, the attempt was halted.  Operating in
single-joint mode means only one joint of the arm can be moved at a time rather
than normal arm operating modes where several joints can be moved
simultaneously.  With about two inches to go to berth the target assembly,
Veach encountered resistance and backed away after studying the situation.
Later, after inspecting the berthing latches, the target was berthed normally
using the normal arm operating mode.

The single-joint berthing was performed as a test and may be tried again later
in the flight, possibly during three more tests of the Space Vision System
scheduled for tomorrow.

Also this morning, Pilot Mike Baker and Mission Specialist Bill Shepherd each
spent a 50-minute session in the Lower Body Negative Pressure unit, a sack that
lowers air pressure around the bottom half of the body, imitating the effect of
gravity in pulling body fluids toward the lower extremeties.  It is designed to
counteract light-headedness astronauts have sometimes felt when they first
return to Earth.

Columbia is in a 157 x 154 nautical mile orbit and has no mechanical problems
of significance.

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

STS-52 Status Report #20
MISSION CONTROL CENTER

Thursday, October 29, 1992, 5 p.m. CST


The Columbia crew begins its official sleep period at 5:09 p.m.  CST this
evening after an eighth day in space packed with science investigations
conducted in parallel.

Early in the work day, Lacy Veach and Steve MacLean conducted the third day of
Space Vision System operations.  The SVS, part of the Canadian experiment
package, is a form of machine vision for robotic applications in space.  Veach
drove the robot arm to grapple and maneuver the Canadian Target Assembly while
Steve MacLean worked the SVS. Today's test characterized the clearance
measuring capabilities of the SVS. The determination of clearances is
particularly important for working with a large payload like the Hubble Space
Telescope or a Space Station Freedom module when accurate information regarding
the exact location of the payload is needed constantly.

Early this afternoon, the Columbia crew participated in an on-orbit news
conference answering questions from media representatives located at the
Johnson and Kennedy Space Centers. Later, Canada's Minister for Science, the
Honorable William Winegard, placed a long distance call to Canadian Payload
Specialist Steve MacLean. Winegard and MacLean discussed MacLean's experiences
and impressions of the Shuttle mission and Winegard congratulated the entire
crew on their science achievements on mission STS-52.

Several activities scheduled for the presleep period were moved earlier this
afternoon as time permitted to give flight crew members some extra time for
relaxation before their sleep period.

Columbia and its systems are operating almost perfectly.  No significant
problems are being worked by the mission control team.
 

              SPACE SHUTTLE WEEKLY STATUS SUMMARY
                    Friday, October 30, 1992

 
                         STS-52

SPECIAL TOPICS:  Columbia STS-52 End of Mission

     The 7:31 a.m. landing opportunity has tentatively been ruled
out because of fog in Sunday's weather forecast.  The two
remaining opportunities are 9:05 and 10:38 a.m. EST, with the
9:05 time tentatively selected as prime.  If neither opportunity
is achieved, a landing will be retargeted for KSC on Monday.

STS-52 Status Report #21
MISSION CONTROL CENTER

Friday, October 30, 1992, 6 a.m. CST


Columbia's STS-52 crew rocked out of bed this morning to "Bang the Drum" by
Todd Rundgren, played in honor of Max Q drummer and Mission Commander Jim
Wetherbee.

Crew members will have another full day in space as STS-52 begins Flight Day
Nine. Payload Specialist Steve MacLean and Mission Specialists Lacy Veach and
Tammy Jernigan will continue working with the Space Vision System, a new kind
of machine vision that uses the science of photogrammetry for faster and safer
robot arm applications.  Today's tests will move the Canadian Target Assembly
in a triangular pattern to help investigators determine how well the system can
enable operators to manipulate large and awkward payloads.  The second task
will test the SVS as an aid to close range proximity operations such as final
stage of rendezvous and capture of a free flying satellite.

Columbia also is scheduled to perform two burns of the Orbital Maneuvering
System engines to lower its orbit to about 114 n.m.  The lower altitude will
optimize landing lighting conditions and will maximize payload activities with
the Orbiter Glow experiment.

Columbia is performing without major system anomalies resulting in another
quiet shift for the Planning Team overnight.

Columbia is currently in a 158 x 152 n.m. orbit.

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

USMP-1 Public Affairs Status Report #8
7:00 a.m. CST, October 30, 1992
7/19:51 MET
Spacelab Mission Operations Control
Marshall Space Flight Center
Huntsville, Ala.

All three experiments on the United States Microgravity Payload
carrier in Columbia's cargo bay continue to operate as the STS-52
mission enters its ninth day.  Though the USMP-1 portion of the
mission was originally planned to end yesterday, ambitious
rescheduling is allowing the instruments to keep on taking data
until shortly before the Shuttle lands Sunday.

While the crew conducts experiments in life science and space
technology, science teams at the Marshall Space Flight Center in
Huntsville, Ala., are using "telescience" to control the USMP-1
investigations.  This remote control capability makes maximum use
of the versatile Space Shuttle -- taking advantage of its extensive
power and communications resources, as well as its ability to
return equipment to Earth for reflight -- while leaving the crew
free to conduct other important experiments.  Telescience
commanding will be utilized again on future USMP flights and other
Spacelab missions.  Such commanding could also be used to control
experiments aboard Space Station Freedom before it is staffed by a
full-time crew.

Both of the primary USMP-1 experiments -- the Lambda-Point
Experiment and the MEPHISTO directional solidification furnace --
have far exceeded their science objectives, according to Mission
Scientist Dr. Sandor Lehoczky.  "The mission has been an
unqualified success," Lehoczky observed. "Results obtained from
these experiments are expected to make major contributions to the
fields of condensed matter physics and materials science."

Dr. John Lipa of Stanford University, principal investigator for
the Lambda-Point Experiment (LPE), reports that his team has
obtained almost 300 percent of the planned high-resolution data
needed to rigorously test a Nobel Prize-winning theory which
provides a mathematical explanation for the dynamics of matter near
phase transition points.  The theory has universal applications to
a wide range of problems in fundamental physics, from
superconductors to liquid crystals.  LPE uses superconducting
thermometers, sensitive to billionths of a degree, to measure the
heat capacity of liquid helium as it makes the transition from its
mysterious superfluid state to normal liquid at its lambda point
(2.17 Kelvin or -456 degrees Fahrenheit).  Thus far, about 90
passes through the lambda point have been completed.

It was thought that the superfluid helium which cools the
Lambda-Point Experiment would be depleted yesterday.  However, the
vacuum container in which it is housed has proved more efficient
than expected, and some 24 hours later there is still sufficient
coolant to allow additional high-resolution data to be taken.  "Our
equipment and our ability to command it are even better than we had
hoped they would be," said Co-Investigator Dr. Talso Chui.  "This
experiment is proving to be something of a pioneer in its field,
and other condensed matter physicists already are becoming
interested in designing space experiments, based on our success."

During the USMP-1 mission, the MEPHISTO team, headed by Dr. Jean
Jacques Favier of the French Atomic Energy Commission, has obtained
the first real-time data on the solidification process in low
gravity.  The team's ability to command their instrument has given
them the flexibility needed to do experiments for an extra three
days.  They took advantage of quiet periods when the crew was
sleeping to make final solidifications on a part of their sample,
then continued to make real-time measurements on another part
during the day.  This allowed the team to monitor the effect on
solidification of Shuttle maneuvers and vibrations occurring late
in the mission.  The additional operating time will furnish the
MEPHISTO team with substantially more scientific data than planned
for the mission.  Originally, 10 melting and solidification runs
had been planned.  Well over 30 could actually be completed before
Columbia returns to Earth, although all will not be made under
ideal microgravity conditions.

The MEPHISTO furnace is scheduled to fly again on upcoming USMP
missions, with American and French scientists alternating as
principal investigators.  Different alloys will be tested on
successive flights, in order to compare subtle effects on
crystalline structure and alloy distribution in a number of
materials.

The Space Acceleration Measurement System (SAMS) team has taken an
active role throughout the mission by providing a running account
of vibrations aboard the Shuttle to the other experiment teams.
Though SAMS has flown five times before, USMP-1 is the first time
the SAMS team has received real-time, downlinked data from the
Shuttle.  Previously, the data was recorded on-board only and
analyzed post mission.  In last night's message to the crew, the
SAMS team said, "With our two vibration-sensing instruments up
there, we've been 'keeping an eye on you' during your exercise
programs, waving the RMS [remote manipulator system] arm all over,
launching the satellite, and your drum solos."  The acceleration
monitoring system is scheduled for all upcoming USMP flights, in a
continuing program to enhance understanding of the microgravity
environment.

"Outstanding" was the word USMP Program Manager Dave Jarrett chose
to describe the success of the first United States Microgravity
Payload mission.  "The way in which the science teams, Marshall
Space Flight Center and Johnson Space Center engineers, and the
STS-52 crew have worked together to accomplish the science goals of
the mission has once again demonstrated the true NASA spirit of
teamwork."

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

STS-52 Status Report #22
MISSION CONTROL CENTER

Friday, October 30, 1992, 9:30 a.m. CST


Columbia's crew completed three more tests of a computerized vision system
created for the shuttle's robot arm by the Canadian Space Agency, and then
dropped their orbit about 40 nautical miles closer to Earth to begin the final
stages of the flight.

Canadian Payload Specialist Steve MacLean and Mission Specialists Lacy Veach
and Tammy Jernigan put the new vision system through its paces today,
conducting tests of its abilities to judge the amount of flex in Columbia's
mechanical arm; to guide a cargo at the end of the arm through precise
maneuvers; and to track an object moving away and closing in on Columbia's
cargo bay.  MacLean characterized the performance of the vision system as
excellent and told controllers the test results were exciting.

The vision system will undergo further testing tomorrow when the target
assembly that's been used during the series of tests is set free from Columbia
to judge the ability of the computerized eye to track a free-flying object near
the shuttle.  The target satellite will not be brought back to Earth, but is
expected to burn up in the atmosphere a few days after it is released.

Following today's early morning tests, the target was put back into its stowage
equipment on the side of the cargo bay without trouble, and Columbia's arm was
turned off and latched down to prepare for the change in orbits.

Two about 1/2 minute-long engine firings were performed flawlessly and the
shuttle is now in a 113 by 114 nautical mile orbit.  The lower orbit optimizes
landing opportunities and experiments that are investigating the various
effects of atomic oxygen on orbiting spacecraft.  Later this morning, the arm
will be powered up, grasp the target again and position it to encounter atomic
oxygen at the lower altitude to study the effects.

Columbia has no mechanical problems of any concern, and is circling Earth 88
minutes and 52 seconds, 114 nautical miles high.

STS-52 Status Report #23
MISSION CONTROL CENTER

Friday, October 30, 1992, 5 p.m. CST


Payload Specialist Steve MacLean successfully brought back on line this
afternoon the computer used for the Sun Photospectrometer Earth Atmosphere
Measurement (SPEAM) experiment.  Investigators will use the data gathered with
the SPEAM's two measuring instruments to learn more about the part of the upper
atmosphere containing most of Earth's protective ozone layer.  The computer
screen has been blank for the last two working days.  Experiment engineers
developed procedures to restore the computer to working condition.  SPEAM
observations will be included in Saturday's work schedule.

Two about one-and-half minute long engine firings by Columbia were performed
flawlessly this morning placing the shuttle in a 113 by 114 nautical mile
orbit.  The lower orbit optimizes landing opportunities and experiments that
are investigating the various effects of atomic oxygen on orbiting spacecraft.

At Columbia's lowered orbit of 114 by 113 nautical miles, MacLean carried out a
series of photographic observations for the Orbiter Glow experiment.  One
series of observations had the Canadian Tracking Assembly, held on the
Canadarm, positioned in front of the leading edge of Columbia's left payload
bay door, adjacent to the crew hatch.  This study explores the glow around the
Shuttle's surfaces facing the direction of travel as observed in numerous
photographs taken by astronauts.  The bright areas, concentrated around the
Shuttle's tail section, are thought to be caused by the impact of high-velocity
atoms and the effect of the Orbiter's surface temperature.

At about 2:30 p.m.  CST today, Lacy Veach moved the Canadarm into the exposure
position for the Materials Exposure in Low Earth Orbit experiment.  The arm
will remain parked in the extended position during the crew's sleep period.
This is the third overnight exposure session for the witness plates affixed to
the robot arm.  Over 350 materials samples are mounted on the witness plates.
Researchers will analyze the samples' reactions to interaction with atomic
oxygen in the low Earth orbit environment to develop new coatings for future
spacecraft exteriors.

The STS-52 crew went to sleep at 4:24 p.m.  CST and will awaken at 12:24 a.m.
CST on Saturday to begin their last full working day in space.  Columbia has no
mechanical problems of any concern, and is circling Earth 88 minutes.

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

STS-52 Status Report #24
MISSION CONTROL CENTER

Saturday, October 31, 1992, 2 a.m. CST

Halloween started early for the STS-52 crew when it was awakened at 12:24 a.m.
CST by Bobby "Boris" Pickett singing the "Monster Mash." "We've tried to build
some Trick-or-Treat time into the Flight Plan for you," said Capcom Don Thomas.
Columbia's six astronauts will be completing payload activities and getting the
orbiter ready for its return to Earth during their tenth and final full day in
space.

Crew members will complete their activities with the Space Vision System and
the Canadian Target Assembly with the release of the CTA at about 5 a.m.  CST
(8/16:49 MET). More work also will be done with the Sun Photospectrometer Earth
Atmosphere Measurement experiment.  Payload Specialist Steve MacLean
successfully brought back on line the computer used for the SPEAM
Friday afternoon.

Astronauts will begin their preparations for the Sunday landing opportunities
with the Reaction Control System hot fire and the Flight Control Systems
checkout.  During these activities, traditionally set for the day before
landing, crew members will fire the steering jets of the orbiter and maneuver
Columbia's body flap speed brake and rudder to verify the systems for Sunday.
Columbia has three deorbit opportunities to the Kennedy Space Center and two to
Edwards Sunday morning.  Currently, flight controllers are planning for a
deorbit burn on Orbit 158 and landing on Orbit 159 at about 8:06 a.m.  CST.
Columbia continues to work without major anomaly.  Friday, one of the heaters
in the forward section of the Flash Evaporation System line malfunctioned, but
controllers switched to the redundant heater and the system is working well.

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

STS-52 Status Report #25
MISSION CONTROL CENTER

Saturday, October 31, 1992, 9:30 a.m. CST

The crew of Columbia wrapped up its varied experiments this morning, releasing
a target that has been the object of tests with a Canadian robotic vision
system throughout the flight, and began preparations for tomorrow's trip home.

Early today, Mission Specialist Lacy Veach released the Canadian target and
Payload Specialist Steve MacLean tested the vision system's ability to track it
while Commander Jim Wetherbee flew Columbia in formation, 140 feet away.
MacLean reported the vision system accurately measured the distance between
Columbia and the target, although Columbia's bright jet firings made television
camera images from the shuttle, the basis for the vision system's calculations,
degrade.

After about 20 minutes, Wetherbee maneuvered Columbia out of the vicinity of
the target.  The target assembly is expected to burn up in Earth's atmosphere
tomorrow morning.  Later, Mission Specialist Tammy Jernigan put in a final
exercise session on Columbia's lower deck aboard a stationary bicycle.  And
Wetherbee and Pilot Mike Baker checked the instruments and equipment Columbia
will use for tomorrow's landing.  All equipment checked out in perfect shape,
as has been the case for the entire spacecraft during the flight.

Columbia remains scheduled to fire engines at 7:13 a.m.  CST to begin a
free-fall home, culminating in a touchdown at the Kennedy Space Center,
Florida, runway at 8:06 a.m.  CST. The current forecast calls for acceptable
weather.  If there is a delay, Columbia could fire its engines at 8:46 a.m.
CST, leading to a 9:39 a.m.  CST touchdown at KSC.

Columbia is in a 113 nautical mile orbit, circling Earth each 88 minutes, 48
seconds, and the crew is scheduled to spend the remainder of today stowing gear
in preparation for landing.

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

STS-52 Status Report #26
MISSION CONTROL CENTER

Saturday, October 31, 1992, 5 p.m. CST

  The STS-52 crew is spending their last night on orbit.  Crew wake-up is
slated for 11:24 p.m.  CST tonight.

This afternoon Canadian Payload Specialist Steve MacLean completed the final
observations of the Sun Photospectrometer Earth Atmosphere Measurement (SPEAM)
experiment.  The multiple observations taken with two specially- developed
instruments will add to investigator's knowledge about the Earth's upper
atmosphere.

Crewmembers completed storing the numerous instruments and procedures the used
to conduct the multi-discipline science studies on STS-52.

Through the Payloads Officer in Mission Control, all the experiment teams
expressed appreciation to the crew for their diligent work over the last 10
days.  Work schedules were packed with several experiments being run
concurrently each day.  Mission Commander Jim Wetherbee sent his thanks to the
flight control team, mentioning especially "the people in the back rooms at
Mission Control" for the continuous work on the flight.  A preplanned, but
complex, timeline allowed the crew to accomplish a significant volume of
science data gathering.

The crew presented its final real-time mission report by television from
Columbia's flight deck at 12:11 p.m.  CST today.  Wetherbee described the
appearance of the Earth's atmosphere from his vantage point 113 nautical miles
above the planet.

Columbia remains scheduled to fire engines at 7:13 a.m.  CST to begin a free-
fall home, culminating in a touchdown at the Kennedy Space Center, Florida,
runway at 8:06 a.m.  CST. The current forecast calls for acceptable weather.
If there is a delay, Columbia could fire its engines at 8:46 a.m.  CST, leading
to a 9:39 a.m.  CST touchdown at Kennedy.

Columbia orbits the Earth each 88 minutes.  The vehicle has performed nearly
flawlessly throughout the 10-day mission.

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

STS-52 Status Report #27
MISSION CONTROL CENTER

Sunday, November 1, 1992, 1 a.m. CST

Flight controllers and crew members are making their final preparations for
Columbia's return to Earth as STS-52 enters its 11th day.

Columbia remains scheduled to fire its engines at 7:11 a.m.  CST (9/20:02 MET)
to begin a free-fall home, culminating in touchdown on Runway 33 at the Kennedy
Space Center at 8:06 a.m.  CST (9/20:56 MET). Currently, weather forecaster are
predicting early morning fog that will clear in time for the Orbit 158 burn of
the Orbital Maneuvering System engines.

Crew members started their final day in orbit with the "Notre Dame Victory
March" sung by JSC employees and Notre Dame grads, Chris McKenna, Mark Ferring,
Pete Hasbrook and Fisher Reynolds. The university also is the alma mater of
STS-52 Commander Jim Wetherbee.

Shortly after waking up, crew members reported that separator fan one of the
orbiter's waste containment system had quit.  Astronauts switched to the backup
fan and will be using it for the remainder of the flight.  Otherwise, Columbia
continues to perform nearly flawlessly as it ends its 13th flight.

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

STS-52 LANDING STATUS REPORT

Sunday, November 1, 1992, 8:30 a.m.  CST

The Orbiter Columbia landed at the Kennedy Space Center this morning,
successfully ending a ten-day flight.  After completing 159 orbits, the Orbiter
touched down on KSC Runway 33 at 8:05:53 a.m.  CST. That equates to a Mission
Elapsed Time of 9/20:56:13.

Drag chute deploy came at 8:06:07 a.m.  CST, or at 9/20:56:28, followed by Nose
Gear touchdown four seconds later, or at 8:06:11 a.m.  CST. Wheel stop was at
8:06:53 a.m.  CST, or a Mission Elapsed Time of 9/20:57:14.  NASA's official
record keeping designates end of mission as the time of main gear touchdown, so
the official mission elapsed time for STS-52 was 9days, 20 hours, 56 minutes
and 13 seconds.

The Columbia traveled 4,129,028 statute miles during the STS-52 flight, which
was the 51st mission of the Shuttle program.  The Orbiters of NASA's shuttle
fleet have now traveled in excess of 120 million miles in space.

Columbia will be moved from the runway to the Orbiter Processing Facility later
this evening to begin processing for its next flight scheduled for February to
conduct work in the Spacelab module in support of the German Spacelab D- 2
mission.

The STS-52 crew is scheduled to return to Houston approximately 9 1/2 hours
after landing, or about 5:30 p.m.  CST.

Sorry for the delay...

  pragma::public:[nasa]sts-52.ps


21 pages.  Includes mission logo and LAGEOS-II payload configuration diagram.


- dave

LASER GEODYNAMICS SATELLITE II

      The Goddard-managed LAGEOS II, launched October 22, 1992, is in
its 3,591-mile-high (5,782 kilometer) orbit.  Both LAGEOS II upper stages
performed flawlessly after the satellite was deployed October 23 from Space
Shuttle Columbia on the STS-52 mission.  The tracking station at Goddard was
one of the first stations to successfully track the satellite.  LAGEOS II was
developed to obtain precise measurements of the Earth's crustal movement and
the gravitational field using a laser ranging technique from ground based
stations.

From:	DECWRL::"[email protected]" "VOLCANO" 18-DEC-1992 16:19:25.62
To:	Multiple recipients of list VOLCANO <[email protected]>
CC:	
Subj:	Volcano pictures taken from the Space Shuttle

----------------------------Original message----------------------------
Here is another listing of significant photographs of volcanoes taken
from the Space Shuttle this summer and fall.

STS-46 flew in early August.
STS-52 flew in late October.

The astronauts photograph interesting features as they see them. The
photographs are generally taken with a 70mm film format, although
there are some with 5 in format.  Most of the film is Ektachrome 64,
but there is some color infrared (CIR) photographs as well.  I have
marked the CIR shots. 

The photograph identifications may not be exact (and uncertain ids are
marked with question marks) -- they are taken from quick-look notes. 
It will be a few months before they are properly cataloged and added
to our database. 

As always, the photographs are provisioned through the EROS Data
Center (605)594-6151 or Technology Applications Center (505) 277-3622.
They need to know the mission-roll-frame number. The cheapest way to
go is to order a slide -- it can be reproduced. The highest caliber
product is a contact transparency. 

If you wish to inventory other photography, The Space Shuttle Earth
Observations Office maintains a free database (of some 140,000 images)
which you can query, with an account which holds about 200 digitial
images available for downloading. The database can be queried by
lat-long coordinates or by country, or by mission. 

The database is accessed through Internet

enter: TELNET SSEOP.JSC.NASA.GOV.

The searchable database has PHOTOS for both the username and password.
The digital images account has a username ANONYMOUS and a password GUEST. 

The photos are listed below.

Cindy Evans
Space Shuttle Earth Observations Office
[email protected]

mission roll-frame      subject

STS52   100-60  Pinacates
STS52   102-50  Bali
STS52   102-62  Timor
STS52   103-27  E Africa
STS52   103-58  Galapagos
STS52   151-73  St Kitts
STS52   152-3   Andes
STS52   153-208 erte Ale
STS52   153-211 lower Afar
STS52   153-212 Afar
STS52   73-15   Pic Tousside, Tibesti
STS52   75-17   volcano of flies
STS52   75-44   ERte Ale
STS52   75-51   faults and lava, Saudi
STS52   75-61   Ethiopia Rift
STS52   76-73   Andes
STS52   76-74   Andes
STS52   77-02   Hawaii
STS52   78-86   Ethiopian Lakes , rift valley
STS52   81-03   Fuji
STS52   81-4    Hawaii
STS52   82-13   ERte Ale
STS52   90-122  Comoros
STS52   90-44   Fuji
STS52   95-008  Andes
STS52   95-36   Hawaii
STS52   95-37   Hawaii
STS52   95-38   hawaii
STS52   98-28   ethiopia
STS52   98-34   Ethiopian Rift
STS52   98-88   El Salvedor
STS52   98-95   San Salvedor
STS52   98-99   Fonseca
STS52   99-81   Andes smoker
STS52   15-007  sunset, Pinatubo aerosol layer
STS52   23-22   moon, and Earth limb


mission roll    frame   subject

STS046  71      33      maar field in Saudi (?)
STS046  71      53      Gran Canaria and Tenerife
STS046  71      84      Mt Kenya (?)
STS046  71      85      Oldoinyo Lengai, Ngorangora
STS046  74      63      Mt ETna and Mediterranean dust
STS046  75      20      maar field, western rift valley (?)
STS046  75      79A     Mt Pinatubo
STS046  80      90      Andes
STS046  84      11      Canary Islands, wide angle
STS046  88      74      S. end of Lake Turkana
STS046  89      20      Oldoinyo Lengai, wide angle
STS046  90      27      western Java
STS046  90      28      central java
STS046  90      29      eastern Java
STS046  90      30      eastern java
STS046  99      93      ElSalvador
STS046  99      96      El Salvador, just n. of Fonseca
STS046  93      77      island in Vanuatu
STS046  93      78      island in Vanuatu
STS046  101     26      central Java (Kelut)
STS046  101     27      e. Java
STS046  104     74      wide angle of Andes (east of Atacama)
STS046  105     51      smoking volcano, N. of L. Managua

% ====== Internet headers and postmarks (see DECWRL::GATEWAY.DOC) ======
% From: [email protected]
% Subject:      volcano pictures taken from the Space Shuttle