June 6, 1995
                                                                            
KSC Release No. 51-95

RUSSIAN DOCKING MODULE TO ARRIVE WEDNESDAY AT KSC ABOARD AEROFLOT
AIR CARGO PLANE

	The primary payload for Space Shuttle mission STS-74, the
Russian Docking Module, is scheduled to arrive at the Kennedy Space
Center on Wednesday, June 7 at 11 a.m.  The Russian Docking Module
will be attached to the MIR Space Station as an orbiter interface for
the remaining six Space Shuttle rendezvous flights after STS-71. 
This will be the first payload to be prepared for launch in Kennedy
Space Center’s new Space Station Processing Facility (SSPF).

	The Russian Docking Module and a pair of solar arrays for the
MIR space station will arrive at the KSC Shuttle Landing Facility
aboard an Aeroflot Antonov-124 aircraft, a Russian air cargo plane.
It is approximately equivalent in size to an Air Force C-5.  News
media wishing to observe the arrival of the AN-124 aircraft at the
SLF should be at the KSC News Center at 10 a.m. on Wednesday.

	Approximately 50 Russian personnel will be at KSC over the
next several months for the final assembly and testing of the Russian
Docking Module.  In late August the module will be turned over to the
STS-74 payload test team at Kennedy Space Center and transferred to
the Operations and Checkout Building.  There it will undergo a series
of tests verifying its readiness and compatibility with the Space
Shuttle Atlantis.  The Russian Docking Module will be installed into
the payload bay of Atlantis at the orbiter processing facility the
first week of September and integrated orbiter/payload testing will
follow.

	Launch of STS-74 with Atlantis and the Russian Docking Module
is currently scheduled for late October.

	News media representatives covering the arrival of the
Russian Docking Module aboard the AN-124 aircraft may wish to call
the KSC News Center early Wednesday morning to assure that the
arrival time has not changed.