The orbiter Discovery, NASA’s most prolific spacefaring vehicle and a veteran of 21 Space Shuttle missions, will leave KSC on Sept. 26 for a scheduled period of orbiter modifications (OMDP).
Discovery will spend about nine months at Rockwell‘s Palmdale, Calif. Orbiter Modification Center, where about 100 modifications will be performed on the vehicle. The most extensive of these will be the installation of an external airlock (replacing the current airlock) to support international Space Station operations. Also, Discovery will be modified to accept a 5th set of onboard cryogenic tanks. This will enable the orbiter to remain in space several days beyond its current capability.
Other work includes thermal protection system repairs and replacements, installation of upgraded hardware for improved payload bay flood lighting, star-tracker shutter replacements and structural corrosion inspections.
This is Discovery’s second OMDP. Its first was performed at KSC in 1992.
Discovery is scheduled to be rolled out of KSC’s Orbiter Processing Facility bay 1 at about 5 a.m. Monday, Sept. 25 and towed to the Shuttle Landing Facility where it will be mated atop the 747 Shuttle Carrier Aircraft. Departure of the Orbiter/SCA is scheduled for about 7 a.m. Tuesday, Sept. 26.
Discovery’s route to Palmdale will include a refueling stop at Ft. Worth Naval Air Station in Texas and an overnight stay at Salt Lake City International Airport in Utah. Discovery will then continue its ferry flight to California, arriving in Palmdale early Wednesday afternoon, Sept. 27. All ferry flight plans are subject to weather restrictions and alternate landing sites may be selected en route if necessary.
News media interested in viewing Discovery’s departure from KSC should be at the KSC press site by 6 a.m. Tuesday for transport to the Shuttle Landing Facility.
Following this modification period, Discovery is scheduled to return to KSC in June 1996. Discovery’s next flight, the second mission to service the Hubble Space Telescope, is targeted for launch in early 1997.