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KENNEDY SPACE CENTER SPACE SHUTTLE STATUS REPORT
MONDAY, OCTOBER 3, 1994 (12:02 PM)


MISSION: STS-68 -- SPACE RADAR LABORATORY-2

FLIGHT DAY 4
VEHICLE: Endeavour/OV-105
ORBITAL ALTITUDE: 138 sm
LOCATION: On orbit
INCLINATION: 57 degrees
LAUNCH DATE and TIME: Sept. 30, 1994 at 7:16 a.m. EDT
KSC LANDING DATE and TIME: Oct. 10 at 11:58 a.m.
MISSION DURATION: 10 days/4 hours/42 minutes

	Post launch inspections of Pad 39A reveal no unusual damage to the
pad surface or the mobile launcher platform. The solid rocket booster
retrieval ships returned to Hangar AF mid-day Saturday. Booster disassembly
and post-flight inspections are currently underway.

    (Mission STS-68 status reports are issued daily by the Johnson Space
Center, Houston, Tx.) 

CREW: Commander Michael Baker; Pilot Terry Wilcutt; and Mission Specialists
Steve Smith, Dan Bursch, Peter Wisoff and Thomas Jones.


MISSION: STS-66 -- ATLAS-3/CRISTA-SPAS

VEHICLE: Atlantis/OV-104
ORBITAL ALTITUDE: 189 sm
LOCATION: OPF bay 3
INCLINATION: 57 degrees
TARGET LAUNCH DATE: Nov. 3
CREW SIZE: 6
APPROX. LAUNCH TIME: 11:56 a.m.
LAUNCH WINDOW: 1 hour/6 minutes
TARGET KSC LANDING DATE/TIME: Nov. 14/7:42 a.m.
MISSION DURATION: 10 days/20 hours

IN WORK TODAY:
  Retract landing gear
  Preparations to roll over to Vehicle Assembly Building 

WORK SCHEDULED:
  Move to Vehicle Assembly Building (first motion set for midnight tonight)
  Mate with external tank and solid rocket boosters 
  Remove and replace scratched outside pane of no. 8 window

WORK COMPLETED:
  Load orbiter onto orbiter transporter
  Weight and center of gravity checks
  Close payload bay doors
  Landing gear functional checks
  Aft engine compartment and forward module close-outs


MISSION: STS-63 -- MIR RENDEZVOUS and SPACEHAB-3

VEHICLE: Discovery/OV-103                       ORBITAL ALTITUDE: 196 sm
LOCATION: OPF bay 2                             INCLINATION: 51.60 degrees
TARGET LAUNCH PERIOD: early February            CREW SIZE: 6
APPROX. LAUNCH TIME: very early morning         KSC LANDING DATE/TIME: TBD
LAUNCH WINDOW: 5 minutes                        MISSION DURATION: 8 days/4 hours

IN WORK TODAY:
  Flight control frequency response test
  Preparations to open payload bay doors
  Structural checks and tests

WORK SCHEDULED:
   Open payload bay doors

WORK COMPLETED:
  Preparations for frequency response test
  Access orbiter's aft engine compartment
  Remove ferry flight tailcone
  Orbiter power-up


MISSION: STS-73 -- UNITED STATES MICROGRAVITY LABORATORY-2

VEHICLE: Columbia/OV-102
LOCATION: OPF bay 1

NOTE: Columbia remains in OPF bay 1 following a decision to remove and
replace the outer pane of window no. 8 and install it on Atlantis. Columbia
was lifted off the orbiter transporter this weekend to support Atlantis'
roll to the Vehicle Assembly Building tonight. Latest estimates indicate
Columbia will be ready for its ferry flight to Palmdale, Calif., for the
scheduled six-month orbiter maintenance down period (OMDP) by the end 
of this week.  When Columbia returns to KSC early next year, processing will
begin for mission STS-73 scheduled for launch in late summer 1995.