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KENNEDY SPACE CENTER SPACE SHUTTLE STATUS REPORT
WEDNESDAY, OCT. 25, 1995


MISSION: STS-73 -- U.S. MICROGRAVITY LABORATORY-2

VEHICLE: Columbia/OV-102
LOCATION: Orbit
LAUNCH DATE/TIME: Oct. 20 at 9:53 a.m. (EDT)
KSC LANDING DATE/TIME: Nov. 5 at 6:48 a.m. (EST)
MISSION DURATION: 15 days, 21 hours, 55 minutes
CREW SIZE: 7
ORBITAL ALTITUDE and INCLINATION: 172 statute miles/39 degrees

	Disassembly of  the STS-73 solid rocket boosters at Hangar AF
is continuing. Today, both boosters are scheduled to be moved into
the hangar.  The nozzles will be shipped to booster manufacturer,
Thiokol Corp., in Utah for thorough inspections and refurbishment on
Friday.

	The STS-73 crew are: Commander Ken Bowersox; Pilot Kent
Rominger; Mission Specialists Catherine Coleman, Michael
Lopez-Alegria and Kathryn Thornton; and Payload Specialists Fred
Leslie and Albert Sacco.


MISSION: STS-74 -- 2nd MIR DOCKING (Docking Module)

VEHICLE: Atlantis/OV-104
LOCATION: Pad 39A
TARGET LAUNCH DATE/TIME: Nov. 11 at about 7:56 a.m. EST
LAUNCH WINDOW: 6 minutes, 57 seconds
TARGET MIR DOCKING DATE: Nov. 14
TARGET KSC LANDING DATE/TIME: Nov. 19 at about 1 p.m. EST
MISSION DURATION: 8 days, 5 hours, 4 minutes
CREW SIZE: 5
ORBITAL ALTITUDE and INCLINATION: 196-245 statute miles/51.6 degrees

WORK IN PROGRESS:
 Power up Docking Module for health checks
 Sample water in the galley
 Preparations for the helium signature leak test

KEY STS-74 OPERATIONAL MILESTONES:
 Helium signature test (Oct. 26)
 Flight Readiness Review (Oct. 26)
 Main engine controller checkout and flight readiness test (Oct. 27)
 Begin aft engine compartment closeouts (Oct. 30)

WORK COMPLETED:
 Loaded hypergolic propellants into Atlantis' onboard storage tanks,
and hydrazine into the three auxiliary power units and booster thrust
vector control system tanks


MISSION: STS-72 -- SFU-Retrieval & OAST-Flyer

VEHICLE: Endeavour/OV-105
LOCATION: Orbiter Processing Facility Bay 3
TARGET LAUNCH DATE/TIME: Jan. 11 at 4:18 a.m. EST
LAUNCH WINDOW: 60 minutes
TARGET KSC LANDING DATE/TIME: Jan. 20 at 2:54 a.m.
MISSION DURATION: 8 days, 22 hours, 36 minutes
CREW SIZE: 6
ORBITAL ALTITUDE and INCLINATION: 184 statute miles/28.45 degrees

WORK IN PROGRESS:
 Installation of the main engines
 Transfer left orbital maneuvering system pod to the Hypergolic Maintenance Facility
 The left aft center booster segment was demated Oct. 24 to allow
evaluation of contamination. Nothing significant was found and the
segment is being remated today.

KEY STS-72 OPERATIONAL MILESTONES (dates are target only):
 Mate the external tank to the solid rocket boosters in the VAB (Nov. 9)
 Final payload bay door closure (Nov. 21)
 Roll to Vehicle Assembly Building (Nov. 29)