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KENNEDY SPACE CENTER SPACE SHUTTLE STATUS REPORT TUESDAY, JUNE 18, 1996 (5:36 PM EDT) REV. A LAUNCH - 2 DAYS KSC Public Affairs Contact: Bruce Buckingham (fax 407-867-2692) E-mail: Bruce.Buckingham-1@kmail.ksc.nasa.gov MISSION: STS-78 -- LIFE AND MICROGRAVITY SPACELAB (LMS) VEHICLE: Columbia/OV-102 LOCATION: Pad 39B LAUNCH DATE/TIME: June 20 at 10:49 a.m. (EDT) LAUNCH WINDOW: 2 hours, 30 minutes TARGET KSC LANDING DATE/TIME: July 7 at about 8:51 a.m. MISSION DURATION: 16 days, 22 hours, 2 minutes CREW SIZE: 7 ORBITAL ALTITUDE and INCLINATION: 173 statute miles/39 degrees NOTE: Late this afternoon engineers completed X-raying the power drive units (PDU) for the orbiter's external tank doors and X-rays indicate all suspect screws are secure and properly installed on the circuit boards. Workers are now in the process of backing out of and closing the aft engine compartment. Another issue that has arisen over the past few hours involves the no. 1 Master Events Controller (MEC). During routine testing today, engineers noticed incorrect byte indications from the MEC. Further analysis revealed the software errors were not critical to this mission, but managers want to insure the errors are not masking other potential problems that might come to light later in the countdown. Engineers and managers will be working through the evening to resolve the concerns with the MEC. There are two MECs in the orbiter's aft engine compartment. They process signals to arm and safe pyrotechnics and command and fire pyrotechnics during SRB/external tank separation and orbiter/external tank separation. Mission managers will meet again at 9 a.m. tomorrow to receive the latest update on the MEC issue and to give approval to proceed with countdown operations. Payload technicians continue to prepare for late stowage of experiments into the Life and Microgravity Spacelab tonight and mid-deck stowage begins tomorrow. Air Force weather forecasters are currently indicating a 40 percent probability of weather prohibiting launch on Thursday. The 24-hour-delay and 48-hour-delay forecasts reveal similar conditions and a 30 percent chance of delay each day KEY STS-78 OPERATIONAL MILESTONES: Move Rotating Service Structure to launch position (4 p.m. Wednesday) Begin external tank loading for launch (2 a.m. Thursday) SUMMARY OF BUILT-IN HOLDS FOR STS-78 T-TIME LENGTH OF HOLD HOLD BEGINS HOLD ENDS T-27 hours 4 hours 8:00 p.m. Mon. 12 midnight Mon. T-19 hours 8 hours 8:00 a.m. Tues. 4:00 p.m. Tues. T-11 hours 20 hours, 29 minutes 12 midnight Wed. 8:29 p.m. Wed. T-6 hours 1 hour 1:29 a.m. Thurs. 2:29 a.m. Thurs. T-3 hours 2 hours 5:29 a.m. Thurs. 7:29 a.m. Thurs. T-20 minutes 10 minutes 10:09 a.m. Thurs. 10:19 a.m. Thurs. T-9 minutes 10 minutes 10:30 a.m. Thurs. 10:40 a.m. Thurs. CREW FOR MISSION STS-78 Commander (CDR): Tom Henricks Pilot (PLT): Kevin Kregel Mission Specialist (MS1): Richard Linnehan Mission Specialist/Payload Commander (MS2): Susan Helms Mission Specialist (MS3): Charles Brady Payload Specialist (PS1): Jean-Jacques Favier (French Space Agency) Payload Specialist (PS2): Robert Brent Thirsk (Canadian Space Agency) SUMMARY OF STS-78 LAUNCH DAY CREW ACTIVITIES Thursday, June 20 5:39 a.m. Wake up (Payload Crew) 5:54 a.m. Wake up (Flight Crew) * 6:24 a.m. Breakfast and Crew Photo 6:54 a.m. Weather briefing (CDR, PLT, MS2) 6:54 a.m. Don launch and entry suits (MS1, MS3, PS1, PS2) 7:04 a.m. Don launch and entry suits (CDR, PLT, MS2) * 7:15 a.m. Crew suiting photo * 7:34 a.m. Depart for launch pad 39B * 8:04 a.m. Arrive at white room and begin ingress * 9:19 a.m. Close crew hatch *10:49 a.m. Launch * Televised events (times may vary slightly) All times Eastern-- end -- For automatic e-mail subscriptions to this daily Shuttle status report or KSC originated press releases, send an Internet electronic mail message to: domo@news.ksc.nasa.gov. In the body of the message (not the subject line) type the words "subscribe shuttle-status", or "subscribe ksc-press-release" (do not use quotation marks). The system will reply with a confirmation via e-mail of each subscription. To remove your name from the list at any time, send an e-mail address to domo@news.ksc.nasa.gov. In the body of the message (not the subject line), type (no quotes) "unsubscribe shuttle-status", or "unsubscribe ksc-press-release."