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KENNEDY SPACE CENTER SPACE SHUTTLE STATUS REPORT FRIDAY, JUNE 21, 1996 (12:09 PM EDT) 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) Flight Day 2 VEHICLE: Columbia/OV-102 LOCATION: Orbit OFFICIAL LAUNCH DATE/TIME: June 20 at 10:49 a.m. (EDT) 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: Launch of the Space Shuttle Columbia occurred on time yesterday at 10:49 a.m. from KSC's Pad 39B. Columbia is scheduled to remain in orbit for about 17 days and land back at Kennedy Space Center on July 7 at about 8:51 a.m. If mission duration remains the same, Columbia will break the duration record for the longest Space Shuttle mission. Today, the pad will be fully evaluated for significant damage. Later today, the solid rocket booster recovery ships are expected back at Hangar AF with the boosters in tow. The boosters will be safed today and disassembly will begin Monday. Post-launch assessments will also begin Monday. The crew of mission STS-78 are: Commander Tom Henricks; Pilot Kevin Kregel; Mission Specialists Richard Linnehan, Susan Helms and Charles Brady; and Payload Specialists Jean-Jacques Favier (French Space Agency) and Robert Brent Thirsk (Canadian Space Agency). Mission status reports are issued daily by Johnson Space Center, Houston, TX. MISSION: STS-79 -- 4th MIR DOCKING & SPACEHAB DM VEHICLE: Atlantis/OV-104 LOCATION: Orbiter Processing Facility bay 1 TARGET LAUNCH DATE: July 31 at about 11:29 p.m. (EDT) LAUNCH WINDOW: 7-10 minutes TARGET KSC LANDING DATE: August 9 at about 8:05 p.m. MISSION DURATION: 8 days, 20 hours, 35 minutes CREW SIZE: 6 ORBITAL ALTITUDE and INCLINATION: 196-245 statute miles/51.6 degrees NOTE: The payload bay doors of Atlantis have been closed and roll over to the VAB is scheduled for Monday, June 24. First motion of the orbiter departing from the OPF is set for about 10 a.m. Today, final weight and center of gravity measurements will be made and tomorrow, the orbiter will be mated to the orbiter transporter. Early Monday morning, wheel well close-outs will be conducted and the landing gear retracted. KEY STS-79 OPERATIONAL MILESTONES (dates are target only): Roll Atlantis to Vehicle Assembly Building and mate with external tank (Monday) Transfer Spacehab double module to Pad 39A (June 28) Roll Atlantis to Pad 39A (July 1) Install Spacehab into orbiter at pad (July 9) STS-79 Terminal Countdown Demonstration Test (July 18-19) MISSION: STS-82 -- HUBBLE SPACE TELESCOPE SERVICING MISSION-2 VEHICLE: Discovery/OV-103 LOCATION: Palmdale, CA NOTE: Discovery is currently in Palmdale, CA, where a series of modifications and thorough inspections are being finalized as part of a regularly scheduled Orbiter Maintenance Down Period (OMDP), an operation that periodically removes all orbiters from flight operations. Other work on Discovery includes the addition of an airlock that will permit the vehicle to dock with the Mir Space Station and the addition of a 5th set of cryogenic tanks. Discovery is scheduled to be delivered back to KSC next week at which time it will be towed to Orbiter Processing Facility bay 2. In the OPF, preparations will begin for Discovery's next flight, mission STS-82, the second Hubble Space Telescope servicing mission, set for launch in February 1997. KEY OPERATIONAL MILESTONES (dates are target only): Palmdale rollout (no earlier than June 24) Begin ferry flight (no earlier than June 25) Expected arrival at KSC, weather permitting (no earlier than June 26) PREPARATIONS FOR ORBITER MAINTENANCE DOWN PERIOD VEHICLE: Endeavour/OV-105 LOCATION: Orbiter Processing Facility bay 3 NOTE: Preparations to disconnect Endeavour's orbital maneuvering system next week are currently in work. Last week the three main engines were removed. Endeavour is being prepared for its first Orbiter Maintenance Down Period (OMDP) which involves sending the orbiter to Palmdale, CA, for about eight months of major modifications and structural inspections. Delivery to Palmdale will occur around the first of August. Endeavour's next mission will be the first International Space Station assembly Space Shuttle flight, scheduled for launch from KSC in late 1997. KEY PRE-OMDP OPERATIONAL MILESTONES (dates are target only): Remove forward reaction control system (June 28) Remove right hand orbital maneuvering system pod (June 29) Remove left hand orbital maneuvering system pod (July 2) Final payload bay closing (July 12) Rollout for ferry flight (July 29)-- 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. 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