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KENNEDY SPACE CENTER SPACE SHUTTLE STATUS REPORT FRIDAY, MAY 10, 1996 (12:31 PM EDT) KSC Public Affairs Contact: Bruce Buckingham (fax 407-867-2692) E-mail: Bruce.Buckingham-1@kmail.ksc.nasa.gov MISSION: STS-77 -- SPACEHAB-4 & SPARTAN 207 VEHICLE: Endeavour/OV-105 LOCATION: Pad 39B LAUNCH DATE/TIME: May 19 at 6:30 a.m. LAUNCH WINDOW: 2 hours, 30 minutes TARGET KSC LANDING DATE/TIME: May 29 at 7:07 a.m. MISSION DURATION: 10 days, 0 hours, 37 minutes CREW SIZE: 6 ORBITAL ALTITUDE and INCLINATION: 176 statute miles/39 degrees NOTE: Efforts continue to close-out the aft engine compartment with the aft doors scheduled for installation later tonight. Final purges of the external tank will be conducted today as countdown preparations continue. No work is scheduled at the pad over the weekend. On Monday, efforts will begin to complete ordnance operations and to pressurize hypergolic reactants on board the orbiter. KEY STS-77 OPERATIONAL MILESTONES (dates are target only): * Complete aft engine compartment close-outs (today) * Ordnance operations and pressurize hypergolic reactants (Monday/Tuesday) * Begin launch countdown (4 a.m. May 16) * Crew arrival (9 a.m. May 16) MISSION: STS-78 -- LIFE AND MICROGRAVITY SPACELAB (LMS) VEHICLE: Columbia/OV-102 LOCATION: Orbiter Processing Facility bay 2 TARGET LAUNCH DATE/TIME: June 20 at about 10:49 a.m. LAUNCH WINDOW: 2 hours, 30 minutes TARGET KSC LANDING DATE/TIME: July 6 at about 8:46 a.m. MISSION DURATION: 15 days, 21 hours, 57 minutes CREW SIZE: 7 ORBITAL ALTITUDE and INCLINATION: 173 statute miles/39 degrees NOTE: The interface verification test on the Spacelab transfer tunnel is complete and good. Aft engine compartment close-outs continue this week. The crew for mission STS-78 is at KSC for the crew equipment interface test underway today. This event involves crew inspections of the orbiter payload bay and sharp edge inspection of the vehicle. KEY STS-78 OPERATIONAL MILESTONES (dates are target only): * Crew equipment interface test (today) * Final payload bay door closure (May 17) * Roll orbiter to Vehicle Assembly Building (May 23) MISSION: STS-79 -- 4th MIR DOCKING VEHICLE: Atlantis/OV-104 LOCATION: Orbiter Processing Facility bay 1 TARGET LAUNCH DATE: July 31 at about 11:42 p.m. LAUNCH WINDOW: 7-10 minutes TARGET KSC LANDING DATE: August 9 at about 8:17 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 functional test of fuel cell no. 2 is in work today. Also, functional checks of the orbital maneuvering system pods and the auxiliary power units continue today. Installation of the Space Shuttle main engines has been rescheduled for the end of the month to allow better times to remove and replace six reaction control system thrusters in mid-May. In the Vehicle Assembly Building, stacking of the solid rocket boosters continues. KEY STS-79 OPERATIONAL MILESTONES (dates are target only): * Remove and replace six reaction control system thrusters (May 22) * Install Space Shuttle main engines (May 30)-- 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."