MISSION: STS-89 -- 8th MIR DOCKING & SPACEHAB DM

STS-89 images

• VEHICLE: Endeavour/OV-105
• LOCATION: Orbiter Processing Facility bay 1
• TARGET KSC LAUNCH DATE/TIME: Jan. 20, 1998 at 10:31 p.m. EST (under review)
• LAUNCH WINDOW: 7-10 minutes
• MIR DOCKING DATE/TIME: Jan. 22 at about 4:49 p.m. EST
• MIR UNDOCKING DATE/TIME: Jan. 27 at about 3:18 p.m. EST
• TARGET KSC LANDING DATE/TIME: Jan. 30, 1998 at 3:43 a.m. EST
• MISSION DURATION: 9 days
• CREW: Wilcutt, Edwards, Dunbar, Anderson, Reilly, Sharipov, Thomas (up), Wolf (down)
• ORBITAL ALTITUDE and INCLINATION: 160 nautical miles/51.6 degrees

NOTE: Preparations are under way for Endeavour's roll over to the Vehicle Assembly Building tomorrow afternoon. The remaining "strongback" braces were removed from around the orbiter's payload bay doors yesterday and weight and center of gravity tests concluded this morning. Endeavour is being installed on the orbiter transport system today and repairs to the left payload bay door will begin this afternoon. Once in the VAB, the orbiter will be mated to the external tank and solid rocket boosters already located on the mobile launch platform in VAB high bay 1.

STS-89 SCHEDULED OPERATIONAL MILESTONES (dates are target only):

• Orbiter towed to VAB for mate to external tank (Dec. 11)
• SPACEHAB payload moved to pad 39A (Dec. 13)
• Shuttle transferred to pad 39A (Dec. 16)
• Terminal Countdown Demonstration Test (the week of Jan. 4)

MISSION: STS-90 -- NEUROLAB

• VEHICLE: Columbia/OV-102
• LOCATION: OPF bay 3
• TARGET KSC LAUNCH DATE/TIME: April 2, 1998 at 1:19 p.m.
• LAUNCH WINDOW: 2 hours, 30 minutes
• TARGET KSC LANDING DATE/TIME: April 18, l998 at 12:09 p.m.
• MISSION DURATION: 15 days, 21 hours, 50 minutes
• CREW: Searfoss, Atlman, Linnehan, Williams, Hire, Buckey, Pawelczyk
• ORBITAL ALTITUDE and INCLINATION: 150 nautical miles/39 degrees

NOTE: Columbia's post-flight deconfiguration continues with engine heat shield removal in work. Forward reaction control system functional testing is slated for later this week and Shuttle main engine removal begins Saturday. The orbiter's cargo bay doors will be opened today and the USMP-4 and Spartan payloads are currently scheduled for removal early Friday morning.

With inspections of Columbia's lower surface complete, technicians have identified 94 tiles that will be replaced due to damage sustained on mission STS-87. An additional 39 tiles were slated for replacement before Columbia's recent landing. Inspection of the orbiter's upper, exterior surface continues.

STS-90 SCHEDULED OPERATIONAL MILESTONES (dates are target only):

• USMP-4 and Spartan payloads removed (Dec. 12)
• Engine heat shield removal (Dec. 12)
• Shuttle main engine removal (Dec. 13)

MISSION: STS-91 -- 9th MIR DOCKING & SPACEHAB-SM

• VEHICLE: Discovery/OV-103
• LOCATION: OPF bay 2
• TARGET KSC LAUNCH DATE/TIME: May 28 at 8:33 p.m.
• LAUNCH WINDOW: 7-10 minutes
• TARGET KSC LANDING DATE/TIME: June 7 at about 12:17 a.m.
• MISSION DURATION: 9 days, 3 hours, 44 minutes
• CREW: Precourt, Gorie, Lawrence, Chang-Diaz, Kavandi, Thomas (down)
• ORBITAL ALTITUDE and INCLINATION: 160 nautical miles/51.6 degrees

NOTE: Installation of Discovery's window No. 8 is complete. Functional checks of the orbiter maneuvering system continue and replacement of a check valve on the main propulsion system is in work. Water spray boiler servicing is on going and fuel cell monitoring modifications continue in Discovery's midbody. Checks on freon coolant loop No. 2 are in work.

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."

Status reports and other NASA publications are available on the World Wide Web at: http://www-pao.ksc.nasa.gov/kscpao/kscpao.htm

Information about the countdown and mission can be accessed electronically via the Internet at: http://www.ksc.nasa.gov/shuttle/countdown/ and at http://shuttle.nasa.gov/