MISSION: STS-85 -- CRISTA-SPAS-2 (image)

Index of STS-85 images

• VEHICLE: Discovery/OV-103
• LOCATION: Pad 39A
• TARGET KSC LAUNCH DATE/TIME: August 7 at 10:41 a.m.
• LAUNCH WINDOW: 1 hour, 39 minutes
• TARGET KSC LANDING DATE/TIME: August 18 at 7:05 a.m.
• MISSION DURATION: 10 days, 20 hours, 24 minutes
• CREW: Brown, Rominger, Davis, Curbeam, Robinson, Tryggvason
• ORBITAL ALTITUDE and INCLINATION: 160 nautical miles/57 degrees

NOTE: Loading of hypergolic propellants aboard the Space Shuttle's onboard storage tanks continue today. The pad is closed to all but essential personnel for this operation which is expected to last through the end of today.

Yesterday, mission managers met at KSC for the Flight Readiness Review. Following this review, Aug. 7 was selected as the firm launch date for mission STS-85. No outstanding technical issues are being addressed by the team at this time that would preclude an on time launch. The countdown to launch is scheduled to begin at 3 p.m. Aug. 4.

STS-85 SCHEDULED OPERATIONAL MILESTONES (dates are target only):

• Begin orbiter aft engine compartment close-outs (July 28)
• Ordnance installation (July 30)
• CRISTA-SPAS cryogenic servicing (July 31)
• Begin countdown (3 p.m. Aug. 4)
• Crew arrival (Aug. 4)
• Close payload bay doors for flight (Aug. 5)

MISSION: STS-86 -- 7th MIR DOCKING & SPACEHAB DM

• VEHICLE: Atlantis/OV-104
• LOCATION: Orbiter Processing Facility bay 3
• TARGET KSC LAUNCH DATE/TIME: September 18 at about 1:42 a.m.
• LAUNCH WINDOW: 7-10 minutes
• TARGET KSC LANDING DATE/TIME: September 28 at about 5:51 a.m.
• MISSION DURATION: 10 days, 4 hours, 9 minutes
• CREW: Wetherbee, Bloomfield, Parazynski, Titov, Chretien, Lawrence (up), Foale (down)
• ORBITAL ALTITUDE and INCLINATION: 160 nautical miles/51.6 degrees

NOTE: The payload bay door cycle tests are complete and the doors are closed for roll to the VAB, now scheduled for Aug. 11. Thermal protection tiles for the forward reaction control system continue to be installed. The Shuttle's aft engine compartment and crew module close-outs continue in work. The final portion of the Crew Equipment Interface Test (CEIT) is scheduled for tomorrow and a landing gear functional test is scheduled for Monday. In the VAB, the external tank has been mated to the solid rocket boosters and close-outs are underway.

STS-86 SCHEDULED OPERATIONAL MILESTONES (dates are target only):

• Orbiter roll to Vehicle Assembly Building (August 11)
• Roll Space Shuttle out to Pad 39A (Aug. 20)

MISSION: STS-87 -- U.S. MICROGRAVITY PAYLOAD-4

• VEHICLE: Columbia/OV-102
• LOCATION: Orbiter Processing Facility bay 2
• TARGET KSC LAUNCH DATE/TIME: November 19 at 2:46 p.m.
• LAUNCH WINDOW: 2 hours, 30 minutes
• TARGET KSC LANDING DATE/TIME: December 5 at 7:19 a.m.
• MISSION DURATION: 15 days, 16 hours, 33 minutes
• CREW: Kregel, Lindsey, Scott, Chawla, Doi, Kadenyuk
• ORBITAL ALTITUDE and INCLINATION: 150 nautical miles/28.45 degrees

NOTE: Preparations to remove the MSL-1 Spacelab module continue in work. The laboratory will be removed on Monday and returned to the Operations and Checkout Building. The tunnel adapter has been removed and a routine functional test of the forward reaction control system is currently in work.

STS-87 SCHEDULED OPERATIONAL MILESTONES (dates are target only):

• Remove Spacelab from payload bay (July 28)
• Remove Space Shuttle main engines (July 31)

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

Index of STS-89 images

• VEHICLE: Endeavour/OV-105
• LOCATION: Orbiter Processing Facility bay 1
• TARGET KSC LAUNCH DATE/TIME: January 15, 1998 at about 12:57 a.m.
• LAUNCH WINDOW: 7-10 minutes
• TARGET KSC LANDING DATE/TIME: January 24, 1998 at about 5:20 a.m.
• MISSION DURATION: 9 days, 4 hours, 23 minutes
• CREW: Wilcutt, Edwards, Dunbar, Anderson, Reilly, Wolf (up), Lawrence (down)
• ORBITAL ALTITUDE and INCLINATION: 160 nautical miles/51.6 degrees

NOTE: Preparations to install the Ku-band system antenna continue. Docking mechanism installation preparations are also 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/