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

STS-87 images

• VEHICLE: Columbia/OV-102
• LOCATION: Orbiter Processing Facility bay 2
• TARGET KSC LAUNCH DATE/TIME: Nov. 19 at 2:46 p.m.
• LAUNCH WINDOW: 2 hours, 30 minutes
• TARGET KSC LANDING DATE/TIME: Dec. 5 at about 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: Columbia's midbody close-outs continue through this weekend with payload bay door closure set for early next week. Payload premate testing and inspection of the remote manipulator system are in work today. Aft compartment close-outs are in work and installation of the aft doors begins Saturday. Work on the orbiter's elevons concludes this weekend.

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

• Final payload bay door closure (Oct. 21)
• USMP payload to Pad 39B (Oct. 23)
• Orbiter roll over to VAB (Oct. 24 )
• Orbiter roll out to Pad 39B (Oct. 29)
• USMP payload installed (Nov. 1)
• Terminal Countdown Demonstration Test (Nov. 4 and 5)

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. 15, 1998 at about 1:03 a.m.
• LAUNCH WINDOW: 7-10 minutes
• TARGET KSC LANDING DATE/TIME: Jan. 24, 1998 at about 4:47 a.m.
• MISSION DURATION: 9 days, 3 hours, 44 minutes
• CREW: Wilcutt, Edwards, Dunbar, Anderson, Reilly, Sharipov, Thomas (up), Wolf (down)
• ORBITAL ALTITUDE and INCLINATION: 160 nautical miles/51.6 degrees

NOTE: Space Shuttle main engine installation is under way. In the crew compartment, reconfiguration of Endeavour's aft flight deck is under way. Stacking of the STS-89 solid rocket boosters continues in the Vehicle Assembly Building.

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

• Payload premate test (Oct. 22)
• Heat shield installation (Oct. 24)
• Transfer tunnel installation (Oct. 28)

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

• VEHICLE: Discovery/OV-103
• LOCATION: Vehicle Assembly Building
• 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: TBD
• ORBITAL ALTITUDE and INCLINATION: 160 nautical miles/51.6 degrees

NOTE: Discovery is in storage in VAB high bay 2 with the environmental control system purge equipment connected. The orbiter will remain in temporary storage until Oct. 30.

• VEHICLE: Atlantis/OV-104
• LOCATION: OPF bay 3
• TARGET OMDP FERRY DATE: Nov. 11
• TARGET RETURN TO KSC: Aug. 1998
• NEXT MISSION: STS-92 ISS-03-3A (3rd ISS flight)

NOTE: Work to deconfigure Atlantis for its ferry flight to Palmdale, CA, continues. Draining of the orbiter maneuvering system (OMS) cross-feed line is complete and off loading of the auxiliary power unit fuel tanks is set for Friday. Helium venting of the OMS and reaction control system continues through Friday. The orbiter docking system is being removed today. The orbiter maintenance down period (OMDP) in Palmdale, is scheduled to last a little more than nine months.

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/